Saturday, January 07, 2012

Dhule

Dhule, Jan 4, 2012.

100 km

I ride all day on NH 3 leading to Bombay. It probably starts in Delhi. The road itself is in excellent condition. But being all new and built up quite high there are no trees and no shade. At times it is slighly hilly.

Soon I notice there is not much air in the front tyre. I stop by a place where a guy seems to be selling used tyres. He has a machine pump and inflates my tyre in a few seconds. There is no real charge but I give him ten rupees which he seems very pleased with.

An hour later I am low on on air again. I take out my handpump and a spare tube. Soon after I pull in at a chai shop. I have a chai and then replace the punctured tube. I feel inside the tyre and check its outside without noticing anything that might have caused the puncture. Replacing the tube does not take long but of course it attracts attention and soon there are more than a dozen Indians offering advice and wanting to help.

When I am done I ride on and within an hour realises that again I am low on air. Whatever punctured the first tube has now done so with spare one too. I have to stop and pump several times during the day.

When I reach Dhule I am very hot and tired. I stop by a small shop for a bottle of chilled mineral water. The man tells me there is a guest house not far away. I get a fine room at Swagath GH for 600 Rs. It feels great to have a good hot water shower.

After dinner I bring in my front wheel to my room and repair both tubes. I also find a tiny spike from a wire lodged in the tyre. I can see nothing at all on the outside but feel it inside. It takes my pliers from the Swiss Army knife to pull it out.

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