What is your rescue remedy for cycle breakdowns miles from home?

[mjr]

[QUOTE 5228290, member: 43827"]Tried that once when I had a fall and tore the ligaments in my knee about six miles from home. Asked for a taxi that would allow me to get a bike in, even with the wheels detached. No-one turned up and I had to phone a friend.

I'm with Adam4868 on this.[/QUOTE]
I think Steve's Taxis in West Norfolk has sponsored a local charity ride and I've only seen them with people-carriers, so I'd call them.

The only time I've had to be recovered (pothole hit at speed on a descent broke the wheel) meant waiting for my wife to finish the ride, ride home and return with a car. I waited in a village pub

 

[Slick]

I've been reasonably fortunate so far. I didn't fancy fixing a puncture on a cold wet commute, so invested in those supposedly puncture resistant tyres and binned the repair kit. The inevitable bit of glass hit the resistant strip on the edge and worked it's way in just as I crested the Erskine bridge at 6 am when nobody else was around so I had to push the bike the last 5 miles to work. Lesson learned I got the minibus drivers number at work who agreed to come and get me if anything ever happened again. It did but now I carry 2 tubes and patches. More recently I wrecked my rear mech coming through Glasgow airport on a muddy strip they tarred a week later and Mrs Slick came and picked me up. Yes I now realise a real cyclist would have split the chain and rode home on a fixie but every day is a school day. I now have an agreement with a friend at work to be the 4th emergency service for each other which hasn't been put to the test yet touch wood but may also look in to the 18 quid thing as it seems foolish not to at that price.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Phone a taxi. I've done that before.

Me too. It's a last resort obviously, but I've had to call a van-sized taxi 2 or 3 times in the last 9 years or so. I don't drive, and have no family members who can drive me anywhere, so I have to pay someone else to do it.

 

[marzjennings]

If less than 4 miles then I'd walk either home or to nearest bike shop. Next Uber, ordering an XL so I know the bike will fit. And finally I'd call the wife to come pick me up.

Touch wood, but I've not a mechanical I couldn't fix or at least bodge in a few years.

The worst trek home due to a mechanical issue was also the time I broke my hand in a fall that snapped the front forks. A 6 mile hike with a busted bike and hand through a rain forest was no joke. I didn't tell the wife for about 2 weeks to avoid the 'i-told-u-so' moment and only after she noticed my hand was swelling up like a balloon.

 

[adamhearn]

As a woman, I wouldn’t personally feel comfortable hitching if stuck in the middle of nowhere alone.
As a man, ymmv

Sorry you feel that way... as a man I'll remember to not stop and offer to help a lone female cyclist.

As for what I'd do... As I've no family and very few friends to call upon I would walk if possible.

 

[Vantage]

Sorry you feel that way... as a man I'll remember to not stop and offer to help a lone female cyclist.

As for what I'd do... As I've no family and very few friends to call upon I would walk if possible.

I'm a man but I'm with @vickster on this. The majority of the population are perfectly safe individuals who pose no threat, but there are plenty of sick nutcases out there.
I'm only 5'3" and 10 stone of wuss but I made my fiancee promise to tell someone where she was and with who along with giving the friend my address and number before agreeing to our first date.
My ex wife is living with a convicted sex offender.
The world isn't as safe and cosy as it should be.

 

[vickster]

Sorry you feel that way... as a man I'll remember to not stop and offer to help a lone female cyclist.

As for what I'd do... As I've no family and very few friends to call upon I would walk if possible.

You can stop and offer to help to fix my bike but I wouldn’t feel comfortable getting in a car with you to be taken home. My response was to some saying to hitch hike (as opposed to getting a taxi) and not regarding getting help from a passing stranger. That would likely be appreciated

I don’t cycle alone in remote areas so I’ll never need to hitchhike fortunately

 

[Alan O]

Sometimes a rescue lift would be available, but often not, and if I'm close enough to home I'd walk/coast it - that's what happened when I broke chain and derailleur hanger last year about 5.5 miles away.

Pushing to the nearest bike shop is an option, providing you know where it is and it's not Sunday or in the evening (which my cycling often is).

