MrRamonG

Since I ride my bike to work, on several occasions I have forgotten my keys, consequently locking myself out of my house. Well, this morning I managed to lock my wife out of our house.
We have had some pretty hot nights these past couple of weeks in Southern CA. Last night we slept with the sliding door open. But since I am a product of the "Nightstalker" era, I was uncomfortable leaving the door open with complete access to our bedroom, so I propped a brace up against the sliding door frame and the door.
I had already left for my morning commute when my wife woke up and made her way to the patio to water our plants. She closed the sliding door behind her and the brace fell, locking the door completely. She was locked out.
She had to scale the 6' fence surrounding our patio and break back in through one of the front windows, which, thankfully, I had forgotten to lock before I left this morning. To make matters worse the only clothing she had on was her bathrobe and she is still suffering from a broken clavicle she got when she was hit by a truck while bike commuting to her office. She is a remarkable woman. She was laughing as she told me about having to break back in this morning. You can read about her collision with a truck here:
https://emptypage.typepad.com/
Do any of your fellow bike commuters ever have to deal with locking yourselves, or anyone else out of your homes? What steps do you take to prevent this from happening?

Rob_E

My issue is that since I no longer go directly from the door to the car, if I fail to lock the door on the way out, which I may do if I'm not the last one leaving, I can get all the way to the office before realizing that I don't have my keys.
My concern was that I'd get to work and not be able to lock up my bike, so I put a spare lock key in my office. This solved the problem for me last week when I finally forgot my keys, but it did not solve the other problem: If there was no one home when I got there, I wouldn't have a way in. Last week I did this on my wife's day off, so I just made sure she was home when I got there. In the future I hope to add a house key to my spare bike lock key at the office.

thebarerider

You say that like it's a distant goal. Just stop at Ace on the way home.

ctoddrun

Used to have a keypad garage door opener outside the garage. Worked great. New house, too cheap to spend the $40 for new keypad, so now carry spare house key in the seatbag. Problem solved...

Rob_E

Good point. But there's no Ace on the way home. Actually one reason I'm dragging my feet is I still haven't found the "perfect" location for my spare keys. My office is in a larger building. I'm trying to find a location that's in the larger, more publicly accessible area, but not in a way that my keys are likely to disappear. Reason being that if I've forgotten my house and bike keys, I've probably also forgotten my office keys. And there are times when my office is completely inaccessible even if I did have my keys (the whole floor is locked during off hours). A few weeks ago my co-worker left her keys at her desk and didn't realize it until she got to her car. By that time the floor was locked down and she had no way to retrieve her keys, so she had to catch a ride home and make sure someone was there to let her in. I'm trying to figure out a solution that helps if I get locked out of the house and helps if I get locked out of the office.

CastIron

Foolish thing to do. Garage doors are easy to pop and then a burglar has lots of time and privacy (and likely tools) to breech the house.

Folks, look into coded door locks or a really good spot for a spare key (hint: 20 feet from the door).

Rob_E

I've considered that, too: a spare key kept near my apartment. That would help in any lock-outs. Not just ones that happen when I go to work.

evblazer

Got one of those keypad deadbolts for my workshop/doghouse/house to avoid this. Have a spare key to each other door in each location in case one battery goes dead. Hopefully all the batteries don't go at once or I'm going to be SOL. It has saved untold amount of grief getting locked out or forgetting to lock the door.
Now if only I didn't get halfway to work today and think Oh $@ I think I forgot my ulock key at home. I gotta bring a ulock key and a floor pump to leave at work soon.
Oh and two days in a row I locked myself out of my old job. We had just gotten robbed that monday so I was alone and I locked the door when I went off to the rest room. Left the key at my desk had to go to the owners house to ask his wife for they key.. TWO DAYS IN A ROW Employee of the year for me![/

ctoddrun

Not sure we're talking about the same thing - I'm talking about the number-pad garage door opener thing - equivalent to the push button I keep (locked, out of site) in my car, but with a combination code. Might not be the most secure thing, but never had a problem in 5+ years (which is not to say that it would never happen to me...)

CastIron

We are. The overhead doors are easy to disconnect (there's a tool for it) and with a house where the garage is attached (suburbia) you have a great way into the house itself.

