Ah yes, the mirror. Forgot to mention that. When my mirror broke on my recent tour, I immediately decided to change plans and head for the nearest town where I knew I could get a replacement. (Mirrycle mountain bike mirror. Highly recommended. It broke when I kicked the bike over in a motel room while doing morning exercises. Not the mirror's fault.) I will now be carrying a spare of the piece of the mirror that broke (the "base" in Mirrycle's terminology, Mirrycle sells replacement parts on their website) as part of my repair kit, because I refuse to cycle on paved roads without a working rear-view mirror. The problem is that many paved roads don't have a shoulder. If two trucks are approaching from opposite directions, and they pass each other at the same time they pass me, there will be no room for me on the road. Nor can the truck coming from behind always slow down. So I must be alert to these situations and be prepared to stop or ride off the road into the dirt when I see such a situation approaching. A rear-view mirror and constant attention to that rear-view mirror is thus essential. Far more important than visibility.

BTW Who exactly are these twits who have a problem with mirrors? Do the twits also object to mirrors on motorcycles?