Have you ever been stranded?

[Aggie_Ama]

Several times but never anything major. I would never not own a cell phone though and cringe when it isn't working. A lot of Texas is rural and there are some rides we may only see 5 cars after we are just a few miles in!

1. DH had a job with a lot of travel so I was riding alone. I was in a fairly well traveled area when I had a flat. It was my first on the road flat change and I had a miserable time with the hand pumped (spurred me to get CO2). I called my big brother to rescue me since it was getting dark.

2. Last summer my husband and I got caught with a severe thunderstorm heading towards us. We didn't have enough time to make it home and no where to take shelter, so my parents came to collect us.

3. My tire blew out 30 miles into a 60 mile loop from the house. I was with DH and booted it but that was too questionable to ride all the way home. We rode back to the nearest town and waited on my parents to come out to get us. We will be a bit lost if my dad ever gets rid of his truck!

4. Recently commuting home from work I had a blow out. This one there was no hope of booting it, so I walked 1.5 miles.

[redrhodie]

So far, it looks like I'm the only one dumb/crazy enough to take a ride from a stranger. It turned out okay, I got home safe, but I gotta say, it was CREEPY!

My other options were to wait 2 hours for a bus, or call a cab. I felt since the bus was an option, I just didn't want to wait that long for it, it wasn't fair to expect a friend to drop their plans to come get me.

The lesson I learned...count on the kindness of strangers only in the most extreme emergency, like if an injury is involved. Next time, I'll wait for the bus.

It's interesting to see how many of us this has happened to. It's good to be ready for it next time.

[sundial]

Last fall hubby, friend and I went for a long ride. We had left a small farmer's cafe and were headed to the next town when our friend's tires flatted. And being the weight weenie that he was, he didn't carry any extra tubes. So I pulled my tubes and changed the flat (I've been chosen to be the team mechanic ). He jumps back on the bike and he flatted again. So I change the other tube and use the last air cartridge. Guess what? He flatted. Hubby has no tubes to share, we're out of air cartridges and didn't bring the air pump. And we're out where there is no cell service. So I elect to jump on my bike and race 25 miles back to the car.

As I'm zipping along my tank is running out of juice because I didn't account for the extra calories I'd burn on a cool day. So I start looking around and notice there are alot of duck hunters out. I figured I could get to the car much quicker if I could hitch a ride with the right person. I spotted a clean cut guy that was sitting in a really nice pickup so I figured I'd take my chances. So I flagged him down, asked if I could have a ride, and he was more than happy to assist. He carefully laid my bike in the back of the pickup and drove me to my car. I headed back to pick up the guys and they were more than relieved to get back to civilization.

There are perks with living in a small rural town.