As I sit and laugh at myself, the prepared folks bike, jog, and drive by. I start thinking about what happen and laugh harder. I prepare for everything. I think it through in annoying detail until I feel there are no holes. But, sadly, this has happened to me twice: in college, and now. (Who learns from college mistakes, anyway?)
I only forgot one thing! One thing: compressed air. I have a spare tube. I have the little prying tool. I learned, from an over-eager bike racing friend, how to change a flat. I even have snacks and water, which turned out to be more brilliant than I expected. But apparently at some point I thought I’d be able to use my lung power to blow the tire up. At 6:30am, looking at the tiny nozzle, I realize that’s not going to happen.
Lucky for me, I had someone that could come pick me up and the weather was perfect. And, worst case scenario, I could have carried my bike back home. But, in the future, you better bet I’ll have all the tools I need, and will take a refresher course today on how, to change a flat. Back up plans are great, but if I’m going to bike in I should at least be able to get all the way there. Lesson learned.
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Thanks Meg! Sounds like if you don’t have everything, you might as well have nothing. Here are some helpful links:
A Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Bike Maintenance Checklist
Meg
About Meg: “I’ve been active since 1st grade when I started playing soccer. As I got older (through high school) it got more competitive and became a year round activity. Ever since, not working out doesn’t feel right. In college I was a coxswain for the men’s crew team at MU. When I started working I realized that fitting ‘fitness’ into life is much harder. So now, I bike, go to the gym, and started going to Bikram this past winter. Doing and having available a variety of things allows me to fit something into most days, because business and life are different every day.”
Thanks for all the tips, Meg!