Inpd

Mine was I (after a hard 10 mile sprint) took a break and rested my bike against this bush. End result. Two flat tires. Is this the infamous bush that supplies the goat's head thorns? If you look closely its like a spiked ball like the gladiators used.

12strings

Knowing that I was going on a 20 mile ride with some fast guys, a ride that ended with a significant hill climb, I only filled my water bottle half way so it would be lighter for the climb....ended up with heat exhaustionn, or somethingg, felt dizzy, had to sit down for a while at the top of the hill after working so hard to climb as fast as the fast guys.

Lazyass

I made a two hour drive for a charity ride and when I got there I realized I left my bag with every single piece of gear at home inside my garage door. Clothing, shoes, helmet, everything.

HtownTREK

Ate a large breakfast to "get ahead" on carbs before a long ride. Something I read, must work for some folks but DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN. Took me 20 miles to ride that down and get in the game.

kingfishr

Left all my energy drink powder for 5 bottles at the first depot (40km) of this years 165km la Marmotte, and of course realized it about half way down the descent from Glandon. Spent the rest of the ride regretting it...

bakes1

Omg!
Many other posters have referenced the obsession that a lot of non professional riders have when it comes to mere grams or ounces but I never believed it to be true until now

kbarch

The other day I put the wheels back on a bike just before an early morning ride. Given a combination of still being half asleep and working in poor light, I put the rear on backward. Got to the street and couldn't understand why the cranks could turn so easily without the wheel moving....

f4rrest

Where to begin...?

bmcer

Didn't realize I'd left the little shut-off magnet in the power module for the Campy EPS stuff until hitting the first major climb of the day. Don't know which was stupider, leaving the magnet in to begin with, or taking as long as I did to figure out why I only had one available gear.

bassjones

Ate pizza the night before a new long (for me, it was LONG) ride... Last night... Chicago style deep dish with sausage, mushrooms and spinach... Did 73 miles, but was feeling miserable. Note to self...

bikepro

Laying my helmet on a Fire Ant mound, then putting it back on -- immediate reaction.

Sitting on grass infested with chiggers -- Delayed reaction.

HtownTREK

Yep.....DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN

capsisking

The week leading up to my first Time Trial, I doubled my regular weekly mileage, rode my longest ride to date, and separately my fastest ride to date!

alexaschwanden

i rode in to a underpass which i was thinking it was 1 foot deep, but it was 4-5ft deep. i almost got sweeped in to the currents of the river next to it. it destroyed my iphone and soaked all stuff in my wallet.

FLvector

Launched a water bottle during a century ride and decided not to go back for it. I was able to refill the one bottle I had left, but wasn't able to stay hydrated the remainder of the ride. I finished ok, but was cramping, and I rarely cramp during a ride.

12strings

Yeah, it was dumb...the bike I was riding weighs 28 lbs anyway, so it's not like I was anywhere near lightweight...I just thought, hey, half-lb. Less!...I now take Gatorade and a granola bar on every ride.

Carbonfiberboy 

Putting bike back together after air travel in a big hurry, threaded the chain over the little keeper in the jockey pulley cage instead of under it. Then had to fix on the street w/o a quick link tool.

dieselgoat

Got to a charity ride and realized I had forgotten my bike shoes. Did the whole 100 mile ride in my running shoes with my feet just resting on my pedals as best as I could. Forgot to mention that the bike I brought this particular day was my single speed.

B. Carfree

Many decades ago, I developed a progressively worsening soreness in one knee. First it caused me to back off my mileage. Then it would bother me on the way home from work, then on the way into work. Finally, I couldn't ride at all and could barely walk. After a five months of this, I decided that if I was going to have a surgeon go in and cut, I might as well make it plenty obvious what he's looking for, so I went out for a short but quick 20 mile ride. Not surprisingly, I started to get cramps when I got home.

Oddly enough, this showed me the problem and solved it as well. I had a floating piece of (probably) cartilage that had lodged in a bad spot. Somehow it came out and was visible and palpable. (In retrospect, I should have immobilized it and had it removed while it was easily accessible.)

I was so overjoyed at being able to ride again that I went with some friends to do a nearby century the next week that consisted of two fifty mile climbing square loops. I just rode the first loop and called it a day. One of those friends had paid for a double century the following weekend, but he injured his knee on the century.

Yep, I took his paid-for number. My third ride in six months was to be a double century. That wasn't dumb enough for me. Since I had ridden this particular double several times, I didn't bother looking at the route sheet. I skipped the last rest stop before lunch because I knew the climb wasn't much and I'd be happier to get to lunch a bit earlier. Unfortunately, they had added another climb between the rest stop and lunch. I bonked so badly I simply fell over in the road and fell asleep. Luckily, no cars came while I slept. Even luckier, some kind soul set a banana on me, which I ate the moment I woke up.

Either the banana from heaven or the rest did me a world of good. I was able to comfortably ride to lunch and easily finished the 200 miles before darkness fell.

kbarch

Homebrew01

Driving to a race decades ago in Harvard MA. Ended up at Harvard University, not the town of Harvard. D'OH !

mawashi

Didn't happen to me but one of my friends drove 50km to ride, showed up and was so proud to show off his new road bike hard case, opened it only to find out he left the wheels back home... another friend laughed so hard he fell backwards off his bike and broke his arm...

I'll never forget that morning ever lol!

Machka 

I ate a liverwurst sandwich not long before racing a Time Trial.

I had arrived home from work a little late, threw together this sandwich ... and I will mention, I love liverwurst ... and dashed off to the race.

I was one of the first ones set off.

Liverwurst is great going down ... not so good lodged somewhere between down and up ... not so good when you're heaving in the ditch post race.

Homebrew01

Another dumb thing was having a beer with lunch halfway through a 140 mile ride my brother and I did from CT to VT.

mawashi

If anyone tried really spicy stuff and beer it'll bring new meaning to diaper shorts lol!