Ride on

11th March: 20 kms. The weather in Bangalore turned much cooler  due to the low pressure in the south of India. Felt awesome cycling with the cool breeze. While going back, the going got tough since had a heavy breeze going against. But I felt refreshed.

12th March: 20 kms. Weather continued to stay cool. Had my first flat (puncture) on the rear wheel of my Merida. While going down from Marathahalli bridge, I sensed the rear wheel jumping…Got down to check and didn’t find anything wrong really, it was dark, there was air pressure so continued…but the rear wheel continued to bounce. Got down again, and this time slowly rotated the rear wheel to see if anything is amiss, and lo & behold, a huge screw had penetrated the tire. I removed it and “fuss”, within 10 seconds the entire air was released. Walked along from Marathahalli bridge to Kundalahalli gate, to a cycle store nearby. The cycle shop was closing (it was 8:30pm). The guy first mentioned that we are closing, and I said oh, and then he said he will do it, since tomorrow (Fri) was a holiday and the shop will be closed. I thanked him, had some doubts asto how the puncture will be repaired and while doing so will it damage my rim (it was a Merida for god’s sake). The young chap at the shop asked me “Isko stand nahi hai kya ?” meaning, doesn’t the bike have a stand ? And I said no. But he got down to business, removed the tire and the tube cleanly. Found the area of puncture, fixed it with a sticky gum and a round-shaped patch. I asked him will this hold up at 50psi pressure ? He said it hold pretty much car punctures at 35 psi …Ok..what choice did I have rather than to hope it holds up at 50 psi as well. He finished up in less than 5 mins, charged me Rs 10/- for the job and off I was. Reached home and sunk in my sofa in front of my LCD.

13th March: 20 kms (have covered 10 so far, in my office as I write this post.)

Cheers,
YVR