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| Uh oh |
Within half a block I discovered that my tires, which had been leaking air for some time, needed some more air. I pulled out my handy compressed air pump and filled both tires which helped considerably. Except for hitting some brown sugar near 109 Street, I felt I had made a clever decision to ride home on an out-of-season bike.
Being eager to get this bike home (the Schwinn MOAB), I wasn't fully prepared for the windchill that assaulted my hands as I had forgotten my mitts at home. The thin pair of full fingered mountain bike gloves I was wearing offered little protection. I figured I could make it to Mountain Equipment Co-op and warm up in their lobby where I could also pull out a pair of gloves from my backpack. I hadn't pulled them out earlier because I had discovered that they were both right-handed.
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| Ta Da! Instant left-handed glove! |
With a lot of finagling, which warmed up my fingers, I managed to turn one of the gloves inside out to wear on my left hand. MEC is used to having bikes in their lobby so I didn't stand out too much.
Crossing a bridge over a ravine, I could feel that my rear tire had gone flat and after pushing the bike to the end of the bridge where a streetlight cast an orange glow, I pulled out the compressed air pump and filled the tire once again. Within half a block it was flat again and I knew my ride home was pooched. I could have put the bike on the bike rack of a #1 bus, but I figured that I would still need to walk the bike home from the mall as the 109 bus doesn't have a bike rack.
I also ruined a fine pair of Sugoi bike shoe booties...
An hour and a half from when I started, I pulled back into the parking garage at work and vowed to be more prepared for winter commuting:
1. Make sure you have all the proper clothing.
2. If you tires have been going flat - fix them!
3. Ride the proper bike for each season.
4. Don't walk for great lengths wearing bike shoe booties
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| Dang! |
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