Vulcanizers

I've been spending quite a bit of time hanging out at the volcanizers lately... not by choice. In case you were wondering, to "vulcanize" is to treat rubber with heat in order to strengthen it and make it more durable. Consequently, a vulcanizer is basically someone who repairs tires, mostly motorcycle tires which tend to go flat quite frequently here in the Phils... as I am very quickly learning. The location of a vulcanizer's "shop" is usually marked with a tire with the word "vulcanizer" painted on it. And you usually see one every few blocks along the semi-main streets. I use the word "shop" loosely because it can be anything to an actual establishment or just a guy with some tools on the side of the road, usually the latter.

My first encounter with a vulcanizer was a few weeks ago when my front tire went completely flat once I got back home. So, I hiked up the hill behind my house to find the nearest vulcanizer. Once I found a shop, he came back with me and pushed my bike to the shop, which I really appreciated since it was up a hill! He recommended that I replace the inner tube rather than try to patch it because the original tube was too far gone. Not knowing any better, I agreed and he ran off to find me a "new" tube. I use the word "new" very loosely because there is about a 80% chance that I actually was sold a previously owned and repaired tube. Oh well, what can I do? So they replaced the inner tube and everything was fine for a couple of weeks. Then I got home this past Friday night and noticed that my front tire was once again quite low. So, Saturday afternoon, I took my bike once again to the same vulcanizer who had replaced the inner tube a few weeks prior. He then spent about an hour patching all the holes in my "new" inner tube. There were about 4 different holes. Whew! At least I got that fixed and can go one with my life.

I went out to check on my tire this morning when I woke up, just to make sure it was still inflated. It was. Hooray! Then, I was on my way to church this morning when, of course, I heard... whap.... whap... whap... whap. Yup, front tire flat again. So frustrating. I pulled off the road and saw that there was a vulcanizer tire just a little ways up the road. I pushed my bike to the tire, only to find a small dirt road with nothing and no one near by. Confused, I began to look around when a little Filipino man came running up to my aide. I asked "Asa Vulcanizer?" (where is the vulcanizer?) and he motioned that I should pull my bike to the side of that side street. He then ran off and came back with some tools and proceeded to fix my bike on the side of the street. Of course I needed a new inner tube and had to leave my bike there to go get one and then come back so he could replace it! Thankfully, a short 30 minutes later, I was back on the road again.

(the vulcanizer's "shop")

Hopefully this tire will last longer than a few weeks!