kf5nd

Monday I was at mile 20 of my 24 mile ride to work. I turned around, and noticed that MY BIKE BAG WAS GONE. What was in my bike bag?

Wallet !
Cellphone !
Palm PDA !
Reading glasses and clip-on sunglasses !
Workplace ID badge !
USB drive !


I was totally screwed. I panicked, and went into a nearby business, borrowed their phone, and started screaming and crying to my wife. She calmed me down, and agreed to work her way down my route in her car, and I'd work my way back from where I was, and we'd meet somewhere in the middle.

I started riding, scanning the other side of the road for my bag. I even rode the wrong way down a one-way street I traverse, so that I could look for the bag.

I kept thinking about identity theft, and the cost of replacing the stuff, and the ungodly hassle.

We did meet exactly in the middle, ten miles back from where I was, and ten miles from home. She had the bag!

I had placed in on the bike rear rack, but hadn't fastened it, so it fell off the bike, plop, even before I'd left the driveway... and I didn't hear it drop. So it was never really in danger.

She is so my hero. She absolutely saved my hide.

Now she keeps saying to me, "You owe me big!"

* jack *

Great story... I can imagine the panic you must have felt. Glad it worked out OK

roadfix

I constantly look back to see if my panniers are still attached.....

TxBiker

Those are the four most feared words coming from a wife.....You....Owe....Me....Big! I see expensive trips to the Galleria in your future!!

Seriously, I am glad it worked out for you. I guess there will be one more check on your checklist before you head out!

jimbrown

That reminds me of the time I had a guy beep at me and here I am thinking what the heck is this guys problem when he yells out to me that I dropped my pannier a block back . Needless to say I was mad at myself for thinking why is this guy going to hassle me when all he was going to do was let me know that I dropped something. For me it was just my clothes but still. I was just about 2 miles into my 16 mile ride home when it fell off.

I now have a much better designed attachment system on my current panniers . These are Ortlieb not Performance panniers. Of course these are also 10 years newer so....

TxBiker

I have the Topeak quick release rack system with a trunk bag w/panniers. It sits high so I actually can feel the edge of the trunk bag against my rump! Yet, when I am leaning low, I still feel for them. I guess paranoia will always get the best of us.

Stubacca

Same here.

Sometimes I'm paranoid about the zippers too, checking that they're closed at traffic lights... always thinking I must have left one open and will have all my crap falling out.

RJOsprey

Look forward with front panniers. They are lower, more stable, aerodynamic and if they drop off you will see the event.

Sebach

Like you, I once looked back to see that my pannier was gone on the way to school. I had the kind of panic you had: my keys, wallet, cellphone, camera, mp3 and all my stuff was in there! I turned the bike around and hammered my pedals as hard as I could for about a kilometer and a half, thinking about where it might have fallen off... when was the last time I turned around and saw my pannier (I check them every now and then too)?

Should I stop and call to cancel my creditcards... but what if I find my bag, then my plastics won't work until I get them activated again, ugh. I wonder if they're calling Taiwan on my cellphone right now. How much cash did I have, did I need it for anything? My house keys! I have my home address on my ID- they can get into my house! I have to stay home on defence until I change the locks if I don't find my bag. What about identity theft? Man, they got most of my info if they got my wallet.

I thought for a while, trying to remember when I last saw them and remembered: I forgot my pannier at home. GAH!!! So I turned around... gave myself a mental kick and biked to my class, twitchy and damp from my sweaty panic.

JohnBrooking

Score one for backpacks.

ollo_ollo

Just had to replace my glasses after laying them on the trunk of the wife's car while getting my gear off. I rode off on my commute all tricked out with my aero sunglasses & mirror. Only noticed they weren't in my shirt pocket when I arrived at work. Retraced my wife's route to work later that day but never found them. Expensive memory lapse.

Cyclaholic

Would have been cheaper just to replace the stuff.


