LOL hikermor, I'm hoping it won't be nearly as bad as it sounds. Most of the bikes the troop uses either belong to the scout and are in generally good repair, or are rented (or borrowed from someplace that rents) and are also in generally good repair. The rented/borrowed bikes are probably the worst case bikes as you can never really be sure what you are getting. We found this out the hard way with the 25 mile trip I mentioned on or about the 14th of last month. As it was a district/council event (part of a triple crown event our troop/district is hosting, the 50 mile canoe trip was the first leg, the 25 mile bike trip we just had was the second leg, and there is a 20 mile back pack trip in april that will be the last leg), we had to find other sources for bikes. Most were in good repair but a few of the bikes left a little to be desired. The most common on the trail repair was apparently securing loose cables using a roll of duct tape.

At any rate, the tools will most likely not be for me, but for the scoutmaster, who is a mechanic, and an assistant scoutmaster who is an experienced rider (I say this by virtue of him being on far more of these type bike trips than I have) and also mechanically inclined. However, they like to travel light and typically leave a lot of stuff behind, either at home or in camp. When they need something, they know who the guy is that is usually prepared (bordering on over-prepared) and come to me asking if I have this or that, which I typically do.

Now all this said, I used to ride a bike a LOT as a kid. Any time the weather permitted, and a lot of times even when it didn't. In the place I grew up, just about every kid in the subdivision had a bike, so we'd ride the streets to get here or there, and there were assorted trails off the beaten path as well. My dad and I used to troubleshoot my bikes all the time, tightening this and loosening that so I do know my way around a bike, but it has also been quite a while since I've tinkered much with one so I wanted to be sure I am as prepared as possible to deal with it, especially while on the trail and away from home or camp site.

As a final note, with regards to the troop and riding bikes, we usually only ride about once or twice a year. However, after seeing how much DS enjoyed riding a bike at the event, even though he had some difficulty with it, DW and I decided it was time he had a new bike to get more experience riding. Surprisingly, DW also wanted a bike, so it's likely to become a family thing which is also very good.