So, as I was struggling to change a flat tire in the pouring rain on the Yolo Causeway last night, cursing my piece-of-#%&* hand pump, I thought of a way I could make my first million and augment my paltry newspaperman's salary:
Start a AAA road service for cyclists in the four-county area (Sac, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado). Hey, we've got lots of cyclists and, of course, we know how to change tires and do minor maintenance in transit. But how many of us really want to do it? I mean, our fingers already are frozen and our nerves frayed. Plus, changing it in the dark by the light of my front headlamp is a challenge for a technologically challenged soul such as me.
So, what we'd do for BAA is, as they do with AAA, is have cyclists pay a yearly fee, give them a card and an emergency number to call and have support vans at the ready with everything needed to repair flats, bent rims, chain issues, whatever.
The key, of course, is to have the repair crews act swiftly. No one wants to be left out in the middle of nowhere for a long spell. But, judging by the time it took an incompetent like me to change the aforementioned tire, it might've been quicker to make the call to BAA and wait.
OK, I know there are flaws in my get-rich-slow scheme.
But I'm open to investors. All you venture capital dudes out there, call me.
