Flat Resistant Tires & Riding Alone

[featuretile]

Sundial - what great video clips. I wonder why it looks so confusing when I am doing it and so easy when the guy in the picture does it. And lph - a picture would be great!

I'm really excited. My son, 22, working after college is getting a bike. The last few times he has come home I have taken him out for rides on his step-dad's bike. He's a gym buff and with no gym for him here, he wanted some exercise. Liked it so much that he is going to start riding. Wanted all this help in determining what bike to buy and what gear he needs to get. He wants to skip all this intro bike stuff and get a Trek Madone. Will probably soon leave me in the dust..... Anyway, I'm going to send him the video clips because he asked me how to change a tire.

[Aggie_Ama]

One thing to remember is if you call 911 from a cell you don't always get the local operators. I believe this is still true so you must know where you are. To speed things up for me I program the dispatch number for the three local county sheriff's. Where I live I could easily be in one of three counties, I have found when I had a driver throw a beer can at me and swerve that the local sheriff was able to respond immediately. Now my cell phone has those so if I am able to call myself and know the county I am able to get help quickly.

[OakLeaf]

That's a really good idea.

I've had a couple of occasions where I've witnessed a wreck (thankfully everyone was OK) and called 911, only to have the operator berate me because I was connected to the wrong jurisdiction! These were times when I was miles from home and had no idea where the various jurisdictional boundaries were or whom I should have been connected to, but I would sure like to avoid that experience if I could, and especially if it was a situation where seconds really might count.

[Irulan]

One thing to remember is if you call 911 from a cell you don't always get the local operators. I believe this is still true so you must know where you are. To speed things up for me I program the dispatch number for the three local county sheriff's. Where I live I could easily be in one of three counties, I have found when I had a driver throw a beer can at me and swerve that the local sheriff was able to respond immediately. Now my cell phone has those so if I am able to call myself and know the county I am able to get help quickly.

I missed the referring post, but I really, really hope the suggestion wasn't to call 911 for a bike flat or mechanical!!! That is a real misuse of EMS money and personnel.

You are lucky to get a response on a throwing things at cyclist complaint, though.

[Aggie_Ama]

I missed the referring post, but I really, really hope the suggestion wasn't to call 911 for a bike flat or mechanical!!! That is a real misuse of EMS money and personnel.

You are lucky to get a response on a throwing things at cyclist complaint, though.

Not for a flat. She also asked about just being comfortable in general if something were to go wrong. I was thinking how scared I was of wrecking and being injured which is why I programmed the numbers. In this part of the country I probably got assistance (and a follow up call to make sure I was home okay) because I was a woman. That is the other thing the numbers I have are good for general help, I stated "this is not an emergency but I want to report this...." I wasn't injured but they were being a nuisance by littering in addition to harassing me.

[sundial]

I wonder why it looks so confusing when I am doing it and so easy when the guy in the picture does it.

You have to not think about it while mounting the rear tire if that makes any sense. Just remember to shift down to the smallest chainwheel in the front and smallest cog in the rear before removing and mounting the rear wheel.

Another thing to consider carrying with you on those long solo rides--a Spot.