How to change a flat fast

It's been a little while since the lemming has made a quality post, he's been having too much fun reading the submissions of readers from the previous photo caption contest. That and nice weather and more miles in the saddle have put entertaining others on the back burner. But as an interesting sidenote, Feedburner reports that the lemming has almost 100 subscribed readers now. Seriously? That's more than I ever expected with my satirical look at the sport that I love and I have to thank everyone who actually reads the ramblings I put on to this blog, actual readers are more like 7 if I had to guess. Hopefully I've found everyone who has linked to me and put them in my Friends of the Lemming section, if I haven't just email me.

I was trying to keep up with the blogs of my readers the other day when I noticed Travels with my Mule had a link to a cycling site with rank potential. Not the smelly rank you might expect, like your gloves smell like when you don't wash them for weeks of riding, but ranking of sites that put themselves on there in some sort of popularity game.

Anyway, long story short, I went and added the lemming there so that people could rank it all they wanted, whether it be to say they love it or that it's the worst thing they've ever seen and they only read it once because highlights of this years MS150 didn't get aired on the local news like was promised and they needed to see something bike related.



Click on the picture above and I can see if I rank up there with the cool kids (like the top secret site BikeSnobNYC always mentions) or if I'll keep getting stuffed in to my locker. While you're there you should vote for Travels with my Mule as well and check out Philip's site if you never have. Right now there are so few blogs there that the lemming is doing awesome, it's like winning your category at a local race when you are the only one signed up. It feels good until people ask, "1st place, out of how many?" and you have to sadly tell them "one". But I digress, now on to the fun stuff....

I opened my email the other day to some more awesome Active.com spam. Never being one to be able to look away from a train wreck, I excitedly looked through the email for things that might pique my interest.



I looked on with horror... First hint, if you are changing a flat don't flip your bike upside down or try to disassemble the pulley wheels even if you are trying to save a few watts. That's never a good idea, people sit on the side of the road for hours covered in chain grease with random strangers trying to help them get the back wheel back in when they flip the bike upside down. Great if you are looking to meet new people while standing there in spandex, and like being covered in chain grease, bad if you want to ride. But anyway, that's a whole other subject..

Luckily, to my relief I found that the video (shown below in it's entirety) does not recommend flipping the bike upside down to fix a flat fast in 5 minutes and 40 seconds, instead you merely "open the wings of the brake lever", slide the wheel out, and fix the flat with the flat-changing equipment you've gotten out of the seat bag you removed from under the seat.



Now that, you'll have to admit, was some good stuff. I personally can not wait for the informational chain lubing video. I wonder what kind of luber Gale is?