Always on rest days?

For some reason, we most frequently discover punctures on rest days. Our rest day in San Luis Potosi was no different. It looked like a cactus thorn had gone through the sidewall this avoiding the puncture protection strip in the tyre.

What was different about this was that while looking the bike over I noticed that one of the pannier fixings on the front rack had snapped.

It certainly explained the rattling that I had been attributing to our meagre collection of cutlery.

The part was aluminium and I was convinced it was terminal. However, our host, Alonso, had different ideas. We jumped into his car to a welding shop. Five minutes and 100 pesos (£5) later, we had a repaired part in our hands.

I then noticed that the mount that held it in place had seized. Once more we jumped into his car to a bike repair shop round the corner. A bit of heat from a blow torch and an extra long Allen key soon had it freed up. For free.

Within 30 minutes the rack had been fixed and put back together. Amazing. Thanks to the skills of the Mexican craftsmen and Alonso's can-do attitude.