There I was; 5 miles from home with a flat. No cell phone, no nothing. Just the bike and I, with a sore foot. I walked and I limped over hill and dale as cars sped past me. No one stopped, not even bikers.

The silver lining; I signed up for my maintenance course! It's tomorrow a.m.; before my ride!

First off, welcome to the board....a fellow New Yorker huh? Why did you have a sore foot? Well, at least you were only 5 miles away from home....imagine being 50 miles from home with a sore foot, no phone.

You have my sympaties.

My very basic tool kit is made of one set of patches, one 700c tube, one 20" tube (for the trailercycle) and my Topeak Road Morph pump. It always sit in my pannier, with rain gear, a battery headlamp and a taillight (just in case). It's a bit heavy when I carry it around, but it's not a problem once on the bike... and it has been useful more than once.

Besides, cell phone... what for ? Neither my wife nor my kids drive, so I either have to fix the bike on the road, or lock the bike somewhere and take the bus home.

Regards,

Or you can put on your saddest puppy face and tell the bus driver your story so that he'll allow you to bring your bike on the bus.

Damn...thats too bad. If you are ever out here in that condition I promise every rider that goes by will stop and offer assistance. This is really funny when someone has a flat tire and you get a crowd around offering advice

Imagine being 18 miles from home with a broken wrist and cuts all over your body. Sticking out your thumb to try to hitch a ride home or to the hospital or somewhere and getting no help at all. Biking to the nearest pay phone and calling home to see if anyone could pick you up, but no one's there. Biking the whole 18 miles home cuz no one will help. I am just glad my bike was okay. I dunno what I would've done if it'd been broken... I doubt I would have walked the whole 18 miles back... haha. I probably would have had to call for an ambulance... and that would totally have sucked.

Time to invest in a patch kit and a spare tube? As for the bikers not stopping I'm truly appalled but not shocked. Even though I make it a rule to at least ASK if everything is ok (and stop to help if it isn't) few others do. I'm 25 should I be a stuck up prick too?

That's the great thing about cycling, just when you think you are well prepared something obscure happens that you could never plan for.

I once had a flat on my road bike that was so big it cut right across my entire tread. I put in a spare tube but it just ballooned through the whole. Had to call my wife to get an evac. I now carry a spare foldable tyre in my back pocket, just in case.

I also had a rear spoke break (Shimano 16 spoke wheels) about 25kms from home, the bike was unrideable, not being near a phone box, I used the mobile to call my wife and asked her to look up a taxi company that services the country, she found one and organised the ride home for me.

What's the moral to the story.

Carry plenty of spares.
Get married, so there is one person that will always come and get you.

CHEERS.

Mark

Not only will they come and get you, they will lecture you all the way home!

Annie, those cyclists (and drivers) that didn't stop to help you: may the fleas of 1,000 camels infest their armpits!

Man that's harsh! Call it five hundred?

There is a trick that I've used on a mountain bike, but it may not apply to the road. I once used a Powerbar wrapper between the tire and the tube to cover the gash. Then, after inflation, the tube held the wrapper in place so that I could @ least limp the thing home.

Again, the higher psi of a road tire/tube may not translate very well here. Has anyone else done something similar??? I've also heard that one can use a dollar bill, but I've not attempted that one.

Wow, that is a Macguyver trick if I ever heard one. I am impressed. I will be filing that one in the bike part of my brain for later use.....

Its called a tyre boot, and you can use anything strong enough, wrappers, duck tape, stronger paper money. Park Tools make an adhesive tyre boot.
I managed to split 2 tyres before I heard of booting the tyre. Both involved fairly long walks.

.Looks like an ideal spot for application of a double thickness of duct tape!! Doesn't everyone carry a small roll with them?

I know I keep several feet wrapped around an old health insurance card with me on longer rides.

I buy the black duct tape and put a couple of wraps around my seatpost (also black).

Has saved me on too many occasions to mention.

Also, if desperate for a tire boot, a couple green leaves work.

I've also heard of people puncturing the tube and their spares and filling the tire with leaves and limping home!

L8R

This did happen to me! I was on a single track at mt spokane and folded my arm in half! It was not pretty. I had to walk out no way could i ride and since i was on the mountain i couldn't call an ambulance. Let me just say it's not as bad as it sounds. Shock set in and the pain was managable. I caught a ride from a friend when i made it to the pavement. Several surgeries later and lots of rehab i'm back to falling off my bike again!

hard luck Annie
we would all have stopped for you
I am amazed at how much stuff some of us actually carry on a ride! I quite often put all my bits in a water bottle that I have cut the top off to make a sleeved lid. I can easily swop it from bike to bike an take it off at teastops. Its a good disguise for your valuables.
I get a cellfone,screw up waterproof, mini tool kit, spare tube etc and Ialways carry my identity and emergency telephone number just in case.
Hope your next ride makes up for it:thumbup:

Jeez!!! You people are just full of practical advice! Martha Stewart eat your heart out!

I have a wheel and a tire that I am practicing with. I am all thumbs so far. Next I need to go out and get a repair kit and alot of the other goodies that will hopefully keep me out of trouble in the future.

My bone spurs (thats why my foot has been sore) aren't giving me any trouble either so things are looking up!

Thanks again for all the great "tricks" of the trade.

It's great to know that some of you would have stopped to help....



Annie

Last year I rode my MTB with a piece of cardboard over a sidewall gash for the last 2 months of the season. Even won my last race with it.

I've also booted a cut tire with dollar bills on high psi road tires on more than one occaision.

Once I forgot I used a $5 bill. The tire was still in pretty good shape, so I kept riding on it. At the end of the season I changed tires, and, wa-la, out popped 5 bucks. I'm not convinced that a 5-spot works any better than a single, though.

So, I usually have a buck or two on me when I ride. You never know, you may need lunch money in December.