Great ride today but what's with other cyclists?

First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California in
some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop. On
the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of the
road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so, with maybe 30-40 other
cyclists passing by.

Not one asked if we needed anything. Weird. Are we so self-absorbed in
whatever we're doing that we no longer ask if somebody might need anything?
(True enough that we were OK, but there's no way anybody riding past can
know that for sure without asking).

9 times out of 10, when you pass somebody who's stopped at the side of the
road and doing something with their bike (or just looking a bit out of
place), they're OK. But there's always that chance that somebody might have
discovered that their spare tube doesn't hold air, or their pump isn't
working, or maybe they can't figure out how to get the wheel back in and
knocked out a brake shoe.

Of course, lots of people won't say they need help even when they do,
especially guys, so when I pass somebody at the side of the road, I don't
ask if they "need help" but instead "Do you have what you need?" It's truly
amazing how many more people will say something like "Yeah, if you've got a
spare tube that would be great" if you ask them if they need anything... but
asking them if they need help and they'll almost always say no.

It doesn't hurt to look after other cyclists on the road. Someday you just
might need help yourself.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in
om:
First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California
in some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop.
On the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of
the road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so, with maybe 30-40 other
cyclists passing by.

I think if 3 guys look like they know what they're doing, passing cyclists
will expect that at least one of them is competent. One guy working by
himself will probably get "are you OK" from half the passing cyclists. One
guy who looks confused or puts his hand out to ask someone for help will
probably get help pretty quickly. At least in California.

Now, why would 3 bike shop guys need a full 15 minutes to fix a flat?

Now, why would 3 bike shop guys need a full 15 minutes to fix a flat?

At that point it was only two of us (three of us would probably take
longer!) and, as luck would have it, the first tube we installed blew out
its valve core (a very weird thing to happen to a presta-valve tube!).

I think if 3 guys look like they know what they're doing, passing cyclists
will expect that at least one of them is competent.

Not always true! I've stopped to help groups of guys who might otherwise
look like they've got things under control, and it turns out they really do
need a tube because they can't get a patch to hold.

One guy working by himself will probably get "are you OK" from half the
passing cyclists. One
guy who looks confused or puts his hand out to ask someone for help will
probably get help pretty quickly. At least in California.

You'd think that, wouldn't you? But if you know our website you know I take
a *lot* of pictures, and for a couple minutes I was across the street taking
some photos of Todd changing his tire, out of sight of the cyclists coming
up the hill.

I have little doubt that someone asking for help would find it, but what's
so tough about asking people if they've got what they need? My experiences
have been that people will go a long way to fake that they know how to take
care of something when others come by, but are (sometimes) greatly relieved
when you stop and offer them a tube or a cell phone to call home for a ride
or whatever.

PS: Regarding how long it takes to fix a flat, I'd rather spend a bit more
time and fix something correctly, once, than have further problems down the
road because I didn't notice a rimstrip that was out of place, or a small
gash in the tire, or a tiny little glass shard that's just barely visible.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Ken wrote:
"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in
om:

First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California
in some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop.
On the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of
the road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so, with maybe 30-40 other
cyclists passing by.


I think if 3 guys look like they know what they're doing, passing cyclists
will expect that at least one of them is competent. One guy working by
himself will probably get "are you OK" from half the passing cyclists. One
guy who looks confused or puts his hand out to ask someone for help will
probably get help pretty quickly. At least in California.

In general I agree. OTOH, a couple weeks ago I had the misfortune of
riding through a construction zone where a pothole must have knocked my
toolkit (incl. tubes & patch kit) out of its waterbottle cage. I didn't
notice it missing until too late and later in the ride I got a flat (Murphy
strikes again). So for six miles I slowly rode home along a bike path with
a totally flat rear tire towing my boat trailer (at least its wheels were
ok). Saw quite a few cyclists but no comments or offers to help.

Now, why would 3 bike shop guys need a full 15 minutes to fix a flat?

Because they were all carrying the "fun mini-pumps" which seem to be the
only kind available in many bike shops anymore.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California in
some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop. On
the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of the
road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so, with maybe 30-40 other
cyclists passing by.

Not one asked if we needed anything. Weird. Are we so self-absorbed in
whatever we're doing that we no longer ask if somebody might need anything?
(True enough that we were OK, but there's no way anybody riding past can
know that for sure without asking).

So what was Saturday, chopped liver?

