Yesterday, my co-teacher Lale and I taught our Bike Club kiddos how to fix flat tires. We spent some time reviewing how to take off a wheel (which we’d already taught them); they practiced putting patches on tubes and putting everything back together again; everyone felt pretty confident. Satisfied, we set off for Pier Park.
About 50 feet from the entrance to the park, I ran over a thumbtack. My tire duly disinflated as I shepherded our little class through the last turn.
“We’ll have to stop for a second,” I told them, walking my bike the last few feet. “My tire’s flat.” And sure enough, one of the girls pointed to the silver thumbtack still sticking out of my back tire in a way that never, ever happens in real life.
“Soo… now that you guys are experts,” I asked, “does anyone think they can help me fix my flat?” And sure enough, they walked me through the whole process, and my tire (and our ride) was saved. Thanks, Bike Club kiddos!:)