Personal Victories

Life is all about reaching your goals, no matter how big or small.

I've been meaning to fix the flat on my hybrid for some time now, but the benefit of having two bikes is, well, not having to fix the flat right away. So I got away with riding my road bike instead for a little over a month until it got a flat. It was bound to happen anyway. I just didn't think it would happen so soon. The flat was caused by one of those springy-hinge things, too. So annoying, but I digress.

Changing a flat's always been somewhat of a big deal for me because I'm not really mechanical-minded. I can put two-and-two together on paper, but actually displaying it is not my strongsuit. About a year ago, my friend set up a "workshop" in our garage and invited his wife, their little girl, and my then-boyfriend to see how it's done. They already really knew how it was done (I swear their little girl would know how to change a flat if they let her), but of course and thankfully it was set up in a way where it was more for moral support of me and my insecurities of getting my hands dirty. So imagine that when changing my flat the other day my mind did go back to this workshop of sorts to do the deed correctly. And do the deed I did. It took me about twenty minutes because I thought I needed more tools than I needed, when I really only needed two of those plastic, erm... those plastic--- things? That you wedge under the tire and the rim to get the tube out, etc.

I know I sound so professional right now. It's a scream, really.

But I did it! And I can ride the hybrid, no problem. Just some simple tools, a hand pump, and a tube or patch kit is all that's needed if in a pinch. They weren't telling stories. Eventually I'll get out there and fix the one on the road bike because it was really nice getting out on it again.

I'm what you call a bit of a delayed learner. I soak up information but don't really use it until much later on. I'm also the kind of girl whose guy friends will readily help her in a pinch. That and I really haven't had a flat in over a year, to be honest... but it's nice to know that when it must be fixed, oh baby - YES, I CAN.