General Cycling Discussion - Don't leave home without it...

Riding today on Georgia's Silver Comet trail, I came across a young college student with a flat front tire. He did not have a spare tube, pump, or any tools. I offered to help change the front, very willing to give up one of my two spare tubes when his rear tire went "pop" as we were standing there. He wasn't even sitting on the bike! A ten mile hike in a steady rain with two flat tires was forthcoming. Luckily, the Sheriff's patrol in Paulding County, GA, came by about an hour later to give him a ride. In the few minutes I spent trying to help, 3 sets of people came by--- they all asked " Is everything o.k.? I said "no" each time. No one stopped, they kept on riding.

It amazes me to see the number of people that don't carry basic repair parts and tools. Often they are miles from nowhere. But I guess that is why the good Lord allowed cell phones to be invented.

I found a woman walking her bike with a flat the other day, five or six miles from any houses or help. I stopped and offered to patch the tube, then realized she had schrader valves and my pump wouldn't work. Neither of us had a phone (she said she forgot hers; I don't carry one on most rides). I told her I'd phone somebody when I got home, in 15 or 20 minutes, and as I packed up to leave, i said something like, "You know, I have a flat every week or so--you really should carry a patch kit and pump to save yourself a walk."
"What could would THAT do?" she snapped. "I'm not going to get greasy working on a stupid bike."
Well...enjoy your walk, then.

I did that once.. and it was only because i had JUST gotten my bike and was excited to ride it so I just took off.... The inevitable, of course, happened.

hahah thats funny that they asked and kept riding. I was that college student once, well I still am, but when I first started riding my bike a couple months back I got a flat and a couple of people stopped to ask if I was alright. I told them I had a flat and they were like oh and left. One guy did offer to give me a tube, but I told him I didn't have a lever or pump and then he just took off.

After that day I bought a patch kit, a couple of spare tubes, one lever, and a mini pump. Lesson learned.

As a bike-mechanic, I feel I should, and do, stop to assist someone with a mechanic problem - including patching wheels. I carry a Topeak Alien II multi-tool and assorted other tools. Of course where I live, the people are friendly and cordial. And we have no gun laws - so people are VERY polite.

I also took an EMT course - should I encounter a person who has fallen apart. One day I got to ply both skills. A kid (late teens) crashed on his new Cannondale in front of my place, and hit his head in the bargain - no helmet. He didn't want to bother me, but I read him the head-trauma what-to-look-for list. And I torqued the bolts that came loose on the Cannondale.