Velo Dog

I was a phone holdout (who needs to be in constant touch?) until a few years ago, when I had some health problems and I got one to keep my wife from worrying. Even then I resisted carrying it on rides, because one of the reasons I did long rides was to be out of reach.
I had a little company in those days, but now seemingly every cyclist I know packs a phone along with or instead of a pump, patch kit and tools. Over 40 years of cycling, I've dealt with just about every disaster I can think of, including rattlesnake bite (a hiker we found, not me), a Jeep rollover, two forest fires, several crashes, a blinding blizzard at 9900 feet in the Sierra Nevada and many unpredicted storms, 60 mph winds and some comprehensive breakdowns. I've only called for help once, when I went over the bars, folded my fork back against the down tube and separated my shoulder.
I'm not stupid--I'm 67 years old and I realize I can't do what I used to do. I take the phone...but it dilutes the pleasure of going off on my bike alone. Anybody else, or is a phone another necessary cycling accessory now?

rdtompki

Turn the phone off and ride. You only need it when you need it.

Jeff Wills

I do not have a cell phone. Period. And I have more reason to carry one since I'm diabetic.

Sixty Fiver

My cel phone is my only phone for home, work, and play so it is pretty rare that I am without it... if there is an emergency with my kids I need to know about it and do offer a 24 hour emergency service for really desperate cyclists.

That is... unless I am out on the road and the girls are in good hands... then I shut it off but will check it at rest stops.

Mobile 155

More than likely you are one of a few. I do carry mine, It has an app for first aid, lists the closest hospitals and can dial emergency numbers with a one button push. But I am retired so I don't have anyone to get away from.

TrojanHorse

How on earth does being alone with a phone make you any less alone?

I leave mine on but it's in a jersey pocket. I may call in a progress report if I'm on a really long ride but for the most part it's just 14 ounces of dead weight.

Rx Rider

I've got a phone with no service, does that count? they say you can still make 911 calls with it. I like to pretend to take photos of derelict drivers, but it has no camera. in a real emergency I s'pose I could always throw it at an adversary but then they could throw it back.
It will make the missus happy, so you're stuck with it. just don't update your facebook whilst riding ok?

Dave P

What rdtompki said.

aRoudy1

I carry one but, I don't answer it while I'm riding unless I hear the distinctive ring I have for SWMBO. I'll check it when I'm stopped to see who called and I may or may not return their call.

Jamesw2

you never know, while riding, you may want to take an embarrassing picture of a fellow Bike Forums subscriber and then post it. Hee Hee

JonathanGennick 

I take the phone and it does not bother me at all to have it along.

Ironically, on the trails I ride most frequently, I'm largely out of cell phone range anyway.

krobinson103

I carry one to keep my wife happy. Also riding before dawn its probably a good idea to have some way to call for help if something did happen.

Machka 

I have never owned a cell phone.

My father loaned me one for a few years, and expressed surprise that it never seemed to need charging. But phones don't need charging when they are never turned on! I hardly ever knew where it was. I brought it on a few of my rides, but not very many... some of the time I was riding where there was no coverage anyway, so why bother. I brought it on one particular 200K randonnee because I knew niece was about to be born and I wanted to be contacted when she was. The phone rang in my handlebar bag, and I didn't know what the noise was. My mother had to call about 5 times before it finally dawned on me that the noise might be my borrowed phone. That was one of the few times I heard it ring.

Now, Rowan owns one, but again, half the time we don't know where it is. I've never used it ... it's one of those new ones, and I can't be bothered figuring out how it works.

Phones just don't interest me at all.

brentirvine

I don't carry one.

B

BlazingPedals

I don't have one, but I occasionally borrow my wife's for a big tour. We've got a land line at home, since cell reception is pretty bad there.

AlmostTrick

Nope! I have never owned a cell phone and have little interest in getting one. I’ve gotten along fine without one just like everyone else used to do. It just seems like a pesky, unnecessary thing to have to worry about charging/carrying/fiddling with.

I bought one for my wife at Radio Shack to have for emergency use. It was $10 and cost us $10 every 2 months to load, prepaid. Cheapest I could find. She never has it on and neither of us even know the number. Never texted, never entered any contacts or answering messages. It's been used a handful of times a year.

Honestly, if someone hands me one I don't even know how to use it.

gforeman 

I carry one, and it tracks my rides. I forward the phone part to home when I am out, and my wife fields my calls from customers. If she needs me, she sends a text.

I love it for the apps. I have used it for a pickup service when broken down (once). I'd hate to be without it, but that's me.

bud16415

I grew up with a party line to the one and only phone in the house that had a 3 foot cord and hung on the kitchen wall for all to hear your conversation. At about the age of ten on I would leave the house on my bike at sunrise and not normally return till lunch time. Mom didn’t seem to worry much. After lunch it was back at whatever the gang of kids had planned none of it organized by adults. We all grew up fine and safe enough. The closest thing we had to a cell phone was a walkie talkie set we played with in the woods that had a range of about 300 yards. Those were the good old days.

On the other hand my son is alive today because of a passerby that stopped at the site of a horrible accident he was in was able to call 911 and they were to him within minutes.

I would say cell phones save lives but then again I’m sure everyone saved is offset by one lost due to texting and driving or some such other stupid usage of them.

They are not evil they are just tools and only as good as the one using them. Mine goes with me on the bike you never know when I can be the one helping someone out.

brandini

I really like the idea of the no service 911 only phone. Maybe get one of those nokias that will never die and charge it monthly.

AndreyT

Exactly. End of discussion.

billyymc

I rarely know where my phone is. Often one of my kids has it, because they don't have them yet (because my wife and I are the worst parents in the world! ).

I ride without it all the time.

enigmaT120

No cell phone for me.

Sixty Fiver

Funny that I am such a luddite when it comes to many things but when it comes to staying in contact things here are pretty high tech, my daughters have cel phones at 12 and 14 because they take transit together and independently and recently upgraded my cel and netbook to a blackberry tablet and phone.

Retro Grouch 

67 huh?

That's how old I was when I went over the bars while riding with my 10 year old grandson and broke both of my elbows. I couldn't find my cell phone so some other riders who had stopped to help called the number to find it. My wife answered - I had left it at home.

I'm pretty careful about making sure I have it with me now.

10 Wheels

I don't have one.