Getting a flat tire when you are nowhere



Corzhens

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2015
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This happened to my niece who is a lady biker. Unlike me who is conservative, she is adventurous and not easily stymied. Her style was to bike wherever she fancies. One time she was on a deserted road going to a direction that she didn't know. In short, she had lost her way. Adding insult to injury, she has got a flat tire. If you were my niece, what are you going to do?
 
Sit and cry?

Seriously, I don't think it's safe for a female (or even a male) to be out there in nowhereland, alone. But if she insists on doing those kind of rides, she needs to learn to fix a flat, and carry a toolkit. It gives one a good feeling to get themselves back on the road instead of wondering what to do, and hoping a kind cyclist with a patch kit shows up.

We had an incident here, last month. You may have read about Molly Tibbets. 20 years old. Jogging alone when some guy decides to follow her in his car. He got out and jogged with her. She asked him to leave her alone, so he murdered her.
 
If I were her I would have fixed the flat and pedaled on, depending if she lost her way I would probably turn around and head back from where I came instead of going forward and not knowing where I was going; and then as I'm pedaling along I would be looking for people who might be able to tell me how to get back on track. I've gotten lost several times riding in remote areas, it was always an adventure for me and not time to panic, of course I never panic anyways. But for a woman to be alone the idea situation would indeed be to fix the flat asap and get moving.

Not sure the area your niece was in but a lot of women have cycled SOLO! yes, SOLO in very remote areas and even remote off road trails either hiking or bike camping, and go several thousand miles doing that stuff. There was one lady that rode her bike solo from Alaska down through Canada, through the States Great Divide Route, down through Mexico, and all the way to South America on mostly dirt trails but some very rough roads also, and never had any issues where she thought she might get harmed. I think that's a bit extreme personally for a woman to do that sort of thing, but she did it, and in the process got some sort of record for the amount of time it took for her to complete the trip. A lot of the areas she traveled through were known areas to be not so nice to single people or even to very small groups of people, and there are traveler warnings in those areas due to the high possibly of being harmed, yet she didn't care. There are women who have ridden around the world solo in very remote areas, you can read about one them here: https://www.cicerone.co.uk/travelling-solo-a-female-long-distance-cyclists-reflections That young lady took self defense classes but as a rule a man can overpower a woman regardless of training; I knew of a number one professional woman martial arts expert who was attacked while jogging, while she did put up a fight she was killed, and the assailant never used a weapon. Then of course all the defense training in the world won't do a bit of good if the assailant pulls a gun. But even men could be easily killed, I knew two brothers who went camping in Baja Mexico to do some surfing and both were found shot to death.

While I'm not trying to promote fear, but the reality is in some parts of the world there is danger, even with my 35 years of martial arts training and military experience I could easily be either overwhelmed by a group, or shot before I knew what was happening. There have been highly trained military people from Seals, to Rangers etc that came home only to be killed by gang violence. So I suggest, especially to women, caution. Some parts of the world hate outsiders of any sort, and some have a particular hatred toward Americans and would think nothing of killing one, in fact it would be a trophy! Even in America there has been women raped even in populated areas while riding their bikes solo.

I know some of you might say to pack a gun, but the reality is you're not going to get the gun out before they shoot you, remember you're riding a bike you'll have to stop, unzip a ***** pack, pull the gun and shoot, in the meantime the car person or someone hiding behind bushes already had the gun in their hands waiting for you go come by, so no you can't pull a gun out fast enough.
 
If I were her I would have fixed the flat and pedaled on...
That's if she was carrying a patch kit. A sensible cyclist would, and know how to use it.

I know some of you might say to pack a gun, but the reality is you're not going to get the gun out before they shoot you, remember you're riding a bike you'll have to stop, unzip a ***** pack, pull the gun and shoot
I carry mine in a 'inside the belt' holster, with just a T shirt covering it, but I fully realize that if somebody takes me by surprise, it would be questionable if I could recover quickly enough to use it. It seems that thugs rely on a surprise attack before they rob someone. Getting knocked off a bike and hoping you're able to get up and pull a gun before they stomp or knife you, can ruin your whole day.
 
Something strange going on. I tried to post my comment, and up popped a black window advising me it's not a web-hosting service. I tried, again, to post my comment, and was told I have to wait nineteen seconds.
 
That's if she was carrying a patch kit. A sensible cyclist would, and know how to use it.


I carry mine in a 'inside the belt' holster, with just a T shirt covering it, but I fully realize that if somebody takes me by surprise, it would be questionable if I could recover quickly enough to use it. It seems that thugs rely on a surprise attack before they rob someone. Getting knocked off a bike and hoping you're able to get up and pull a gun before they stomp or knife you, can ruin your whole day.

