On the way home from work last night the bike started to feel strange - shifting imperceptibly sideways under me. At first I ignored it, and put it down to the wind, or hitting uneven patches of road. Half a minute later the bike snaked alarmingly, and I stopped ignoring it.
It took seconds to figure out what was wrong - the rear tyre was almost empty, and deflating fast. After walking the remainder of the journey home, I threw the bike in the shed and resolved myself to find the puncture kit in the morning.
And then forgot all about it.
While staring at the bedroom wall this morning, and half listening to the strains of the local radio station, I remembered about the bike. Appearing downstairs with gorilla hair that hipsters pay good money for, I wandered into the study in my boxer shorts and found the bike repair kit (which I keep in the study, rather than my backpack - yeah, I’m sensible like that). Oh crap. Lots of patches, but no glue.
Cue an email to work announcing that I would be late in, and preparations to trudge into town and purchase a new inner tube, puncture repair kit, pump, and oil for the bike (it’s raining cats and dogs here at the moment).
I guess the only thing I didn’t really predict was how difficult it might be to pump the new inner tube up - I ended up standing in the rain for the best part of half an hour struggling with the damn thing before I got enough air in it.
I’m now sat in the office with fingernails that look like a ship’s mechanic’s - ingrained with oil, grime, dirt and who knows what else.I can’t complain though; the bike has cost me less than a meal out to maintain for the last three or four years.