Blow Out on Blue Monday

I write this while waiting for my wife to come to my rescue after a puncture in my rear tyre nearly caused me to take a swim in the River Liffey - scooter, rider and all. Thankfully, traffic on the Quays that evening was quite a distance behind me when it happened and with what little skill I had, I managed to slow the Vespa down just enough for me to control it towards the footpath by the river. Phewww...

Exhibit A: Looks like a normal flat

I shouldn't have needed to wait as long as I waited but in all my wisdom, I took the tool kit that was sitting pretty in my Vespa's glovebox and stashed it in the boot of my wife's car. Why? I don't know but I guess I'm one of those people who just loves learning things the hard way.

Exhibit B: That doesn't look normal at all. I could do with a new rear shock too.

Anyway, after about an hour or so of enjoying the night time scenery, I eventually got the tools I needed from my wife via a helpful old friend who lives closeby. Another hour passed by and having removed the damaged wheel, I replaced it with the spare wheel. A handy feature of the older Vespa, not seen on most other scooters. Handy of course if the spare itself wasn't utterly useless!

Yes, to my horror, the spare tyre was no where close to being useable. There was something wrong with the valve on the tube. The valve on the tube just wouldn't keep the air in the tyre. I must've looked miserable and been in such a sorry state at that stage that even a fire engine stopped in the middle of the road as it was passing by to see whether I was OK. I clearly wasn't but it was a nice gesture from the two firemen anyway.


Having ran out of options, I gave up and did the sensible thing. The recovery van got the scooter and I home at around 11 that night, almost 5 hours after I had left work that depressing Monday evening.