Cycle Change

A couple of nights ago, Wednesday night as a matter of fact, I was sitting here typing like I am now, when I suddenly heard a sound.
A strange sound.
Now I get strange sounds here all the time. The houses here are fairly close together; if I look out in any direction, I am faced with a neighbors window or patio.
I can hear what movie the family behind me is watching, and I can see and hear the kids next door playing the their yard.
So strange sounds aren't that well, strange.
Except this one.
It sounded like air under high pressure.
Well, I just kept on typing.
The sound didn't stop.
Now, I was forced to get up to see what was up.
Was one of my neighbors working on some evening project?
I did not need to walk very far for the noise happened to be coming from right in front of me.
The Barn Door's rear tire had suddenly decided that now was the time to go flat.
Irony.
A flat tire at The Flat Tire:



The last time this happened to me is well documented so it wasn't too much of a surprise.
Well, I still marvel at the timing of these events, it does seem like the tires have a mind of their own.
I was reminded of all this for I wanted to go for a short ride to pick up some cheese rolls from the fool place.
Instead out came the trusty Topeak Mini Morph:



I've had it for a couple of years now and it has been a constant companion on rides.
Flat Tire recommended!
The tires on the Barn Door actually came off the Flat Tire Bonneville Special so they've seen some miles. The tread is sort of starting to separate from the carcass:



The centers are a bit flat, but they still have lots of tread left so they're still good to go.
They'll still be good to go in the foreseeable future for I hardly ride that bike.
I know, I know, I've gone over this before, but I think the time has come to move on, and part with my Globe Vienna.
I like it and all, but I've never really felt attached to it, even when I'm riding it.
The seating position never grew on me, even with a handle bar and stem change. I like the fenders, but fenders don't make the bike. The Wald front basket I really really like, so that will stay with me. The Banshee Brakes, well, that accessory will go with the bike. They are after all a great safety feature.
Now I've been thinking about this for some time now. I mean having a new ride sort of makes me want to get out and ride. Not that it should matter, the Barn Door was not my primary ride, I have the Flat Tire Gran Turismo for that.
Well, even that's getting sort of tired.
The thing that sealed it for me was this:



The whole bike was covered in dust.
Boy, if that's not a telling sign, I don't know what is.
Okay, the Lanikai Express is also covered in dust, but it's yellow so you can't really tell. Once the Barn Door is gone, the Express will take over as secondary bike until, well, until something else comes along.
Which hopefully will be NFL.
Not for long.
The new Flat Tire Bike Search(FTBS) is on.
The life cycle of a cycle.
Time for a change.