Thank you to the lazy, inconsiderate, selfish cyclist that threw their empty energy gel wrapper into the verge some time in the past. I found it in the long grass when I was looking for something to patch the large rip in my tyre that my tiny Lezyne tyre-boot was having trouble dealing with.
Thanks to your thoughtless help I was able to limp home.
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I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
13 thoughts on “Saved By The Gel”
It is a modern day parable.
It is a modern day parable.
Jo… I’m hoping you tried
Jo… I’m hoping you tried the old mountain bikers trick of packing it with high pressure grass first 😉
Steve Worland wrote:Jo… I’m
Seriously, has anyone actually tried that? I once tried to pack a mountain bike tyre with grass and the quantity required is huge — I stripped a long length of verge but still didn’t have enough. And it is very hard to get it packed enough to stop the tyre just loosely flopping off again and jamming the brake blocks.
It was my son’s bike on a family ride, and he got a long lecture about Always Bringing the Right Pump With You as we all walked home.
I’ve seen people try it, and
I’ve seen people try it, and I can only surmise that it was the reason for the “winky” face and the “high pressure” joke – it’s complete nonsense that has been floating around since at least the 1990s – it was repeatedly spouted by MBUK back then!
A only marginally more effective bodge I saw someoone resort to after attempting grass and leaves was putting gaffer tape around the tyre and rim at intervals to stop the flat tyre rolling off! The tape bits didn’t have much traction and I can’t remember how far they got like that!
‘Lack of virtue creates ITS
‘Lack of virtue creates ITS own reward’. No apostrophe requied there my friends, unless you really do mean ‘it is’. You’re welcome.
an r is required in required
an r is required in required though! 😉
i think that got subbed out
i think that got subbed out before you commented, but thanks anyway 😉
or maybe not *kicks internet*
or maybe not *kicks internet*
I have no idea why but this
I have no idea why but this is powerful.
pockets full of crap have
pockets full of crap have saved me many times…old cable ties,patches ,pocket lint and old chain links and safety pins and my all time fav…Gaffer tape..got me home so many times I’ve lost count. real world stuff 🙂
Its a good idea to wrap a
Its a good idea to wrap a spare tube inside a cut section of tyre, keeps the tube free from abrasion damage and you will always have a really useful boot to hand.
PS the tyre damage in the
PS the tyre damage in the picture looks like damage from a long term mis-aligned brake block – a good reminder to check mine 🙂
Thank you so much for this
Thank you so much for this tip!
I had a very similar blow out this morning, 10 miles into a 40 mile ride out of the Pennines, downed a Hi-5 Gel and used the wrapper to cover the hole and hold the tube inside. A SIS gel wrapper would have been better as they are stiffer.
It held for long enough to get to a bike shop (15 miles) and buy a spare tyre in case it gave out (CBFA changing it right then as it didn’t match) and then lasted almost all the way home (another 15 miles), close enough that I didn’t mind walking the last mile rather than be seen out with mismatched tyres.
Next time I see someone throw away their gel wrapper I’ll use these anecdotes to explain the folly of their ways.