Artkansas 

One morning my ex managed to lock me in the breezeway between the front door and the front gate, in only my bathrobe. Fortunately, I did have access to the garage so I was able to get the ladder and climb up and into the bedroom window. It was only a 5 foot fall to the floor. But at least the puppies were on-duty to lick my face when I landed.

I remember the Nightstalker. But the fear of him was mostly a suburban phenomen. It was interesting to watch my bosses sweat, though I wasn't afraid.

I lived in a poor neighborhood to the north of the Wilshire District. The local attitude was that he better not show his face in our neighborhood or he'd get his head beaten in. The car that first led police to him was dropped off a few blocks from me. It was a neighborhood similar to ours where people caught him stealing a car, and beat the c**p out of him, leading to his arrest.

ctoddrun

Hmm... a bit OT, so forgive me...

where would one disconnect the overhead door from the outside? Not saying it ain't so, but I can't picture it...

chevy42083

So you are saying the garage door itself should be gotten rid of?
I fail to see how the number coded garage door opener makes it any more vulnerable.

My family always had one... my brother and I only got locked out of the house a few select times. Power outage. Which generally leaves you out in the rain with a backpack full of books Stash bag under trash can, and continue riding for fun
Later on we just stashed house keys in our top tube pads. We rode to school, and EVERYWHERE else, so we always had the bikes/keys. Loop the key ring through the brake cable, and keep it under the pad so it doesn't rattle around, and can't be seen. Excellent back-up... annoying for normal use.

chevy42083

Basically, like a slim jim.

It can be disconnected either through a seam, or between the top panel and the trim. I can't remember how, but I know I've seen the tools sold to do it. It basically, reaches in and pulls the "release cord"... allowing the door to be lifted.

That's one reason I've seen people say to cut off the little ball/handle on the string of the garage door opener. Or block the windows. Never really looked at it, I bet you could put a sheet of metal somewhere to block this tool.

Sgt Skidmark

I thought this post was going in a completely different direction.........

Glad that your wife is very understanding. Sounds like she's a keeper.

CastIron

Yup. I velcro mine to the rail carrier and added some weather sealing. The coded pad simply invites this trouble through false piece of mind.

Next, we'll discuss how to kick-proof your doors on HomeWatch.

banerjek

+1

I have locked myself out of the house more times than I can possibly remember. My friends have copies of my keys, but sometimes I couldn't find one of them so I'd be hanging around for awhile. I now have a keypad and use it as my primary means of entering and exiting the house.

The keypad does not change security in any meaningful way. If a garage door opener with a keypad is unsafe, so is one without one.

I don't buy that fishing around for a release cord 6 feet is a good way to break in. Better to use a crowbar on a door or break a window. Much faster, more discrete, and more reliable. Besides, seems like fishing for the lever the cord is attached to might even work better, and I'd be loathe to disable such a safety mechanism.

thebarerider

I went out for a short ride without a saddlebag and tied my key ring to the drawstring of my shorts. I had to go back for something really quickly and then set out. I was out for about an hour, just noodling around neighborhoods that were less than 3 miles away. When I got back, my keys were gone. I backtracked, going down my route two times in both directions. I finally gave up and went home, only to see my keys sticking out of the lock.

AmberRae

FOR SHAME Ramon, for shame....



you got quite lucky with her.

JanMM

I installed a garage door keypad - I don't see any security issues - and then, later, put a keypad deadbolt in the utility door that goes into the garage. If the battery dies on one, then the other will probably work. Ain't telling 'ya the code.

lil brown bat

I'm not sure what the connection to bike commuting is? This thread kind of makes me want to start a thread that asks something like, "Do any other bike commuters think that Ian McDonald is one of the greatest novelists of the modern era?"

MrRamonG

How do you figure Lil Bat? Since I bike commute I don't need my keys, and I have on occasion locked myself out of my house. I am asking other fellow commuters if they have the same problem and how they address it.

MrRamonG

Thanks Rob, leaving a spare set in my office is a great idea.

MrRamonG

My old place used to have a keypad garage door opener and I used that as my main point of entry as well. I never even had a hosue a key. Think that may be one of the reasons I am so quick to forget my keys.

ctoddrun

Well, that's one way to make sure you don't forget 'em!