A bad night for bikes!
Crew: Stephen, Natalie, and Frank the dog, with help from Patrick, Cindy and Kaori
Sunday was just not a good night for the Green Hummer. The ride started well, with a cruise down Barnard Street. Then, pow, one of the new front wheels’ tires blew out. It was the same tire that had been on the Green Hummer before, and after some inspection, the tire appeared to have been cut by some glass, a very clean and wide slice. Stephen patched the tube, and glued a little patch to the inside of the tire, hoping that that would be enough for the night. Unfortunately, just a few blocks away, the same thing!
Of course, no spares. Too much confidence in the new wheels! Knowing that this would require a spare for sure, Natalie called Patrick, and asked him to bring an extra wheel that was available. It should have been on the Green Hummer in the first place!
Cindy and Kaori had to go, so Stephen and Natalie waited for Patrick. He arrived with a spare, and Stephen and Natalie continue on to Vinnies for dinner. They parked the Hummer by the parking garage in City Market.
On returning, Natalie noticed that something was wrong with the Hummer. Someone had come by and beat it up! Four of the pvc joints were broken, leaving the top front bar, with lights, hanging down, another support by the handlebars hanging, and its neighbor completely broken off. The metal that holds up the shell, already quite bent from lots of abuse, was bent even more. Also, the car battery for the lights was out, but under the opposite front wheel. It was banged up and leaking fluid. Nothing was stolen, just messed up some.
The vandals didn’t realize that the crew had some electrical tape in the tool box, and managed to get the pvc up enough to continue the ride. They also neglected to do any damage other than cosmetic, strangely enough. If you’re going to bust something up, do it right!
Stephen and Natalie pedalled the Green Hummer down Bull Street after some temporary fixes. On the way back to the house, a group of local kids came up to the Hummer and started hanging off the back of the already abused frame. A little more damage! The Green Hummer made it home, though, even after scraping the driveway on the way into its spot.
It wasn’t just a bad night for the Hummer, either. Stephen’s trike had its front wheels stolen off of it by another group of kids. The police were called by some neighbors, and after the police left, the kids came back for the third wheel. Bad news all around!