Uber to the rescue! Then darkness descends.

Yesterday morning I rode my 1989 Dahon Getaway V 16" folder to work. I rebuilt it with a DIY steering mast latch made from brass plumbing supplies. It has never failed until yesterday morning about 2.5 miles from work.

The steering mast was feeling a little loose, but the cap nut felt tight. And then, at speed, the steering mast collapsed in towards me. Fortunately I ride in a road-bike position, hunched forward with the bar low. My weight held the bar forward until I quickly stopped. The cap nut was gone.

I didn't have 45 minutes to walk the 2.5 miles to work, I had a client meeting. I checked Uber and there was one 3 minutes away that quoted $8.95 to my work. I got to work just 15 minutes late, but in time to change for the meeting.

Later I realized I must have a spare nut in the saddle bag...but then I realized, this was the spare nut from when I replaced the original, which had become tough to loosen after a year.

The closest hardware store is 2.5 miles from work and a co-worker took pity and ran me out there to pick up a replacement.

When I removed the top bolt to take with me to make certain I bought the right piece I realized I could have used that in an emergency like this, since it is just there to make sure the bolt doesn't un-thread from the mast. Anyway, I will replace the brass cap nuts with ones with holes in them and then use quick release pin of some sort to secure them further,

Yesterday morning I had also decided to take my lightweight commute back pack since I wear it while riding the rackless small folder. I had transferred the headlight case, but, as it turned out, the headlight was not in it. I had forgotten to take it of the bike I rode yesterday. Luckily my helmet has a small headlight on it, but it defaulted to low beam after the USB battery reached a lower level. I still felt safe, but it was dimmer than I preferred.

Still enjoyed both commute legs more than driving.