Michael Venske

Shirley popped her back tire. I don’t know if she’s mad at me because I was riding her in the rain or if it’s because she just wants regular unleaded and not premium, but I was shocked when the tire blew.

It was a little after 8PM and I was on my way to a film screening at a friend’s studio in Northeast. I didn’t hear the POP from my rear wheel, but I did notice my acceleration slow. I was scared that it was an engine issue, so I pulled over (onto the sidewalk). I was downtown Minneapolis.

I’m not mechanically inclined, but I managed to change the tire with Shirley’s spare.
I called Captain Awesome and he scooted over. He was proud that I changed the tire all by myself. We went over to The Bulldog and had a celebratory drink. After some Newcastle’s, it was time to ride again.

We scooted around Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, through Kenwood on Mount Curve and then through South. As I was accelerating from the corner of 33 and Pleasant, I felt Shirley start to have a seizure. She was shaking and scared. I pulled under a street lamp to see what the problem was.

Would you believe Shirley’s other tire — the spare tire — was flat? Not kidding. Two tires in four hours. Something’s not adding up. Captain Awesome and I scooted over to the Super America on Lake Street and investigated. What we determined with two bottles of inflate-a-flat was that my seals on both tires were leaking. Fabulous.

We tried pumping and sealing both tires, but the leak was too great to hold any air. I was miffed. Instead of driving Shirley home, I walked / pushed her back to the condo.

Tire problems aside, it had been a good night. My audition at the Brave New Workshop cast me on a Six-Ring team and I felt the pride of changing a tire on my own.

Ironically, in the 6 years I’ve been driving, I’ve only had to change a tire on my car once. In the 1,000 miles I’ve put on Shirley in the past month and a half, I’ve had two tires go… At any rate, it’s a good experience to have under my belt.