The horror

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Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
College evening, 7.30pm, moving the bike the quarter mile to the seminar building

flat rear, bugger, the emergency tube went in the same rear on Monday, (first youknowhat for five months) and I was leaving the holed one til the weekend, ah well, comfy bench and a lamp thingy to work by.

the light's not ideal and it takes a while to find it, the old and well used repair kit doesn't have any crayon and the first patch misses the hole entirely, tsk, the second don't take, chalk I think

deep breath, scrub it all clean, use a bigger patch, the solution tube bursts, but the patch is good thank christ, all back in and at the last minute remember to check the inside of the tyre as well as the outside, honking great staple is right through the tyre and sticking through 5mm, tsk

all back together, start pumping it back up, dear god, the pump is punctured! one I've had for fifteen years that's pumped up a hundred tyres, hole in the barrel, wasn't there on Monday, pumping up with a thumb on the hole, you might or might not be surprised as to how little pressure you can get into the tyre before the thumb can't stop the air escaping

no matter, there's a hundred plus bikes locked up all around, not one has a pump on, arse, hang around in the cold drizzle for three separate riders to turn up, not one has a pump, wtf? but I bite my lip and thank them for their time

double arse, more desperate pumping with thumb on hole, the tyre is barely rideable, set off and hope to pass a rider with pump, slow and wobbly it is, a few speed merchant tear past, otherwise it's chavs sans lights let alone pump

all the way to the top of Camden Road before a sight from heaven hoves into view, a big fat bloke on a tourer with loaded panniers, he's German and yes, he has a pump, a lovely little modern one, wham bam and the tyre is decent rideable again, many heartfelt thanks to the German and away!

hit a honking pothole at speed going down the hill into Nags Head and the ebay pannier that's stayed on for five months flies off, bloody thing's 100 yards behind by the time I've stopped, tsk

rolling into Finsbury Park, a lady rider arguing with a driver, stop, listen, go back, he's turned left across her and says it's her fault for riding into him, not being nice about it, I intervene and forcefully (I'm not in an awfully good mood by now remember) point out the rule of the road to him (not that she hasn't already), he gets a lot politer and changes his story to 'sorry, I didn't see you', of course she has three rear lights and the road is well lit, there's seemingly no damage other than a wonky front mudguard which is good because otherwise it's going to be his driving licence etc etc and his lump of a mate is starting to take an interest, she thanks me for stopping and I say no bother at all

rolling into the mean streets of Tottenham, surely not? yep, the saddle's shifting, a lot, presumably the same pot hole that ejected the pannier, grrr, stop and adjust, happily the squint in lamplight position is actually a better position that before

home, track pump to top the rear to max presh, I could have cried at the ease, faithful old pump into the bin with violence

frankly I think I've paid my dues for the immediate future

and big thanks to the German tourer wherever he is now

Tynan out!
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Nitemare! Well done for surviving with your good humour intact. Incidentally, I just (today) received this - it's a nice bit o' kit (specially with the cunning 3 patches in the handle).
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
that looks like what the German chappie had, nice to use, rather ergonomic

as it happens I've got a decent new pump on the shelf, didn't carry it because the mount was so crappie but it can ride in the pannier

and I'm a firm believer in a full repair kit, not that mine was as it turned out :rolleyes:
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
feels like a month of agro in an two hours and a half to me

still, any day that ends up getting home still on the horse is a good one I suppose
 

Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
Put it down to experience tynan, but glad it all turned out OK and that you made it back without the bike ending up 'over the hedge'. Good control!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
if the new one had been ready tomorrow I'd have left the old one at any of the three point of distress, if I wasn't in tights and cleats anyway

seconds prior to the start of my trials, I had a pleasant chat with another proper cyclist, doubtless with a pump, about this forum after he saw the top

a nice trouble free day today please ending with a few nice trouble free beers

I've got a proper old skool pump for today, one of them long thin ones with French down the side, the modern one is hiding at the moment

I won't need it anyway will I?
 

Wolf04

New Member
Location
Wallsend on Tyne
Well done for helping the other cyclist even though you were having a pig of a journey, good karma for a month me thinks :rolleyes:
Pete
 

Maz

Guru
It never rains but it pours tynan. V.bad luck there.

what's this?...you've taken to carrying an emergency spare inner? tsk tsk after all that dissing of those that carry one.
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
Ha ha!

Great tale Tynan, nae luck at all. Just shows, you can't plan for everything. I did a 130 mile trip down from Fort William to Glasgow last year with an overnight stop. How I scoffed at my pal for strapping his TRACKPUMP to his rucksack. He looked like a dodgem! But I was mighty glad of it when I holed at the start of the 2nd day. Even though I had my mini with me it was sooooooo much easier.
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
fair enough Maz, I've generally had an old one for catastrophic flats, but I'll admit I used it on Monday in the dark rain, I was generally most dissy with the people running out of tubes (I hope), that's as apologetic as I'm going to get, k?

still carry a kit though

and the morning started off with wiring up the back fixing on the rear mudguard, that same pothole would seem to have popped the two rivets there

thereafter you'll doubtless all be thrilled to hear I had a fast and pleasant ride without any more than the regular incidents
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Tynan said:
home, track pump to top the rear to max presh, I could have cried at the ease, faithful old pump into the bin with violence

That's a bit unfair. It was probably very upset to have let you down after all this time. And now it's lying there, in the bin. miserable. You could at least have got rid of it nicely. In fact, I think you should go and get it out and apologise.

But good on you for helping that lady. Sad innit, that some folk only see the error of their ways when they think they might be about to get a thump off a bloke.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
So cool of you to have helped the other rider. Respect!

LOL, and I'm one of those that carries two inners *and* a repair kit. How do you rate that one?
 

davidwalton

New Member
BentMikey said:
So cool of you to have helped the other rider. Respect!

LOL, and I'm one of those that carries two inners *and* a repair kit. How do you rate that one?

Being new to this, and crazy, I carry 3 times 20" inners and 3 times 26" inners, plus repair kit and pump. I also run on Marathon plus tyres, so not really paranoid;) It all fits in the rack bag, so I carry it. Weight is nothing compared to the weight of me.

I should really carry a spare pump, just in case.
 
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