An unexpected walk

This week started with two sunny suitable for bike commuting days, but continued with two very wet and somewhat gray days. I say somewhat because the sky cleared to blue around three this afternoon. It seemed like a good day for a short after-work ride.

Well, it seemed like that to me, but apparently not to my bike. I was about 5 miles from home when something started feeling odd. What? It turned out to be a flat tire, not something that happens too often. It was odd in that it was the same tire that flatted just about a month ago. I pulled out the old tube, looked at the tire and found a piece of protruding glass. Hey - that doesn't belong there! At that point I found a slash in the tire. Hmmm. I guess I'll put a tire patch (usually used on the tube!) on the inside of the tire. (Actually, a dollar bill would have worked better as a tire boot, but silly me only had a twenty and that seemed like a lot of money to keep inside of a tire! I need to remember to take some one dollar bills with me, just in case).

As I was putting my "enough to get me home" patch in the tire, the woman who lived the in house where I was working came out with two of her sons. They were about to go watch her other son play softball. She stopped to see if I was OK, and my answer was yes. Then she offered me a ride home. Normally I would just fix the tire and continue my ride, but that slash on the tire made me very nervous. It was a good offer, and I took her up on it. Road angels appear when you least expect them, don't they?

I found it interesting that when she offered me the ride she said "I know I'm a stranger and you don't know me, but if that doesn't make you uncomfortable I'd be happy to drive you home". To which I responded "you don't know me either; you just noticed me sitting in front of your house changing a tire and were kind enough to offer help in the form of a ride - but I'd be glad to take you up on your offer". I guess we are both trusting people. And I had an interesting conversation with her young sons as they gave me a lift home.

It was early enough when I got home to head out on a different bike, but maybe the tire was a sign that this wasn't really meant to be a riding day. Walking with a camera sounded like a good alternative to me for today.

And yes, I am going to replace my slashed tire with not one but two tires - one for the bike, and one as a backup. Hopefully buying an extra tire will mean that I will not need it.

I'm always amazed at the beauty around me - looking at things (as opposed to looking beyond things) has definite rewards.

And sometimes it's the unexpected things that bring a smile to my face. This rubber duck was paddling aroung the reflecting pool on the Merrimack College campus. The flash of unexpected yellow in the water drew me closer...