So I had a couple of friends come down from Ottawa for the Becel: Ride for Heart, which I can see from my balcony as the cyclists ride up and down the DVP: Don Valley Parkway. My friend Stef and her friend Chris dressed up as Thing 1 & Thing 2 and rode Chris' homemade two-seater incumbent bike which the two people are back to back and pedaling forward!
I hope you can see them from this picture.. look for the two red & blue mini blobs on the DVP!
So our friend Harris also rode in the ride and was kind enough to stop to help people out that had flat tires or chains that fell off their bikes. He is Mr. Bike-fixer-upper!! So he did me a huge favour and pumped up my tire.. yes I'm getting to the point of my blog now!! hahaha!!
Well the next day I hear this HUGE explosion! At first I thought it was my bookshelf crashing down and even Mysterio jumped up to investigate! But my living room looked normal. So then I thought it must be the construction on Pottery Rd.
Then next day my friend Andrew comes over and we go on the balcony so I can point in the direction of where some Geocaches are down by Todmorden Mills. Andrew says: Steph, you have a flat tire! I'm like: what are you talking about Harris just pumped up my tire yesterday! Ding, ding, ding!! 1 + 1 = 2 or in my case.. pumped up tire + explosion = my blown inner tube!!
So now what do I do? I am broke, literally, so I cannot afford to go to a bike shop for them to fix it. Well then I remember there are the Bike Pirates near Lansdowne & Bloor. That's too far to lug this bike. But recently I have been on the 504 King streetcar and have seen this shop near Broadview & Dundas. Bike Sauce. My surfer drives me and the bike down to the shop but it was not open so I locked up the bike nearby. The wheel was so messed up I couldn't walk the bike cuz the wheel would not move.
http://bikesauce.org/
So I check out their website and someone will show you how to fix your bike and you offer a donation towards your time at the shop. As well, you can buy supplies there to fix your bike. In my case an inner tube cost me $4 and I donated $10 for my time in the shop and I brought them some yummy vegan berry muffins I had made that day.
There was only one volunteer in the shop and a few of us newbies! It was a bit slow going as the guy had to bounce from all us but eventually I got my wheel off, stripped the rim of the old bike tape and tube, reapplied some new bike tape and got the inner tube on, then I put the tire back on.. ha.. luckily the volunteer came back in time because I had put the tire on wrong! haha! Once it was on correctly I learnt what amount of air needed to be pumped up to (I think that was the problem, Harris put too much air in) and last but not least I was shown how to put the brake pads back and lock in the wheel. Voila! I was done! About 45 minutes of my time and a heck of a lot cheaper then a bike shop and I learnt how to do it myself!
Here's to old dogs learning new tricks! Steph :0)
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| Stef as Thing 2! |
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| Thing 1 & Thing 2 are headed north on the DVP! |
Well the next day I hear this HUGE explosion! At first I thought it was my bookshelf crashing down and even Mysterio jumped up to investigate! But my living room looked normal. So then I thought it must be the construction on Pottery Rd.
Then next day my friend Andrew comes over and we go on the balcony so I can point in the direction of where some Geocaches are down by Todmorden Mills. Andrew says: Steph, you have a flat tire! I'm like: what are you talking about Harris just pumped up my tire yesterday! Ding, ding, ding!! 1 + 1 = 2 or in my case.. pumped up tire + explosion = my blown inner tube!!
 |
| Blown inner tube! |
http://bikesauce.org/
So I check out their website and someone will show you how to fix your bike and you offer a donation towards your time at the shop. As well, you can buy supplies there to fix your bike. In my case an inner tube cost me $4 and I donated $10 for my time in the shop and I brought them some yummy vegan berry muffins I had made that day.
There was only one volunteer in the shop and a few of us newbies! It was a bit slow going as the guy had to bounce from all us but eventually I got my wheel off, stripped the rim of the old bike tape and tube, reapplied some new bike tape and got the inner tube on, then I put the tire back on.. ha.. luckily the volunteer came back in time because I had put the tire on wrong! haha! Once it was on correctly I learnt what amount of air needed to be pumped up to (I think that was the problem, Harris put too much air in) and last but not least I was shown how to put the brake pads back and lock in the wheel. Voila! I was done! About 45 minutes of my time and a heck of a lot cheaper then a bike shop and I learnt how to do it myself!
Here's to old dogs learning new tricks! Steph :0)
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