Well, once again, my last little dilemma can be summarized quite briefly. All's well that ends well - even if it means that no further details are revealed.
But as there is fortunately not so much to report, I prefer to tell you a bit more. It doesn't always have to be the big stories where you move mountains and turn the world upside down. Sometimes it's the little aches and pains, like a flat tire.
This one (fortunately) didn't belong to my car, but to my bike. And fate struck me on the way home when I realized that something seemed to be wrong with the front wheel. I had pumped up a bit of air before I set off earlier, but that had probably been the straw on the camel's back. However, I noticed that there was significantly less air in my tire than when I set off. And that I
I made it home after all, and when I wanted to take a closer look at the problem, I realized that the tire valve might not be quite okay. At least I couldn't push it back in after deflating, there was something stuck in the tube. From then on, my efforts to pump up the air were always met with a loud hiss, and as I unfortunately didn't have another valve at home, I had to make another quick run on that Saturday evening. It was about half past six and I asked myself whether the bike store around the corner was still open. But as I would only get the answer on the spot, I pushed my bike there, where I then found out that this store only had spare parts in stock for a very specific type of bike.
So I had to push a little further until I reached the next bike store. It was now just before seven, but for a Saturday evening they seemed to be very quite busy. My diagnosis regarding the valve was quickly confirmed and a hard-working employee fitted me with a new one within a few minutes. The problem was fixed and the tires were fully inflated again. And to my surprise, the whole thing only cost me 165 yen, which is about one euro. They had applied a 50% discount, but even the full price would have been perfectly fine.
In any case, I was happy to be able to cycle home myself, even though I realized that it was probably time to start looking for another bike. I actually needed a whole new front tire, and the brakes and gears also needed to be repaired and adjusted. Considering the age of my bike, it might be better to look for a replacement after all. Although my bike has served me well so far and I've mainly used it to get around the city center.
Let's see, I won't be that quick to part with this faithful beast after all. Not when it has just been fitted with this fancy valve, which will hopefully keep the air in my front tire for a long time to come.
Fingers crossed and eyes wide open. Because cyclists are also easy victims in road traffic and I see time and again that someone is not paying proper attention. So whether you're a pedestrian, cyclist or car driver, be safe on the roads and think about other road users. Being considerate is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it's a great way to make a name for yourself.
