ClusterF#@k Group Flat Change
 

so I'm on an overnight group ride this past wkend...
and invariably there are gonna be flats...
1st day 4 riders had flats and one sidewall damage.
course all these guys were the studs, hence no one messes with them during their tech time.
2nd day, about halfway in, I pick up a glass shard and before I can sweep it, it drills into the front
group pulls over, and before I know it, guyz are swarmin all over me, pulling off the wheel, one guys pulls out his irons as if they were surgical instruments - I full on expect a full proctological exam !!!

WTF is with that ???? Anybody else ever get that ???
OK, I may no longer be the bike stud, but
I mean, I been ridin more years that some of them have been on the planet!
fixed a few flats along the way - limped home on some scary bad sewups, which most of them have never even seen, much less touched or got themselves glued to...

that is bull****!
/rant

anybody else get the 'BikeStud Commands Flat Change' performance?
someone needs help, they'll ask !!!!
I mean it took twice as long to do the change as what it would have, had they stepped back and taken a breath or 2

took me about 20 minutes of beautiful countryside before my head of steam backed off.
anybody else get that? WTF?

No, but I do see the irony in the above post by "cyclezen" :)

Perhaps a simple, "Thanks, I got this" would have helped?

Did it upset your average speed too much?

Yeah, that's happened to me. I just let 'em go at it. If they want to be my personal SAG, who am I to stop them.

So was it like a NASCAR Pit Crew? I got kinda lost after '2nd day'.

Don't take it the wrong way... Seems like they care. Some people have tendencies that others may find irritating. (caretaker, scheduler, matchmaker, etc)
Since this go-'round was a new situation, I'd recommend figuring on how to handle it if it comes up again. Perhaps something like "Hey guys, I can do this. I need the practice."
Could be anything.
- Protect and care for the group (ie. you.)
- You stopped and looked irritated just long enough. (They mistook that look for befuddled?)
- Urge to practice up on ones flat-repair prowess.
- Need to use up that quickly hardening rubber cement in the kit.
- Just feeling super helpful.

So let me get this straight:

You went on a camping trip with a bunch of guys who don't understand that "No means No" and you were too afraid to tell them to stop?

Are you just doing this for the attention?

^ Were you were dressed like someone who doesn't know how to fix a flat? :)

srsly...guys do this on our group ride. If you don't immediately jump off your bike and start working fast then others will take over for you. The trick is to take command and give the others something to do. You-hold my bike...You-roll up the used tube...etc...

Ha, made me laugh out loud.

are you actually complaining that people helped you when you flatted on a group ride?

would you prefer it that other riders see you and go "he looks very experienced. leave him to fix the tire himself."

Aren't we all?

That's hilarious. I'd have kicked back, grabbed my water bottle and watched the show. Maybe give them a muffled "thanx" as I mounted and kicked the pedals.

Hey man - I'm perfectly competent at tire changes on road, but that would be SWEET to have folks swarm all over for the assist. If only to hold stuff and make sure you don't lose stuff out of your pockets in the change.

They probably wanted to keep on rolling, which is why they were so motivated. That's a good thing though.

It's amazing how many people "need" to help you when you don't need any help. I like to practice fixing flats. You never know what you might learn.

I would have perhaps muttered that my shoulders were tight as well and could someone get on that too. Maybe the OP could have referred to the offenders as Soigneur for the rest of the ride.

ditto

that's pretty annoying. I find that humor can get the point across without backing people into a corner most of the time.

Control freaks, the lot of them.

Personally, I'd rather do it myself so I know it's done right. What if they pinch a tube and blow it up, or put the wheel on crooked, or tighten the skewer too much, or not enough? Or set the bike down on the wrong side, or drop the wheel and scratch the skewer?

Really, have you seen the way some people wrench on their bikes?

No, thanks, I'll take care of it myself.

Must be I'm one, too. ;)

Actually yes.

I want to fix my own tire, and everyone elses because I can do it faster than most other people.

I try to resist the impulse to fix other people's flats, unless they appear to be struggling or asking for help, and when I do fix someone elses flat I always ask if they'd like me to first.

Same here. I lack patience. It's a character flaw.

+1. They fixed it FOR you? The OP's whole "I have to rant about the f**king a**holes who fixed my flat tire for me" thing is puzzling...

luv the comments :thumb:

but don;t be reading more into it than was written...
things were handled... no body's feelin hurt...
I like all these riders (don;t assume the group was all male...) a lot.
I was surprised and taken aback by the instant NASCAR Pit Crew (great analogy), so my response action was slowed. Took a while to become adult again in their eyes.
Funny thing is even though it was NOT some timed ride thing, the tendency is to rush with everything, once out and rollin.
Gettting a ride goin is a whole other ball O wax...
Other funny thing is that 'flatting' is almost like crashing and needing on-site triage.
The whole EMT thing comes out in people.
I am an asshat often enough, and skilled enough, now, to exert some control of myself. Like I said, 20 minutes later it (the annoyance) was gone.
It didn't really hit, until we were on the road, that I was the one rider deemed as 'needing' help; of the five with 'mechanicals'.
My rant - a bit dramatic ? Yeah, maybe, the fun part.
We all ride our own ride, best to keep it that way...

hmmm... seems I remember doin the 'EMT' flat repair thing to someone else, in the not too distant past.
lesson learned.

btw - if the 'zen' part of the name confuses - it'z not about a hippie ridin around smelling the flowers. zen can easily be in the worst, most awful moments, all the way out to any moment of joy, which also doesn;t preclude asshats

This significantly reduces the drama of the original post.

Hey, I got a kick out of your story. Really, thanx for sharing it. And night rides are dramatic enough as it is, every little thing is intensified.

Maybe your pit crew was afraid of the dark and wanted to get outta Dodge. Were they whistling to themselves as they worked??

+1.

I've changed thousands of tires/tubes/flats (no exaggeration) and it pains me to stand there for 10 minutes watching someone fumble with their bike.

I've inserted myself in the process countless times unless the person already doing the job really has it under control and is going about it with a sense of urgency and not flapping their gums and moving in slow motion.

I would cause you great pain. It might take me that long just to get the tyre off.

No it wouldn't. I would have comandered the operation long before then all the while chatting you up about some thing or another.:D

: :thumb: Lp

The only thing missing from this story is a banjo duel.