I had quite and experience yesterday while trying to fit new tires onto my bike. I want to take a little writing journey here and try to related that experience with life. I have not figured it out yet, I'm just going to write about what happened and see what comes up.
A few weeks ago I got a new mountain bike. If you don't know me, over that past year I've bought "new" things for the first time in my life. I've always bought used items and I'd be willing bet that over time the used items cost more than the new ones. Anyway, I took the mountain bike out and on the first ride I got two holes in the rear tube of my tire from thorns. I patched those hoping it was just bad luck. Two days later I get a pinch flat. My fault. So I decided to make the transition to tubeless tires. This is when the tire is mounted directly on the rim and if a tiny hole should find it's way into the tire, liquid flies out the hole and tiny rubber molecules fill it. I used the tires that came with the bike. I was hesitant, as these are often the bottom of the line tires and I knew the sidewalls were very thin. The process was really easy actually. I didn't have any problems at all. I used my air compressor to blow up the tire and it popped right on. Took me about 15 minutes.
So yesterday I bought new tires. A little beefier tires. I brought them home and proceeded to dismount the old tires being careful not to spill any sealant. I got both old tires cleaned up and put away. I got the new tires out of their folded state. And this is where I felt a tinge of concern. They had been folded since birth. That's not going to create a good seal while trying to pump it up and seat the bead to the rim. But I paid no mind, I was going riding later. I knew what I was doing, so I mounted 90% of one tire on the rim, poured in my sealant and went outside to blow up the tire in case sealant leaked out. The tire didn't seat. There were too many folds. At this point I knew the inevitable. It wasn't going to seat. Not without special care. I knew my ride that afternoon was slipping away. And it did. I tried to pop on my old tires, and they wouldn't seat on the first try either. So I ditched that effort and my ride and decided I'd settle into getting this done. As long as it took. Through a series of efforts, including masking tape, a ratchet strap, my wife with her 2 sisters and the use the use of their hands, a guitar strap, windex, and variety of unique poses. I finally got the bead to fit on both wheels, 3 and half hours later, with gorilla tape. The tape I had thought of three hours ago but it was outside in the van and I didn't want to go get it. It would waste time.
About 5 minutes ago I figured it out. Did you? Sometimes (key word to not overgeneralize), we adapt to whatever kind of life we were born into. Whatever set of beliefs our family/village had and the type of culture and theology. Over time we make some upgrades, we ditch the tubes and go tubeless. Sometimes we still find that the sides are caving in a little bit and we begin to look for other options. And even when you arrive at a place that you chose. Through research and study that this particular path is correct for you, it still may not be a tight fit. Take your time, make sure you are doing it right and if all goes well, 3 sisters will help you get your new rubbers on and you'll have a solid set of tires for your bike.
I'd love to stay and dig a little deeper about how sometimes the air needs to be let out. Sometimes when you start to escape, people stop you and plug you up.
But I have a race to go volunteer for. The Buck Ridge Burn in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. I was also really hoping for the coffee to have worked by now. Chairs. I need to get chairs. And ritalin.
If anyone else can think of a cool narrative about the tires, feel free to share.
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