Flat out of luck...?

By: Jeanette Tran

After my last fiasco with the bike, it took a week before it was all put together again in tip-top running condition. (Many thanks to my friend(s) for pulling through and helping me out on this one). After the bike was back to normal running condition, I decided that I needed some more seat time on the bike. Especially considering that the only time that I really took it out was that one time for about 15-20 minutes on the freeway before it decided give up on me. Since the bike was still relatively new to me, and I had yet to become fully accustom to the controls and seating of the bike, I knew the smart thing to do would be to just take the bike out for a cruise around town and force myself into stop and go situations. I went on a few night rides around town and each time I went out I made sure to take a few side streets here and there to ensure more practice coming and leaving a stop. After maybe two or three night rides, I finally felt confident enough to make my first appearance with Scarlet on a weekend group ride.

So the Friday before the weekend of the group ride, I decided to take the bike out one more time to ensure that everything was intact and ride ready. As I get ready to leave the house for a mini ride to meet up with my friends for a cup of coffee, my roommates help give my motorcycle an overview check up. Tire pressure was pretty low so I took some time to get it just right. While I was doing that, my roommate pointed out a flat spot on the rear (which can probably be credited to the low tire pressure and a previous owner that mostly commuted on the bike) that I had on my tire and warned me about changing out my tire soon because he had had the same type of tire condition and had it fail on him while he was going into a turn at only 35 mph. I took note of his suggestion and thanked him for his concerns. After running through all of the routine checks I pull my bike out of the garage and gear up to leave. As I was sitting there on my bike getting ready to leave, my roommate frowned and looked at the rear tire and said to me 'If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to call.' I gave a nod and smile and carefully went off along my way.

The ride to the cafe quite highly enjoyable although extremely enjoyable. After a few hours I was ready to head back home so I started the bike up and I took my time to put on my gear. As I hopped on my bike and watched all of my friends leave in their cars, I pop the bike into first and took off. As I pulled out from my parking spot, I felt the back end slip a little. Since it was pretty late at night and the air had a nice crisp chill to it, my first thought was that it must be the cold tires or maybe it was that flat spot my roommate kept trying to warn me about?? Either way, it seemed to only be a slight wiggle and I continued along my way. However, not too soon after I put this thought behind me, the traffic light in front of me turned red. Gradually I applied both breaks and prepared myself to put my foot down as I came to a stop. As soon as I tried to do that, the whole entire rear end of the bike wobbled and swayed beneath me. Lucky for me, I was not going too fast and the bike was still under my control at all times. Once the light turned green, I immediately pulled over where I could, and hopped off the bike. As soon as I had dismounted the bike, I laid eyes on the tire and knew exactly what was wrong with the bike. My heart sank just to about as low to the ground as where the rim of my tire now was. Given my current position on the side of the street, and the dim lighting the street lamps provided me, I looked for a safer alternative. Lucky for me, down the street, about a block away, the bright sign showing ridiculously high gas prices never looked so inviting. I flipped on my hazard lights and proceeded to slowly ride my bike over to the gas station.

When I got to the gas station I foolishly tired to fill the rear tire with air in hopes that it was really some sort of fluke or prank someone had played on me. But as I filled the rear tire up with air, I heard the air simultaneously seeping out. Rolling the bike forward I revealed the killer of my tire - a nasty sharp nail piercing all the way through the meat of the tire. With the sight of that, I knew that my luck had just run out for the night and there was no other option but to call my roommate for a truck ride home.

If it is not one thing, then it is another with this bike. After so many close calls and unfortunate events, I could not help but feel discouraged to ride the bike. All I could think about was whether or not my luck running out on me? I seemed pretty lucky in terms of the situation as a whole, and I still managed to get my tired changed out and ready for that group ride on Sunday...so was this really fate telling me to change out my tire before I consider going on that group ride before I really ran out of luck? Not sure how to answer those questions, but all I know now is that the world works in funny ways whether we understand it or not.

My lesson learned this time around is to just remember to pay attention to any signs of trouble and always check things out before it really is too late to do anything.

Published: Oct 22, 2009

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