Originally Posted by Saintly Loser
She said she’d given away her spare earlier in the day to another rider with a flat (she didn’t have a pump or CO2 cartridges or tire levers, either, so I’m not sure how much good a spare would have done her anyway)...She did a lot of day rides of respectable mileage (60 miles and more). She seemed quite fit. She was a few years younger than me, I think, perhaps 40 or 42, somewhere around there. She was obviously an experienced cyclist...
Is it possible that a serious or semi-serious cyclist has not only never patched a tube, but never even seen it done?
Given what is in the OP I suspect the "experienced cyclist" in question has never fixed a flat at all; she just pulls the damsel in distress routine and the tire gets fixed without her ever lifting a finger; or at least that is what her experience has taught her.