When I was racing, I used to train a lot with former pro cyclist Andrew Pinfold. He lived about 20 km away from me. This was before cellphones, so we’d call each other up just before 9 a.m. and plan to meet halfway. We’d spell out our respective routes to each other: “Yes, but make sure you go left, not right, on Station Road if you get there before me; otherwise, I’ll go on Kirby, not King-Vaughan, and then south on Pine Valley, not Weston.”
It didn’t matter who went faster or if someone left earlier or later. We’d meet somewhere in between. There was no texting, no GPS file, no location sharing on our phones. And it always worked out. We didn’t need a phone.
When disaster struck…it was truly disastrous
However, getting double flats or an unfixable mechanical was not a good thing. There was one time I was riding with friends on a cold winter’s day (before Zwift, we would often do useless long rides before heading south in January). We were basically burning calories and not really getting much fitness. I kept riding east with friends as they were heading that way—but I was aided by a tailwind. I felt great, so I went further than I should have. Then I turned around, and good lord, I have never been so cold. I was so cold I even tried a trick I had learned when I was a kid on an exchange in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. We went dogsledding, and the locals taught us a trick if we got cold: jump off the sled and run alongside the dogs. And those Huskies were fast mofos; you’d be sprinting 25 km/h, so you’d warm up quick.
So as I was freezing my ass off in a crappy neoprene jacket and bib tights, I jumped off my bike and tried running beside it. Didn’t really help. So what did I do? I had to go to a stranger’s house in the middle of nowhere and call my mom to pick me up.
Saving the day
A cellphone would have helped. As obvious as it seems, cellphones are invaluable now for any cyclist. I’d rather forget my pump or CO2 canister than my phone.
Triple flats? Broken bars? Crash on a group ride? That cell is your ticket home.
You’re riding in a large group, and some guys go the wrong way? You’re a WhatsApp group ride chat away from finding them. Obviously, you can also plot the route on your head unit, but if you’re just freestyling it, you can always share your location with your riding buddy when you’re meeting.
If you’ve lost your head unit or don’t own one, your phone can double as that for Strava. Because…well, you…
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