There I was, minding my own business, which happened to be hauling like mad on a half-buried and quickly rusting Wal-Mart shopping cart, ankle deep (and sinking fast) in smelly mud. I wanted the front wheels. They come with integrated casters, and I’ve had a hankerin’ for one of those rolly middle-of-your-kitchen-floor portable counter things for a while, now. But they’re expensive. And wheels with casters are even more expensive. But then I noticed (in my frequent biking through unpopulated urban areas) that shopping carts, when abandoned more than a block from the store they came from, or in inconvenient locations (such as a couple of feet off the sidewalk, for instance), never get returned. They just get smashed, or rusted, or gradually turned into artificial canal reef environments.
The wheels came off pretty easily, once I hauled half the stupid cart out of the nasty, squishy, stinky mud in the drying ditch. The wheels were pretty gross, though. So were my shoes, by that time. And my back wheel was flat. I guess tire liners can’t protect you against everything.
Now the wheels are sprayed off and awaiting naval jelly for the rust. I only got 3, which is a bummer. The fourth wheel was so far down in the mud that I couldn’t pull it out, and I really really really didn’t want to dig.
So, now, when I cruise around town on my bici (the fork is working just fine, so far… knock on wood), I’m going to be carrying my ratchet with a 19mm and a 13mm socket, keeping my eyes out for shopping carts that will most likely never find their way back home.
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment