What do you carry with you?

[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