If you're gonna have a catastrophic failure...
 

[edit]

Or in the driveway of a good friend.

On my Australian tour, I had cycled into Hobart from Port Arthur. That's a fair distance and the route my cycling partner chose had some fairly remote sections in it. We rolled into Hobart as it was going dark, and the last 4 or 5 kms to my friend's place was basically downhill, so I was coasting a lot. I vaguely recall that something didn't seem quite right with my bicycle in that stretch, but I was so intent on getting to the house I just ignored it.

The next morning we set off again, and as I rode down the driveway, I discovered I could pedal with all my might, but I wasn't connecting to the rear wheel. We stopped and checked ... and my freehub had died.

If that had happened out in some remote area, I would have been walking (and coasting down hills). Apparently there is a way to rig something up to keep riding but it sounds like it would be more hassle, and more dangerous, than it is worth).

Nevertheless, one shop in Hobart had the freehub I needed (the rest told me they would have to order it from Melbourne and it would be a week or more), and I was on the road again the next day.

...or rolling into our campsite last summer at Silver Falls State Park, OR. After an afternoon of climbing, I felt and heard my front cantilever straddle cable snap right at the pinch bolt as I pulled up to the picnic table. After the shower/dinner/pitch tent, I reattached the straddle at a slacker angle and set the main cable a little longer (always leave a few extra inches). I had brakes for the next days 12 mile downhill bomb into Silverton, where the LBS had a replacement.

Twice. Once 8 miles from home. Exact same trouble the OP had. A phone was handy, I had a dime (a long time ago), and a house-mate came and got me. The other time I hit a rock at high speed and bent the frame. Didn't crash but the bike was unsafe to ride after I came to a stop. No one to come and get me. Had to walk 14 miles holding the damaged front wheel off of the ground. A nice guy in a trick gave me a lift the last two miles.

SNAP!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2366/...f65508.jpg?v=0


After this exact thing happened to me in Hamburg, I swore to myself that I would buy a Rohloff as soon as the opportunity arose. Fortunately, it did :)