Right, but the question was if you were my niece what would you do, and I answered as such. If a person doesn't know how to fix a flat there is no reason for them to be pedaling further then they are comfortable with walking back home! I'm sorry but that's the blunt truth. There are a lot of YouTube videos that can show you how to fix a flat, then all you do is practice, practice, practice till you can fix a flat even in very low light conditions.

And the mugging thing is why I don't carry gun when I ride a bike, you simply are not going to be able to retrieve your weapon before they get you, Look, I can have you stand with a gun pointed at me 7 feet from my face, and I guarantee you I can grab that gun before you have a chance to pull the trigger. So now someone is going to say that they can unzip their ***** pack or unholster their gun and get it into firing mode and position all the while trying to maintain balance on their bike? NO, it won't happen. All guns do for most people and in most situations is to serve as a security blanket and nothing more, it makes you feel safe and warm but it can't protect you under most circumstances. Now of course for home defense where you may have some degree of time to get prepared, guns serve a purpose, but for outdoors recreational activities guns fail big time. And if they knock you down you will probably be too much in pain to be able to put up much of a fight. And to make matters worse, if the attacker finds out you have a gun they can take it away from you and shoot you with your own gun! Not good! Or to make matters even worse than that, if you are not an experienced shooter at live targets in high stress combat situations and do manage to unload your clip, in the panic of the moment you spray bullets everywhere and kill say an innocent 5 year old playing a 1/2 block away, now how would you feel? How well do you think the lawsuit will go against you?

I'm not anti guns, I own guns myself, but the danger of trying to shoot someone by an untrained shooter (and paper target shooting doesn't count) outside of the home is a recipe for disaster both to someone else and yourself. Unless you tell me that you were in some sort of military and was involved in shooting enemy combatants I urge you to leave your gun at home.
 
And the mugging thing is why I don't carry gun when I ride a bike, you simply are not going to be able to retrieve your weapon before they get you,
No, but I stand more of a chance with a gun than being unarmed. As long as I'm still alive I have a chance to get the gun and stop any further assault. There are an infinite number of mugging situations so nobody can say that a gun will or won't save them.
Look, I can have you stand with a gun pointed at me 7 feet from my face, and I guarantee you I can grab that gun before you have a chance to pull the trigger.
Sorry, but I very much doubt what you say. You would have to know my ability with gun to make such a statement. I guarantee that you'd be shot if you tried it. It's a moot point, anyway, because you and I are highly unlikely to be in such a situation.
All guns do for most people and in most situations is to serve as a security blanket and nothing more, it makes you feel safe and warm but it can't protect you under most circumstances.
Have you ever read any of the website statistics where assaults have been stopped or prevented just by the mere sight of the gun? And for me it has nothing to do with feeling "safe and warm." It gives me a chance of protecting myself, not that it will protect me, but that it gives me a chance. I guess you don't know Florida.
Now of course for home defense where you may have some degree of time to get prepared, guns serve a purpose, but for outdoors recreational activities guns fail big time.
I go to the firing range. It's enjoyable and keeps me tuned up.

And if they knock you down you will probably be too much in pain to be able to put up much of a fight.
All conjecture!

And to make matters worse, if the attacker finds out you have a gun they can take it away from you and shoot you with your own gun!
Again, all conjecture. Anything can happen, and as I already pointed out, there are unlimited situations. The mugger doesn't win every time. In Florida, because so many people are armed, potential muggers know this and most won't take a chance on attacking someone who might be armed. Now if they attack from behind, that's a different matter. They'll shoot you in the back, and whether I'm armed on not won't make any difference. Gun crime, here, is mostly carried out in the early morning hours, often outside a bar, and when a drug deal goes bad.

Or to make matters even worse than that, if you are not an experienced shooter at live targets in high stress combat situations and do manage to unload your clip, in the panic of the moment you spray bullets everywhere and kill say an innocent 5 year old playing a 1/2 block away, now how would you feel? How well do you think the lawsuit will go against you?
You are being overly dramatic. I'd guess that the majority of concealed carriers have no experience in high stress combat situations. That is more in line with police and military. The most likely situation one could find themselves in, is a mugging. So what are you suggesting, that I should pay thousands of dollars for training in high stress situations?

Spray bullets everywhere??? Kill an innocent kid a 1/2 block away??? What kind of guy do you think I am? What kind of guys do you think most legal gun owners are? Anyone who "sprays" bullets everywhere, deserves to be locked up. The few cases I've heard like that involve criminals with illegal guns, and they do it to someone that wronged them, usually in a drug deal.

