Good Boys Don't Get Flats

In the Summer of 1959, Me and my brother John set off for a bicycle ride that we would remember for many years to come.

I was seven years old and my brother John, six. My Mom would allow us to go off for the day on what was known to us as a "Bike Hike" as long as we had a destination that she agreed with and promised to walk our bikes across at intersections.
Our Bike Hike for the day was to ride to Sunshine Dairy in Sherborn, 7 miles away, have a picnic lunch, feed the ducks, Buy Ice Cream and ride home.

Mom packed our lunch's with the standard PB&J and 15 cents each for Ice Cream.
No sooner did we start the ride, my brother started eating his sandwich while riding and then moved on to the duck bread. By the time we reached the half way point he had finished all the carry-on food and was looking for more.

Along the way there was a little general store with a "Frostie Root Beer" sign on the outside. It had unfinished wide pine flooring and penny candy. They had one of those ice cream coolers that you opened the top and reached down into for Hoodsies and H Bars. There was a little wooden stool for short people.
My brother spent all his money on a big bag of candy and went out side to sit on the step and finish it off. I remember the look on his face looking into the bag, away from Mom with a huge bag, all on his own. Total Bliss.

By the time we reached the dairy, John was out of money, lunch and duck bread. That was the day my little brother taught me without saying a word that you don't need duck bread to attract ducks. All you need to do is make like your throwing it in, The arm movement alone will make them come.

Things got boring that afternoon at the Dairy quickly. It wouldn't have been right to go straight home at that moment.
The only thing that came to mind was exactly what my Mom would have totally forbidden and never would have allowed us to do if it had been part of the original "Bike Hike" plan.

Our ride would now include an extra leg to Downtown Framingham.
Downtown Framingham was and still is a very busy place. Theres lots of traffic. Cars,Trucks,Buses,Trains, no place for a couple of little kids on bikes, even not back then. Our destination, Woolworth's. Why? Lead Soldiers.

Woolworths had a glass shelfs with regiments of 2" high hand painted lead soldiers. Mostly like war figures from World War One. I remember about 10 different poses, placed in rows of 10 deep. Being in the presents of these nobel miniture troops with out parents to say "Come on, Lets go!" was like heven on earth!
We parked our bikes outside unlocked against the window and went in side. We were in the store at the soldier section for only about a minute when a very large women in a house coat told us we had to leave because we were not with our mother. We couldn't argue back then so we followed her orders.
When we got back to the bikes we found that John's front tire was not only flat, but had completely blown off the rim. (Air Pressure didn't mean much to us back then)
At age seven I could patch a flat but did not bring a patch kit for the job. I did however have a adjustable wrench and a screwdriver.
You need to understand that if we were to call my Mom from Downtown Framingham that afternoon, I would not be alive now to tell this story.
If the tire in the back had flatted, we could just ride it back the 3 miles to the dairy, but this was the front.

I did what needed to be done. I removed my brothers front wheel and stretched his front fork to fit my rear axle,tightened the axle nuts and turned the two bicycles into a tandem.
My Brother John looked at it and said, "Lets Call Mom!"
I yelled, "Get On!" Holding his front wheel in his hands on his handlebars like a steering wheel.
We made it back to the Dairy with enough time to call Mom, have here come get us in a place we had agreed to be and be back to the house for Supper in time for Dad to come home from work.

Forty Nine Years have passed. I remember that my Mom wasn't very happy to come get us in the car. Not part of her plan I suppose. I reminded my brother of our day together and he recalls it as the day that he learned that,
"Good Boys Don't Get Flats!"

Another Reason to Ride

There must be a million reasons not to ride your bike. Over the years I have heard them all, well almost.
Too Hot, Too Cold, Too Wet, Too Windy, Too Dark, Too much Traffic, Too much Glass, Too many Puddles,Too Many Pot Holes, Too Many Puddles with Pot Holes, Too many Leafs on the Trail, Too Muddy, Too little Time, Too Expensive, Too dangerous, Too much Snow, Too much Sand, Too much Ice, Too many chores. I actually heard one fellow say he would never ride the Charles River Trail because there were too many Geese!
I call these folks, "Team Too Much."

Its never been easier to ride your bike. There is something for every problem. Studded tires, Winter Boots and Great Rain Gear come to mind.

