Seen in the 7th district in Vienna

A machine that sells inner tubes for bicycles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There's a similar one in front of the Cooperative Fahrrad. I really like that idea and hope there will be many more. Cause sometimes an inner tube can be everything you need in the middle of the night or a weekend :-).

A so-called Schlauchomat

Dear flatteneres

I know you guys are quite busy, but may I ask for your attention for a minute. I guess you don't know me, therefore I will let my bike talk. Today, after work, I was at the Cineplexx Reichsbrücke to watch “Slumdog Millionaire” with a friend. As there were no bike racks where I could safely lock my bike to (although there is free parking available for costumers that drive a car), I used the railing instead. This seems to be a common spot as there were also other bikes. And maybe you go there more often to check out on the bikes.

So when the movie was over and we returned to my bike, I found it with a flat tire. Well, you know, I still have my spare inner tube that impatiently waits to be used. But I had to disappoint it again. Apparently my front tire – as you know – didn't have a puncture, because you just removed my cap and let my air out. Although I'm grateful that I only had to inflate it again (that didn't even take a minute), my spare inner tube is rather frustrated now. I don't really want the treatment that one of my friends recently got (both of his tires were gashed and beyond repair), but I wouldn't mind if you eliminate the inner tube of my front wheel forever.

For that purpose I will use my bike as I always did – as a simple means of transport in the urban environment –, and also park it outside. May you enjoy to demolish other peoples' belongings and hopefully vent your anger by deflating their bikes.

Yours faithfully,
anna

PS: I still had fun on my ride back home ;-P.

Law of conservation of punctures

If somebody would have asked me at the beginning of January, how many flat tires I usually have per year, I would honestly have said "none". Now, times have changed, and this number has increased rapidly. Today I repaired my 7th puncture for this year -- I had 3 on the back wheel and 4 on the front wheel. On the back wheel I have a new inner tube now and never had problems ever since. And I will also change the inner tube of the front wheel tonight.

Some people say that if you have puncture once, you're very likely to have more. It's a kind of conservation law -- the series of punctures will continue. I don't believe in that. But I believe in fatigue of material. The last three punctures on the front wheel I all had inside, and they were quite big (today's puncture was nearly 1cm). My inner tube has problems with the rim as far as I can tell, as it got too brittle over the years.

Hopefully, after changing the inner tube on the front wheel, this series of punctures will stop for a while. Ok, I got a little bit angry when I walked out of the university on these evenings, just wanted to get home and had yet another flat tire, but it also has some positive sides: By now I'm an expert in repairing punctures ;-). I'm pretty fast and don't cover myself in dirt (except the hands).

In case you never repaired a flat tire, don't worry -- it is very easy. Almost every repair kid includes instructions, and many can be found in the internet, e.g. How to mend a puncture (which includes the very interesting "art of cycle maintenance"), The easy way to repair a puncture and Patschen picken (in German).

Well, so by now, on average, I have about 1 puncture/year . How many do you have? Can anyone beat my 7 flat tires for this year? I just hope I won't...

Do bicycles really die?

On Saturday Maff and I went to a party of our friends in Linz. Currently they are collecting old and broken bicycles to build some tall bikes. They get the bicycles from scrapyards and such for free. Some of them are still in good condition, sometimes even only have a flat tire as far as I could see that. It's sad that people throw such bikes away.. But well, I'm actually quite happy this time. Usually I don't have a bicycle in Linz. Sometimes I bring mine on the train, but in the new "railjet" train sets bicycle transport was cancelled and I have less opportunities now (very future-oriented, aren't they?). So I saw this bicycle on Saturday in their basement:

Radiant "Touring Sport" (the pink ladies' bicycle in the front)

It doesn't work yet, but it's still in good shape. From what I have seen so far, it only has a flat tire, the rear brake doesn't work and the rear fender is broken. The lights are also demolished. I don't know whether the gearshift is working. We will try to fix it this evening and see how far we get. Would be really nice to have a bicycle in Linz too. Even if it's just for a short time before they continue to use it for a tall bike..

Public transport is too slow. And no fun.

Today was a lovely morning - snowing, a little bit of snow on the road and not too cold. I enjoy riding in this weather, cause it wakes me up and I get nice red cheeks.

But then it happened. When I wanted to cycle home in the evening I discovered my flat rear tire. Again. (That just happened a few weeks ago.) Most likely it was caused by grit (crushed stone they put on the road here in the winter for more grip - but also for more flat tires). Maybe I should have learned something from the last time. Last time I had to walk my bike 3km home, because I didn't have my repair kit with me. But on the other hand, that was my first flat tire in years. I don't want to carry around my repair kit all the time if I only have a flat tire every ten years or so. And to be honest I also wouldn't want to carry it around if I had a flat tire every month.. But well, that's why I had to leave my bike at the bike rack and had to use public transport. I hate public transport, especially in the winter. I have to wait in the cold for ages, it's crowded and it takes forever (well, at least twice as long as with the bicycle). And I need to walk a lot. I was tired and I didn't want to walk.. Hm, I had to anyway. Tomorrow morning I will have to take the tram again and therefore have to get up 30min earlier. But I will take the repair kit with me and fix my bike as soon as I get there ;-).

Photos: 1 lady in red at the subway station with a stylish blue Ortlieb bicycle bag (they are waterproof!), 2 some people cover their bike seat with a plastic bag if they have to leave it outside (quite practical), 3 traffic on a usual winter morning.