I was walking among stately hemlocks on the margin of an Adirondack lake when I stumbled on this unlikely coupling of wood and rock. I don’t think they’ll part company any time soon, do you?

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A Note to the Reader  I am not a doctor, and in this article I’m writing only about what works for me, not laying down hard‑and‑fast recommendations for others. So ask your own physician to help you assemble a medical kit to meet your needs. And then be sure you learn how to use it. ‘Nuff said? I hope so.

I looked long and hard at the impressive series of stair‑step drops on The River. I looked at my inflatable. Then I asked myself, Can I portage this boat around the worst of the rapids without using the blazed trail? That trail climbs high up to the top of a ridge, where it parallels The River for almost a mile before returning to the water’s edge. In so doing, it avoids all the rapids, even the easy Class I‑II stretches at the bottom. I thought I could do better by bushwhacking a short distance through the woods on the flank of the ridge. I’d bypass the Class IV‑V drops, but I’d get a free ride in the easier water below.

Ignoring the visions of Deliverance that flashed before my mind’s eye, I started to climb, easing my way through a dense hemlock‑maple‑beech woods. Much of the time I couldn’t see my feet. This didn’t bother me. I was moving slowly, and there was nothing to worry about. Or so I thought. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I neared the end of my impromptu bushwhack, I caught sight of The River again. That’s when I felt the ground give way under my foot, followed immediately by a fiery bolt of pain that shot up my shin, stopping just short of the knee.

I eased the boat off my shoulder and lifted my leg to get a better look. The torn pants and dripping blood told me all I needed to know. Something — a sharp stub on a beaver‑gnawn branch? — had gouged a six‑inch‑long gash in my leg. Luckily, the laceration wasn’t deep, and though I’d also twisted my knee when I lost my footing, the joint could still bear my weight. Leaving my boat where it lay, I picked my way carefully down to the The River. Once there, I shucked off my rucksack and pulled out my “Doc Box.” Then I cleaned and dressed the wound. After that, I retrieved my boat and headed downriver as planned — a little stiff and sore, perhaps, but none the worse for wear.

As injuries go, this one was pretty minor. Still, I was glad I had my Doc Box in my pack. A first‑aid kit is the one Essential you hope you’ll never use, but when you need it, you’re always glad it’s there. And chances are good that you will need it, sooner or later, even if you’re not a hard‑charger. You don’t have to take a tumble on a greasy portage trail or bang you head when you blow a roll. There are plenty of less spectacular ways to get hurt. In fact, you’re most likely to come to grief in camp, cutting yourself while chopping vegetables for a stew, or burning your hand when a pot boils over. Or maybe you’ll just spend a little too much time out in the midday sun and suffer accordingly. This sort of thing isn’t exactly uncommon, is it? Which is why a first‑aid kit is truly Essential.

But this leaves a vital question hanging in the air: What should it contain?… Read more…

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The bicycle started out as a rich-man’s toy. Before too many years had passed, however, it had evolved into efficient and economical transport for the working man. The pneumatic tire was one of the innovations that made this transformation possible. A very good thing, in other words. (Then again, it also helped to pave the way for the automobile. The jury’s still out on that.) Of course, everything comes at price. The pneumatic tire gave us low rolling resistance and an easier, less jarring ride on broken pavement. But it also gave us flats. And that problem is still with us today, more than a century after Michelin began selling the first practical pneumatic bicycle tires. Despite the recent proliferation of sealants, puncture guards, and tire liners, the diminuendo PPPFFFFFTTTT of a rapidly deflating tire remains a recurring coda in the music of the road.

Sometimes, however, a tire gives ground by inches, losing air gradually over a period of days, unnoticed until it suddenly parts company from the rim on a hard turn. The end result is the same. You feel let down. And for good reason. That’s exactly what’s happened. Then begins the frustrating business of locating the cause, removing the tire from the rim, replacing (or repairing) the punctured tube, and pumping it up again. All of which has to be done before you can continue on your way to your destination. It really is a letdown. Your newly begrimed hands and sweat-soaked clothes won’t do much to improve your mood, either.

Clearly, then, prevention is better than cure, but in a country like the United States, where tossing empty beer bottles from speeding cars to shatter on the highway shoulder is a much-cherished national tradition, that’s easier said than done. A sharp eye and quick reflexes can sometimes save you. Often, however, the threat to your tube’s integrity is an all-but-invisible shard of glass, a short length of sharp wire, or a tiny thorn. In such cases, you may enjoy a short grace period, during which the offending object burrows down through the tire’s tread and casing. Which is why it pays to check your tires after every ride—and during breaks on longer rides. Is this a nuisance? Yes. But it’s not as much of a nuisance as fixing a flat at the edge of busy highway in the pouring rain.

Eyeballing Your Tires  It really isn’t hard to do. In an ideal world, you’d always be able to put your bike up on a workstand, in a place with good light. But you can get by with a two-legged kickstand on the road, using a headlamp to brighten the scene if the sun isn’t cooperating. Or simply lift each wheel in turn while squatting at either end of your bike. The inspection drill itself is easy. Spin the wheel slowly, starting near the valve. (Unless you like going in endless circles, you’ll want a reference point to mark your starting point.) Now eyeball the tread and sidewalls closely for new cuts, bulges, or areas showing excessive wear. Any bulge deserves immediate attention. It could just mean that the bead isn’t properly seated. In which case the remedy is simple: let most of the air out of the tire, seat the beads correctly, and then pump the tire up again, checking periodically to make sure that the bead stays where it belongs. Most likely, though a bulge is a sign that the tire’s casing is damaged. A tire boot may get you through till day’s end, but you’ll want to replace the tire at the earliest opportunity. This is also the only remedy for a tire with tread that’s worn down to the cord.

Luckily, bulging tires are rare. You’re much more likely to find tiny cuts in the tread. Most of these are nothing more than that: cuts. But now and then a cut conceals something sinister—the shard of glass I mentioned earlier, or a fleck of sharp metal. Or even a thorn. You won’t know unless you look. And that means spreading the cut open. Your fingers will do for larger cuts, but small cuts call for special tools. The blunt end of the orange peeler on a Swiss Army knife works well, as does the tip of the knife’s nail file. Either of these will open the smallest cut for inspection. They also double as probes and extractors, making it easy to remove any sharp shard before it machetes its way down through the tire’s casing. WARNING! Sometimes these tiny bits of glass and metal rocket out of their hidey-holes when struck by a probe. After one bounced off my cheek, I made sure I wore glasses when inspecting my tires. Learn from my mistake. Don’t wait for a shard to bounce off your cheek—or, worse yet, embed itself in your cornea. Wear glasses!

On most days, it will take you only a minute or two to eyeball your tires and probe any new cuts. Squeeze both tires while you’re at it. Once you know how a properly inflated tire feels, it’s easy to spot one that’s going soft on you. Then do it again before your next ride. And be sure to top up your tires with a pump every week, as well—more often during the shoulder seasons, when temperatures fluctuate dramatically, cold one day, hot the next. Use a gauge to get the pressure just right when you top up, too. That’s the best way to get a feel for proper inflation.

Will these simple exercises guarantee that your tires will never let you down? No. So long as boyz break beer bottles and hedges shed thorns, the occasional flat is a fact of life for cyclists. But a few minutes each day spent eyeballing your tires will minimize the amount of time you spend fixing flats at the side of the road. Believe me, it’s worth it.

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