Quote addedWeathergeek:Here is a nice story for you. Am curious if anybody else has had issues. Everybody else that I have run into has been more that helpful and our group has always done what is necessary to help others. So here goes:
We were riding on Saturday East of Cal City headed to Kramer Junction for some grub. About 3-4 miles from there, my son's front went flat. As we were discussing options (we did not have a tube or irons with us), three other riders went by. We flagged them down and they agreed to meet us at Astro burger so that we could borrow their irons. Got there and borrowed their irons. I thanked them. By that time they were halfway done with their meal and one said "We are almost done, you better hurry". As I walked away, I thought to myself that they must be joking. About 8-10 minutes later, they walked over as we were struggling a bit and said "What are you guys doing?" Then said "Get out of the way ladies" as he thought about helping Agent 2 with the tire change. The same dude realized then that this was going to take some time, so he picked up his tools and proclaimed "we are outta here". One of my friends overheard them say earlier as they were eating that we were a bunch of dumb asshats.
Anyway, obviously we could have a been a little better prepared I agree, but NEVER, NEVER have I run into a bigger set of jerks. So if you are out there, you riders from Cantil, wait till the day you need something from somebody. Karma will bite you in the ass.Rant over.
Weathergeek, I think it is awesome that you bring up this wonderful learning experience from the past. yes, mistakes were made, but I personally am glad that it happened.
Since then, I always carry tire irons. A spare tube, patch kit, CO2 inflaters and pump.
But what other items should I have been carrying, but wasn't? It seems that no matter how many tools you bring, you don't have the one you need. Therefore, I started carrying a full toolkit. I then realized that shade would be needed, especially in the summer. A homemade EZ up was the answer. To combat the sense of isolation doing repairs in the middle of nowhere, I decided to bring a small orange tree, It calms me, and oranges are good for you. Of course, can't live on oranges, so a small cooler with assorted food items is a necessity.
A spare change of clothes is a good item to bring with you. But what clothes? Will it be warm, cold, wet, windy? To compensate for this, I simply bring a couple of laundry baskets of assorted clothing.
Of course all of these accessories has resulted in modifications to the bike - hey, if you want an omelette, you gotta break a few eggs, right? I lost some ground clearance, that's the price you pay.
Attached is a photo of the modified XR (thanks to CDA, his bike modification tips really helped).
Once again, big thanks to WG for bringing up this incident which I had forgotten, good times, good times..........
Two important points you make. Carrying water is ABSOLUTELY more essential than anything. It amazes me that some people carry little or none, especially the kids. Riding back to camp if within say 10 miles or so and not running a trials tire will work and has worked for me several times in the past. But, in my story we were 35+ miles from camp when it happened.I guess I am guilty of dumbness as I do not carry anything but water. Some in our group have gotten flats but we just ride back to camp and handle it.