Of course there truly legitimate reasons not to ride your bicycle, But in the case of Tyler Hamilton in the 2003 Tour de France and his broken collarbone, too much pain didn't stop his ride.
For those of us that don't remember, Tyler broke his Collarbone in a crash in the second Stage. He not only finished the Tour, but did with distinction. Fourth place overall and 9th place in the Mountains Class.
Truly a case of determination, Tyler turned the heads of many proving again that if you really want something, you can do it.

In the case of a fellow by the name of Dennis. Those of you who have ridden the North Shore of the Merrimack River in Haverhill, Merrimack, Merrimack Port have all seen him. He rides every day,rain or shine. His foot is so bent over, he pedals with his ankle.

Bicycles were invented as a walking machine. I don't think the first builders were thinking of a racing bike until some one challenged another rider. I know I took up cycling as a 5 year old so I didn't have to walk. I loved the coasting part, something we as cyclists seem to forget when we tell people, "I Rode a Century!" How much of that 100 miles was just sitting there? Not much if your doing it under 4 hours in the case of Beryl Burton. Check her out sometime!

Hopping in the car is common here in New England, but there many that use there bicycles as there car for as many reasons as there are not to ride one.

In the case of Jothy Rosenberg. Jothy lost his right leg at 16. He was told by his Doctors that he didn't stand much of a chance surviving. Since he has ridden thousands of miles and has completed the Pan Mass Challenge 7 times. His new book explains it all. His "Who Says I Can’t" book launch event is on December 16th in Needham,Ma at the PMC headquarters. Anybody interested?

The reason for this Blog is to get us to ride. Don't look out the window, Just go for a ride. Short distances are good! You don't need to ride the Tour de France, or 50 miles to do it right. Around the block is enough to put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. How about you?

Macmillan Knew.

Kirkpatrick Macmillan knew what it was like to look weird. The Inventor, Blacksmith credited to have built the first pedal powered bicycle was stoned as he tried to enjoy his ride through the countryside of Dumfriesshire, Scotland back in 1839.

Powered by a two pedal/lever system, by pumping he could travel fast enough to have actually received a speeding ticket of 5 shillings on his personal best 40 mile time trial to Glasgow in 1842.
His wood framed, Iron wheeled Velocipede of 57 pounds I'm sure was quite a sight. The noise the wheels made on the dirt and stone path must have been wild!
Horses and people alike had to have been terrified to see him coming.
In America in the late 1800's Bicycle clubs were formed for the safety of cyclists that otherwise would have had to travel alone. In 1898 the League of American Wheelmen had 103'000 members. Lobbing for the safety of cyclists and the first paved roads.
Smith & Wesson offered cyclists a snub-nosed handgun to carry in case of attack. To this day "Pocket Revolvers" are referred to by some as "Bicycle Guns"
Taking up someones space on the street seems to have been a problem for years. Looking different and having a good time can be a problem. Being faster makes things worse.
I love riding a recumbent. I like looking different and I like standing out. I love the looks of horror by drivers as they see me coming as well as the smiles. The eyes in the rear view mirror as they pass is such a hoot. I wave when I see it and sometimes get a wave back. That's when I know they like the bike.

I have yet to have a rock thrown at me. I do often think about Macmillan and what it must have been like being the first and how much he must have turned heads. Although we are different on our style of bicycle, at least for the most part, we are excepted and safe. Leave the gun at home.

One Thousand Hits!

Yesterday I got an email saying that our blog had recieved 1000 hits, I added the little counter at the bottom of the page after the blog had been started so by now its well over 1000. Thank You.

Its been great for me to start my day off telling storys and really nice to see there being read. Comments to the blog show me that other then just being read, there being enjoyed.

As Im sure you know, I have a million stories and will continue writing as long as I can. I would love to have other writers join in and add bicycle adventure storys of any type as well as new subject matter that I might not think of.

