With my bike out of commission, bowling on Tuesdays and a trip up north planned for the rest of the week, I won’t be riding for about a week. So I thought I’d continue the tire saga.
The split tire almost-disaster didn’t actually end with a new back tire. David, who I found out is originally from Dublin, lived in Manchester and came to California in the 50’s, installed a smaller, black-walled tire. My cruiser had huge whitewalls, so with a smaller tire on the rear, the bike felt lopsided. I went back a couple days later to get the seat raised. All that did was cause an uncomfortable ride. It was so bad, I could only ride a couple of times—it was also extremely hot that week. I don’t usually let the heat keep me off the bike, but 110 is ridiculous.
I rode on Sunday and it was still uncomfortable. So I decided the best course of action was to put a new tire on the front too. It turns out Target had whitewalls for less money than I paid at David’s store, so I took two over and he very generously put them on for no charge! I even got a refund on the black-walled tire. He adjusted the seat for me and it got me riding straight again. I also didn’t like having mismatched tires. I get enough looks down the nose because of my Cruiser without having one white and one black tire.
Oh, and David used to ride. He once rode down the whole west coast with a couple of buddies, camping and causing a sensation everywhere they went. Now he mostly fixes bikes, instead of riding. I’m glad he was there for me. I just wish he had realized you can’t ride with tires that aren’t the same size.
riding & ruminating 