I've already assembled a list of bike shops along the trails, but Murphy's Law says any problem I might have will occur a long distance from a bike shop. So I'm teaching myself how to fix possible problems, mostly by watching YouTube videos. But part of the reason I also upgraded to an iPhone was to have access to more apps. There are a number of apps that provide bike computer and GPS functions. I'll probably download one of them before I go, even though I have a computer on the bike already.
But there are two apps that I downloaded for bike repairs on the go...Bike Doctor and Bike Repair HD. Have to say I love the vision of Bike Doctor: "We want to crush the fear of bike maintenance and make it something anybody can do." That's exactly the reassurance I need. I still get nervous removing my front tire and I confess I still empty my tires trying to put air in them. Can never seem to seat the pump with these Presta valves. I know I just need to practice that more. My ex-brother-in-law is a huge mountain biker with a lot of bike experience and I'm going to ask him if he would spend some time with me showing me around common bike adjustments and repairs.
But there are two apps that I downloaded for bike repairs on the go...Bike Doctor and Bike Repair HD. Have to say I love the vision of Bike Doctor: "We want to crush the fear of bike maintenance and make it something anybody can do." That's exactly the reassurance I need. I still get nervous removing my front tire and I confess I still empty my tires trying to put air in them. Can never seem to seat the pump with these Presta valves. I know I just need to practice that more. My ex-brother-in-law is a huge mountain biker with a lot of bike experience and I'm going to ask him if he would spend some time with me showing me around common bike adjustments and repairs.
A final comment on the repair apps... they will only be as good as my ability to access them on 3G!