How often do you need rescuing?

[Rusty Nails]

Once by a friend who promptly took me to A&E because I could not walk due to torn knee ligaments.

Once by an ambulance who took me to hospital (with my bike) because I had been found unconscious by passers-by. 5 years later still no idea how it happened.

Never for a mechanical problem.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I've called for rescue twice and been forced to return by train once.:

I had a cheap wheel start to unzip itself and after the third spoke went it was binding on the frame. No mobile signal - fortunately it was only about a mile back to the phone box (which has been decommissioned since).
A century ride had to be abandoned due to a pulled muscle. Again no phone signal so I made my way to Craven Arms where there was a signal and the cafe at the Discovery Centre to wait in.
On another century ride a rim started to split. I thought it had enough life left in it - apparently not. Very luckily I was only a mile from the railway station in Ludlow.

 

[Moodyman]

Never needed rescuing due to the bike.

But, once aborted 80 miles into @nickyboy 's 100 mile ride to Llandudno due to a festering cold. That windy stretch through the golf course just broke me so bailed out at Prestatyn.

 

[ColinJ]

Never been rescued but have rescued the ex 4 times as he refuses to carry a repair kit

You've got more tolerance and understanding than me...

Some people do take the piss though! One colleague out on a summer evening ride with me punctured and stood at the side of the road looking embarrassed until I finally asked him why he wasn't fixing it. Turned out that he no tools or spares with him! So, I fixed it ...

When I was done, I asked him why he had not been prepared and he cheerfully told me that "I don't need to carry all that crap - I never get punctures!" I politely informed him that I didn't see it as my place in life to be 'a carrier of the crap that my colleague doesn't want to carry' and that I would never repair a puncture for him again. If he wasn't prepared to repair his own bike, then he must be prepared to do his own walk! (Or phone his girlfriend and explain to her why she should have to rush out of her yoga class, jump in the car and drive 20 miles to get him just because he was too lazy to carry a couple of tyre levers, a pump and a spare tube and/or a puncture kit!)

Twice

One time I punctured about 20 miles from home and found my spare tube's valve was faulty. Rang international rescue and repaired to the nearby bub where I had burger and chips and a pint while I waited for Mrs N

Other was recent. Broken spoke on my hopelessly underspoked fancy wheels a couple of miles from home. Could easily have walked it but that's why you get married for these sort of problems. International rescue again

Thrice?

What can I say? I've done about 12,000km on those Maviks and they chose a group ride to twang a spoke. Only managed 50km but at least (a) we were about 5km from the café and (b) the café was about 5km from a train station to get me back to Leeds.

What bit I did of the ride was really nice. Good company as always and I managed to get a bit of the really nice section after we got out of Leeds (thanks to @colly for managing that quicker than the official route). Great to see old friends and make some new ones. Sorry if I didn't get chance to chat with everyone, I was planning on riding a bit further than I managed!

When I got back to Glossop the weather was glorious but I was bike-less so I had to take it to the bike shop (fitting spokes and truing wheels I way beyond my capabilities), take son #1 to his swimming lesson, have a Chinese takeaway and pop out for a few beers with son#2. Not as much fun as riding to Scarby, fish and chips and 'spoons but not too bad

I will try to make sure my bike is in decent working order for any subsequent rides.

 

[mjr]

dropped the rear mech into the spokes,

ooh you reminded me that I did once have a hire bike swapped mid-ride by the support van after poorly-adjusted limits let me shift the chain into the spokes. I would have fixed it if I'd had my toolkit but it wouldn't have happened to one of my bikes in the first place because I've never yet set a low limit as badly as that!

 

[ColinJ]

ooh you reminded me that I did once have a hire bike swapped mid-ride by the support van after poorly-adjusted limits let me shift the chain into the spokes. I would have fixed it if I'd had my toolkit but it wouldn't have happened to one of my bikes in the first place because I've never yet set a low limit as badly as that!

'The bunch' rescued a fellow rider who had a similar thing happen on a cycling holiday...

I was in a group of about 30 riders on the Costa Blanca. We had just hit a small hill and were starting to power our way up it when we heard a loud noise and a stream of expletives coming from the back of the group. A rider had just tried to change gear and his gear hanger had broken, sending his rear mech into the wheel. Several spokes were broken, his mech was hanging down into the wheel and the chain was mangled. We were about 30 miles from our hotel, in the middle of nowhere.

Between us, we managed to take off his rear mech, shorten the damaged section of chain and turn his bike into a singlespeed for the ride back, and straighten his rear wheel enough to make it rideable with the back brake slackened off.

 

[Hacienda71]

From a mechanical once. QR lever snapped when trying to remove the wheel to fix a puncture.
Picked up after crashing, didn't fancy fixing a snapped chain with a smashed up face leg and shoulder. Although my worst crash on a MTB with a broken sternum I cycled back from.

 

[nickyboy]

You've got more tolerance and understanding than me...





Thrice?

Nah, train home so doesn't count

But somehow I'd forgotten coming off at 25mph in Marple a couple of months ago. I may have been able to ride home but it's a bloody big hill and I was hurting a lot so I chickened out and phoned international rescue...again

 

[Dogtrousers]

Nah, train home so doesn't count

Unfortunately, according to the OP, it does ...

"Rescued" means needing assistance to get home/other destination, be it cab, lift, train, RAC, army lorry, whatever.

Psst! It doesn't really

 

[GoldenLamprey]

The train does count in these COVID times.

Never needed rescuing. Catastrophic wheel or tyre problems are the only things I would anticipate ending a ride. I carry a tyre boot and various tools in a pencil case in a pocket. It doesn't matter which bike I am on, I cannot leave them on another bike, which is the issue with saddle bags.

 

[Pale Rider]

The most impressive bit of that story is, finding a parking place in York

Parked in an old engine shed, so as close as it was possible to get to the end of the ride.

The shed was also parking for the nearby hotel, which made me more confident about leaving the car overnight.

When I returned, I told the attendant what I'd been up to, partly because he might wonder why some bloke on a bike was riding into the shed.

"Ah," he said. "Since your car has been here overnight you must have stayed in the hotel."

The 'hotel tariff' was a nice few quid cheaper then the usual 24 hour price.

 

[matticus]

Other was recent. Broken spoke on my hopelessly underspoked fancy wheels a couple of miles from home. Could easily have walked it but that's why you get married for these sort of problems

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Can’t believe you called your wife instead of walking the two miles home.

 

[nickyboy]

Can’t believe you called your wife instead of walking the two miles home.

She was cool about it. Saved me walking half an hour in my cleats. What's the problem?

 

[Mo1959]

She was cool about it. Saved me walking half an hour in my cleats. What's the problem?

I was just thinking about that the other day and even wondered about reverting to flat pedals and trainers for a while in case I have to walk.