And maybe, as with a motor vehicles and probably most things in their lives, they feel they don't need to know how it works... they just need to know how to use it. This is particularly so as bicycles are promoted as such simple machines; this forum, of course, shows otherwise.

For me, there is a pleasure in being able to stop for a parent whose daughter is in tears because the chain has come off her kid bike. And I can put it back on again.

Or to chat at a cafe to a racer I've never met before who cannot understand why the rear brake on his snazzy road-racing bike keeps rubbing the rim. And I can fix that in less than 30 seconds.

Or to stop with a tour party because a female rider's right pedal has a lack of lubrication and has squeaked its way to a halt. And I can rebuild the pedal at the roadside to get her the 50km back home.

Or to go past a road-racer, or MTB rider or commuter or whoever, and see they have a flat tyre. I can ask if they are OK, and to offer a pump or tube or patch or cell phone if they're not.

Sometimes people like me start a ride without their tool kit because it's on another bike and they've forgotten to change it over. I would hope there are people like me out there prepared to stop and help if I get into a predicament... and not go lampooning me all over some bicycling forum for it.

Bicycling is supposed to be for everyone. There is no prerequisite to be a bike mechanic to go cycling.