What do you carry with you?

[HipGnosis6]

My bike's out for the count for a while but here's what I carried:

On my bars I have a cyclocomputer, a halogen headlight, and a bell.
In one bottle cage is the battery for my headlight, in the other a water bottle with either plain water or 50/50 water-sports drink mix.
In a very small seat bag - patch kit, bus scrip, tire levers, multitool, housekeys.
Cable lock wrapped around seat post.
Rear light, full wrap fenders.
Cargo net wrapped around rack.

I never carried an extra tube because my seat bag is so tiny, but when I commuted all the stuff from the seat bag got put in the pannier instead as well as an extra tube.

I haven't got a frame pump but would like the Topeak Road Morph eventually. We had a pump at work and I have a floor pump at home, so I didn't worry too much about not having a pump. The one time I needed it, a fellow stopped to help me out and he had one. Plus I haven't traveled anywhere that I couldn't get a bus home from - I'd feel differently if I was at all off the beaten track!

The rack with the cargo net was great - I always had it available so if I bought a pair of shoes or a bag of groceries I could attach it to the rack at any time.

Edited to add this important note:

I NEVER ride without helmet and gloves!

[Bad JuJu]

Like Regina, I always have my little seat bag with spare tube, patch kit, tire irons and multi-tool, plus pump bracketed to the frame (I have just enough room behind my seat tube for the pump).

For other stuff, I got a Madden Piggy Pack from Adventure Cycling. It holds cell phone, snack, keys, and bandanna, plus it has a removable map holder for a cue sheet. I tried a Bento Box, but my top tube is so short that I was bashing into the Bento Box every time I mounted or dismounted. Sold it to my neighbor who's about 6 feet tall--it's perfect for her.

[pooks]

HipGnosis -- Maybe this is the typical way to do it, but until I read your post I didn't think about wrapping the cable lock around the seat post. I haven't even used mine yet -- no place around here has a place to lock a bike.

I always use a camelbak, even for short rides. Once I didn't have to fool with a water bottle, I felt like I'd gained a lot of freedom.

[HipGnosis6]

HipGnosis -- Maybe this is the typical way to do it, but until I read your post I didn't think about wrapping the cable lock around the seat post. I haven't even used mine yet -- no place around here has a place to lock a bike.

This is why I like cable locks - you can lock to a banister or a tree or stuff you could never lock a U-lock to. My lock's actually around my top tube with one loop behind the seat tube to keep it from sliding forward.

[BikeMomma]

I ride with a minimalist theory, I guess, when it comes to baggage.

In the teeny-weeny underseat bag I cram:
1 spare tube (roadie)
1 lightweight multi-tool for on-the-road fixes
3 tire irons, but usually only have to use one, maybe two (the third one's in case one breaks)
photocopy of id & ins.card, scotchtaped over to protect against the elements
car, house, or work key - wherever I base my ride from
$5 cash (to pay for a borrowed tube if I flat twice - it's happened)
extra $$ for those epic rides in the hills
my cell phone if I'm lucky (I have a skinny minnie Moto Razor)

In my jersey pockets:
1 Powerbar (on rides after work or endurance/hill rides on the weekends)
1 Hammer gel (on hard rides when I know I'll need that extra zip at the end)
my inhaler (gawd I hate this Valley air...yick!)
4 or 5 Endurolyte caps (I get cramps sometimes)
an extra tube on long solo rides, or if I know I don't have $$ in the seat bag
changeable lenses for my sunglasses

On the bike, a frame pump, and usually a minimum of two large water bottles, even in the winter, with at least one containing an electrolyte powder supplement (I use Heed). On longer rides where there might not be a possibility of a water refill anywhere, I'll carry an additional bottle in a jersey pocket.

In the car or wherever I end my ride, I keep another bottle of recovery drink, w/whey protein such as Hammer's Recoverite mix, to drink as soon as possible after the ride.

No handlebar bag, no cumbersome seat bag, no camelback. All would drive me crazy on a typical ride. Camelbacks work great hiking, however.

~BikeMomma