I went on a bicycle ride yesterday that involved 13 people, the largest group I'd been on to date. It was fun, but I also learned some important lessons.

It was quite the international gathering, with folks from Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Japan, Norway, Philippines, and The States.

The first lesson I learned was to pay attention to what weather forecast I looked at. Yesterday in Kyoto city proper the actual weather (spritzy rain in the morning; otherwise sunny all day) sort of matched the forecast (10% chance of rain all day), but our ride into the mountains was in the mountains, and it rained almost the entire time.

Nigel does an amazing amount of cycling, including commute-to-work rides exceeding 100km. So far this year, including during the winter, he's averaged 1500km (890 miles) per month.

The pair in orange are father/son, with the boy being in sixth grade. He had not the slightest problem keeping with the group. They joined us only for the beginning, and split off before the steep climbs, but I suspect both could have handled it easily.

I always like riding through this part of northern Arashiyama. Here we're going by the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院), which is just stunning in autumn.

We soon dove into the forest-covered mountains, and a light spritzy/misty rain started that didn't let up. After the first short (but intense) climb, we took the group photo that leads this post.

Being both wet and steep, we took the descents quite slowly...

There's a tiny village halfway up the first major climb, and normally one would not stop here, but with a large group of varying abilities, it's nice to stop from time to time to keep people more or less together.

The fastest folks arrived at the top long before me and the other slowpokes, and went partially down the other side and returned back up to the pass not long after I arrived...

With various family obligations, they returned home the way we came, while the rest of us continued away from the city.

This descent, like the rest of the planned route, follows the same path that Gorm and I did two weeks ago. Like last time, I couldn't get good shots down this super-nice descent. The rain didn't help.

The rain also didn't help one rider, Dario, who for unknown reasons lost control on a slow straightaway and met the ground. 🙁

I was really impressed with how Antti (from Finland) took control of the situation, tending to the road rash in a no-nonsense way, then tending to the bicycle (making sure it was safe to ride), all the while tending to everyone's emotions. He brought calm and direction where it was needed.

Many good lessons here for everyone.

We didn't have much in the way of first-aid supplies with us (which is to say we had nothing; I had a few Band-Aids, but they were of no use here), so Antti made do with what we had. My little towel became a protective wrap.

Dario was certainly in discomfort for a while, but a day later he's already saying he's ready to ride again with us soon.

Back to yesterday, in going over the bicycle to make sure it was safe to ride, Antti adjusted a few bolts with a small multi-tool thing he had. I don't think anyone else had anything like that, and this was another lesson for me. Mechanical issues can pop up any time, so I should have some basic tools with me. If I was going to spend the weight to have some tools, I wanted to get something that would actually be useful, so I ordered this Crank Brothers tool. It's a little heavy and has mixed reviews, so here's keeping my fingers crossed.

We continued as a group until we got to a turnoff that lead back to Kyoto. I had intended to return at this point anyway, since I had family things to do myself. Four of us headed back via a small mountain road.

Then I got my first flat as a cyclist.

The others were in a rush just to get home in the cold rain, and there was nothing they could do while I changed the flat, so I told them to continue on.

I'd never changed a flat, nor even seen it done except in a couple of YouTube videos that I watched some months ago. But it turned out to be straightforward to change the tube, and aside from the most dirty I think my hands have ever gotten, there were no problems.

The new tube was in and filled, and I was about ready to put the wheel back onto the bike when I had the bright idea to actually check the tread to see whether I could find what caused the flat. If there was a nail or something in there, it'd just pop the new tube right away.

I wasn't quite prepared for what I found:

This is not a tire that's just gone bad... this tire has apparently been beyond bad for a long time. This wear extends around much of one half of the tire, and it's unfathomable how neither I nor the mechanics who have worked on my bike over the last months have not noticed it. This is worse than first noticing you're pregnant because the baby just fell out.

I knew immediately that I was in trouble, because with a huge hole worn through the tire, there was nothing to protect the tube. I actually got a few very-careful kilometers on it, enough to get to a convenience store and wash my hands, but it soon was flat again.

I was 50km (30 miles) from home, in the middle of nowhere, with a bike I couldn't ride.

Thankfully, my father-in-law could come and pick me up. I pushed the bike to a michi no eki (道の駅) that was conveniently close and waited.