Biker395 

OK, so my bud and I are driving back from the base of the San Gabriels ... happy at having yet another day riding in the San Gabriels. About 1/4 mile into our ride home, we see a guy click-clacking down the street in his bike shoes. We pull next to him.

"Need anything?"

"I have a flat."

"Do you need a pump?"

"No, I'm OK ... I'll just walk to my car."

We know the area well enough to know most people park well away from where this guy is walking. So we ask:

"How far is it?"

"Encanto Park."

My bud and I look at each other, incredulous ... "Encanto Park! That's a good 10 miles away!"

"Hold on ... we're helping you."

I pull a U-turn and the guy wheels his bike behind us. Turns out he has no pump, only one tube, which is now flat (I guess he already borrowed someone's pump once), and no tire irons (ditto).

He's a complete newbie ... just starting the sport. I show him the ins and outs of changing a tire, including how important is to find the source or the original hole. And some nuances ... like installing the tire label near the valve stem. In the course of our conversation, I had to ask.

"Why not call your wife to come and pick you up? Your shoes would be worn to nubs by the time you walked back to your car."

His answer amounted to not wanting to give his wife the satisfaction of saying "I told you so."

We finally got his tube changed (the source of the flat was a tiny thorn only visible on the outside of the tire), pumped up, and had him ready to go on his way. He offered us money, which we rejected of course.

"Just help the next person."

I thought it a good introduction to what it means to be a cyclist ... at least what I think it means to be one. We shook hands and parted. And as we were driving away, I told my bud:

"Can you imagine coming up here with no tube, no tire irons, and no pump? Oy."

And in the middle of patting myself on the back, I realized, I spent the day riding without a pump. I was riding that '96 Colnago, taking her on her maiden voyage in the mountains, and forgot to add a pump! Had I flatted, I would have been royally screwed, as I rode behind the rest of the group, taking pictures.

Pot? Meet kettle. Oy.

GlennR

I hope you have some good karma heading your way.

My road bike and MTB have different needs so I have two complete saddle bags. That way I don't "need" something and not have it.

HtownTREK

Walking 10 miles back to the car DAYUM I would like to buy that man a beer!

B. Carfree

Ride enough and you'll get to be the pot or kettle a time or two. Funny story that resembles a mirror. Thanks.

DBrown9383

I've been "chancing it" with no spare tube or levers. I do have a mini hand pump but haven't been carrying it because what use is it without a tube? I'm also a newbie and will probably have to learn the hard way. No thorns around here though

TGT1

I'm another local and I don't go up there without a Cell phone, spare battery, two tubes, patch kit, three CO2 cartridges, chain breaker, mini pump, spare links, and 3L of water in the Camelback.

2 lb of tool kit.

But, I have been known to divert to fire roads where if I did irreparably break down they'd find my bleached bones in a few months.

Rick@OCRR

And coming across bleached human bones can put such a damper on your otherwise fun-filled ride!

TGT1

Not as big a damper as leaving them there!

LOL

StephenH

I got to looking at my Road Morph one time, and realized that it was missing the little threaded doohickey that holds the insert. In other words, I'd been riding around for I don't know how long with a pump that didn't work and just happened to catch it before I needed it.

B. Carfree

That's right up there with carrying around tubes that are so old they have cracked or a patch kit that has a dry tube of glue.

randyjawa 

Many years ago, I flatted out in a rural area in Jamaica. I was about twenty miles away from the villa I was staying at.

Needless to say, I have done a ride or two, and I had everything I needed to fix a flat(one spare inner tube, one patch kit, two plastic tire irons and my trusty frame pump). What I did not have was the little piece, that my grandson lost, when he found a way to take my pump apart, while spending Christmas with Nana and me. So...

Flatted out a long piece from home and the Jamaican sun is getting hotter and hotter (I always do my ride in the morning, before the sun gets angry). What to do?

A fellow called to me, from his front yard, came over and asked if he could help. Once he understood my dilemma, he said not to worry. Just stuff your tire as full as you can with leaves, grass or what ever could be used. Made sense, so I gave it a try...

Rode home, slowly and carefully, but I did ride home. By the time I got home, I was dehydrated and spit balls were already forming on my dried out lips.

Course, I would have been screwed if I had had no tire levers, regardless of how much grass there is in Jamaica, mon.

OldsCOOL

A wise man had said, "whatever you sow, that you shall also reap". I am certain you will find help in a time of need some day. Great story, thanx for sharing!

On a side note, I share your interest in older Colnagos. I am in the middle of purchasing a barn find '77 Super, stored since '78.

qcpmsame 

Even though you realized that you had just preached a sermon, while sinning the exact act, your time with the new guy probably did more for cycling, and his opinion of the sport, than most anything you could offer him. Good on you, Vic, good on you.

Bill

BadBurrito

years ago I flatted, I promptly change the tube, when I went to pump up I discovered I had forgotten to replenish the co2 cartrigdges from the prior flat (which was like a year before). This was way back before cell phones - I think we had a "bag" phone in the car - that is how long ago this was. I was 8 miles from home on a MUP. I took about 2 hours to walk to the nearest gas station to pump up the tire. I lost count of the number of cyclist that passed me by and didn't even acknowledge I was there let alone stop and ask if I needed help. I was even more pissed when I got home. because I always tell my wife exactly how long I'm going to be (plus or minus 5 minutes or so) So 2+ hours late should have been noticed, and I always assumed she would coming looking if I didn't show on time - how wrong I was.

obed7

I am just the kind to forget things... so each of my bikes and all the wife's bikes have their own tool bag on it.. I used to swap one around....then I forgot to put the bag on the bike I was riding that day... not gonna do that again.

Biker395 

I actually helped another guy out last week while on my way to work. I did the usual "Need anything? You OK?" while riding by, and stopped when the answer wasn't 'yes.'

"You wouldn't believe how many people rode by and just said 'hi' without stopping."

He was actually all set with everything he needed. His only problem was that he couldn't get the pump to work (he had the head backwards ... set up for a Schrader instead of a presta valve).

If it were me, I'd try to flag down a passing cyclist until I found one that would help me, but I guess this guy was only comfortable accepting help if it was expressly offered. No worries though ... it's nice to be of use to someone that needs it.

rck

Randy-You were supposed to smoke it not stuff it in the tire. You could have floated back to the villa!

That being said, I've flatted twice 7 miles out. Once on a rail trail where the tire had a 3 to 4 " rent so no repair there. The 2nd time was on the road and I was riding without a spare, my bad, plenty of cars drove by but no offers of help. The walks did me good.

I usually stop and ask if I see a biker who looks to be having an issue.

BlazingPedals

My worst tale was walking 4 miles to a bar where I made the Call of Shame. The beer helped dull the embarrassment.

Oldguyonoldbike

I have a well-supplied saddle bag with two spare tubes and CO2 cartridges. The only problem is that I'm too cheap to get more than one and I don't always remember to switch it from bike to bike. So far I'm batting about .500 on having it with me when I flat. The last time I called one of my riding partners who I knew had the day off. He came and got me and didn't say a word. If it hadn't been his day off I'm not sure if I'd have called my wife or walked the five miles or so to my house.

By the way, Biker395, how do you like the ride of the Colnago?