So let's get started. Notice anything wrong in this picture?
I had a flat. Woo. Hoo. And look-- there's something even more wrong in this picture:
Yes. I had a flat at Oregon Dairy! And nothing I needed to make even the most rudimentary repairs...But before I even got to Oregon Dairy I met a couple of buffoons on the road. Generally when I'm out on my bike other riders are friendly and we exchange waves or greetings. Sometimes they initiate it, sometimes I do. So I saw these two guys coming towards me on the other side of the road, we made eye contact, and I said, "Hello there!" They didn't return the sentiment-- as they passed my line of sight one of them said, "Get a real bike!" Sigh.
Anyway, I wanted to try and get some new pictures of the baby mule I saw last week, so decided why not stop at Oregon Dairy for lunch and then head over to where the baby lives. Lunch was delicious-- chicken and waffles again-- but when I got outside there was my bike sitting there with a flat tire! I usually carry a portable pump and some fix-a-flat foamy stuff with me just in case something happens. I really should have a regular repair kit, but since I've not actually fixed a flat before I bring that stuff.
At any rate, even if I had a repair kit I wouldn't have been able to fix the flat there in the parking lot. You can't just pop the back tire off; you have to take the whole enclosed gear thingy apart (and don't ask me the proper name of the "gear thingy," because I don't know it, lol).
Luckily my mom has a bike rack for her car AND she was home. She picked me up and we brought my bike to a local bike shop for a quick repair. Now I know that my bike is not quite like most other bikes around, but it's not some kind of strange alien transport, either. The counter guy at the bike shop couldn't seem to find anything nice to say about it, though.
"What is it?" Um... it's a bike? I'd be interested in a fender and a rack for the back if you have any.
"You can't put a fender on there. Or a rack. There's no room for it with that seat like that. It's completely impractical." I love it, though. It's so comfortable!
"I bet it's comfortable. But it's like a chopper."
What the heck-- is this insult my bike day??? It wasn't that he called my bike a chopper. It's that he called my bike a chopper. The tone was so condescending.
Or maybe I was just overly sensitive and bristling from the "real bike" comment earlier in the day.
Whatever! The mechanic did a lovely job fixing up my tire and I rode home. Later I went out for a quick eight mile ride and so ended the day on an up note.
I took a bunch of pictures but I'll have to leave them for another day. Here's a picture of the caterpillar living in my dill plant. Look how much it's grown and changed in just two days-- it's now about an inch long:
Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful... or at least let the events be positive ones...
3 comments:
What the heck?! Your bike is great! Fantastic!
Hope your day got better. :)
Hummm . . . last year my husband made the observation that some bike shops just don't know how to cater to anything but their particular type of biking. Until recently, it seemed Flagstaff was mostly all about mountain biking and if it didn't fit into that slot you were out of luck. These days though there is more awareness of utility cycling and the needs associated with bike commuting. I don't see any reason why you can't put fenders on your bike. My husband installed his on his own. We love them. As for the loser who made the commment about you needing a "real bike", that is probably his standard MO for all social situations. Says nothing about you or your bike but his interpersonal reliance on put-downs. Still operating at the 15-year-old level emotionally. And probably doesn't have a girlfriend.
I think you're absolutely right re: bike shops. The one I went to is more of a "racing bike" place. But it was the only one open on this holiday Sunday.
The funny thing is that my mom bought a bike there and they told her she didn't need a helmet to go out riding on the road! Now, I know there's some contention about helmets in the biking world but come on!
I'm hoping to get fenders and also panniers or a basket for groceries and the like. I haul sheets back and forth to work all the time (I'm a massage therapist) and I used to have a basket on my old hybrid. I don't think that particular set up will work with this bike, but I agree: there's something out there for me!
And I also agree re: the knucklehead in spandex, lol.
My day did get better, too!
Post a Comment