If I'm further from home, I'm rarely more than about 5 miles from a railway station, certainly never more than 10, so that's the direction I'd start (depending on the distance and bike shop availability).

The biggest such walk I've had was years ago when I broke my rear axle in an area with no railways, and that was an 11 mile push home.

If the worst really came to the worst, I'd lock the bike up somewhere, remove the saddle if it's one of my bikes with an expensive one, and walk to the nearest transport - and come back as soon as possible to try to rescue the bike. I'd hate to lose a bike, but mine are all cheap... and, as my grandma always used to say, worse things happen at sea.

 

[Salty seadog]

Phone Mrs D, and she will come fetch me in my car with the cycle rack on the roof, and the welcoming hip flask in the glovebox.

That said, in nearly 5 decades of cycling then situation has never arisen because I maintain my bikes fastidiously, and go well equipped for minor roadside surgery.

Can you pm me her number and tell me what's in the flask. A nice single malt would be fine.

 

[Sharky]

I think Steve's Taxis in West Norfolk has sponsored a local charity ride and I've only seen them with people-carriers, so I'd call them.

The only time I've had to be recovered (pothole hit at speed on a descent broke the wheel) meant waiting for my wife to finish the ride, ride home and return with a car. I waited in a village pub

Should have walked into the next village, called in at the Blacksmiths and welded the wheel together again (without any help).
That's what they used to do
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Christophe

 

[mcshroom]

I've had two occasions I couldn't either fix the bike or walk it to a station. The first was when I broke the frame of an old Raleigh in Eskdalemuir on an audax and ended up with an expensive taxi ride to Galashiels to pick up my car, then drove back to collect the bike.

The second was near Silloth on Solway when the wire bead of my (almost new) rear tyre snapped and there was no way of keeping the tyre on the rim. At that point I chained the bike up in a hedge, walked to Silloth itself to find I'd missed the last bus home, so I got a taxi to Maryport and a bus home before going and collecting the bike. I now tend to carry a spare folding tyre of some description on longer remote rides. 23mm road tyre on a touring rim might be uncomfortable, but it's better than being stuck.

Most bits of bike are relatively repairable if you know what you are doing, but it's not possible to cover everything. In the Eskdalemuir case I looked up cycle rescue afterwards, but IIRC they had a limit to the distance they would recover you at the time (not sure if they still do), and they had a line about taking you either to your destination, or to a local station/hotel. I could see myself being stuck in Langholm for the evening and the hotel costing more than the taxi ride.

 

[night cycler]

Had to callout Mrs W for the first time last week, a busted freehub that couldn't be fixed. Luckily I was in an area that she was fairly familiar with so the pick up wasn't a problem, but if it had been more remote I not sure what the outcome would be.
I see the Cycle Rescue service also includes a free insurance policy for which I already pay about £12 a year (I think), so taking this into account the rescue policy realistically works out at around £6, just the price of a couple of tubes. Good value in my mind and I'll be investigating further, thanks for the heads up!

Not sure if you are are referring to the same company...ETA?

Their cycle insurance cover offers free cycle recovery , but not the other way round??

 

[vickster]

Not sure if you are are referring to the same company...ETA?

Their cycle insurance cover offers free cycle recovery , but not the other way round??

Maybe referring to legal advice? Or Europe cover?

• 24/7 recovery service from any road in Britain
• Taxi home service available
• Includes cover for punctures

• Cover in Europe for 90 days per year
• Free legal advice
• Unlimited callouts per year

 

[T4tomo]

I don't understand why there are comments which relate to taxi or Uber size, with both wheels off, any non tandem/trike/hpv bike will fit in the boot of any car seems suitable for taxi use? And if you are cycling without the ability to remove you wheels then meh.

 

[adamhearn]

I don't understand why there are comments which relate to taxi or Uber size, with both wheels off, any non tandem/trike/hpv bike will fit in the boot of any car seems suitable for taxi use? And if you are cycling without the ability to remove you wheels then meh.

Last time I put a bike in my boot it was wheels off, handlebars loose and seat post out and even then it was a struggle. I’d imagine most taxi drivers will not be too keen on their passenger taking 15 mins to enter the vehicle... unless the meter is already ticking of course!