Very disappointed..........

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Tin Pot

Guru
It's interesting that we have a vast difference in our expectations of strangers. One person regards a LBS who helped him back on the road when he needed it as going above and beyond and deserved a public thank you. Another feels that a Halfords branch not doing so as reason enough to speak out against the whole chain.





(I don't really believe in karma, but despite calling out to almost every cyclist I've seen in trouble, and the occasional driver and motorcyclist, if I did believe in karma I'd be heavily in debt, for the people that have reached out to me in various extraordinary ways)

Opinions do vary, but I would have thought it pretty raw if I'd been turned out.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
I always ask if help is needed and I carry a spare inner tube in the car. When I punctured recently I had already realised that I'd forgotten to bring my CO2 inflator although I did have a cylinder in my saddle pack. So I set off walking and enjoying the peace of the country and sure enough, within five minutes somebody came along and lent me his valve thingy. A puncture is not to be feared as it can lead to some pleasant meetings with other cyclists!

That said, many years ago in the pre-MAMIL and pre-mobile phone era Mrs Gti and I did stop for a roadie who was walking with his bike. He got in and sat sullenly in the back and when we reached his place the reason became clear - his wife was standing on the doorstep tapping her foot impatiently, arms folded like Andy Capp's wife Flo, exclaiming loudly: "Okay so what's he done THIS time?"
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Oh I've just remembered another time I stopped. Another rider had problems with her gears near the top of a massive hill in a sportive in S Wales. I definitely stopped to help a fellow rider on the hill. I did not stop because my legs were about to fall off and my lungs were imploding. No, no way.
 

Banjo

Fuelled with Jelly Babies
Location
South Wales
I got a dose of food poisoning on a ride and stopped on the severn bridge leaning on the handrail after throwing up.

A passer by probably thought i was a jumper and wouldnt leave until i got moving again.

Kind of renewed my faith in human nature but at the time i just wanted him to pi$$ off.
 

Tim Hall

Guest
Location
Crawley
The third time, I had tools and I learned how to fix a puncture. I stopped for a great looking lady who needed help. I asked if she would go on a date with me if I fixed her puncture and she told me to get lost.

So now, I just don't stop. Screw karma.

That's not a very nice thing to do, or write.
 

Lonestar

Veteran
London mode...Used to ask but ignored so many times I never really bother.As I said earlier though if it looks bad I would offer assistance.
 

bladesman73

Über Member
I always ask.however once i had stopped just to check my phone and i hear a voice from behind..i turn around and a bloke was cycling towards me, as he got close he started to talk again,hit a pothole and went right over the bars! I ended up helping him the poor blighter!
 
Bottom line for me - countless times lads/lasses stopped to offer help/tools when I was repairing one of the kids' p*nct*res. Least I can do, all those years later, is return the compliment. And look out for kids cycling to/from school who've had a puncture, and don't want to phone dad at work.
 

Mr Celine

Discordian
I stop if someone looks lost or asks for help.
The last time I stopped for a lost soul it was a mamil in full team kit on a very expensive bike with a puncture. Apparently every other cyclist had stopped too, but as his tyre was a tub no one could help, apart from one who had cycled to the nearest phone box to call the mamil's wife, who was by this time on her way from Edinburgh to rescue him. He knew precisely where he was from the GPS on his phone, but there's no signal there so he couldn't phone himself.

I'm still puzzled as to why anyone would choose to ride on tyres they can't fix in the middle of nowhere.
 
OP
OP
speccy1

speccy1

Guest
I stop if someone looks lost or asks for help.
The last time I stopped for a lost soul it was a mamil in full team kit on a very expensive bike with a puncture. Apparently every other cyclist had stopped too, but as his tyre was a tub no one could help, apart from one who had cycled to the nearest phone box to call the mamil's wife, who was by this time on her way from Edinburgh to rescue him. He knew precisely where he was from the GPS on his phone, but there's no signal there so he couldn't phone himself.

I'm still puzzled as to why anyone would choose to ride on tyres they can't fix in the middle of nowhere.
I agree, I never understood the tubeless tyres thing, once it`s flat, you`re f*cked:angry:
 
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