What did you forget?

[PJ520]

Whenever I start a tour there always seems to be something I forget. Last May I set off from a very wet Bar Harbor Maine to ride across the US and found that my waterproof jacket was at home in Seattle so I bought a new one and now have two good waterproofs. What did you forget and how did you work around it?

[Mike Sales]

Tent poles and pegs. I cut branches and improvised.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
After forgetting my sandwhiches for first day, then another my pillow (just a homemade fleece pillow case) I made a list and tick off what I pack, the important stuff I put near the end, putting your house keys or even your cycle lock (already attatched where you dont want it to ride) keys with something you must'nt forget might help, theres always something small you forget but a card and cash will mean you wont starve and can get a taxi home

[gloomyandy]

Tent pegs.... I just about managed with a combination of rocks and twigs etc. But it was a massive relief to be able to buy some a few days into the tour. I've also manged to lose my tent poles along the way. In my case I was very lucky and a very nice man caught me up when I stopped to make lunch and handed them to me!

[fluffybunnyuk]

I forgot my pump,puncture repair kit+spares once. The irony was I happened upon a cyclist fixing a puncture, so I had to ignore them and carry on. My solution to the problem was to make a 5 page checklist, and tick each item off as it went into the panniers. After 2000 miles Im still awaiting my first puncture...fingers crossed

EDITED to add a smug face

[PJ520]

A couple of years ago I was riding round Washington state and in the middle of nowhere (there's a lot of nowhere in Washington state) I came across a multitool lying at the side of the road. It was one of those Chinese imitation things that was absolutely useless: the knife wouldn't cut butter, the pliers didn't close and it weighed a ton. It had a spike thing that I bashed into a tree to use as a tent peg. The next morning I decided to abandon this junk in the tree thinking somebody somebody might find a use for it rather than toss it in the trash. Half an hour after setting off a pickup pulls up in front of me "You forgot your knife."....

[eileithyia]

Toothbrushes... First night was horrible until I got to a shop next day... hate skanky tasting teeth/mouth

[Graham]

The door key to the french farmhouse where I was supposed to be staying.

Luckily I was only about 25 miles away from home when I suddenly realised this.

The bad news was that I had to abandon taking the Dieppe ferry that night. I did not have enough time (or energy) to collect keys and head straight out again.

The double bad news is that I managed to derail the chain into the rear sprockets locking the back wheel about six miles from home and on a very quiet country road, in the dark .

The good news is that a samaritan - agricultural engineer in a van - arrived a few minutes later and insisted that he give me, the stricken bike and luggage a lift home.

[molly]

Not me but my team mate forgot his seat and seatpost when we travelled to an event a couple of years ago. We have to fly to the UK mainland and the bikes get packed in cases. Rather than not take part he rode the entire 50mile event without them(in a very decent time too) hovering in mid air!

[nez]

That is impressive Molly

[molly]

http://www.owenphilipson.com/blog/2011/ ... -svtta-50/

[kawa9999]

I still remember that evening when we arrived at the camping site (I think it was somewhere in Slovenia, in the countryside, middle of nowhere) arranged to get a place for the tent, unpacked everyhing and started mounting the tent, only to find out that we did only carry the outer layer of the tent, no tent inner, no poles, no nothing.


Once we also forgot somehow to bring the lid of the cooking pot. I still remember searching all the hardware store, no way you could just buy the lid. Cooking spaghetti took ages, till we found some "alternative" solution.

[PDQ]

My "self" but I found it again after 200 or so miles.

[honesty]

Actual money. Sometimes credit cards are not accepted!

[Dudley Manlove]

I've yet to set off on a trip with key stuff missing. What I am good at, is leaving stuff on the rack after packing - then cycling off with whatever falling off. Glasses, bungee cords, etc. Loose bungee cords can be nasty, they always catch a spoke and get winched around the wheel before snapping. I also, had a pannier fall off and didn't notice for 25miles. I had to cycle back in the dark to find it, but luckily it was exactly where it dropped off.