Incidentally, most semi-automatic pistols use magazines, not clips.

I'm not anti guns, I own guns myself, but the danger of trying to shoot someone by an untrained shooter (and paper target shooting doesn't count) outside of the home is a recipe for disaster both to someone else and yourself.
I'm not a novice with guns. I've had many and I know how to handle and use them. The way you think seems to be that I should not even have a gun.
Unless you tell me that you were in some sort of military and was involved in shooting enemy combatants I urge you to leave your gun at home.
And urge you to stop judging every gun owner. Nobody is going to take your advice, least of all me!
 
No, but I stand more of a chance with a gun than being unarmed. As long as I'm still alive I have a chance to get the gun and stop any further assault. There are an infinite number of mugging situations so nobody can say that a gun will or won't save them.

But the odds are heavily stacked against you to be able to do anything.

Sorry, but I very much doubt what you say. You would have to know my ability with gun to make such a statement. I guarantee that you'd be shot if you tried it. It's a moot point, anyway, because you and I are highly unlikely to be in such a situation. [/QUOTE]

It's all about reaction time, and in fact there something called the 21 foot rule; see: https://www.usacarry.com/safe-distance-engage-threat-21-foot-rule/ And being trained the way I was trained I was able to rush a person from 7 feet away and get the gun at angle that by the time the guy was able to fire it it would have completely missed me, the same is true with a guy shoving a gun in my back I can spin and knock the gun away before he can even fire it.

Have you ever read any of the website statistics where assaults have been stopped or prevented just by the mere sight of the gun? And for me it has nothing to do with feeling "safe and warm." It gives me a chance of protecting myself, not that it will protect me, but that it gives me a chance. I guess you don't know Florida. [/QUOTE]

Mere sight? are you forgetting the context of the original discussion? Remember you're on your bike, you're not going to be able to get your gun out in time to allow them to have a visual of it!

I go to the firing range. It's enjoyable and keeps me tuned up. [/QUOTE]

Right, shooting paper targets, ok sure.

All conjecture! [/QUOTE]

Not conjecture at all, it's happened many times to a would be defender getting shot by their own gun.

Again, all conjecture. Anything can happen, and as I already pointed out, there are unlimited situations. The mugger doesn't win every time. In Florida, because so many people are armed, potential muggers know this and most won't take a chance on attacking someone who might be armed. Now if they attack from behind, that's a different matter. They'll shoot you in the back, and whether I'm armed on not won't make any difference. Gun crime, here, is mostly carried out in the early morning hours, often outside a bar, and when a drug deal goes bad.

You are being overly dramatic. I'd guess that the majority of concealed carriers have no experience in high stress combat situations. That is more in line with police and military. The most likely situation one could find themselves in, is a mugging. So what are you suggesting, that I should pay thousands of dollars for training in high stress situations? [/QUOTE]

Even a police officer or a highly trained Ranger riding his bike with a gun in a ***** pack won't have the time to deploy the weapon since most if not all attacks on cyclists come without any warning.

Spray bullets everywhere??? Kill an innocent kid a 1/2 block away??? What kind of guy do you think I am? What kind of guys do you think most legal gun owners are? Anyone who "sprays" bullets everywhere, deserves to be locked up. The few cases I've heard like that involve criminals with illegal guns, and they do it to someone that wronged them, usually in a drug deal. [/QUOTE]

HAHAHA, lot's of innocent people have been killed by stray bullets due to panic firing over the years, of course it's a chance shot either directly or indirectly but it can happen, kind of like what you said: Anything can happen! In fact 77% of shots fired miss their target, so where do those bullets go? into buildings and dirt mostly, but occasionally they find another person that wasn't being asked to be shot: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-U...d-gun-users-prove-ineffective-at-self-defense

Incidentally, most semi-automatic pistols use magazines, not clips. [/QUOTE]

Your right, I just used in for brevity but it was incorrect. Read this: http://www.handgunsmag.com/reviews/magazine-or-clip/

I'm not a novice with guns. I've had many and I know how to handle and use them. The way you think seems to be that I should not even have a gun. [/QUOTE]

Didn't say you shouldn't own one in fact I said just the opposite, what I said was to carry a gun while riding a bike isn't going to be much help to you, but like I said if doing so serves as you're security blanket then go on and carry it.

And urge you to stop judging every gun owner. Nobody is going to take your advice, least of all me![/QUOTE]

Never judged every gun owner, but the truth is most are untrained, and that's the facts, in fact 4 out of 10 have received NO training whatsoever! see: https://www.thetrace.org/2017/07/handgun-owners-self-defense-no-formal-training/