16 October 2010

Fixing Punctures and a Trip around the Phoenix Park last Weekend.

                                             The Phoenix Monument,Phoenix Park.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                  
The Main Road in the Phoenix Park,Chesterfield Avenue


                                               On way Home Seen these two Chaps with some nice Husky Dogs.                     

                      How to know a real Cyclists,all the Lumps on me Shinbones from the Thumps off the Bike.

                        Police HQ ,Garda Headquarters Phoenix Park on the Road out of the Park.
                  Fixed two Punctures on my two spare Inner Tubes
  I had this Tube lying around for a while with the Puncture marked with an Elastic Band.

                        Putting the Patches on and then Tearing the Paper Backing off.
              I put the Cement or Glue on and waited for it to nearly go Dry before putting Patch on.
                Before you fix the Puncture Roughen the Area with some Sandpaper first.
             My Puncture Kit Bag,I got this Bag from Yahoo Answers.
              Rather than use another new Inner Tube I put on an Old Tube that I had fixed.The Previous Week I had gone to Tallaght Pronounced Talla to look at Cycle Super Store in Hibernian Industrial Estate on the Greenhills Road and got my first Puncture on my New Bike. So I put on a New Tube and after another 65 Km or 46 miles I got another Puncture but it was a slow one and I just Pumped it up,this was when I had gone to the Phoenix Park the Week afterwards. I noticed I went over a few bad Potholes and one I got an Horrific Jarring so that must have caused the Puncture. I felt the Bike was not comfortable and I could feel all the Lumps in the Road so I jumped off the Bike at Mountjoy Prison on the NCR and found the Tyre was soft. I was going to Pop the Wheel off but decided it was a Slow Puncture and just Pumped up the Wheel ,so it was Grand until I got Home and did not go down for two Hours afterwards.

So a few Days later I put on a fixed Inner Tube and then I fixed two more Inner Tubes rather than use a New Tube then I went of again to the Park as the Weather was still warm.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

In the first picture, is that a shared pathway?

Whenever I go on longer rides, I always take an extra tube and patch kit with me. That's one reason why whenever I see someone throwing away either a bike or bike tires, I will always grab them and take the tubes out.

l' homme au velo said...

It is more or less a shared Pathway,it is a Huge Park so you can Walk or Cycle either on this Path or on the Grass. There is another Path to the right of this one about 20Metres away.

You will always get People wandering from right to left on these Pathways,if you Cycle to the left of them they sometimes walk into your way. If you do not warn them in time you could run into them too. I always give a warning a good bit away from them so as not to frighten them,the Bell sometimes cannot be heard and you have to give a Shout. You can get Skateboarders in your way ahead of you as well and they do not always Hear you.

There was a Group of what seemed like American Teenager Girls coming towards me last Week on this Pathway and they just did not seem to realize that you had to give way to anybody approaching on either Bicycles or on Foot,they insisted on Hogging the Path and got out of the way at the last second. Pedestrians are very unpredictable at times they seem to be in a Dream walking along.

If I am on long Rides in the Countryside I always try to bring at least two Inner Tubes with me. That Inner Tube was new that I put on after my first Puncture and yet it only lasted 65KM or 46 Miles. I think in City Cycling you are more Prone to Punctures due to Potholes Drain Covers Stones bits of Nuts and Bolts and of course that ever present broken Glass that never gets Swept up by the Councils on the Bike Lanes.