Community bike repair stands, flat tires, and tacos.

If you watched the video I posted about Erie's Bayfront Bikeway you know the public repair stand I stopped at needed some work to make the tire pump operational. Well... instead of shooting a video about the Schwinn Crosscut I built up to be my do all bike, I went adventurizing about town with a friend with the plan to make the necessary repairs. It was nice to be out on a bike doing something other than just going to work and back and it was very nice to not be by myself for once. My pal must have been laying out the watts since he took the first opportunity that presented itself to have a quick lay down.

After a quick snooze, we made our way to repair the public air pump. I forgot to take photos of any of that, but in my defense - I was busy and my hands were full. We made our way to the public library that also has a repair stand that needed to be checked while we were out. But since it was Sunday, and nobody was in a hurry to get anywhere, we stopped along the way to take photos, take in the beauty of the world around us, say dumb stuff, and generally have a pleasant time. Erie really has some pretty great stuff going on, don't let the self defeating attitudes try to tell you otherwise.

At the library we found a homeless man sleeping in the entrance way. I'd have told him about the couch, but it was raining and he was safe and dry so we left him alone. We also found a 20" coaster brake wheel, tire and tube laying in the bushes next to the repair stand along with some brake parts - as if someone had been disassembling bikes or making repairs and just leaving the old parts where they fell. I didn't take photos of any of that, or the sleeping man.

We moved on up State street and made a stop at Ember & Forge for coffee because, well... I like coffee. A LOT! That gave a little escape from the rain and an opportunity to recoup from - alright, I won't make the watts joke again, sorry. We rode through the alley behind the brewery, and made a stop for a killer taco from a new food truck.

And that was it. As we began to head for home we noticed my pal had located a nail with his back tire. Despite having tools and supplies to repair the community air pumps, neither of us had the stuff required to repair his tire - the irony, I know. So I rode home, got my car, and picked up my pal and his bike, and we all got home feeling a little foolish. And that's why I didn't put a video out this weekend.

Moral of the story here is if you are going to get a flat, bring your stuff to fix it.