Seattle Forrest

A good friend of mine told me I need to ride a specific trail. She said there's deep gravel in places so don't take my expensive hoops. I've got a set of Ardennes with GP4ks and inner tubes, so that's what I rode. Pleasant trail, good views of the mountain and the river, squatch droppings everywhere though.

Back tire flatted on a wood bridge. It had a bit of a lip and the tube had two punctures, like a snake bite. God dammit, I thought this crap was behind us. I put a new tube in, and flatted again 100 yards down the trail. Looks like I got a blackberry thorn in the tire when I was changing tubes.

I only had one spare. I've gone about ten miles at this point. I'm stuck in the middle of effing nowhere, in squatch infested woods. I'm going to have to tame one, and ride it back to the car. That was my second mistake.

Made my way to the highway (rural one, not freeway) and walked six miles back to the car. Apparently the trail meanders a lot! Think I need new cleats now.

Carbonfiberboy 

That's why I carry 2 tubes, a glue patch kit, a boot kit, a spare tire, and a Topeak Road Morph G. I don't even go for a local ride without this stuff. It lives in my saddle bag. One mistake was not bringing this stuff, the other was running too low a pressure.

terb

What did Forest mother always say?

rubiksoval

Why did you walk in your shoes instead of take them off?

rubiksoval

A spare tire? Is that in a saddle bag or a suitcase?

CAT7RDR

The Great American Ape is no fairy tale. Glad you made it back to your car.

WhyFi

Well, that'll learn ya - stop it with that tube nonsense.

berner

I approach cycling, regardless of the distance, like I do sailing. In the middle of the ocean, you had better be able to fix a problem on your own because it is unlikely anyone will come by to rescue your butt. When I began to cycle longer distances I found myself one day 30 miles from the house. At that point I decided I'd better begin carrying more "get me home" supplies. The longer the ride, the more stuff I bring.

noodle soup

Why were you using tubes?

Carbonfiberboy 

This is what a well equipped distance bike looks like, my brevet rig, ready to ride however far:



The spare tire is that tiny thing on the rear top of the bag. The most common use of my spare is in changing a simple flat. I remove the old tire and tube and install the spare tire and new tube. No need to look for a cause. Takes less than 5 minutes. The spare in the photo is a Vredestein Tricomp, very light and plenty durable. This is a decently fast rig - 23mm tires on 23mm outside rims, CX-Ray spokes. These Profile clip-ons mount below the handlebar.

Seattle Forrest

I considered it but thought it would probably be more uncomfortable. Do people really do that? Leave the socks on probably if I didn't learn my lesson yesterday?

Seattle Forrest

I like to carry a floor pump and a road atlas like in that Rapha commercial, but the spare frame took up too much space and I didn't have room for an extra tire.

guadzilla

For someone with your usename, I find your lack of carbon rims most disturbing.

i wear Speedplays - I'd rather walk on my hands or crawl on all fours than walk more than 2-3 minutes wearing those damn cleats.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, I hear you. I have a set sitting in my Amazon some-day cart. Oh goody, huh? When they gave me my nickname, carbon rims were unknown and everyone else was having custom steel or ti built.

CliffordK

Pinch flats can be caused by something that caused a slow leak. So, you don't notice it at first until wham, pinch flat. I suppose the same could be true with a slightly faster leak and bad timing.

Replace the tube, and you get another slow leak.

I had that happen on my Crater Lake trip a couple of years ago. Annoying slow leak that would leak down over the course of a couple of hours. After the second or third repair, I finally found one of those radial tire wires stuck in my tube.

79pmooney

With a username of Seattle Forrest, I'd expect you to go into the woods prepared!

I have done my brief stint with gravel. (Quite obvious the rough stuff is hard on my NFL lineman-like brain.) On the road, I have 2 tubes. patchkit and irons. 5 bills in my wallet to serve as boots. Spare tire if I think there might be an issue but not often. With 5 bills and a creative mind, there is a lot you can boot successfully, even near the bead. (Pinch the bill with the bead against the rim.)

Ben

noodle soup

there’s a guy in my area that rides with a floor pump on his rear rack.

sfrider 

You could probably have left the truing stand behind.

rubiksoval

Well, I've done it like...once. Way easier than walking in cleats (I had speedplays at the time).

rubiksoval

So a suitcase. I could pack a change of clothes in that bag!

Not for me.

fstshrk

I stopped reading when I read GP4K and deep gravel in the same paragraph. Not a good recipe for success.

Sy Reene

Yup.. doesn't sound like a winning formula

Carbonfiberboy 

Well no, of course not. Mine is not the short course racer setup nor the supported ride setup. I can take a sort of change of clothes, depending on the ride: standard gear is arm warmers, leg warmers, rain jacket, wind vest, a spare pair of gloves. Often one starts in the dark so there are temps from freezing to 90°. Maybe it rains, but one hopes not. The remaining space in the bag is food, malto & whey powder for me. Self-sufficiency is rather nice. Actually, I haven't ridden a brevet in several years, but the mindset of never needing help, yet having help available for others persists.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​That's funny because it wasn't a success at all.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​Gtx ShakeDry is amazing stuff. It breathes well enough that you don't need the vest. Extremely light and packable. This is the one I have.