Originally Posted by papedaler
Another time I was stopped at a gas station gulping down a Dr Pepper when a rider dressed in full lycra and on a beautiful new bike came up to me and asked if I knew anything about these new fangled valve stems, (Presta.) I had one of those little brass valve adapters that I showed him how to use. The moral of both stories is that you don't have to be an ace mechanic to be able to offer assistance.
I had a similar experience a while back on the coast. A rider was attempting to air up her tire and neither she or the guys at the station had ever seen a presta valve. When I walked up to see if I could help I got the "roll the eyes--another old fool meddling just because the idiot girl can't do anything on her own" type of response (I get this from my daughter a lot). I had an adapter, showed everybody how to use it, and gave it to her. After that I got the whole story, she just bought the bike, was on a two day shakedown cruise--and on and on.
Ditto the moral, you don't have to be a mechanic, just prepared.
John in Oregon