I'm famous! For forgetting things when I hop on my bike in the morning. I've left my packed pack, wallet, sunglasses... Plenty o' things. Starting to make a quick check list, looking for your help: What have you famously forgotten? (Edit: Grammer)
I think that’s the point I call a cab and ask him to do a quick courier run. I’d be too paranoid riding four days without a helmet 😬
Yeah, taxis aren’t exactly ubiquitous in the Scottish highlands ha ha
One of them big fluffy cows would do it if you asked. Nicely I'm sure
I was figuring anywhere that has a pub would have a hire car or equivalent
This seems soooo familiar, but I'm not sure I've actually done it. More like I'm planning to do it (sub consciously).
My seat. I have to remove my seat to get my bike in the back of the car. I left it in my garage. Luckily it was just a ride around the city rather than a big trip.
Yeah, anything that has to come off to carry the bike. I left my front wheel skewer behind once.
At one point or another, I have probably forgotten everything. I, too, am famous for always leaving something behind. It used to not be such a hassle, except now I live in a 3.5 floor walk up, so when I forget something I have to schlep the bike back upstairs to get it. Two weeks ago I forgot my hydration pack that also has my tools and air pump. I had to go back home and up the stairs, so I just went back to bed. It was already a low motivation day and just getting out the first time had used up all the willpower I had.
On multi-day trips I am better because my anxiety has made a list and checked it countless times as well as done an overnighter just to make sure.
This.
Lists are mandatory. It’s just too easy to forget stuff. I also just leave as much packed as possible. It’s more expensive to have multiple copies of gear, but it’s so nice to not have that constant chance of forgetting your rain trousers or something critical like that which only gets used occasionally.
Be sure to add to your checklist anything that you share with your riding partner(s), so you can remember to check they brought it.
Also, bring a rag or bandanna that you can lay out when you do a roadside repair. Put EVERYTHING on it. If you don’t, you will absolutely lose a nut or a small tool or a black tire lever or your sunglasses in the weeds.
Haha recognize this... I had just bought a hydration pack for the first time "osprey raptor 14" so it carries the water, tools, pump, and a few snacks like a champ... I rode out to the trail on a low motivation day (except for the "trying out new gear" motivation) 20miles later I'm staring at the trailhead just realizing "oh I haven't been drinking".."wait, wheres my''"... "Gaaaaah"..
I should have noticed ten times over that I didn't have a hose stuck to my torso or some weight on my back..
Anyways, 20miles Home... bed... f* this...
*Tried the bag out a week later and I do like it, and will likely not forget it again.
My troubles.
Usually gloves or money. Still can get around without them.
My sanity, but I enjoy every trip
I forget my troubles.
Que theme song from Cheers
Every evening i put everything i’ll need beside the garage door. I find it much harder to forget anything when i’m not under a time crunch, as i can mentally go over what i have a few times.
Edit: i forgot my helmet once because it was hanging on a different bike. Left the keys to work at home a couple of times. Had to ride home, and then drive back so i wasn’t too late.
I'm the worst at remembering stuff so I made a bikepacking list on my phone. On short rides/commute it is usually tools that I forget. My fixed gear bike needs an hew wrench to remove the wheels and it happened several times that I forgot it
I did some travelling on a fixie and dreaded the fact that I have to lug the huge wrench w me
Snot rag. I don’t know what my problem is, but I never remember to bring it and I have the worst allergies. I live car free, and you’d think having nose juice run down my lip on a daily basis, would get me to remember, but no…..
On a bikepacking trip I forgot my spoon. I carved one from a hardwood stick.
Stress.
Weird personal folklore/superstition…..If you forget something, the ride will end up being awesome. My son and I both noticed this phenomenon.
I made a 3 day trip last year with some friends. Start of the 2nd day…after 5 km my friend realized he forgot his backpack 😂 and no one noticed till that point. But luckily it was only 5 km back the road and all flat. So he got it again.
taking breaks
Gloves has been the main thing so far. Luckily I only use cheap ones.
Everything. That's what I do it for.
I have left my power bank at home plugged into the wall more often than I would like to admit lol
Also, I forgot my tent stakes a couple times. Now I just always keep them in a little baggie inside the bag with my tent poles so they don't get forgotten
I lost a buff, a beanie, a t-shirt, 3 pairs of socks and tent poles over the course of a month this summer
My helmet lol.
