There I was at around 5:45 pm-- it was around 65 degrees out—already dark—I was overdressed because the commute was cold in the morning. I’m going along at a good clip—probably the only dark stretch of trail on the first third of my commute. Then the handling starts feeling funny. A flat. Of course, in the dark, with no lights other than those attached to my bike. And, of course, I am riding the fixie. Have to get the wrench out to loosen the bolts. Have to remember where I put stuff down so I can find it afterwards. Changing the tire was no big deal. A couple of riders whizzed –
So, I am done, put the wheel back on and try to ride. I had worn out a cog and when I went to the bike shop to get a new one, they didn’t have the size I wanted, so I opted for a slightly higher gear (smaller cog by one tooth). My wheel is one that accepts cogs on either side of it. I had not removed the bad one becuase it was easier at the time to just put a new one on the other side. Murphy being who he is, I put the wrong side on. I got on and it started creaking and skipping and making all sorts of noise. OK—stop, remove the wheel and flip it. It is amazing how much more time it takes to do simple things in the dark where you can’t see. It took me a half hour to do all this stuff...
At any rate, it was a beautiful night—I did get a bit cold near the end.
The whole thing, in retrospect, was humorous, and just part of the riding experience. When I though of the alternatives—which were tiding the metro and the bus to get home, I would rather ride and fix a flat in the dark—Riding really does make a difference-
Train safe-