So I blew an inner tube on my off road bike the other day and couldn't patch it as the leak was right beside the valve stem. And, of course, I have two spare tubes but they're for road bikes, and we had to hit Walmart anyway, so I thought I'll just pick up two and hang the expense! But funny thing Walmart had one, count them, one bicycle in the entire store. Here's what a typical rack of bicycles normally looks like at Walmart...and this is just one side of the rack. Now picture no bicycles at all. Not even a little kids tricycle. As you have probably already guessed...no inner tubes either. So I looked it up and there is a HUGH shortage of bicycles in the U.S. due to the pandemic. A vicious cycle: Bike sales soar, causing shortages and "panic buying" Turns out all of a sudden everybody and their brother wants a bike. In a bold statement the owner of a bike shop in NYC summarized the effect: Schwinn has a six weeks waiting list. Guess I have to look hard for a tube!
I wonder whether the bike shop owner is claiming from the government for loss of business.? My funniest moment was during the egg rush, when a woman was trying to balance about 10 packs on her arm while she opened her car and dropped the lot. Guess what, I burst out laughing and she did not have a single egg to throw at me.
