I had my gear bag next to the front door, and forgot it. It had my shoes, jersey, helmet, and number plate. I realized after the 1.5 hour drive to the race venue. I was about to just call it and go home.
A friend (also a part of the race organization) said “Hey, you wear size 42?” He had SWorks shoes in his RV, and pedals to match in his tool box. A rush to the registration booth and they set me up with a new number plate only minutes before the race start. My friend, and biggest rival, had his dirty jersey he wore the day before (so we matched ), and I had my trail helmet in the car. I was set up and ready to race about 5 minutes from race start.
This was a Pro XCT race, not just a local event. Ended up being my best national level race ever to date. But also cost me my bike shop sponsorship as they felt that I wasn’t taking the responsibility seriously and I had to return the XC bike I had on loan. Oh well, win some you lose some.
For the apple people, I started using a checklist in the notes app, and just adjust it for each race. It’s kept me from doing multiple visual checks when I preload my car
My wife and I ride for the same team. We have a ton of team clothing. After one batch of laundry, a pair of her bibs got hung up in my closet. I’m sure you can guess which ones got tossed in my race bag on race day. I found out that I had the wrong bibs when I went to get dressed for my second race of the day and could only get them up to my knees. All wasn’t lost since I typically double up at crits and bring two kits and just needed to do the second race of the day in my same bibs from race one.
Arrived at a gravel ride last year with no helmet in the car. Debated pretending it was the was the early 1990’s and going without. It was early and the closest LBS was not open. Drove 20 minutes to a big box store that sells bikes and bought a budget helmet. In rushing around, either left my SCICON race day bag (TR approved) on top of the car or in the parking lot. Arrived at back at the ride start with a helmet but no shoes, Garmin Edge, Varia, Silca torque wrench and some other stuff. Retraced steps. No luck. No ride. Replaced everything. There is a lesson in this somewhere that I am still trying to figure out…
This sounds super daft but I think it’s a great tip that I received from a team mate.
‘If it comes off the bike, it goes in the bag.’ I used this whilst packing my bike up for it’s first airline trip and subsequent journey home.
Everything from the valve caps to the pedals went in the ‘bag’. Nothing got put to one side, it went straight into the bag. Once I’d removed an item, I placed the tool(s) I’d used in an overnight travel wash/toiletries bag. This meant I knew I had the tool(s) to fit the item and I wasn’t tempted to pack excess equipment.
I do appreciate that having the time to do this in an orderly fashion is arguably the most important factor.
Not anything that would prevent a ride but it sucks to see a “battery level low” message from your PM just when you’re set to go. So since then I always have a spare PM battery with me.
I’m pretty paranoid about accidentally leaving things at home. I think it comes from years of scuba diving.
I leave extra gear and tools in my truck semi-permanently. I’ve been eyeing that new Ford Lightning electric pickup with the front trunk. I could fit a whole bike shop in there…
A few years ago my OH and I had entered a duathlon a few hours from home and had booked accommodation the night before.
Having got half way there we realised that the bikes were locked to the bike rack on the car, but we didn’t have the keys for the lock. We spent most of the rest of the day in hardware shops looking for something to cut the lock with.
We got to our accomodation late to find that they didn’t have our booking. More time spent sorting that out before we were finally in a position to get our kit sorted and ready for the morning.
OH had forgotten his running shoes, the shops were closed and wouldn’t be open by the time the race started. So he ran off road run legs in his normal shoes with no grip.
I forgot my water bottle for a CX race one time, it was 3 hours from home. I didn’t realize it in til I got to the event .Luckily there was a convenience store right down the road. So I bought a Smart water with the sports top, but it barely fit in my bottle cage. Sure I didn’t need water as many race CX without it but I personally need some just in case.
Now I make a list on my phone just like the examples above and actually pack all the essentials besides my bike in my car the night before. So far I haven’t forgot anything, fingers crossed.
), and I had my trail helmet in the car. I was set up and ready to race about 5 minutes from race start.
it.
.Luckily there was a convenience store right down the road. So I bought a Smart water with the sports top, but it barely fit in my bottle cage. Sure I didn’t need water as many race CX without it but I personally need some just in case.