Self sufficiency

[Ben T]

I thought pedals were labelled "L" and "R".

*checks*

Yes, mine and Mrs. Wow's do.

We have always been a bit challenged since we have no longer been able to buy our underwear from C & A.

Yep my 540s are engraved. Useful feature.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Some people have mechanical ineptitude in their DNA.  I know.  I am one of them.  When disassembling my Airnimal I have to sit there very carefully remembering which way to thread pedals and not find that the only way to loosen them is with a torque wrench or dynamite.  It's not for want of trying; I just have a talent for confusing right and left.  I really struggled to  understand this man-hopeless-at-DIY thing until I got to understand my wife, who is seriously dyslexic whose ability with words is about the same as mine with nuts and bolts.

Despite this, I've sort of got around a fair number of SR series and some longer Audax events, but the finer points of bicycle maintenance will always be a mystery for me, for the simple reason that if I disassemble something, reassembly will be impossible.   And therefore I'd be hesitant to be critical of anyone less able than me.

[Exit Stage Left]

I was there when George Berwick bought some new headphones from Tesco Dumfries for £1.99 at 2am on a Sunday morning on the Ower the Edge 400. He'd used the previous ones to repair a rattling mudguard stay.

I don't think I'd be telling that anecdote to a bunch of corporate types on a 'trip of a lifetime' fully-catered End to End. Partly because it might look like I was trying to piss on their chips, but mainly because they'd have me down as a complete lunatic.

Edit. I just checked and it was 1.30am. Here's George modelling his new headphones.

[Ben T]

Also, some people don't know their left from right. So markings aren't necessarily going to help them. ( Worth remembering when passing. )

[hellymedic]

I suspect some aspects of self-sufficiency are a generation thing.

Some were accustomed to 'getting a man in' for many jobs when artisans were easy to find and pay.
Then came the 'make do and mend' generation, whose ethos has rubbed off on some of us.
We're part of the 'Beyond economical repair, Replace the unit.' generation now.

Labour is pricy; cheap foreign parts do the job...

[Ian H]

I maintain my own bikes simply because it's the only way I get them just as I want them. 

[Kim]

I suspect some aspects of self-sufficiency are a generation thing.

Some were accustomed to 'getting a man in' for many jobs when artisans were easy to find and pay.
Then came the 'make do and mend' generation, whose ethos has rubbed off on some of us.
We're part of the 'Beyond economical repair, Replace the unit.' generation now.

Labour is pricy; cheap foreign parts do the job...

There's also the generations who've been limited in their scope for making do and mending.  A lack of space and stability make acquiring tools and materials problematic.  You think twice about fettling that chain if you risk your deposit by getting oil on the tatty old carpet.  And most young people have simply never had the opportunity to do DIY - getting a man in isn't even their decision.

The maker movement seems to be bringing some of the skills back from a different angle, though.  Hacking and creating, rather than maintaining.  That sort of thing.  I find the cargo-cult engineering that often goes with it distasteful, but it's infinitely better than simply consuming.

[Bledlow]

In one of Arthur Ransome's books, the plot at one point turns on the fact that it is a Wednesday afternoon, and therefore a bicycle flat tyre cannot be repaired.  It obviously seemed quite reasonable to the author in the 1930s, that teenage children would not be able to repair a puncture themselves, but would have to take it to a bike shop.

I remember early closing day.

[citoyen]

Some people have mechanical ineptitude in their DNA.

This is a fair point.

I'm guilty of assuming that audaxers are more likely to have an aptitude for self-sufficiency but clearly the boundaries between different types of cyclist and cycling event are somewhat blurred. This should be no surprise. Audax itself is a broad church, after all.

We still have early closing on Wednesday in Whitstable. Surprisingly, civilisation continues to function even when the shops are shut for a few hours.

[Somnolent]

Also, some people don't know their left from right. So markings aren't necessarily going to help them. ( Worth remembering when passing. )

There are also a few who struggle with distinguishing up from down.
Somewhat OT but I have a family member who is a qualified pilot.  At one point learned some aerobatics... at the conclusion of one figure the instruction was to bring the wings level.
After said loopiness was duly executed;

Instructor: "And now bring the wings level"
A few seconds pass  .....
and a few more...
Instructor: "Bring the wings level, please"
FM: "The wings are level"
Instructor: "No, no, bring the wings level with the horizon"
FM: "Er, the wings are level with the horizon"
Instructor: "Not quite, just another 180°"

[Karla]

In one of Arthur Ransome's books, the plot at one point turns on the fact that it is a Wednesday afternoon, and therefore a bicycle flat tyre cannot be repaired.  It obviously seemed quite reasonable to the author in the 1930s, that teenage children would not be able to repair a puncture themselves, but would have to take it to a bike shop.

