Originally Posted by
exRunner
A good mechanic doesn't have to fix something on the road, he found it and fixed it before he left. Simple as that. Yes, unexpected bad things happen, but planning for failure ensures you fail. I leave the parking lot knowing that nothing common will happen, other than a flat tire. To date, just like PCad, nothing has happened, and I am confident it never will.
No. A good mechanic knows that stuff happens and is prepared to deal with it. You have your ideas backwards. Planning on failure doesn't ensure that you fail, "failure to plan is a plan for failure".
There are places out here in the Wild West where failure...or the lack of planning for it...can get you seriously dead. Maybe not on road rides but there are places out here where a cell phone is just a fancy rock
I don't carry this kit
on local road rides but I do carry a subset of it for every ride. If I'm venturing into the backwoods on a mountain bike, I carry all of this
and emergency shelter, first aid and fire. If I'm going to be a thousand miles from home and out for a month, I carry all that plus clothes, shelter and food. Most importantly I carry the knowledge that I can deal with just about anything that might happen and still get down the road. I don't fail to plan so I don't plan on failing.