It’s less than a week since I did my first bike commute in the rain and today brings another first, a flat. I’m riding up First Avenue near 23rd St. and the rear wheel starts getting squirrely. I glance down and sure enough, it’s going flat. Bummer, it’s not enough that I had to battle substantial winds (20 mph) this morning but now I have to change a flat? And double bummer because it’s the rear tire. It’s more difficult to change than the front wheel because of the chain and gears.

I did what I usually do in these situations, suck it up and get busy. I pulled over to the sidewalk, parked the bike, took off my helmet and gloves, and removed my pannier from the bike. I retrieved a spare tube, tire levers, and a 15mm wrench from my seat bag then pondered how I was gonna get the rear wheel off.

This bears a little explanation. You see, my bicycle has an internal hub in the rear not the more common dérailleur. Think modern version of a 3-speed from the 70′s but with 8 speeds not a 21-speed racing or mountain bike. I’ve never changed a tube on a bike with an internal hub. I printed out the instructions several weeks ago with the intent to read them and do a practice run at home. Unfortunately, “intent” never turned into “did”. So here I am on a NYC sidewalk with a flat and no firsthand experience with the internal hub. Oops.

Nothing to be done but jump in with both feet so I did. Gratefully, I’m fairly mechanically inclined and was able to sort out the correct procedure for getting the wheel off the bike. No cussing, either. I swear. Once the wheel was off, I was back on familiar turf. I used the tire levers to pry one side of the tire off the rim then fished the busted tube out.

I gave the tube a once over looking for a hole but didn’t see anything obvious. The next step was to gently run my fingers around the inside of the tire feeling for anything that may have caused the puncture. At the same time, I’m visually inspecting the exterior of the tire looking for any problems. Again, I didn’t find anything so I’m not sure what caused the flat.

With the wheel off the bike and the old tube removed, I was over the hump in the process. Now I just needed to start putting everything back together beginning with the new tube. I pumped a little air into it to make inserting it back into the tire a bit easier. Next, I had to roll the side of the tire back onto the rim. This took a little effort but I finally got it back on there. Next step, replacing the wheel on the bike.

I more or less reversed the process I used to remove the wheel to get it back on the bike. It was a little fidgety but again I managed it without any cussing or throwing of tools. Not that I’ve ever done that in the past, wink wink. Once the wheel was properly secured to the frame, I had only to inflate the tire and it was ready to go. I, on the other hand, needed a little work.

My hands had gotten absolutely filthy and I still had 60 or so blocks to ride before I could wash them properly. The only thing I had with me was a bandanna that normally gets used for toweling me off once I get to the office. So I start using it to wipe my hands as best as possible when the nicest thing happened.

A gentleman who had stopped to get coffee at a street cart nearby was watching me after he got back in his vehicle and decided to help. He retrieved some type of industrial hand wipes from the back of his truck and offered me a couple. And they say New Yorkers aren’t nice. Anyway, I was super grateful and the wipes were a wonder. My hands were clean enough in no time.

I put the pannier back on the bike and put on my gloves and helmet and was all fixed up. I repeated my thanks to the nice man before riding off. The rest of the trip to work was thankfully uneventful. Other than the inconvenience, the whole process was a positive experience. I started the day with the kindness of a stranger and I now have the knowledge necessary to change future flats which I hope will be few and far between.

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