Today looks to be the best day for bicycle commuting this week. I got up at 5:00 a.m., showered, dressed in my cycling clothes, ate breakfast, packed my commuting stuff into the bags on Nermal, and headed out the door.
About 2.5 miles into my commute, I had a flat rear tire. No big deal, I have a spare tube, pump, and tire levers.
Bicycle tubes come with a variety of valve types. The two most common are Presta and Schrader. Schrader is what most cars have. Nermal used to have Schrader valves.
My new wheel was set up for Presta. My recumbent has Presta also, and I was looking forward to not having two different kinds of valves to worry about. Nermal’s front wheel is still Schrader, but I carry both tubes, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
My pump is convertible between Presta and Schrader, but changing it requires taking it apart, and flipping two different parts around.
It took me entirely too long to change the tube, even longer to convert the pump, and my pannier that holds my laptop and change of clothes lost some mounting hardware.
So, I rode back home, changed clothes, and drove to work so that I could make it on time, and with my laptop intact.
I still managed a five-mile ride for the morning. Maybe I’ll squeeze in another ride tonight.