wipekitty

In order of my own stupidity...

#1 I'd recently moved to a new region and decided to go out on what was supposed to be an EPIC road ride on my fixed gear, without doing anything smart like looking up alternate routes.

There's a stretch where the state highway merges with the interstate, and so no place for bikes/pedestrians for a few miles. To accommodate this, there is a path adjacent to the interstate.

Little did I know, the highway was under construction. No prob, I followed what I believed to be the bike detour signs. Next thing I knew, I was on the freaking interstate with cars going by at 75 MPH! I got off at the first exit and went into some little town, hoping to somehow reroute.

I rode back and forth on the one street in the little town, and discovered that due to construction, the only road north was closed, as was the only road south. The Mississippi River was to the east, and the only way out of town - other than the interstate - was a road to the west. This road started paved, then turned to gravel, and was very steep (it actually maxes out at 20%). I gave up (fixed gear!), especially since I had no idea where exactly it went.

I ended up hitching a ride through the construction with some people who were burning stuff by the river.

#2 Out in the country with my fixed gear (again) with bolt on hubs, about 40 miles into a planned 65 mile spring ride, when POP! No problem - I've got C02, tubes, and an adjustable wrench. Well...I never checked my tools, and discovered that my wrench had rusted shut over the winter, rendering it useless.

I walked about two miles down the road in the direction of a town with a bar, thinking I'd hit up some guys there for a wrench. I was about a mile and a half from town when the cavalry rode in - a very nice couple out on a ride! They hooked me up with a wrench. After the first two tubes we put in (one of mine, one of theirs) randomly exploded, the third one worked, and I got to finish my ride.

I still owe them some tubes.

#3 Let's ride bikes with old crappy tires! This time, I got a flat on the edge of town, ~7 miles from home, and this time, the exploding tube syndrome was due to my tires being in bad shape.

I think I could have gotten the thing booted, but a farmer came by in a truck and offered me a ride.



Me! I didn't, until my friend broke a chain earlier this summer, and I was kicking myself for not having one.