Which book was that?  At a guess, one of the Norfolk ones, possibly The Big Six?

[Greenbank]

...hint: Keep the pedals facing forward, cleat side up, and you'll be OK 

Doesn't work for me; all of my pedals are double-sided. I can't stand the faff of single-sided pedals for stop/start riding (even Audax levels of infrequent clip/unclip).

[mmmmartin]

Surprisingly, civilisation continues to function even when the shops are shut for a few hours.

For the definition of self-suffiency, go to France. When cycling alongside the Loire a few years ago I arrived on a Friday; Saturday was half day for the shops for a religious thing, Sunday everything was shut, Monday everything was shut for Feast of the assumption and on Wednesday it was Victory in Europe Day. I nearly starved to death. And it was the coldest May for 25 years. Some campsites didn't even bother to open.
Although that would be nothing compared with arriving in Whitstable on a Wednesday afternoon and finding the shops shut. I mean, why else would you go to Whitstable?

[ElyDave]

...hint: Keep the pedals facing forward, cleat side up, and you'll be OK 

Doesn't work for me; all of my pedals are double-sided. I can't stand the faff of single-sided pedals for stop/start riding (even Audax levels of infrequent clip/unclip).

mine too, I found single sided and SPD-SLs don't hang right for the recumbent, where getting moving and clipped in early is quite important.

[frankly frankie]

Yes arriving in France with your bike just in time for a long weekend can be very trying, unless you're really organised.

Which book was that?  At a guess, one of the Norfolk ones, possibly The Big Six?

Yes one of the Norfolk ones, that's all I can remember.  Obviously it wouldn't have been the Swallows or Amazons, they were totally the wrong class to be mending their own bikes, whatever the day of the week.  Swallows based on a family who lived in Aleppo - who knew? 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37049314

[Samuel D]

Self-sufficiency can easily become a survivalist-like cult. (I frankly think it approaches that if you begrudge another cyclist the use of your pump.) I’m not sure that way of living is any better than the opposite extreme of high consumption and low knowledge, although perhaps it is more environmentally friendly.

I inhabit a happy middle ground, but that does require a modicum of talent and effort.

The thing about mechanical aptitude is that those lacking it often don’t realise that. Consequently, bicycles are among the worst maintained and set up machines on the planet. I wouldn’t ride almost all of the bicycles I see around Paris without fixing about five serious problems first.

[Karla]

While it's okay to not be a natural mechanic, I do wonder at someone who manages to destroy a pedal thread.  Those are chunky things, they take quite a bit of destroying!  Did the guy not get the hint that he was doing something wrong, sometime before he managed to crank it in - presumably with much blood, sweat and swearing?

Which book was that?  At a guess, one of the Norfolk ones, possibly The Big Six?

Yes one of the Norfolk ones, that's all I can remember.  Obviously it wouldn't have been the Swallows or Amazons, they were totally the wrong class to be mending their own bikes, whatever the day of the week.  Swallows based on a family who lived in Aleppo - who knew? 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37049314

ISTR one of the Death and Glories riding all over the place on his bike.  The D&Gs were working class oiks who dropped their 'aitches left right and centre, so probably the right class for doing that sort of thing.

Self-sufficiency can easily become a survivalist-like cult. (I frankly think it approaches that if you begrudge another cyclist the use of your pump.) I’m not sure that way of living is any better than the opposite extreme of high consumption and low knowledge, although perhaps it is more environmentally friendly.

I'm not sure if this is quite the same thing as the kitchen sink tourists you see riding round rich, heavily populated areas.  If you're touring Outer Mongolia you obviously need a spare everything, but if you're riding through Germany, if you just accept you may have to divert a few miles to a bike shop to re-buy one or two items en-route, you can get away with carrying a lot less. 

[hellymedic]

It is almost impossible to have the correct supplies and tools for every trip.
Having gone over a year without a visitation, I carried only one spare inner tube and no patching kit on an 8 mile commute between two hospitals.

Both tyres went down when I hit a brick...

