andym said:
Hmm. Anne Mustoe was a sixty-something woman and as such would have inevitably got more sympathy and support than a young man (as well as chivalry there's also respect for older people built into most cultures).
You might be able to rely on that advice if you're a retired headmistress but for the rest of us a bit of basic mechanical competence is a good idea. If you have a catastrophic failure then you probably won't have any alternative but to get a lift, but being able to do stuff like adjust your gears and brakes will make a huge difference to the pleasure and safety of your ride.
..and even in France the nearest bike shop can be a few days riding away.
I hear what you're saying. Yes, Anne Mustoe probably did gather a bit more attention and offers of help than the average 20 year old guy.
Still though, we have found people to be almost universally helpful if you ask and there are few places in the world where you can't get to a bike shop to do work like changing brake pads and lubing brake cables, if you want to. Since most of this kind of stuff is routine or predictable, it shouldn't be too hard to stop at a bike shop 1/2 way on the trip and get a tune up.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to know how to do the basic maintenance on your bike. It will definitely save you money, almost certainly save you time (unless you're in Thailand where a total bike tune up costs about $10), will give you confidence and can be a lot of fun. I'm just saying that if you don't learn these things because you're not interested, it won't be a case of not surviving.
If I think of survival skills, my mind goes to things like surviving in traffic (a CTUK course is great if you can get on one
http://www.cycletraining.co.uk/).
And I would learn how to patch a tire because, unlike Anne Mustoe, I would just be more frustrated having to wait for a lift than by actually changing the tire! It's such an easy job most of the time. Although once we couldn't fix a flat because our pump had broken the previous day. In that case, the 'survival skill' needed was not the skill to change the tire, but the skill to make a connection with the family living down the road who didn't speak any English (and were the only house for miles around) and communicate to them that we needed a pump. Happily they had one.
A lot depends on where you are going. Maybe the original poster can tell us what the plans are?
If you want to do a maintenance course, we took one from the LCC and it was well done.
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=335
. I'm looking into courses and workshops in London. What do you think are the essential things I need to learn while on the road? Also, what should I take with me considering that there may very few or none bike shops along the way?
