KaBOOM

Natalie got a flat tire on her bike on her way to school on Monday, which actually turned out to be several small holes, which are really annoying to patch because it takes a huge patch to cover a pinhole, and when there are a bunch of them, it turns into quite a hassle. I had bought Slime to put in the tubes, which is supposed to seal up those little itty-bitty holes all by itself.

Well it didn't work. So after disassembling and reassembling the bike 3 different times, I finally patched the last of the itty-bitties, and was pumping up the tube (without putting it back on the bike this time because Natalie was laughing at me taking this tire on and off the bike) when something strange started happening...

I got to about 40 psi when the tire started to bulge. I had just enough time to say "what the...?" and then it exploded.


Ka Boom.

Imagine the noise biggest balloon you have ever had the misfortune of popping would make if it suddenly decided it would rather have its insides be on its outsides. Ka Boom indeed.

When the tube blew it gashed a 10 inch seam into the wall of the tube, and actually shot a piece of the tube across the room. Thankfully the Slime spewed all over the inside of the tire, not the inside of our living room; it was quite adventurous enough without having to wipe up gobs of green goo off our walls and TV.

So yeah, needless to say, Natalie won't be riding to school tomorrow.