Filling deflated tires…

It seemed like an easy job, but filling the deflated tires on my bike was harder than presumed. The vales are not like the old valves but have an added safety valve to prevent deflation. After a few attempts, I thought I had the pump attached to the tire, but alas, no. I couldn’t figure out why the pump was so hard to push and hearing air hissing out of the tire should have been my first cue that “I’m doing it wrong!” Somewhere there are experienced cyclists chuckling and I kept thinking that if my experienced cyclist friend was here she’d be getting a chuckle as well. And that’s ok.

Apparently gone are the days when bikes were simple. I used to know every inch of my bike and could fix just about anything on or associated with it. At the tender age of 9, I was an expert at replacing the chain once it had jumped off. I would oil every link in the chain, rotate the tires, check the pedals, modify, and accessorize (but never with the baseball/hockey card in the spoke thing!) I had the best first bike ever! ( ok, for me) It was what would be called today a fixed gear bike, blue with a sparkly gold banana seat and had long, chopper style handle bars. In a word…AWESOME! To brake you peddled backwards. Needless to say my grandparents’ long gravel lane-way was filled with rather lengthy skid marks. (no permanent damage done, though!)

Alas, I digress. I look at my bike today and see a complicated piece of machinery, with all of it’s gears, shifters, derailleurs, stylized frame (this one is aluminum, my first was steel I believe) and disc brakes (see image below). Disc brakes! Eesh! (but they do come in handy… although sometimes I do wish all I had to do was peddle backwards)

(Image from the web)

But in my bike today, I see a challenge, an opportunity to learn. After an hour of puzzlement and thought, I finally figured out the brass part of the valve, filled my tires, went for a very short ride and was reminded why I do this.