A month ago, the day before I crossed into Vietnam from
China, I got my second flat tire. I found the nail that punctured the inner tube, so it would
be possible to patch. I’ll do
it tonight, I thought as I put the inner
tube back in my material bag, and continued on my way. Famous last words…..Well, more than a
month later, and the inner tube is still in the material bag, with a hole, yet
to be patched. And for some reason
I knew it would turn out that I would get a second flat tire without repairing
the first.
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| Puncture number 2 in China |
Today, that is exactly what happened. A flat tire was on my mind, I don’t know
why…..Maybe things were going too well, I was flying, making great time, 115
kilometers in just five and a half hours, flat terrain, and my destination was
3 km away. All of a sudden I
thought, man I’m sure going slowly, what happened? I looked down at my back wheel and noticed it was low. I had just put air in 2 days ago, so it
didn’t seem right! I tried to play
the game of denial,…no it’s just low, not flat because strangely I hadn’t heard
anything, I just noticed I was lugging along a lot of weight. I was getting so lazy, I didn’t want to
stop and change my tire, I could see my town up ahead and I was so excited to
arrive at 2pm, a new record for me!
I stopped at one of my good old Rua Xe’s, motorbike shop here in SE
Asia. I thought, I’ll just put a
little air in the tire, and then change it when I get to my hotel. The guys pumped a bit of air in using
my adaptor, and pulling away, they shouted at me and kept pointing to the tire. Darn,….it wasn’t going to work. So I pulled over calmly to a building
where I saw a guard out in front and I had plenty of space and really no one
around. Since I hadn’t repaired
the last tube, I didn’t have one handy so out from the bottom of the pannier I
got an extra tube, took off the wheel and had at it. I must say, for being the second flat tire that I’ve changed
in my whole life, I went fast!
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| This guy was great,..he babbled in Lao while I chenaged the tire. He lent a hand when I gestured. Made his day I'm sure! |
I think I admitted that in my last blog post. During a bike race, I spend a good
majority of the competition looking down at my wheels and saying a little
prayer so that they don’t pop. It
has worked, I must say, because of the four flat tires I’ve had in my life,
none have been on my road bike.
I’ve had 4 flats on my touring bike, and two of those I had help
changing, although my companions weren’t allowed to touch anything, just
coach! The first time I changed a
tire without any help whatsoever was in China. Even today, a nice gentleman decided to get involved and
give me a hand. It was pretty
funny, he was babbling in Lao, and I was walking myself through the steps out
loud, what a combination. I
changed the tire and was on my way to town, 2 kilometers away. The tube, of course has gone into the
bag with the other one that needs a patch. I swore I would do it tonight,….yeah right!
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| The patch kit is in the bag with the tubes,...I'm halfway there, tomorrow I will do it, PROMISE |
Another example of my unheard of laziness. Back in Bosnia, about 6,000 kilometers
ago, a dog bit a whole in my pannier.
I was thankful it wasn’t my leg.
I thought a great fix would be to put a bike patch on the inside of the
pannier. After all these bags are
rubberized, right? Well, since I
wasn’t getting those patches out for anything else, I got a piece of duck tape
to stick there in the mean time, to cover it from the rain. Well, my duck tape was from the “todo
cien”, the Chinese dollar store in Barcelona, and let’s just say the quality
wasn’t the best. Today, while
reaching down to pull out another inner tube, I noticed a gooey and sticky film
on the inside of my pannier. My
duck tape had slipped down and left this nasty sticky residue on the inside of
my pannier. Bummer, if I only had
all my cleaning solvent along with my on my trip. Duck tape is really the fix all, and a must have in your
materials and gear kit, but when it causes a problem,…what to do! I might have to hit up a hair salon for
nail polish remover as it has a bit of solvent in it and might get rid of the
tacky feeling. Then I promise I’ll
patch it!
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| I just patched this while uploading pictures,...a bit silly on the outside, but the inside is gooey at the moment, have to find a solvent....hmmmm |
Lazy,….well, now that I’m not in the mountains and sweating
a ton climbing up those grueling hills, I don’t sweat as much, hence I have the
urge to go to the bathroom more frequently. Of course the timing is all off, because I’m not hungry at
the same time and I don’t like to stop unless it is a multi-purpose stop, like
pee and fruit, or pee and picture, or picture and lunch, but to stop just to go
pee, well, it isn’t quite justifiable in my book, so I end up waiting until the
last possible moment to go to the bathroom, then I can’t wait any longer and I
make it about 10 centimeters off the side of the road and hope that a car
doesn’t come along and pass me.
The other day, I politely waited for a truck to pass, but I didn’t
realize the back of it was filled with people. Boy did they let out a good holler as I squatted!
When I left for my trip, I treated my feet to a
pedicure. It was good thinking, a
bit of luxury for my feet before I put them to work for the next 14
months. Only problem is the polish
didn’t last long. For the last 3
months, I had just the remnants of a bit of pink polish on each big toe nail,
which looked a bit odd, especially with my Keen tan line on my feet. I kept thinking, I need to paint them
again, to give a bit of a feminine touch and perhaps take away the attention
from the tan lines. Well, I kept
saying I’ll paint them, for about 3 months, and last night, I finally did. I had to find nail polish first, which
was no easy task in the towns I’ve been passing through here in Laos. In this case, being lazy did me more
good than harm, because the polish didn’t help out that much! You tell me?!?!
Those tan lines are never going to go away, not to mention the bike short one
as I am approaching the beach! Maybe they sell spray on tanning cream.
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| And this is the foot that doesn't get as much sun as the other....does the polish really help? |
At night I can get a bit lazy as well. There is always something to do to keep
on top of my trip. From route
planning, to writing in my journal, recording statistics, uploading photos,
emailing, skyping, I’m a busy girl out here on the road. Pedaling is just a tiny part of what I
do every day! Lots of times at night I find myself just wandering the streets,
looking at stuff in stores, going from stand to stand having Asian “tapas”,
sitting and having a beer and zoning out, avoiding getting down to the nitty
gritty and doing some work. This might be procrastination than
laziness, but I do admit, sometimes it takes me awhile to get in gear and start
my work.
I know, a lot of you think that I’m on one big long
vacation. Sort of like when one of
my brothers would ask me while living in Barcelona…..“So when are you going to
come home to Oregon, and start your real life?” Funny, but this is my real life for the moment. My reality is the fact that I start
every morning not knowing where I’m going to sleep, if I will have hot water,
or even be able to take a shower.
I have no idea who I might find out on the road during the day and what
sort of scenery awaits me. And
chances are, I won’t ever roll pass the places I see today ever again in my
life! There is a lot of
uncertainty in my life right now, a lot of random things happen on a daily
basis, yet this lifestyle has become my daily routine and reality, so it is
only fair to say, yes,….I can be lazy too!!! An active lazy that is!
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