Lead shot in the WB training? If you really want to get super strong on hills, swap your floor pump for a compressor. You'll need either a real battery or a pretty long extension cord. Either way, by May you should be invincible anytime the road goes up!

Ben

I did this for awhile with my HPX too but every time I picked up the bike I'd knock the pump loose. Also interfered with hanging up the bike on hooks by the top tube.

If you read one of jyl's later posts,you will see the bike choice was last minute; that his city bike had an issue so he grabbed his road bike but forgot an item or two that bike might need for a night ride that were SOP on the city bike. As one who lived life by bike until my mid 30's, I can relate. Bikes were my car, If I had to get somewhere and my preferred bike had a flat or whatever, I'd have to grab another one. (Back in the day, all my bikes had working sewups under the seat and a frame pump. But training tires and one spare wasn't always enough in Boston at night whereas that setup served me well for many epic rides into rural Massachusetts.)

Ben

Is it weird to carry a mini pump in my back pocket? I don't even notice it out there, and weight on my body is less noticeable than weight on my bike for me (though I'm by no means a weight weenie at 200lbs). Plus I like the clean look of the bike without anything on it.

Naw man, skip the extension cord and toss a gas generator onto the load as well!

I use the velcro strap made for holding pumps. Run the velcro under the brake cable (all my bikes have continuous housing on top of the TT) then around the pump with the final velcro tab over the brake housing. Looks neat, doesn't fall off when the pump is off. I hang my bikes the same way on a rack with padded 2x2s under the pump. As long as hour bike doesn't weigh too much and keeping the underside of the TT pristine isn't an issue, it works very well. I also pad the end of my Zephals with inner tube so the peg fits into rubber and does not rattle. To do that I cut a ~1" ring of small diameter inner tube and a foot long strip of about the same width. (Only important dimension is to keep the fing narrow, ie 20-23c inner tubes, not bigger.) I then run the long strip around the end of the handle over the peg hole and hold it at the pump barrel with my left hand stretched tight. Then i work the ring onto the end of the pump. Cut the strip (with scissors; it's going to withdraw into the ring so you won't see the ends) and you are done. Pump is not quieter and more secure. And with Zephal's black handles, your wrap is nearly invisible.

Watching the car behind running over my pump is a sickening feeling. Doing a little work (the wrap - installation time but zero after that and the velcro every time the pump goes on or off) so as not to revisit that feeling is well worth it. (I did save a pump that the car ran over once. Pulled out the shaft and straightened it as best I could. Always had an arc that matched the swing of my shoulder after that! Ran a broom handle down the tube. Used that pump for years after. (My pre-floor pump days.)

Ben

You can see me and a million other riders doing just that, still might be weird according to this weird thread.

Not weird and done by many riders. In fact, some of the mini-pump makers specifically claim their pumps fit in jersey pockets. As long as you have one, it doesn't matter much where it is carried.

Not true, if you carry it in the front of your bike shorts, that would be VERY weird.

Reminds me of an Ole joke (it's a Minnesota thing): Ole was at the beach the first time, and the bathing suit he had bought was a speedo. His friend had told him that, to impress the girls, he should stuff a potato in his speedo. When he got back from vacation and showed his friend his pictures, he said "No, Ole, in the FRONT!"