The Awesome Hen /There was an old woman who swallowed a fly!

The rest of my ride nearly made up for the horror of the fly. It felt perfect to be outside in the sunshine bowling along this little lane…

When I arrived back at home and told the Agent all about the fly horror, he said I was obviously cycling far too slowly and then bet me £2.00 my tyres were flat.

Flat tyres!

I couldn’t believe it – I’d only just prodded them the other day and they felt absolutely bursting with air to me. However the Agent tested them with the pressure gauge and snorted when he saw the reading. Then he gave me a massive lecture & I gather I am to test them properly with the pressure gauge every time I take the bike out in future. I felt too ashamed of my careless habits to confess that I had no idea how to do this. As soon as he had gone out, I googled for help and found it here at helpful BikeRadar :

Keen to try a bit of DIY bike maintenance but worried your ‘can-do’ approach might end up as one big ‘can-D’OH!’? Check out BikeRadar‘s top 10 DIY ‘Don’ts’ to keep you out of trouble.

Psi

Don’t ignore tyre pressure. Riding around with soft tyres can open up a can of worms, full of inconvenience, as well as dragging down your spirit and top speed. Always check your tyres before heading out on a ride; some thinner walled inner tubes can lose between 5 and 20psi a day. Either give them a squeeze by applying ﬁrm pressure to the top with your thumb or ping them with a ﬁrm ﬂick of the ﬁnger. They should produce a drum-like hollow sound and feel very ﬁrm when at the correct pressure. Use a good ﬂoor pump with an accurate gauge to get the correct inﬂation, then learn to identify by feel when you’ve reached that correct pressure, for those times you’ll be using your hand pump by the road- or trailside.

Gosh – I had no idea I risked so much, riding around with poorly inflated tyres. Can of Worms …inconvenience …dragging down my spirit and my top speed... What??? Thank you BikeRadar for putting me straight and telling me how to get my PSI sorted.

PSI?

In a trice, I learnt that PSI means ‘Pounds per Square Inch‘ and the correct PSI is written on the tyre. I then applied myself to pinging and producing the required ‘drum-like hollow sound...’ on the Poppy Bike.

In a jiffy, the pressure gauge went from this:

to this:

Yours, feeling pleasingly competent (although £2.00 down),

4 Comments

The Agent July 28, 2014

To be fair, the agent is clueless about anything regarding DIY ! In our house it is known as BIY whenever he is involved : Bu**er it up yourself !

- Lady Liberty Hen July 28, 2014
  
  He is not; he is absolutely BRILLIANT & I know because I live with him!
Billy July 22, 2014

I feel obliged to warn you that the narrator of Life is a Wheel said that the only flat tire he encountered on his ride across America was as a result of over-inflating his tires. Has the Agent properly trained (and provided you with the necessary equipment) to fix a flat tire? Naturally, should this happen, it will occur at the point furthest from Castle Coop – based on your current progress I suppose that would be about 30 miles or more away and I doubt that the Agent will chortle at having to leave the Ox to come and rescue you.
Glad the regime is going well and congratulations on the splendid total you have raised. I am sure that your grandfather would have been very proud of your efforts. Are you going to emblazon your cycling shirt with a picture of him, plus suitable slogan?

- Lady Liberty Hen July 22, 2014
  
  You’re quite right about the flat tyre worry – I looked at my puncture repair kit today and realised that it’s yet another thing I have no idea how to use. I shall apply myself.
  The splendid total is thanks to all of my fabulous supporters – I haven’t done anything yet and am worried incase I conk out. I have tied a blue ribbon on the Poppy Bike for Grandpa’s blue eyes!