Biking for Health

In my effort to exercise, stay healthy, and all that stuff, I have been riding my bike to work. I look forward to the thrill of riding with the big boys (all the cars and trucks, some of which come pretty close). Yesterday, as I prepared to go home, I discovered I had a flat tire. I've had flat tires before and simply pumped them up enough to get home. But the air I pumped yesterday was going somewhere other than the tube. I called mom; she brought the truck, and I was able to get home.

I arrived home and investigated the situation. When I pulled the tire back a little, I discovered green slime, oozing out of the tube, like I had squished a few caterpillars. Bottom line? A new tube.

I think I experienced what avid cyclists call a "snake bite." It's something to do with the tube being pinched when force is applied against it (like going over a bump), causing a small split in the tube. I surmise the slime kept the air in for a while, but as the bike sat in the heat yesterday, the air pressure increased, and the tube finally failed.

Looking on the bright side, I now have the opportunity to experience changing a tube. I'm going to replace both of them since the front one oozes a little green stuff, now and then. I ran over a screw last summer; it's never totally healed.

Take care.

From a healthy dad (relatively speaking. We are relatives, aren't we?)