Whoops. Hit the wrong button.

 

Hey really good write up. What an adventure. I like to take the back way too but this story just shows that things can happen. I have been on Wild Rose, but not late at night. It is quite pretty and so is the Pannamint area. It can be a little tricky out there finding your way in the dark though. The same thing happened to me with snow in December trying to get over the pass near Lake Isabella and I took 155. It is a fantastic back road. Glad to hear that Mini owners helped you out and you were able to enjoy the drive for the most part. Took pictures too, can't beat that. New wheels look good.

 

wow...thats awesome...and kinda :/ at the same time...i'm glad you decided to write it all up though!!

Now you have to ask yourself, Would you rather have just made it back with no flat or getting lost or any of that...or have this great story to tell people?

I would choose the story part...woohoo!! :P

Glad you are back home safe and everything worked out!!

 

Glad I was able to help you out Avery. It can be a very unforgiving place to be stuck in. Sounds like quite a story before I met up w/ you. Its good you kept your cool and made it thru, I swear I hear about someone dying every year that has a mishap, and then tries to walk out of that area. (usually in the summer when its alot hotter.) I know those roads pretty good, and I'm not sure I would travel them at night.

Ps. Nice wheels

Nik

 

Great story Avery! I'm glad you made it through and some fellow motorers were able to help out.

My favorite part of your story was this:

I never thought of roadkill that way.

 

Wow Avery, happy endings are always the best

It is certainly heartwarming to know there are so many in the MINI community who are willing to help, especially Nik & MiniClo. Unlike those terds who wanted to jam you on the replacement wheel and tires.

Great story, when can expect the sequel? (maybe there's a MINI series in the future).

BTW your new wheels look great

 

Funny how no one's said anything about the runflats yet! I was waiting to see if someone would pop up to thank the runflats. I think we all dislike runflats (hell, I don't even have a MINI and I don't like them! lol) but I do think the true winner's and savior in this story were the runflat tires. Without them...he would have been stranded in Death Valley....on the side of a road! But alas, the runflats let him go quite far to get to a safer place.

-Cody

 

I must agree with you about the jerkey. I was in the Yosemite/Sequoia/Death Valley area this summer to climb, and like you I was drawn to Gus's store. The stuff is amazing and makes a trip through the desert a lot more bearable. If you ever find yourself on this road (I don't know the number) it's definitely worth stopping for some jerkey. (the hot stuff is the best ) Excellent story.

 

GPS. Spare. Word(s).

I had both on the AMVIV trip. My biggest fear was being busted by johnny law trying to keep up with the BAMmer crowd.
Good writeup - glad you made it out alive!

 

Good story! Glad it all worked out for you. Really shows how tight this community is. That makes motoring that much more fun!

 

That was intense reading Avery!
I can't imagine living it.
Glad you made it home safe and sound.

 

Avery, That was a great write up. Glad the Mini community came to assist you in your hour of need.Do you think any other car club pulls together like Mini people? It's not just a car, it's a life style filled with wonderful people.

 

Great write up! I would have been seriously bumming had I been lost in the desert like that - WITH a flat tire. Good thing for Tom L who escorted you out.
By the way Tom L was there to take astronomical photos, not astrological... Photos of stars or planets, yes. Signs no. Anyway, I knew what you meant. Just busting your chops ;-)

 

Wonderful story!!

I have been lucky never to have had such an ordeal with a car - only once with a bicycle. I was participating in a marathon bike ride of 300 miles of continuous riding in the hills of MD and PA (stupidly, without a spare tire) and got a long unrepairable gash in my rear tire on a screaming downhill in a very remote valley in PA (horse canyon, the break in the "double tunnel" on the PA Tpke). This was more than 10 years ago before cell phones were as pervasive - and after trying several times to borrow people's phones to call my wife (they all refused even when I showed them a calling card) I walked out of the valley to the nearest pay phone 15 miles away - and then waited four or five hours for my wife to collect me. At the time I was panicked about being in the middle of nowhere all alone with nothing but my feet - but looking back it was a high point of adventure in my otherwise routine life.

From all of us who were following your story while it happened, we are glad you are well and had the good fortune to have been supported by the great NAM community to a safe and successful outcome !!

