The P**cture Fairy is a nice lady

[Boris Bajic]

I went out for a 35-mile ride with my elder son this morning. Lovely weather, sunshine and a slight chill.

About 3 miles from home he stopped riding and started waving..... Puncture.

He had no spare tube, no repair kit, no pump, just water. I had no tube, no repair kit, no pump, just water.

I think that if you are a Punture Fairy and you see a pair of idiots setting off for a 35-mile ride with no tools or spares... then to bestow a puncture a mere 3 miles from home is a nice, kind thing to do.

And on a nice, sunny morning.... She could have waited until we were 17 miles from home, or out in a howling gale with horizontal rain. Or both.

As it was I whipped back to the house and returned in a happy, burbling, diesel MPV in just a few minutes. Elder son was sitting in the sun on a grass bank, sipping cool water. We chucked the U/S bicycle in the boot and came home with the radio on.

If that doesn't prove that the P**cture Fairy is a nice lady, what does?

She gets my vote.

 

[swede54]

I hope she's not like the door to door religious types or double glazing salesmen that never leave you alone if you show any interest. Go and buy your spares and tools today.

 

[guitarpete247]

Why didn't you cycle home, pick up new tube, pump and repair kit then cycle back to your son. There you could have repaired the deflationary incident and been on your way with the wherewithal in case she decided to pay you another visit .

 

[redcard]

You just gave up and went home?

The shame!

 

[Matthew_T]

Why didn't you cycle home, pick up new tube, pump and repair kit then cycle back to your son. There you could have repaired the deflationary incident and been on your way with the wherewithal in case she decided to pay you another visit .

I agree. You should have got a puncture repair kit, and taught (if he didnt know) your son how to change a tube correctly. Or even better, timed him how long it took him to change it, and see if he could beat it next time.

 

[MisterStan]

Think about the extra miles you missed!

 

[Boris Bajic]

You are all quite right, but that's not what I did. Partly because I'd quite like my kids to enjoy cycling and partly because I'm not a USMC Gunnery Sergeant .

We came home by car, set up the repair gubbins on an outside table, then moved the table across the lawn into the sunshine when we started to get cold. I think that walking around with a wooden table, following the sun was the bit he liked best. It was slightly Laurel & Hardy.

In the end he had to go and clean himself up for a romantic rendezvous... but not until my 'Easy Way To Do This' lesson had resulted in one of my nails being slightly torn back at the quick, so there were crimson smudges all over my handiwork.

I still think the Puncture Fairy is a nice lady, though. It's not her fault that Conti Gatorskins can be a bastard to get off.

 

[IanT]

I agree; she is, indeed, a very nice lady.

On the rare occasion that I set out without my seat pack (which moves between MTB and roadie) last week, she visited me - literally at the end of my road.

Two thorns through my MTB tyre - 180 degrees apart.

Could not believe my luck - if you can every refer to getting a puncture as 'luck'!!!

 

[Dragonwight]

I ride nearly everyday and hadnt had a puncture for knocking on for 3 years which was pretty remarkable given the state of our roads and the glass etc on them. Anyway needless to say I got complacent and had no tube with me and had just started out about 2 miles from home when i got a puncture so started walking back when this cheese van pulled up and this guy jumps out and offers me a lift, turns out he was a fellow cyclist, dropped me at my front door as well what a gent. Cheers puncture fairy.

 

[billy1561]

I had a puncture at 73 miles just when I was smiling to myself thinking I was nearly home. How wrong can you be!

 

[growingvegetables]

Hmmmm - my mind is a little boggled. There's a casual assumption here that the P**cture Fairy is female.

Come on - something tells me that the universal experience is that little pr!cks that burst "balloons" are unfailingly male. My emphasis on "little".

Oooops - runs and hides

 

[fossyant]

LOL. Numpties !

 

[ianrauk]

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