Midday Meeting

I was dressed in tights and a bright orange jersey as I got on the elevator. A fellow passenger asked if I was heading out for a lunchtime ride.  I let her know that I had a midday meeting a few miles away and because it was such a beautiful day I added that cycling "is the best way to travel anywhere." Before the elevator closed, she said, "Depends on how far you are going." I didn't have the chance to reply but standing alone in the elevator I mumbled, "No, doesn't really matter how far, it's still the best way to travel."

I find a certain magic while sitting in the saddle. The simplicity of riding a bicycle helps create an attitude of tranquility even along busy roads with fast moving cars. I have discovered a purity in the basic motions of pedaling in a circle to move a chain that turns the wheels round and round. Cycling lets you move your body in a way that nature accepts. Cycling gets you out of the cage of a transparent car and places you in the middle of nature instead of cooped up inside a metal box. These benefits almost always outweigh any loss of speed or a temperature controlled environment.

But for all of its intrinsic worth my joy of cycling can be temporarily undone by a very common problem. I only have to take ten to twelve steps from the elevator before I reach my bicycle. As I removed my bike from the rack and turned it around so that I could mount the saddle I suddenly stopped. I looked below and stooped down placing my index finger on the ring and my thumb on the tire. I hardly pressed and confirmed what I already knew. I had a flat tire.

I carried a replacement tube in my backpack and I had a floor pump in my office so I took the bike up the elevator and handled the meeting via phone conference. As we discussed the issues regarding three different families and what interventions could best keep their children safe, I freed the tire from the rim exposing the tube,  I removed the tube from the tire, checked the tube and found the staple that had penetrated the tire and punctured the tube, checked the tire for any other foreign objects, cleared the rim of any debris, and installed the new tube. I am comfortable and can quickly accomplish each of these steps.

Then I had to get the tire back on the rim. Even after 40 years of cycling, I still struggle to get the tire to stretch over the last four to six inches of that rim. I have tried to use tire levers, smaller screw drivers, and brute manual force. Ultimately I can get the tire back on but it always seems to be harder than it should be. I will always love cycing but I cannot stand the sight of a flattened tire.