Hi floydian, and sparky,
Many years past as a teenager i too joined a gang, but we use to cycle all over the place taking a packed lunch, with us sandwiches, lemonade, maps, puncture outfits,even lamps for the bike particularly if it came over dark, on the way home, after a long days cycling,
even a light weight mac just in case of rain, and sunshades for bright sun shine, and we went up to a radius of around 80 miles . so if one of us got a punctures the others would rally round and soon we were on our way ,
i think the lesson i learned is that we all need friends and at times they are a blessing to have for friendship and support , basically it was if some one needed help and we were able to assist them then we did, which prepared us for the future as adults,