San Francisco, 25 september 2019

We were having a lovely bike ride in the Presidio, when we had reason to stop at a bench in the shade. This was the view toward the bay and the bridge. Beautiful, right?

Yes, beautiful.

But the reason for this stop was a flat tire.  No problem; Dan was prepared to fix it. Out came the [plastic] tire irons and the new tube to replace the punctured one.

Unfortunately, my tire also turned out to have a visible hole. After much work, and with a hopeful patch on the tire, we set off again. But after a very short distance we heard the same unmistakable BLAMMO sound, and we started walking with the tire flat again. We went to the Welcome Center at the bridge, which had been one of the day’s destinations anyway. With my bike, I sat and waited an hour or so while Dan rode home then drove back to rescue me.

Today’s lesson: Don’t bother wrestling with a tube, patch kit, and blammoed tire. The fix won’t hold.