After riding the 120 miles of unpaved road to get to Tuweep and back, I
got back on the smooth, frictionfull pavement. Unfortunately that
pavement happened to have a nail sitting on it waiting to be run over.
By me. Ironic, but certainly easier to deal with than a flat 60 miles
of dirt from civilization. I was just 2 miles outside a medium-size
town (Kanab, UT), and I was able to find some shade in front of a liquor
store to assess my situation. The flat was in my rear tire and I had a
stand to hold it off the ground (for lubing the chain) so I figured I
could remove the rear wheel and hitch a ride into town with it, where
hopefully I could find a place to patch it.
I removed all my gear, took my bags off the bike, lifted up the rear
wheel, and located the nail. The only tools that I had with me were
from the small tool kit that came with the bike, but I figured it must
have the right tools for such a routine task. (On chain driven bikes,
you have to loosen the rear axle to adjust the chain slack every few
thousand miles.) Luckily it did have the correct size wrenches to
remove the rear axle. Unluckily, they weren't long enough to apply
enough torque to get the axle blot loose! Even jumping on the end of
the wrench with all my might wouldn't buge it. The liquor store had
just opened so I asked the worker there if they had any larger wrenches
but I was out of luck. Dejected, I resigned myself to calling for a
tow.
Shortly thereafter, a local patron stopped at the liquor store and I was
able to solicit his help in removing my axle -- it turns out he had an
entire tool chest in the back of his truck! With his longer wrench, I
was able to get the axle bolt lose and then remove the rear axle and
wheel. He even offered me a ride into town to get the tire patched.
The first place we went to wouldn't work on a motorcycle tire but told
us about a motorcycle/ATV shop on the other side of town that was able
to patch it. This local guy was super nice to me -- not only did he
take me and my punctured tire to two different places, he waited while
it was patched, took me back to my bike on the other side of town, and
then helped me put my wheel back on!!! The kindness of strangers amazes
me and restores my faith in humanity. Well, maybe that's being a bit
dramatic, but it definitely makes me feel good to know that there are
still at least a few people willing to go out of their way to help a
stranger in need.
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