Welcome to Mississippi!

Last night my hosts Perry and Lep (also bicycle tourists and enthusiasts) and I were joking about some folks they’ve had come through on some glamoured-out, rich and famous version of what we do. It’s like 10k a pop – I really cant believe this dumb shit exists. These riders have never had to solve a problem in their entire life have whereas Perry assumed correctly that I solved several problems just that day. It was a great laugh and I could tell right away that they were truly awesome people – hopefully they visit Buffalo one of these days.

Butt.

This morning’s events shut my laughing mouth right the fuck up. A metaphorical gag-ball of cassette side broken spoke skullduggery – just minutes into the rough streets of Mississippi USA!

Me eye dubbel ess eye dubbel… it’s also still hot as fuck… pee eye.

This is one of those things you hope to be prepared for and never wanna have to do. But here I am. Do I try to fix this shit in the shade while covered in bugs or in the direct sunshine covered in sweat? Eventually the clouds move in and I have no more choice either way. The glamour folks would just be dropping 20k to helicopter out of this shit right now. Fuck me.

I first used what’s now called a “fiber-fix” kit 13 years ago in the Hero Islands of Vermont.

Butt.

This time, every damn step of the normal repair needed some sort of solution-driven engineering. So a 5 step process was becoming 15 steps and it really pisses me the fuck off – way more than I originally had been.

Butt.

I take it simply and greatly. I keep trying new things. I do not allow myself to give up.

And.

I also have the esteemed help of some fantastic electric tape, a metal file and a thermos full of fresh coffee.

And.

I get it! Yay tools and drugs!

For those keeping count at home – one person stopped to see if I needed help and it took over two hours to figure it all out.

God damn field mechanics is really all I know. I can’t even work on a bike on a stand very well. For feal though, if you tour and you don’t have one of these magical Kevlar string spoke kits. Get one. Or two. They’re like $20. Get three and give one away. They can save your ride – they saved mine today.