INDIANAPOLIS – About 50 years ago I was tooling through the streets of Lawrence, Kan., on my prized Campania Sport bicycle when I plowed through a pothole that was a bit too deep. I hopped off and noticed a blip on the rim of my front wheel.

My friend Chuck Magerl (today the proprietor of the popular Free State Brewery) and I ran a little bookstore in a cooperative grocery store. One of our titles was a funky little publication on bicycle maintenance. Putting the book into use I turned to the appropriate page where I was instructed to get a tongue depressor, place it against the damaged area and then use pliers or even a vice grip to repair the damage.