rsbob 

Bad news bears on that one.

locolobo13 

Drove all the way to work Friday 'cause it was raining that morning. Brought my bike because it rarely rains all day. After work went for a ride, ate at a fast food joint then rode to the park n ride. For about 5 secs I was wondering what happened to my pickup..

Then it dawned on me. DOH!

The extra 5 mi back to work weren't bad.

ScottCommutes

I locked my bike recently and ran the cable incorrectly - didn't lock anything except my helmet.
​​​​​​

Rick_D

Nobody was making off with that helmet!

That's kind of adorable and utterly relatable. Bet I've done it but never realized it.

marko_1111

This, for sure, so many times. So many

Lots of similar experiences. I guess my favorites other than the 'timber' thing - whether clipped or clipless - are missing a roller installing a chain and the rolling the bike and passing it from one hand to the other, except when you don't

So yeah a couple or so years ago I take off from the house in a hurry to get up and down my daily and I'd hooked my helmet over the bars and was riding through the neighborhood putting on my gloves and shades and not paying attention to a pothole that hadn't moved for years and years and when I hit it my helmet went flying through the air and bounced all over, so of course I'm a little embarrassed and laughing and screech to a halt just in time to see an older couple who witnessed the whole ridiculous event - much older than I am anyway - on a walk and I see the expression of horror on their faces after I chose to shout, 'Good thing my head wasn't in there!'. That was a proud moment

And then there's yesterday, after seeing an optometrist over the weekend to get new contact lenses for riding, I magically found a box of 90 lenses in a very safe place

Troul 

Appears it's always the last place you look.

Smaug1

I went to the first organized ride of the year in my area {LINK}* and left my water bottles and protein bar at the door back at my house.

Lucky for me I carry a bottle of water in the car that happens to fit a bottle cage, so that when I got to the event, I just had to use a non-bike-specific water bottle. The first leg of the ride was 19 miles, and the second leg was 21 miles, so I could have re-hydrated at the rest stop.

It seems like it's always SOMETHING I'm forgetting. One time a helmet. One time shoes. many times the chest strap. I need some kind of system; maybe just a checklist taped to the rack in the garage near my road bike... By the time I get home from work today, I will have forgotten it, so I'll forget something again next time.

* This was a really well-run low-budget ride. $10, and free for kids. It started from a high school and they have one of those water fountains with a water bottle refiller, so no one had to finance water. (except the high school!) All the support staff were volunteers; must be a great club! The food was cookies and pastries that were baked by club members or their wives. The starting point was also the only rest stop; rides were organized radially outward from there. The sag vehicle was just a handy club member with a van.

ScottCommutes

Yesterday I was installing a SRAM quick link on my son's bike (because I already snapped a Shimano one in another brain fart). As I'm pulling the ends together, the derailleur spring overpowers my grip, the chain comes apart, and I hear half of the quick link landing somewhere in the next room.

Smaug1

I went out for a metric century yesterday morning. Temp at departure time was 35 °F. (1.7 °C) I forgot my neoprene booties and so my toes were numb from cold within 20 minutes.
After a brunch stop, it had warmed up enough that the piggies were just cold.
I won't soon forget those again.

SpeedyBlueBiker

Left the water bottle in the freezer after I had left the house. Reached down for it about 20 minutes into my ride and noticed it wasn't there. Then I remembered. It's in the freezer!

Fredo76

Fixed a flat tire - by tightening the valve core.

My old-style 7-speed chain with no master link came out of the RD pretzel-shaped. Logic says it should go back in...

SoSmellyAir

1. This past weekend, I spent what felt like a couple of hours to line up my STI levers just right on my new handlebar.
2. Earlier this evening, I ruined a couple of sections of brake housing trying to route it through the channel within my new handlebar.
3. Conclusion: I should have routed the cables and housings through the handlebar channels before positioning the STI levers.

Pantah

I did this a few months ago but just remembered doing it. I ran a new shift cable through a new housing. I then figured out what length I wanted to cut the housing, cut it and with it the new new cable. I spaced and did things backwards so the cable was already in the housing when I cut it. Cable ain't exactly useful when it ends at the same point as the housing.

philbob57

Got my frame back from powder-coating. In putting it together, I got to the shifters. Down tube, of course, since the frame was built in 1973. Thought I tightened it fine. I installed and adjusted the front der. It didn't shift right. I readjusted. It didn't shift right. After a couple more iterations, I realized the shifters weren't tight. After each attempt at adjusting the front der, the shifters shifted down the DT, scratching it. I scratched my renewed frame before I had a chance to ride it. ;-(

XxHaimBondxX

I may need a checklist since I keep forgetting things, especially when switching from bike to bike. The last ride I only forgot headphones, however, wasn't too bored.

50PlusCycling

I installed a headset upside down a couple months ago. Bad things happen when you don’t read the instructions.

boozergut

Proceeded to cut through an old wad of duct tape that was on my chain stay to support my kick stand. Was just about through it when the scissors slipped and nearly took my thumb off. Thankfully acute care was only 1/2 mile away.

freeranger

Met a friend in the parking lot of where we were beginning our ride. Took the bike out of the back of my truck, put my helmet in the truck bed, got my water bottle out of the cab and put it on the bike, and started to ride. At which point, my friend asked "aren't you going to wear your helmet?"

SoSmellyAir

Wondering why my bike feels so agile at the beginning of a ride until I realize I have left my bottles behind.

SpedFast

You were just caught up in the excitement and anticipation of the coming ride. Little kids do that all the time.....

rsbob 

Mine didn’t feel agile, but the bottles were accidentally left on the kitchen counter. It was a good excuse to make a few water stops along the ride though.

Jameth

The only one I've been making lately (and again today) is to leave my headlight at home on the charger only to realize when I'm several miles into my 17 mile commute that I'll be riding home blind. I'm this close to switching to dynamo lights.

SoSmellyAir

Unfortunately, there is no water stop at the top of any of the climbs on the route of my go to ride. Otherwise, I would only bring a single small bottle.

I usually ride with two Polar (20 fl. oz.) bottles at 82 g each; that is 164 g. They each hold 600 mL, so call that another 1,200 g. 1,364 g = 3 lbs. 3 lbs. on an 18 lbs. bike is quite noticeable.

rsbob 

Small world, but my ride without bottles weighs 20 lbs. Maybe it’s my 168 lbs that keeps me from feeling a spritely bike.

slow rollin

2 rides in one day. 1/3 of the way into the second ride I felt the quad cramping up and I had no food like a bozo. Then didn't even stop to get some food, and the other one was going too.
sigh