Good Boater, Bad Biker?

New Bern, NC

I like to consider myself and Libby as good boaters.  We are considerate and safe.  In terms of keeping the boat in seaworthy condition, I rate us in the top 25%, but not the top 10%.  I keep a bike on board, and I use it a lot.  Evidence suggests that I'm not a very good biker.  What evidence?  Read on.

The day after riding my bike 38 miles to see an air show I bragged about my feat on this blog.  The day after that, I went to use the bike and I noticed that the tire pressures looked low.  I got out my guage and pump, and checked the pressures.  Oops, only 10 psi in each.   So I pumped them up to 40 psi and started to leave.  BANG, an explosion as loud as a shotgun blast hit before I had gone 50 feet.

But I had a spare tube on board.  I put in the new tube and started pumping it up again. Libby hollared STOP!  The tube was protruding from the side.  This time I inspected the tires.  The picture below shows Libby sticking her fist through the hole in the side of the tire.  Whoops, I hadn't noticed that.   I looked at the other tire.  It was better, but there was a worn place where the tube was beginning to stick out.

I confess to never having checked the tire pressures since I bought the bike.  Nor have I inspected the tires or treads.  I just don't even think of applying the same standards to the bike as I do to the boat.

So, suppose I had a flat at the far end of the trip to the air show.  I would have been very sorry then.

So, off to the store for new tires.  Once again, modern retailing baffled me.  Bikes were on sale for $88, but two tires and two tubes cost $86!!!   Hopefully, though the new tires are better quality than the original equipment.

Now with everything repaired, I noticed that pedaling is very much easier than ever before.  It's possible that I've been riding on low tire pressures since buying the bike last November.  Oh well, I can rationalize that a tough pedaling bike is better for purposes of physical fitness.  Do you think anyone would believe that?

My bike, all fixed up.