Today's Ride

Great ride. The weather was perfect. Two riders, fast pace. The last 15 miles were done as fast as we could go because we were running a little late. More later, Here are the photos:

Resisting Recumbent

Change is good, but change is hard. Why change it if its fine. What would be the point of switching to something new when the old works great, even though its a little tattered and most of all, why fix it if its not broke!
My old jacket, my old shoes. I would rather always stick with what I know then have to switch to something I don't. Improvement or not, familiar is comfortable and nothing new to learn. No manuals to read and nothing to assemble!
Our lives have seen more change then any others in the past. The list of new technology's is huge. Everything electronic from radios to how we light our space.
When I was young I never thought I would ever have a movie theater in my home. A screen big enough to watch films, new and old, without advertisements. Its hard to find a household now that doesn't have a home theater.
People dragged there feet when it came to cell phones too. I remember seeing my first and wanting one. I listened to what seemed everyone around me saying how silly they looked and why would you ever need to walk down the street talking on the phone? Whats that important?
I ask that too now, but try to find some place that has people and see how long you can go without seeing a cell phone in use.
The change from film to video, photo chemical to digital and even those white headlights that were first seen on BMW's. It seemed that people hated the new style until they owned one. "Be the first on your block" is hard now a days with everything changing every 2 seconds.
I remember about 20 years ago hitting my shin on my pedal while running with my Mountain Bike in the woods. The stream of blood made me think, "I will be really surprised if this sport takes off!" I never thought that people as a whole would want to work so hard to have fun.
I remember my first recumbent about 16 years ago and getting comfortable for the first time. The smile on my face made me think, "Now this is a sport that's going to take off!" I thought that people as a whole would love sitting back and enjoying a view while cruising at speed with less work.
Over the years new fashion and styles have been started by free thinkers. People that just don't care of being different. They embrace the new.
I see at my job at Wheelworks customers coming to the "Waters Edge" to take a look at what they have been told they should try. They have seen people using them and some have been told by there doctors its what they need.
I reach a point that the only thing left to say is, "Jump In! The Water is Fine!"

Flats Happen!

One of the hardest parts of my job is explaining to customers that their flat tire is not the fault of the store.
Things said like, "I just had this tire fixed last month!" and "My son never rode this and its flat again!" are the type of things you hear while working the front counter at Wheelworks.
Bicycle retail is a teaching job. Teaching customers that there are many different ways to get flats and how to determine how the flat accrued.
The simple method of removing the tube, inflating it, finding the hole and placing it back in the tire, doesn't always prove anything if what they flatted on has been removed. Explaining rim pinch to someone that doesn't even know that there is a tube to pinch can be difficult.
There's tons of stuff on the roads to flat on and doesn't seem to be getting better. Although the "Bottle Bill" has cut back on a lot of glass, there seems to be more metal wire popping tubes in the past 5 years. Super fine wire is tough to detect and if found, hard to remove. You never really know if you have missed something in the casing now.
The job of changing the flat is usually quicker then the education of the customer as to how they flatted. They always ask you the question that you should be able to ask them: How did the tire go flat? My boss Clint looks out the window and says, "The roads are in really poor condition and that's how it must have happened." Anybody that rides a bicycle would agree. (Hes a pro when it comes to dealing with the public!)
Some rim and tire combo's are harder then others to fix. Tires that don't seat can take as long as an hour to get so it doesn't hop on the rim.
Super tight fitting tires can be a big problem and is the reason "seasoned" riders bring there wheels in for us to do it. I have found that holding the last bit of tire bead to go over the rim under hot water works well.
Flats are the one thing that happen to all type riders, Young and old, Fast and slow, Racers,commuters, and moms with with children. They all get flats.
We also have a fair share of stroller's, wheelchairs and garden carts including wheel barrels.
As for me, I have had as many as 10 flats in one day. Yes,10. At that point, its not going for a ride, its going out to work on your bicycle.
To deal with the chance of flats when I go for a ride, I carry at least two spare tubes, a patch kit with 15 patch's, and nylon cloth to boot a slice in the tire casing. Its important to check to see if your pump is still working if you haven't used it for a while. I have had them go bad over time and do need replacing. Good tire levers are important. Cheep ones can snap and leave you walking. (I have used a wheel skewer handle with success)
With a little planning ahead, watching for glass and sharp objects it is possible to avoid any problems. Having a good light on your helmet makes fixing flats in the dark easier. Spare tubes are best when dealing with a flat on the road, leaving patching inertubes for at home by the kitchen sink.