Robert's Homemade Tube Patch Kit

I met Robert at a bus stop yesterday. I discovered him looking at me as I was admiring his blue Cannondale with the yellow bar tape. "Nice bike!" I said.

"Thanks!" he replied, "Where's yours?"

We spent the bus ride back to Forest Grove sitting next to each other, with Robert sharing all kinds of great advice with me. It turns out he'd spent over a year riding his bike all across the country, until the diagnosis of a brain tumor finally stopped him in Louisiana. "Forced retirement" he said, and his smile looked sad.

He still tours in Oregon, though his sister's made him promise that he'll never go cross-country again. "I'm over 50 years old!" he declared, "Who is she to tell me 'no'?" It sounds like his next big adventure will be a ride to Crater Lake after the snow melts. I wished him luck.

I'm sure I'll see Robert again soon. I still have so much to learn from him!

Here's Robert's recipe for Homemade Bike Tube Patches:

Materials:

1. sandpaper

2. old bike tube

3. rubber cement

4. aluminum foil

Directions:

Cut the old bike tube down the center, and lay flat. Scratch one side with the sandpaper to give texture. Apply a coat of contact cement, and let dry. Cut into patch-sized pieces, and stick onto aluminum foil. Fold up foil and carry in your bike repair kit.

When you get a flat, just sand the area around the leak, apply layer of contact cement, and allow to dry. Then peel off one of the homemade patches from the tin foil, and press over the leak area. Voila!