Inspecting Old Rusty

Budget: $31.50

So far, transportation has been the primary difficulty in moving between cities, because Old Rusty has been in no shape to be ridden, and the negative budget didn't allow me to tune it up. Now that the budget is going positive, my first step is start first fixing up, then beefing up Old Rusty. Today I went with my little brother Dan to give it a preliminary examination, the purpose being to see if it can be ridden as far as the bike shop.


Inspection results:

• I wouldn't trust the brakes on a long trip, but they're working well enough to make it to the bike shop, where I can get new pads.
  
• The rear gears shift; the front ones don't. That's enough to get to the bike shop.
  
• The pedals and chain look awful, but turn fine. Looking awful is not a bad thing, considering it makes the bike less likely to get stolen.
  
• Once we pumped them up, the air tubes seemed OK until I actually got on the bike. Then the rear tire instantly went flat, and while the front one deflated more slowly, both tubes clearly have punctures. Therefore the bike won't make it to the bike shop.
  

So I can either get to the shop some other way, purchase tubes, and install them myself; or I could just load the bike onto a car and take it to the shop for a full tune-up, which is probably how I'll start.