Where were you? My guess is that out in the middle of nowhere,
people are more likely to stop. IME the people I ride with
will usually ask - Hmm, maybe people who are used to riding in
groups are _more_ likely to know the convention of stopping to
ask. Last time I was stopped with a flat someone asked. And
last Sunday after 40 miles in cold and rain, I tacoed a wheel
catastrophically on RR tracks and a passer-by gave me a lift
10 miles back to town in his pickup. (I was with several people,
but none of us were equipped to solve the problem.)

Being a city boy originally, I may be a little naive about this,
but I think people who live farther out in farm country and the like
are aware of the isolation and danger of getting stranded, and
more likely to help out. Of course, this does not apply to
_everybody_ that lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Not one asked if we needed anything. Weird. Are we so self-absorbed in
whatever we're doing that we no longer ask if somebody might need
anything?

You probably looked so utterly competent that other bikers thought there was
no need to stop.

We were riding around Colorado last year and when we had any mechanical
failures we invariably go offers of assistance. A flat tire north of Boulder
immediately made other bikers stop to check if we were doing OK. Heading
towards Coal Bank Pass from Durango we had problems with a rear deraileur,
was sligthly off, a gentleman on a road bike stopped, adjusted it perfectly
and gave us a useful lecture on how to fine tune rear deraileurs.

Of course American paranoia can also be a factor, remember trying to ask a
female motorist for the right way at a cross roads, she had one look at us,
made a terrified face, and blow away without stopping. And, the other way
around, near Loma, my wife hit a steel rod, one of those with a reflector,
that was badly placed on the shoulder of the road, a truck stopped, she was
bleeding and needed some stitches. The guy in the truck insisted that she´d
be taken to the hospital but could only fit her and one bike into the truck.
It was full of tools and things. When we hesitated he said "I am not a
serial killer".

She went with him and I biked after, he was of course perfectly ok, really
nice bloke, delivered her to the hospital in Fruita and was just about to go
looking for me when I turned up there rather out of breath.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California in
some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop. On
the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of the
road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so,

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

I have one of those Topeak mini-pumps and I can get a tire up to 80psi
in about 3 minutes. What I do is lay the wheel flat on the ground and
use my weight on the down strokes. If I were to use the mini-pump while
the wheel is on the bike it would take me a long time if ever to get it
up to 80psi.

By the way I would stop just out of curiosity and probably to show off
my mini-pump power pumpin form.

Kenny Lee

In article ,
says...
First really, really, REALLY nice day of riding in Northern California in
some time, and got out this morning with a couple guys from the shop. On
the way back one of them got a flat, so we're stopped at the side of the
road, replacing the tube and inflating it with one of those fun
mini-pumps... probably a good 15 minutes or so, with maybe 30-40 other
cyclists passing by.

Not one asked if we needed anything. Weird. Are we so self-absorbed in
whatever we're doing that we no longer ask if somebody might need anything?
(True enough that we were OK, but there's no way anybody riding past can
know that for sure without asking).

With three of you, they probably assumed that at least one of you, and
maybe two, had stopped to help the third, and therefore didn't bother.

.....

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

But if you know our website you know I take
a *lot* of pictures, and for a couple minutes I was across the street taking
some photos of Todd changing his tire, out of sight of the cyclists coming
up the hill.

That's why nobody asked if Todd needed something, he was out of
sight!

Grammar humor aside, nobody asking if Todd needed anything is pretty
weird for the local roads. When I'm stopped to fix a flat, I usually
get at least two or three "got everything you need" questions. Maybe
it was just a weird Sunday crowd.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 23:58:51 -0700, Benjamin Weiner wrote:

Not one asked if we needed anything. Weird.

Yeah, especially with the West coast supposedly so much friendlier than
the East. Can't remember this happening here. I get bent out of shape
when cyclists don't wave as we pass by -- usually they do. I always ask
whether a single rider, or a small group, by the side of the road has what
they need. I think most riders do, here.

And last Sunday after 40 miles in cold and rain, I
tacoed a wheel catastrophically on RR tracks and a passer-by gave me a
lift 10 miles back to town in his pickup. (I was with several people,
but none of us were equipped to solve the problem.)

How could a rider be equipped to solve that problem? Some tacos can be
almost miraculously repaired by pressing on the high sides of the taco
while the wheel is on one side on the road. But that is only luck; if it
doesn't work, you need someone with a spare wheel. Not too many riders
carry spare wheels.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or
_`\(,_ | that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only
(_)/ (_) | unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public. --Theodore Roosevelt