stupid, stoopid, stuppid!

[bikerchick68]

ugh... yeah, I did a DUMB thing yesterday... was doing a group ride with friends... drove downtown and jumped on the Amtrak from SD to a place called San Juan Capistrano... about 70 miles away... got up at O'dark thirty and had the bike etc all loaded in truck... got to the train station, grabbed my gear and jumped on the train... ruh roh... WHERE is my helmet??? :confused:

So now I am heading up and trying to decide what to do. I DO NOT ride without a helmet. SO we get there and jump on the bikes... it's 7:45am on a Sunday... I get all the way right in the middle of the pack for safety... wearing my Gerolsteiner cap and nothing more, doing what I always preach about not doing... riding with no helmet... pass a bike shop... not open... :(

So the group splits a bit as someone needed to stop at a Savon for something else... I stop and then decide to chase the others to stay with the larger group... I'm about 15 miles in now, no helmet... nerves on edge, watching every glitch in the pavement but trying not to ruin the ride for everyone else with my nervous nelly, worry wart attitude. So as I solo and chase the group, I ride thru San Clemente... and see two guys riding their bikes up to San Clemente Cyclery. I cross the street and ask if the shop is open, just as I see one of the men putting the key into the lock... it's just about 8:25am...

the man responds yes, and asks what I need. He grabs a helmet, fits it on me to be sure it's a safe one, runs my credit card and within 5 minutes I'm on my way, after thanking him profusely!

As I ride it dawned on me that shops don't open at 8:25am... morelike 9AM or 10AM... especially on a Sunday! I'll be sending a thank you card to this shop! If they were local, they would have just earned my business for a long time to come...

Completed the ride in 4 hours 25 minutes... a GREAT day to ride... :) The cycling god smiled on me this day...

I also decided to buy a gear bag to keep ALL my bike stuff in at all times... then I can just put the bag in the truck and KNOW I have everything... hey, at least I have 3 helmets now! I actually really like this cheapie too... 20 vents and fits better than my expensive one! :D

[Veronica]

That's so cool! They'll be on my list as a place to do business if I find myself down there.

V.

[Running Mommy]

very cool of the guys at that shop! I would have been the same way w/ no helmet. Plus my son would NEVER let me live it down! ;) The kids around here rarely wear helmets- except mine of course. My law "if it has wheels and your on it, there MUST be a helmet firmly attached to yor noggin".
Once he was playing up the street so I grabbed my bike to go up and get him. Well since it was only a block I didn't bother w/ the helmet. BOY did he give it to me, and I have to say... he was right! :p

[Nanci]

http://www.terrybicycles.com/detail.html?item_no=7616000

Mountainsmith Bike Cube

Nanci

[caligurl]

nanci... do you have one of these? how big are they? i was thinking of getting 2 of them... one for me and one for hubby... currently we have a BIG bag that we stick both our stuff in... but i saw this the last time i got a catalog... and thought it would be better than the big bag!!!!!

[bikerchick68]

nanci... BINGO! I DO need that! thanks for the link... will be ordering asap... (as in the next 15 minutes! :D )

[Nanci]

It measures 15x15x15.

I have the Mountainsmith Modular Hauler system, which is a (too) floppy rectangular holder, which four 15x15x7.5" cubes fit into. I have my helmet, shoes, gloves, computer, glasses, pump in one. I have other every day stuff in another. I have rain gear in another. I have cold gear in another. Then in the house I have one for reflective/randonneuring gear, like lights, batteries, leg and arm reflectors, food, etc. Then I have the cooler cube! So I can put any four in the hauler, which lives in the Rodeo. I get to it through the side door. It's a cool idea- I just wish the hauler and cubes were stiffer- they stand up when full, but collapse down when not. Probably supposed to be that way. They have little clear pockets on the tops, too, that I use to stuff my bike maps in.

If I didn't have that, I'd have the bike cube.

Caligurl, I used to have a big bag I just threw everything in. I had way too much stuff I never used in it. The bike cube would be _so_ organized!

Nanci

[snapdragen]

http://www.terrybicycles.com/detail.html?item_no=7616000

Mountainsmith Bike Cube

Nanci

I have that! I love it! Holds my "riding gear" perfectly.

[caligurl]

ok.... .looks like i'll be ordering 2 of them, then! you all are such enablers! (not sure if that is a good or bad thing! :eek: :rolleyes: :cool: :p )

[Nanci]

I'm not a good person to take along when you are puppy or horse shopping, either :-) Encouraging others to buy is second only to buying for yourself, or for someone else!

I checked before posting the Terry link, but TE didn't carry it. I knew it was at one site or the other...

Nanci

[bikerchick68]

OK... I ordered one... they're back ordered til 3/20 but that's OK... this is the very first time this has happened... but hopefully now it never will again! I do enough event rides where I travel up to 5 hours that I need to have everything together...

the night before this ride, I cleaned my chain, sprayed my cleats with White Lightening... packed Aleve, Clifshots, fig newtons, Chamois But'r... I really thought I was all set!

I know a guy who drove from San Diego to Palm Springs to ride the century... and forgot his shoes! :eek: He didn't know til the morning of so ended up riding the 27 miler in his tennies and full bike gear :D LOL... he said he felt like a dope...

[Nanci]

This is why my bike stuff lives in my truck. I did have an incident last summer when I forgot my bike shorts. I had been swimming first, trying to gather the nerve for a tri. I considered riding in my swimsuit, with a jersey over it, but it looked ridiculous, so I had to ride in sweats rolled up over my knees, which also looked ridiculous...After that, I put a spare set of bike clothes in my truck.

Nanci

[bikerchick68]

Nanci.. yep, gonna pack this baby up!

I told this story to the guy I've been dating and he was appalled that I spent $40 on a helmet and didn't just continue the ride... clearly he doesn't understand what it's like to ride 20mph... I gently explained that $40 is LESS than my co-pay for the ER... and far less than potentially needing to re-learn the alphabet.

I'm not even gonna bother showing him this... he just won't get it! Hey, at least he's OK with the tan lines... :D

[Nanci]

Nice to have a spare if you take a friend riding, too. I _finally_ have a spare. which fits bigger, so my winter hat fits under it, which it doesn't with my new helmet. Which has its own house that came with it!!

Nanci