Fifty Plus (50+) - pre ride bike check

After reading about our colleague's mishap I stopped and performed my pre ride bike check today.I admit I haven't been that religious about it.Here is what I found.Loose front wheel(sound familar) and rear blinking light ready to fall off.What the heck is wrong with me?Back to basics!I blame myself and know its from my short rides due to little day light after work.What can go wrong on a couple of 30-40 minute rides.I don't have to check the bike out every day.:50:

I tend to do the opposite. On every ride I make a mental list of maintenance or adjustments that I want to do before I ride that bike again. I'm also careful about never installing a wheel (or anything) loosely. It's either on tight or it's not on.

My list is best done after the ride which is the time when any discrepencies are fresh in my mind. Rainy days are for closer inspection and maintenance as well as general tinkering. Bearings, chain, headset, brakesets...typical stuff I keep a daily watch on. Tire pressure and tire surfaces are pre-ride.

I pump up the tires each ride and then do a little spin around the parking lot to be sure nothing is grossly wrong. I also do a general visual inspection while putting it back on the car rack... Other than that, I clean the chain about every 75 miles (usually 3-4 rides) and do a closer inspection of everything at that time. (I know that's fairly frequent to clean a chain -- but riding on the crushed limestone trails gets it pretty gunky pretty quickly)

At the very least, I remember to check my "ABC's" (= Air pressure, Brakes, and Chain or "drivetrain").

I just top off the tires and go.

I have not had a front wheel get loose since I was 10 years old. How in the heck do you get a loose front wheel, with either a properly adjusted quick release or a nutted axle?