Thanks for the offers of help

@Dirt 18111 wrote:

Awesome that people were helpful. Awesome that it was a positive thing! It is often difficult to know how to ask if someone needs something in a way that isn’t bothersome. Some of our trails are busy places for cyclists. I’ve noticed when fixing a flat for myself or someone else that I get asked if I need anything by an amazing number of people… often 10-15 people if I’m there for a few minutes. Some are somewhat patronizing. All are really nice to ask!

I like our community.

Hahahahaha. I got my first flat the other night on the new bike, on the rear wheel no less. Fortunately it happened in the parking lot of my apartment building at the beginning of the ride. Rather than haul the bike inside I decided to see if I could change the tube under “real world” conditions using my brand new Topeak Morph pump. I’d never had a bike with presta valves before and I wasn’t aware that you are supposed to unscrew the little “thingee” at the tip. This would explain why I couldn’t get a normal reading on my floor pump. The flat was totally my fault: under inflated tires.

So after 20 minutes of frustration (wishing one of the folks walking by would offer assistance – but alas they were all car people, I was in a parking lot after all) I decided to seek professional help. Fortunately I live right across the street from HTO, so I reassembled the bike and wheeled it over to the bike service department. I had zero shame in asking the service dude to show me how to fill the tube with my mini pump – the secret revealed!. I also asked him to show me what to look for when buying new tubes. I finished the repair myself without any difficulty.

So the moral of the story is this: the person on the side of the trail making a repair may in fact be truly clueless. :p