As a Single Female Bicycle Rider I like to be as independent as self-sufficient as I possibly can and not rely on Bicycle Repair Man, because everybody knows that BRM wears his underpants over his pants and therefore causes shame.
I therefore have a layer of unidentified objects swimming in the bottom of my handbag.
There are two spoons, a bicycle repair kit, a piece of fine sandpaper, one of those tiny plastic fish shaped soy sauce bottles with some dishwashing detergent. This is all in case my tires are punctured somewhere ‘far away from home’. As if there is such a place in Alice.
A pump is concealed in a nifty little metal cylinder that is attached to the bicycle. Every Kronan comes with such a pump cylinder.
In the beginning the fear of getting a puncture was a fun spoiler, but a trip to the new bicycle shop on Smith Street solved the whole problem: a gel was injected in the tubes and we’re good to go, my Kronan and I, for at least three months.
After that the gel might start to dry out and what not, so I carefully noted down the date of the gel-fill. The new shop on Smith Street is really nice, by the way.
The young owner keeps his tools immaculate, which I, as a Single Female Bicycle Rider, appreciate and admire. A perforated board displays his tools as if they were works of art. Lovely!
Friday, April 26, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
Sounds like a boring hand bag Suzanne. Most women I know carry massive hand bags (I always wonder what could possibly be in them) that weight a tonne and habitually and invariably complain of back ache.
We men manage, usually, to keep most of what we need in our wallets and everything else we need in our pockets eg, handkerchief, car keys, loose change and last year’s crunched up Lotto ticket.
When riding I carry a tin of tyre inflation magic duct-taped to my bike so I can quickly inflate the tyre in situ. Spoons and patches went out years ago.