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I was 3hrs out from home this morning when my gear cable snapped.
Not a massive problem as I could plot a pan flat return route but I was stuck in my biggest gear of 42/11 which coupled with a laden bike - Genesis CDF complete with panniers, meant churning at 50-60rpm.
Was happily getting on with the task when about halfway home a Rapha clad roadie passed me. (Can hardly criticise as I was wearing Rapha cargo shorts).
I sped up as he passed and asked if he minded me sitting on. "No problem" he replied "where you going?".
Beautiful man towed me all the way home; the aero benefit meant I could get on top of my gear and we positively sped the remaining 15 miles.
Left me feeling very positive about how bike riding keeps filling my cup.
Excellent 🙂
😃
Is 42 your inner chainring? Big old gear.
I think most people would do you a good turn rather than stiff you over tbh.
I knocked on a house door and asked a guy if he could fill my water bottle one hot day, the guy did, and also brought me 2 pints of iced water, then enquired if i had enough food (i did)
Media always seem to report on the shite that happens, leading people to believe that the average person is a murdering psychopath, but it’s simply not true in general.
Rear mech cable snapped on me two weeks ago, less than two miles after leaving home. While I decided to completely change my route plans and stay local using 34/11, it did highlight that I should keep a 2mm(?) hex key in my puncture kit box, so if this happened miles from home, I could wind in the limiter to 4th smallest sprocket (17) and have an easier time getting back.
Good man. I keep thinking for the size / weight whether it's worth putting one in the spares pack.
Also you can jury rig with a bit of the broken cable in the last run of the outer to at least give you a middling gear.
I did stop for a cuppa and thought about jury rigging a couple of sprockets down, but decided I fancied the challenge of 42/11 instead. Single chainring btw, not the inner of a double.
Ahh, now that makes sense.
Been rescued a few times. Best one was pushing a broken bike with bleeding g knees, plan was to walk the 8miles to the bus stop, hide the bike in a hedge, bus home and return in the van to get the bike.
Old couple stopped to offer a lift, I explained the plan and said a lift to the bus would be great, but they insisted on taking me and bike quite a bit out of their way right to my door!
.
Also, related subject. I've had to hitchhike once when out running, lost and very late and very knackered. Had no problems getting a lift back, in two parts. Was telling two friends about this, one found it similarly easy to hitchhike when needed, the other had found it impossible.
I often pick up hitchhikers, as does the mate who did it no problem. The one who couldn't get a lift has also never picked up a hitchhiker.
Maybe karma is a thing?
Can't remember if I read it on here on somewhere else, but a handy tip is to replace the stock low limit screw on the derailleur with a longer one. Weight difference is nothing but it means you can set the derailleur in an easier gear in the event of a broken cable (and not having a spare).
Had one on my bike for years, but never used in anger (so far!)
That's a neat idea
Use the limit stop screw to move the RD to a middle cog next time. A roadie may not always be around for the tow. But I’d have done both for you.
I’ve had to hitchhike once when out running, lost and very late and very knackered
Please tell me you didn’t run from home?
I was once out on the MTB doing one of those MBR Killer Loops from Gargrave & was on a road section. Came across 2 young roadies, maybe brother & sister, around 14-16 yr old. They flagged me down to ask for help so obviously I didn’t.
Sorry, did. Turned out one of the bikes had exploded the rear mech. A pulley was missing completely along with its bolt. So I ‘simply’ single speeded it by taking a few links out of the chain. Turned out they’d been with a group of adults who hadn’t heard their shouts when the mech blew up, they’d been there ages & no one had come back to check.
Anyway, I duly pointed them in the direction of Gargrave, where the cafe was, they thanked me profusely & off we all went.
I felt good that day.
Yeah I could have done that Tired, or used the broken cable to put some tension into the mech. But I thought it'd be more fun to ride overgeared.
I always offer help if i see so one looking stuck on the bike, even if I'm in the car.
Though the last time I did I put my foot firmly in my mouth! Was riding along and saw a guy pushing his bike towards me (rather rotund guy). Are you ok? Need any help? A sort of angry 'no' in response. Oh well. Carried on around the corner and saw (and remembered) the steep hill he'd just cycled (or tried to) up! Poor guy was just buggered, can only imagine he thought I was having a dig 😣
A few years back I was driving down the A515 from Buxton when I saw an old boy pushing a nice retro road bike which had had a mechanical. Had the bike carrier on the roof so gave him and his bike a lift back to where he'd parked at Winster, saved him a 5 mile walk.
Karma owes me still.
I helped two ladies with a mobiused chain yesterday on Callow Hill near RHUL. You can't mobius a chain but took me a few moments to find the other half of the loop. We'd ridden past and thought they were fixing a puncture but did that 'everything OK?' you do more out of courtesy than necessity and got 'No! It's shagged!' back.
She was filthy, mind. Luckily I had a pair of disposable gloves in my pack and some wet wipes. As a ride leader for my club I'm always prepared.
She was filthy, mind. Luckily I had a pair of disposable gloves in my pack and some wet wipes.
Fnarrr!
Helped plenty of riders when out on the bike (even roadies 😉), have offered a few other riders assistance even when I've been driving.
Also have been gifted spare inner tubes a couple of times before the days of tubeless.
It's nice to be nice.
The most common problem I sort out for people is badly adjusted rear mechs which has allowed the chain to fall off the rear sprocket and get jammed between the cassette and frame. Last one was a new BSO that was being ridden home from Halfords. 🙄
OP discovers that "Roadies" are human beings, too.
Thumbs up to this!
Someone gave me a lift home (not that far mind) when I snapped my frame. Amazingly the first person that passed, and he was in a pickup truck!
I stopped to help someone whose mate had fallen off and given himself nasty concussion. Seemed fine and lucid until he started repeating the last few minutes of conversation over and over. Ambulance lady started off saying "not too bad you're ok" then quickly switched to "yeah no, you're not". I told his mate to wait behind after he got taken to hospital, I rode home and drive back in the car to take him and both bikes home. But there were several other people all ready and willing to help, I just lived closest.
People aren't bad, they just don't always know what to do or if they should do anything. It's uncertainty, usually, not callousness or indifference.
I fell off on the road a couple of months back. Crawled to the side of the road to take stock and a breather before getting up (or so I thought). Very first car that came along stopped and checked on me. Then a couple more. I figured out that I was too broken to get home on the bike or in a car, so called an ambulance. People waited with me, and one guy loaded my bike into his car promising to deliver it home. Another bloke found a blanket in his car for me, and asked the others to just ditch it at the pub round the corner when done. I felt a bit bad about the trouble I was causing, but heart-warmed by all of the kind strangers. Most people are pretty decent really!
(Bloke did indeed deliver my bike home to my wife the next day whilst I was in hospital having had my hip screwed back together.)