Bill

 

I'm just curious i f this would have been resolved considerably sooner if you had a spare in back.

 

I have to agree with polizei. Many of us badmouth the S-lites and runflats, but they really came through in this case. If you had been driving on non-runflats and bent the rim and didn't have a spare, you could still be out there in the desert. That can of fix a flat won't solve the bent rim problem. The S-lites and runflats saved me this winter when I hit a low island covered by snow and bent two rims. One rim was so badly damaged that the inner rim of the wheel was torn away from the rim for about 7 inches around the wheel. It was dark and I couldn't see this damage. I managed to limp the 3 miles home where I discovered the extent of the damage. Still this didn't keep me from changing to something lighter and non-runflats, but you have to admit Avery's story should make you think twice about ditching the S-lites.

 

Avery,

Glad to see everything came out ok. Sorry I couldn't help you out, as we were in the middle of nowhere ourselves at the time you called.

We were able to get over the pass on 155, very twistie drive. You need to drive it if you get the chance.

Let me know, and I will go with you.

Nice rims.

Brad

 

Wow...what a great adventure and write up I had to print it up and used 3 trips to the john for some entertaining read This has got to be the longest recorded single post on NAM...love it

Thanks for the Jerky link too...will have to try that out...

 

DUDE ... you are absolulely correct although a real spare tire would have saved, probably, the entire experience. Many, Many people just refuse to believe anything like this will happen to them ... after all, they got their goop, they got their cell phones, etc. He was SAVED by the RFs.

This happened to me outside of Searchlight, NV. No amount of goop is going to fix a true blowout. I'm not sure if a RF would have shreaded like that and, in fact, a RF might not have.

In any case, there are many places without cell service ... you pay your money and take your chances. I'll take my chances with a spare AND goop

 

Well if I didn't have the runflats, I probably wouldn't have been able to make it out to the little town. And I wasn't about to head out in the middle of the night in pitch black with no light to attempt to change my tire if I had a spare :P Although I suppose being dead would be a bit of an exaggeration, I definately woulda been there for an additional week if I didn't have a MINI though.

Ooo i'll definately have to take a look at that trip interruption thing :D

To be honest, I didn't realize it was going to be that rough, nor did I expect to get that lost :P The real reason why I was out there was I was trying to get back home so I could go to work on monday on time...we all know how that turned out.

I just went to Kragens last week and picked up a bunch of road flares, a flat tire repair kit, and lug nut remover, fire extinguisher and a boot organizer. Now ive got my little emergency kit in the boot at all times. Lesson learned eh? I'm also keeping my old runflat (the one that isn't all messed up) as a spare when I go on long road trips.

Haha, it's ok, im still alive right? You coulda warned me more about that wildrose area though :P

It's the most optimism I could make out of roadkill.

Oh yes, my next investment is definately going to be a GPS.

Runflats don't come with spares unfortunately.

Lol, theres probably some details I left out too...didn't want it to be THAT long

 

Glad to hear you are home safe and have a set wheels, and didnt get stuck paying big bucks to get out of Death Valley.

As I read, and heard of a couple times lately, "What goes around, comes around." Good Job Nik!

Kevin

 

I see you've learned a lesson. You've also taught some others a lesson too.

 

Coopers equipped with 16" rims come with Goodyear runflats from factory and still get a spare.

The Cooper S, due to the center mounted exhaust and rear battery, does not come with a factory mounted spare.

Just to clarify.

 

I couldn't agree more with both of you. The real "heros" in the story are the RF tires. Personally, I think RF tires get a lot of bad rap in NAM and some of it I think it is pretty undeserved too. I am very happy with my factory supplied 16" Dunlop SP5000 RF tires. Great ride, great handling and peace of mind in case of a "real" flat.

More new cars are being equipped with the "evil" runflats. A cell phone and goop is not going to cut it if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere without reception and a shredded blown to pieces tire.

 

I totally agree, C4...this is why I am getting my third set of the Dunlop SP5000 16s installed tomorrow! I'm on my roadtrip now and the set I am replacing more than 30,000+ miles on them! I've been VERY pleased with them.