Spare me the flat tires, please.

We hear it all the time. Take along at least one extra tube when you\’re going on a long ride. If you\’re heading out on a bicycle tour, make that two tubes; and probably an extra tire as well.

I keep a spare tube in my road bike\’s under-saddle pack; but it\’s been in there for so long that I have to wonder whether it\’s still good. I remember airing it up with my floor pump a while back. It was all right then; I hope it still is! Spare me the agony of being stranded by a flat plus an unusable spare tube when home is miles away!

Spare me the misery of bonking, too. Up until now I haven\’t really bonked; and I don\’t want to! That\’s why I have a top-tube pouch on my road bike. When I do my Sunday long ride, it\’s my \”nose bag\” where I carry cut-up bars that I  eat while rolling. One bite every 15 minutes seems to work well.

If we want to avoid bonking, we want even more to avoid dehydration! For a ride longer than 15 miles I use my Camel-Bak; and take along electrolyte drink as well. The hotter the weather, the more important the latter is, because there comes a point where no amount of water slakes thirst; and why risk hyponatremia?