[De Sisti]

We had a French girl in our climbing club who forgot her stove on a Welsh camping meet. Fair enough we all forget stuff from time to time. It got tedious the 2nd and 3rd time. The 4th time when she was refused she had the cheek to complain like it was our fault she couldn't cook her food.

I've had other riders come along with no tools, no pump, no inner tubes, or repair kit. The look on their faces when they've punctured and I've had to patiently explain I run tubeless (both MTB and Road) and they'll just have to sort themselves out by walking back to their car, or calling a taxi or something. No I'm not going to hang around either. It was explained before the ride they needed to bring what they needed to fix a puncture.

Don't feel guilty about it.

[Ian H]

Self-sufficiency can easily become a survivalist-like cult. (I frankly think it approaches that if you begrudge another cyclist the use of your pump.) I’m not sure that way of living is any better than the opposite extreme of high consumption and low knowledge, although perhaps it is more environmentally friendly.

I inhabit a happy middle ground, but that does require a modicum of talent and effort.

The thing about mechanical aptitude is that those lacking it often don’t realise that. Consequently, bicycles are among the worst maintained and set up machines on the planet. I wouldn’t ride almost all of the bicycles I see around Paris without fixing about five serious problems first.

The line I draw is with back-up vehicles.  If I'm going to use the bike it's because I wish to do it under my own steam.

[Exit Stage Left]

I've got a 'self-sufficiency' scale. A high score would be someone riding LEJOG on their own, without needing to tell anyone else about it.
I say LEJOG, because I'm on the route, at about 360 miles, and I do encounter people like that every now and again.

The Deloitte 'Ride Across Britain' would get a low score for self-sufficiency. But it looks fun, and well organised. It's a 'consumer' event, a total package including mechanical help.

From sign up we start to get you ready for the challenge of a lifetime
Land’s End to John O’Groats in a monumental cycling challenge, but we pride ourselves on providing everything you need to get to the finish no matter what your background. From the moment you put down your deposit we are there to get you in great shape and to the start with everything you need. Below is an overview of what you will get:
Training programme tailored to your level
Additional training advice and support from our expert Technical Route Director
Access to exclusive training days
Special offers on equipment, kit and bike maintenance
Maintenance and bike fitting guides to ensure you and your bike are in optimum shape

http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/whats-included/

It costs quite a lot, but I've likened some long-distance cycling to a cruise. Once you've embarked, everything is done for you, and that's the best way to look at these catered events. Cruising for active people.

I give Audax a range of notional self-sufficiency scores. The events provide differing levels of support, often within the same ride. Fast riders getting the most support, with full-value riders getting the least value.

My perfect 10 would go to someone doing a ride entirely for themselves, and me not hearing anything about them. I wouldn't begrudge them help along the way, as long as I never hear anything about it.

Curiously, I also like the anonymity of large-scale organised rides. I don't think it's any better to find motivation through fitting in, than through standing apart. It's all miles ridden.

[Ben T]

I do things like the raid pyrenean with a tour company that has vans. It is a bit like a cruise, to be honest, I do it for the social aspect as much as anything.
I am still getting from a to b under my own steam, it's just my bags that aren't

[zigzag]

knowing my bikes inside out gives me comfort and assurance during the long rides - no mechanicals (touch wood). if people ride mostly in groups/supported/in daylight, there's no real need to know how to mend the bike, only if it brings satisfaction.

[frankly frankie]

I've got a 'self-sufficiency' scale. A high score would be someone riding LEJOG on their own, without needing to tell anyone else about it.

A high score would be someone who builds their own house, without needing to tell anyone about it.

I do things like the raid pyrenean with a tour company that has vans. It is a bit like a cruise, to be honest,

My partner Sheila runs cycle tours.  In France or Switzerland everyone has to carry their own luggage, the support consists mainly of arranging the nightly stops and guiding them on the route, occasionally dealing with hospitals if something bad happens.  In India however, she uses three vans, with the crew also being the caterers (so no risks taken with hotel food).  Everyone calls her Madame Sheila and it's a lot like the progress of the great white Mem back in the days of the Raj.

[hellymedic]

My parents would have had a fit if I hadn't told them where I was when I did my LEJOG!
I didn't follow any prescribed route but had a stack of 1:250,000 OS maps, a YHA card and cash.

This did not seem excessively adventurous then, and doesn't now.