I'm happy for you that it worked out OK

oboeguy

Wow I would have totally gone crazy! Glad it worked out. Another benefit of backpack commuting -- ya kinda notice if the bag falls off.

way124

Twice I dropped my glove, cars honked at me, leaving me wondering what I did wrong. But twice I realized they were telling me I dropped something, after I realized I'm missing a glove. People are sharp and great

Boudicca

Even backpacks are not always the answer. I rode all the way to work one day, only to realise that I had simply left mine at home. Routine is lock front door, place keys in front pocket of backpack, ride to work. Except this time I was wearing a jacket with pockets, so the routine became: lock front door, place keys in jacket pocket, ride to work, fail to get into office because of missing pass key, realise will feel idiot sitting at desk in bike shorts, bike home, and then back to work.

Any prizes going for plain stupidity?

jamesdenver

one time i was taking sharp left turn on busy intersection and my rack trunk went flying off - the velcro wasn't hooking well

since then i use the shoulder strap and wrap it around my seatpost, and connect it to the hooks closest to seat. a $5-6 shoulder strap is a great convenience if you use handlebar box or rack trunk, and could save your stuff too

Joe Dog

Good story and glad you found your bag. I get paranoid about stuff coming off all the time. Last week I was crossing a rough wooden bridge and I could have sworn I heard something rattle of my bike on to the ground. I checked around while still on board and under steam but my pump, blinkie thing and panniers were are still with me, but I was not satisfied... what if something had come out of my panniers?!? I turned around and looked on that bridge for almost five minutes and could find nothing at all (I mean - not even trash laying around). Another biker rode by while I was standing there looking around and scrathing my bald head. As they rode on past one of the boards on the bridge made a squeak/clank noise that I think I must have interpreted as a debris field coming off of my rig.

jamesdenver

in reading these posts i'm glad i'm not the only one with this mild obsessive compulsive disorder.

i'm constantly grabbing my top zipper where wallet/cell is. and when i run over something that goes "clink" of course i have to recheck everything!!

2manybikes

Jewelry lots of expensive jewelry.

slvoid

I bet you she knew this the whole time since she saw it sitting in the drive way but was waiting for an opportunity to screw you out of something big.
Heh, that's why I keep everything locked tight in my messenger bag.

catatonic

I check my pockets all the time when riding...usually worried about my cellphone/pager/wallet/keys falling out.

Usually I answer that by clipping my keys to a belt loop though, but no luck like that for the rest.

Longhorn

Great idea! My rack bag has a strap -- I'm going to do just that!

Today I noticed my bag was leaning. I was able to reattach one of the Velcro straps with one hand but after that, I kept reaching back to make sure it was still there!

zoogirl

I've got a cheapie set of Raliegh panniers - actually the kind with an atached top bag. To lose 'em, I'd have to have five separate straps let go! I've also got a front basket and I either wear a backpack with the important stuff or it goes in the basket. My cellphone is in a belt pouch with a velcro closure and a wrist strap that I also loop through the belt.

I sort of went through the same thing once with a purse and a car. Went for a drive, realized I didn't have my purse and pulled back into my driveway to find it sitting just about where it had fallen out of the door! Whew!

MichaelW

Modern pannier fittings have a quick-release locking hooks so panniers never just fall off.
I have had a bar bag failure. I put the clip-on bag into its mounting but forgot to click it home. On the first bump , the bag fell onto my front fender then worked its way onto the tyre then onto the ground, when it suddenly acted as a brake.....

I try to have a routine when I leave for a ride, so I dont have to think about stuff. It works until your routine gets interrupted. Sometimes I will take a ride without my shackle lock, using a cable instead. When I ride next time, I sometimes forget to put the shackle lock back on, and find myself in town with no lock. Grrrr.

jeff-o

My rack bag attaches with four velcro straps around the rack. There are usually heavy things in the side pocket, so if I move the bike (say, pulling it off a bike rack) then the bag falls off. Then I know to secure it. Though fortunately, even that has never happened.

I'm actually more afraid of accidentally leaving one of the pockets unzipped and all the contents spilling out...