So last month I caught some unexpectedly deep mud, wrecked the ebike, covered it and myself with mud, got a long walk out of the deal, and spent the next few weeks getting the bike fully functional again. I’ve been very leery of wash crossings since then…
Sometimes I get down on myself for excess caution: I’m supposed to be this heedless manly mountain man, living on the edge, eating mountain lions for lunch, all that shit. Actually I’m a gimp pushing seventy and healing doesn’t come as easy as it used to. Hell, I never have fully gotten over that minor fall I took in 2016: My shoulder still isn’t the same. So I charged down the grade off the ridge with no particular qualms but when I saw what looked like it might be awfully soft, churned-up sand, I decided to dismount and walk the bike across. Turned out it would have been fine but what the hell: Nobody was looking.
I see that you got your kickstand parts. Any progress on your shifter?
Ate our age and infirmities, we have to have a plan if we land on the ground
Not yet. I keep [freud]forgetting[/freud] to call Rad Power Bikes.
One thing a lot of the preparedness gurus talk about is the need to be extra mindful of safety if things are bad-not safety from Bad Guys, but from your own weapons, power equipment and so on. It’s because you can’t call 911 for help at The End of the World. Given your living circumstances and distance form any sort of help, assuming you could even summon it, I think you are being quite wise to exercise more caution.
Besides, we don’t bounce so good anymore.
In the Days of Yore: the Manly Mountain Men were cautious; the heedless MMM were dead.
Reminds me of when I was first teaching my wife about riding a dirt bike.
She was down in the wash , deep dry sand. Doing quite well too…until I told her that usually deep sand is hard to ride in. She had difficulty from that point forward..?
She has let me know about it for the past forty years too !
There are no old,bold Manly Mountain Men
That’s a lot of cows. There must be lotsa nighttime car-cow collisions. Wonder what happens to the meat?
I think caution is called for at all times the days. I can deal with pain but I will not risk it if i don’t have too.
Here’s the thing:
I live in the mountains, and spend a lot of time several days’ walk from the nearest automobile.
The best of us are insanely cautious. I never want to experience a situation where I’ve managed to hurt myself two days’ walk from help, with nobody around looking to help me get there.
You break an ankle in those situations, you’re there until your ankle heals, someone comes looking for you and finds you, or you walk out on a broken ankle.
That ain’t being a sissy. That’s being manly enough to make sure you’re around long enough to earn the title. Most of the guys saying caution is for sissies either don’t do “remote” like you and I do, or they died years ago.