Where There's a Wheel, There's a Tube

In Namibia, I have two primary modes of transportation... The first is my feet. The second is my bike. So when my back tire went flat on me overnight, it was a problem. Not a huge one, but moderately urgent. Lots of volunteers have bikes here, especially ones that live in towns like me. And lots of volunteers get lots of flats, thanks to all the thorns that litter the ground wherever you go (Lavins... like the ones in the OBX that you always manage to step on at least once). So I thought... All right. I need to fix the flat. I've never done it on my own before, but now's a good time to learn.

So I take it over to Rob and Martin's so Martin can watch (but NOT help... I had to do it myself, I was very ademant about that!) while I tale off the nuts, remove the kickstand, use the thingy-ma-jig to get the tire off of the wheel, and slowly and arduously remove the inner tube (this part took forever). Then I fill a washtub with water and submerge the tube to find the leak. Success! I mark it with chalk and get out the patch kit. Patch it up and reverse the whole process, finishing by pumping up the tire. A job well done, I think, and all on my own! I even e-mail my Dad about it to make him proud.

In the morning, I am about to ride it to work, when I hear that familiar squeak-squeak... Flat again! So I end up cabbing it to work and coming back to fix it again later. So it's the whole process again... Couldn't find any new holes, though the patched area looks a little weird. I put it back on and repump it, then wait to see what happens. Sure enough, I hear a Pffffft! about 10 minutes later and I run over to feel... Air is coming out of the place where you pump it (whatever that thingy is called). I start over and begin to pull out the tube... Well there's a hole in the patch and air had been leaking from there as well as the pumpy-part (lol clearly I'm a professional in bike mechanics).

After discussing it a minute with Martin, he tells me the safest thing would be to just get a new tube. Great, I think... How much are those? Oh, about N$60. Not ridiculous, but hey I'm on a budget and that's 6 chocolate bars or 3 boxes of Weet-Bix! And I probably have to wait until I'm in Windhoek to get one. Oh well, I think. I walk out to the front room to get the bike kit to remove the tube YET again, pick up the cardboard box and as I'm turning back toward the living room I trip over Martin's bike and drop the box, all of the contents spilling out on the floor. And out falls.... What?! A brand new tube?

"Is this yours?" I ask Martin. "No," he says. "Must just be an extra left behind." But now the question is... Does it fit?? 26 inches and... 26 inches! Yessss!!

Moral of the story: The Universe always gives you what you need if you just ask. ;-) this one's for you, Cathey!

So I'm back on my bike tomorrow, with a new skill under my belt :-P Cheers everybody and Happy August! It's starting to warm up over here. You could say it's "springtime" though that's not totally accurate. It's never really springtime in a desert. But summer is on its way! Woot woot!

Leaving for two weeks of Reconnect Conference in Windhoek on Sunday... Can't wait to see all of Group 35 and hug you guys!

Xoxoxo
Tash


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Location:Gobabis, Namibia