Last week I had a little incident on my bicycle which resulted in a punctured tire. I haven’t had a chance to look at the tire until recently, and was surprised to find that it wasn’t simply a pinch flat in the tube. There was a hole in the sidewall too! (This caused a few more blown tubes as I had missed the hole when checking the tire).

So, even if I’d had a spare tube that night, it might not have done any good since the new tubes just kept popping.

Yesterday I finally talked myself into commuting to work on my bicycle. My first two years in Charlottesville I think I biked to work roughly half the time. In the last year, I’ve done it only a handful of times. Having access to a parking lot sure makes you lazy.

I had been meaning to get back into commuting to work and did so yesterday. Kinda.

The ride to work in the morning went well, no issues and I didn’t feel too horribly out of shape for biking up hills with a backpack on (I need a lighter laptop!). So far so good. After work I rode over to meet some friends for trivia night and to wrap up discussion on this year’s Huskey Research Exhibition. Also went fine.

Around 10pm we concluded trivia (coming in 8th place out of at least double that number of teams) and headed out. Less than a half kilometer after getting on my bike I felt a stiff jar, heard a loud pop, and then a short hiss as all the air leaked out of my front tire.

I immediately stopped the bike and gave the tire a quick inspection.. no sign of damage. But the tube was definitely flat.

Ordinarily I would have pulled off the tire, replaced the tube and continued on my merry way. But, as I was preparing to leave the house in the morning I thought “Oh, I should grab the spare tube”, then thought “Nah, I’ve never had a flat while commuting, it’ll be ok”. My commuting incidents are usually more spectacular than a flat tire, so I didn’t bring the tube.

Oops.

Fortunately a friend was able to pick me up and drive me home, so it ended up alright. I will certainly think twice next time I consider leaving the spare tube at home..

Around 11:00 last night I was in my office packing my bike panniers and suiting up for the bike ride home, when I was wondering why I had refused the ride home a friend had offered me.. It was fairly cool out, and definitely dark. The ride home would have been much quicker, warmer, and easier than bicycling. But, for some reason I opted to bicycle.

About halfway home, I remembered why I ride…

.. It’s for the long uphill section where, for twenty seconds, there are no cars… you have the road to yourself. The only thing you can hear is your own breathing. The only thing you can see is the small patch of road ahead illuminated by your light.

And then, you turn off your light and you see the highway stretching ahead, lit by the moon.

I have been fortunate so far with the weather.. It usually waits to rain until after I’ve arrived at work or rains before I ride. Today was my first day pedaling to work though the rain. And it wasn’t bad at all. It was a bit chilly (4C) but I kept pretty warm. The only issue was my feet, which were pretty soaked 5 minutes into the ride. I have fenders on my bike which probably save my foot from some soakage, but I think I need to do more.

I’ll probably pick up a pair of neoprene booties to put over my shoes. That should keep my feet warm for colder commutes and help with the water issue.

Another solution I’ve been thinking about is fairly simple and involves a 2L soda bottle… I’ll cut it in half (from top to bottom), and use each half as a shield of sorts. Sitting on top of my shoe, the plastic will keep water from splashing onto my shoes (which is the major issue for me). That should take care of the problem.