I forgot my keys while leaving for university one day. I knew someone would be at home to let me in at the end of the day, but I had to ask a stranger in the same department to lock my bike with hers for the day. I had left my lock on the rack outside the building, but didn't have my key to use it, and I didn't want my bike left unlocked in the city centre all day.
Nothing. I obsess too much and plan too carefully.
Oh, I once forgot a sponge after I had cleaned my pot with it.
My biggest one is forgetting to close bags. I stop to get a snack out or some tools and then ride off after with it still open. Usually I get away with it but I've lost a few things this way.
I've left my helmet hanging on a gate, my camp shoes drying on a wall, gloves, snoods, voile straps, the list goes on.
I once dismantled the bike to get it in a car and left the wheels leaning against the wall when I set off. Fortunately I only got about 10 minutes away before realising.
Water and emergency waffle.
I usually fasten my brake lever with a strap whenever I get off the bike. It helps me to remember to double check that I've got everything before peeling off, kinda like tying a string to your finger to remember something. It's great to have a parking brake too!
I sympathize. My calamities are not so much what I forget to pack in the morning but what i leave whilst on the road during the day. It’s like my brain just gets ‘full up’ thinking about travel logistics and has no room for remembering to gather items. This is not all bikepacking but….ive left a Garmin computer on South West trains (UK), my passport in the back of a seat on Alitalia (and on Metro north in NY), my backpack at the top of Machu Picchu, a pair of shorts in the Colombian jungle, countless socks and sunglasses littered all over the world and my laptop in a pub. Doesn’t matter how important an item is, all are at risk. Thank god for modern AirTags.
Same - The check I'm working on is more of an on the trip list than a getting ready list.
Cable for my powerbank
This one Suuuuuccckkkss.
I've lost pocket knife, corkscrew, flip flops amongst other things. I got a light poly prop bag and now everything that's loose gets dumped in there at night and I don't lose anything anymore. Well at least not when packing up from camp.
Good idea!
Front wheel. Didn’t get too far. Halfway down a hill.
i didnt forgot anything, but on every tour i will lose my flip flops
I honestly have a checklist for everything but no bs, I once forgot my gloves. I thought I had everything. I didn't want to ride 7 miles back, so I just picked up another set at REI before I hopped on the train.
2nd this … a written checklist is a must for me !
My bikepacking gear is the same as my backpacking gear for the most part, which includes a nonfreestanding tent which I use a trekking pole to support. So I bike around with a trekking pole strapped to my bike which is great for any side hikes I want to take on during a bike trek. Despite biking around with the thing for a couple of thousand miles my brain still doesn't seem to understand that I need that trekking when I'm biking. I had to spend four nights hunting around for appropriate sized stick at night to support my tent a couple of years ago because I (presumably) left my trekking pole at some remote campsite.
Dropped a pair of Tifosi Davos glasses on the AR High Country Route
But I liked them so much I now own 3 pairs lol
I've forgotten bits of minor gear here and there before, but my trips are usually short enough where I can make do just fine. Usually it's half of my stakes, bug spray, or something silly like that. I've forgotten my lighter more times than I can count, but I have backup fire sources (matches, flint) so that's usually fine unless I've got a handful of joints rolled up.
The biggest miss I've experienced was on this solo 4-day mountain circumnavigation route I had plotted out. I had brought a book for entertainment and was REALLY excited to read it next to the campfire. Ended up leaving it out on top of my car (along with a compact sun umbrella) when I was loading up the bike and getting ready to head out near the start of the route. I was out of cell phone service for 95% of that trip, so I just ended up whittling sticks and thinking about things instead of desperately trying to get an eBook alternative.
I keep losing my sunglasses. Every multi-day trip, I lose my sunglasses. It’s mostly because they’re hanging on the feed bag and they shake loose on a bumpy descent, but last time I lost them because I was racing an ultra and forgot about them while packing up my sleep kit in a hurry so I could catch a group of riders.
I put my bikes inside the car when I go out. I’ve forgotten my thru axles multiple times and the whole wheel too, lol.
I got a mile up the paved section on white rim and realized I forgot my USWE backpack. Thankfully it was not to bad to go back and get it. Definitely needed that water
Most days I forget something, my keys, lunch, notebook, my whole bag, but bikepacking/camping I almost never forget anything.
I left my helmet in a pub at the bottom of the most hellish section of hike a bike I encountered on the GBDivide. I only noticed when I was descending on the other side and was really enjoying the wind rushing through my hair which in the end made me realise! There was absolutely no way I was going back to get it either so ended up finishing the last 4 days without it!