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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Blowout!

Here at the Carolina Clan Gathering, during the day, you pretty much can do what you want, when you want.  There is no hard and fast schedule, a few times we did have some activities like the great kayaking adventure.

Another day we had a give away, everyone could bring something that they no longer needed and anybody that wanted the item could have it.

Bill, having had a career in sales, did his best to “sell” the unwanted items to folks gathered around.   He had no idea what most of the items were.  But then,  with his talent, he could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo.

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His best sale?  This item, which he had absolutely no idea what it was…

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…to Nancy, his wife!  She almost jumped over the others to get it.  ;c)

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Huntington Beach State Park has beautifully paved roads great for bike riding.  Marti and I couldn’t wait to jump on our Dahon foldable bikes and take a spin around the park.  We hadn’t used them in a while and the tires were low.  No big deal, I whipped out my tire pump and aired up all the tires.  Just as I finished the last tire…POW!  I think I over inflated the tire causing it to blow.  Duh!

The rear tire on my bike blew out.  Great.  Some years back, I had a flat and I bought two tubes, one to fix the flat and one to keep as a spare for a future flat.  Yep, do you think I could find that tube? 

A search ended up in a complete reorganization of some of our basement compartments, and…no tube.

Hence our trip to Walmart to get a tube. Not only did I buy two tubes (another spare to lose somewhere else in the Journey), I bought a new tire pump with a built in pressure gauge.  Not going to make the same mistake twice.

Back to the Journey, I removed the wheel, inserted the new tube and put everything all back together.  Then the fun began.  The new tire pump has a different attachment for the tube valve stem.  It works exactly opposite of my old pump.  Somebody thought they had a better mousetrap. Not!

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To use the new one and prevent it from pushing the valve stem into the rim before it can be locked on, I had to use some vice grips to hold the stem.  Sheesh!

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I inflated the tire, put it back on the bike and spun it to make sure everything was aligned properly and found the tire also has a hole in it where the tube blew out.  Double Sheesh!!

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Hence, another trip off to Walmart, to get a new tire this time.

Yada, yada, came back, put tire on wheel, put wheel on bike, inflate and finally it was done.

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Now we were ready to go for a ride…finally.  Now we’re Happy! 

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Off we went for a trouble free ride.  Right….

A little ways down the road, my rear fender started rubbing on the tire.  A bolt (seen here on Marti’s bike),

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fell off of my bike, letting the fender drop down on the tire.

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What to do?  Bungee cord to the rescue!

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Good thing I had a bungee cord, because I wasn’t carrying any duct tape!  :c)

The End! 

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Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

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19 comments:

  1. good for you for persevering! I think I would have given up after the tire blew!

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  2. Bungee cords are wonderful. They are must haves for any outing. Good thing your blow out was on the bike and not on your motorhome.

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  3. You sure got your exercise just getting the bike ready to ride. Maybe a brisk walk would be easier.

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  4. THis is great Paul. What an ordeal. You obviously REALLY wanted to go on that bike ride.

    I've read a couple of blogs about the give away but not one person has mention what was given away. Not even you - what did Nancy want so badly??

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    1. It was some kind of pasta cooker thingy with holes on the sides to measure spaghetti...I think...

      Bill wasn't the only one who didn't know exactly what is was. ;c)

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  5. So I'm thinking that after all that, I would have said to heck with it, and put the bikes back on the rack. Walking works :)

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  6. you scared me almost to the passing out point when I read your title Paul...wait till I see you again Mister!!! lol....my biggest fear..I had visions that you had the blow out on the rig!!!! Glad it was only your bike tire...and that you did eventually get to enjoy your bike ride...:)

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  7. walking is so much easier and you never have to go to Walmart!

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  8. It's just a guess, but I'm thinking Paul likes the repair parts more than the actual activity. I envy that.

    Oh, I like that feeds it on the sidebar, but it has me a couple towns over.

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  9. Glad you got that tire all fixed up and were able to go out for that ride. Thanks for letting me try one out. The jury is still out but I'm seriously leaning in that direction :)

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  10. So happy to read it was the bike and not the MH. Definitely got my worry up a notch or two. Enough with all the issues out there.

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  11. Nothing is ever easy and when you get old and infirm and need wheels to get around all the time it just gets worse. So sorry your ride gave you trouble but then I guess if you need the wheels....JUST KIDDING!!!

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  12. "and...no tube". Or, you look for something for so long that you no longer remember what you were looking for.

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  13. After all that work, that had to be the most enjoyable ride yet ;-)

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  14. I didn't know that when we saw you on the bikes there was such a story behind them! Glad you were able to get everything up and running!

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  15. Better a blowout on the bicycle than the Motorhome.

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  16. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to make multiple trips to the store when I'm trying to fix something!

    I also have someone who steals things I buy and put away for a rainy day never to be seen again.

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  17. You sure got my attention with that title! Bungie cords, duck tape and WD 40....what would we do without them?

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  18. That's a lot to go through for a bike ride.

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