Coombes Lane, Northfield, June 7th
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My chum Celeste was on Radio 4 today as one of the experts on In Our Time discussing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. As usual Melvin Bragg is an arse masquerading as the listener’s advocate but it’s still worth a listen. I’ve picked up bits of Abolitionist history by osmosis over the last year or so and it’s fascinating stuff. MP3 here for the next week.
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My bike has developed another puncture in the rear wheel and I’m getting mightily sick of it, especially as the front wheel has never gone flat in the two years I’ve had it. I’m thinking it might be time to get a new tyre as it’s either got something sharp but miniscule embedded in it or it’s getting worn out and allowing stuff in. I’m especially annoyed because each time I take the wheel off the ball-bearings slip out of place and the breaks never quite sit right.
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While standing at the bus stop I saw a crow appeared a few yards away from me and hopped onto the Bristol Road, a dual carriage-way of some intensity. It was scraggy and old and incapable of flight but determined to get to the other side, making it over the first lane but stopping in the second. A car approached at speed and I turned away, at the last minute looking back to see it miss by a whisker. Another car approached but this time I couldn’t look. The driver honked his horn followed immediately by a sickening thunk. There was a bright red patch where the crow had been with the crumpled corpse a few metres up the road.
I was mildly distressed at this experience and started to wonder why. Part of it was my innate cyclists negative attitude towards car drivers bombing about the place with no awareness of exactly what they’re capable of doing with their metal death machines but the reality of roadkill isn’t a radically new idea to me. And, as a meat eater who’s just this evening chopped up a substantial chunk of cow and made a curry with it, I’m not morally outraged at the notion of killing animals. But this crow, to coin a phrase, touched me.
In the end I rationalised it as a piece of anthropomorphism. When I saw the crow I didn’t see an animal reaching the end of it’s natural life. I projected ideas of humanity onto it, gave it consciousness and felt sorry for this feathered reptile descendant. Then, as the inevitability of it all rapidly became apparent I had time to build a drama in my mind building to a terrible climax. If I’d arrived at the bus stop a few minutes later or had cycled past I wouldn’t have given the carnage a second thought. It’s all about the story.
Later a greenfly landed on my arm and I squashed it with no qualms whatsoever.
I also struggled with repeated punctures and then slow leaks. Turned out there was a tiny bit of glass stuck in my tire that I only found by locating the puncture in the tube and then examining the tire in the same area. Rear wheel too…it never fails..
Always have a good feel around the inner wall of the tire. Just run your fingers round, and if there is anything there you’ll almost certainly find it.
I’ve done this repeatedly with no joy. A new tyre it is. (Asusming they’re not outrageously expensive…)
I think the weight of the rider is generally over the rear wheel, and that could increase the rate of wear, and the ability of things to work their way into the tube. If you’ve got the tyre off for any reason, it’s a good idea to run a bit of sudsy warer around the inside, then, as Jez said, give it a fingertip survey for any odd bits that are embedded.
As to why your bearings are falling out, that sounds like a problem of its own. Bearings are generally held in by a race or a track-nut. Are you removing something that doesn’t need to be removed? If you go into a bike shop, point this out to the staff.
Sort of a similar issue with brakes. Are they caliper brakes? Centre-pull brakes? Either way, they should stay in adjustment unless something is seriously funky about them.
BTW, gorgeous photo of the bin. Love the way the rust forms organic patterns and creates effects that wouldn’t happen elsewhere.
Given todays news I didn’t splash out on a new tyre and, using etat’s soapy water tip, located a teeny slither of glass embedded right in the rubber. It was the exact same size as my last three punctures. That fucker is gone now!
The bearings didn’t shift this time – all in all it was a very positive bike-related experience. No, they’re not mounted on a track but sit there coated in grease. I’m not sure why they slip out of place but they do and it’s very annoying.
The breaks don’t shift. It’s more to do with the wheel not sitting right thanks to the quick-release mechanism which, when closed, makes it very hard to hold the wheel straight.
Other than all that I love my bike.