Vibrations from the bumpy terrain caused my front fender to crack where it joined the front wheel . Of course , this happened while I was riding .
I packed the fender in my luggage , planning to fix it later . When I started up once again , I noticed it was still hard to ride ?! For a moment , I thought about how strange it was that simply removing a fender could make such a difference in the quality of the ride . Then , I noticed a nail stuck in my rear tire . There weren ’ t many nails in these regions , but I had managed to find one .
The next few hours under the hot sun of the western Gobi strained the last drop of sweat from my body . Sweaty , sticky , and suntanned , my body was the perfect place for all the dust particles carried by the dry desert wind to settle . I removed the front wheel and began replacing the rubber tire . By then , the guys had returned and had joined me ( they had been riding a few kilometres ahead of me ). We mounted the new tire , however , just as I was about to get going , it started releasing air again . This had to be a joke ! The new tire , which I had been carrying as a spare , already had two holes in it . The sun was blazing , and I felt how my lips were chapped . Though I couldn ’ t see myself , I could see the dried and worn faces of my Canadian friends . We repeated the whole repair process . After doublechecking the tire — in the hot sun with no shade — we didn ’ t waste energy on words and just got going .