Sea Cadets Visit

Did you know that a wonky valve can cause a flat tyre! When fixing a flat, make sure the valve points straight to the center of the wheel. If your valve stem is wonky just deflate and move it.
If you are wondering “why would a wonky valve stem make a tyre flat?” here is the techy bit. If it is at a non-perpendicular angle, the valve stem is pinched against the rim on one side. This unnecessarily puts mechanical stress on the stem at that point. So if you go over a bump, you’re more likely to cause that pinch to turn into a hole, causing a flat.

Tuesday 2^nd of October – Dr Mark and I met the Sea Cadets. Dr Mark was busy demonstrating to one group how to safety check bikes and my group was busy fixing my daughters flat tyre!

Yes of course we had planned to show them how to fix a flat. I wasn’t just tricking them to do it for me, honest. It was better to have a real flat to work on. The cadets really got into it. Trying to solve the problem as a team…the culprit, a nasty piece of glass.

The Sea Cadets were competent mechanics and quick learners. Not afraid to get their hands dirty they found the hole in the inner tube and fixed it properly with the valve pointing to the center of the wheel. It was no surprise that they were good with their hands, as I was later informed that they have been stripping a marine engine down and rebuilding it as part of their training. Looking after bikes, or pedalos come to think of it, should be no problem for the Sea Cadets.

I have had two more flats this week! Is there a cycle fairy out there. If so, can you please clean up all the broken glass on the cycle paths and dump it on the delinquents driveways.

Happy cycling – Dr Dan