Bike Update
So I've had my first chance to determine that yes, I really do want to carry the bike repair tools all the time. Yesterday I hit a curb a little off from the nice ramp part when I was switching from road to sidewalk (something I actually do a few times during my current ride -- biking rules since you can more or less pick between being a vehicle, being a pedestrian, or being a bike depending on which is most advantageous at the time). Kept riding, but a few blocks later I started to really feel th ebumps in the sidewalk, and noticed some serious drag... and then I noticed my back tire was looking decidedly less than full. I was close to home, so I walked the bike the rest fo the way (with me off it, the tire looked and worked fine).
Got home, used my handy all-in-one bike tool to quickly release the remainder of the air, slip the tire up and pull the tube out. Examining it closely, I saw... nothing. Water to the rescue! One partically filled pot later, I pumped it back up and started submerging parts. Ahah! Bubbles! From... tiny, little, nearly invisible hole. Pulled out the handy tube off and roughing the region a little with included sandpaper, I applied the patch. Pumped up tire, seemed ot be good, reinstalled, went to play with the house kitten for a little while. Came back and tested it... tire was flat again. Well crap. Tool, water, bubbles. Remember how I said the hole was invisible? I must've turned the tube slightly between finding it and roughing, becaus eit was right next to the patch. So I put on a second one and everythign was groovy. Being tired at that point, I didn't even turn on thwe computer, just went to bed.
Today, on my way home, I noticed I was having more an dmore trouble shifting. At first I figured I was just noticing my usual trouble more (I have to move my arms down so I can press on the shift-levers under the handlebars, they aren't really aligned properly for me)... but later realized that the handlebars in general were just loose. All-in-one tool comes out again, and a few quick turns gets both the shiters properly aligned for me, and also stops the bars from moving. All-in-one: 2, Bike Gremlins: 0
Got home, used my handy all-in-one bike tool to quickly release the remainder of the air, slip the tire up and pull the tube out. Examining it closely, I saw... nothing. Water to the rescue! One partically filled pot later, I pumped it back up and started submerging parts. Ahah! Bubbles! From... tiny, little, nearly invisible hole. Pulled out the handy tube off and roughing the region a little with included sandpaper, I applied the patch. Pumped up tire, seemed ot be good, reinstalled, went to play with the house kitten for a little while. Came back and tested it... tire was flat again. Well crap. Tool, water, bubbles. Remember how I said the hole was invisible? I must've turned the tube slightly between finding it and roughing, becaus eit was right next to the patch. So I put on a second one and everythign was groovy. Being tired at that point, I didn't even turn on thwe computer, just went to bed.
Today, on my way home, I noticed I was having more an dmore trouble shifting. At first I figured I was just noticing my usual trouble more (I have to move my arms down so I can press on the shift-levers under the handlebars, they aren't really aligned properly for me)... but later realized that the handlebars in general were just loose. All-in-one tool comes out again, and a few quick turns gets both the shiters properly aligned for me, and also stops the bars from moving. All-in-one: 2, Bike Gremlins: 0