So late last night I pinch-flatted my rear wheel. I knew I had time to change a flat in the morning, so I put it off. Woke up, swapped the tube because the pinch flat is next to the valve, pumped up the wheel, and discovered a hole in the sidewall. Patch the new hole, cut a tire boot out of an old CTA card (used to live in Chicago and BART cards are cardboard not plastic), go to put the wheel back on the bike....my front tire is flat too.

Okay, I'll be late to work but I have a flexible job. The other wheel is an easy patch and I leave them inflated while I go shower, looks like they're holding. I head out the door, towards MacArthur BART, as I rapidly approach Telegraph (which is a busy road) I go to brake and discover I have left both brakes unattached! I pull left rapidly, enter traffic going the wrong way, get back into the sidewalk via a driveway and brake with my feet. Adrenaline!

The rest of the morning proceeded without incident; the patches and the boot both held, and I'll pick up a new rear tire over lunch. It feels amazing to be alive.

Wow. I often forget to reattach my brakes when I take off my wheel, but I have yet to almost die because of it. I'm glad you survived without a scratch.

-Jai

Newer brakes just have a lever that opens and closes the bakes. Even in "open" position you can brake safely. Maybe it's time to invest in new brakes, at least for a front wheel?

P.S. I meant to say breaks, just to annoy spelling nazis. he he.

I did something similar once. I got 9 miles into my commute before I realized it (gotta love headwind).

The irony is that after 9 miles of playing in traffic without touching my brakes, I turned off onto the MUP had a ****ing squirrel dart out in front of me. That was the first time I tried to use my brakes. They obviously didn't work. I kind of wish the squirrel hadn't escaped my wrath, but he somehow managed to slip out from under my front tire before being pancaked.

I forgot to close the quick release on my front brake last year... rear wheel was steel rim and it was wet out... I usually lift my bike over this chain between parking lots to save myself about 1/4 mile of distance and a couple hills... well, this morning when I applied the brake I didn't even slow down... hit the chain at about 15 mph.

I did manage to stay on the bike and upright... but MAN did it HURT!

I forgot to take another pic when the bruising really showed up... but this was how it looked when I got to work.

yeah, I routinely forget to reattach my brakes, but it seldom happens that i'm fixing two flats at once! Ah well. Got an Armadillo for the rear wheel (the nearest bike shop to work is a Specialized outfit, so no Shwalbe Marathon for me), now to amuse the coworkers by messing with my bike wheel....

Moral: No bike maintenance before coffee. Results could be fatal.

Yowza. Glad you didn't have inadvertant contact with pavement or a car.

My friends, convert to Tubeless, and leave your pinchflat (and almost every other flat) worries behind.

cheers

What kind of bike are you riding? I don't have to detach my brakes to pull the wheels/tires off.

Learn to stop Ted Shred style. Or ride a fixed gear. If you forget to attach the front brake, you still have the rear.

I have never disengaged my brakes to take a tire off.
One bike has brakes with a lever to open them. The other one I would deflate the tire to remove the wheel. That one is DOA and scheduled to be replaced with a fixie.

I suppose this is an excellent way to learn to reengage the brake. Doubt you will make that mistake again.

I often pop open the quick release on my brakes when I lock my bike up for a long time, sort of an f-u to the future thief. On at least a couple of occasions I've had a moment of panic on the first hill on the way home when i realized I had forgotten to close them. Yikes!! Both times I've managed to head up a lightly sloped grassy hill and come to a gentle stop. But the heart in mouth feeling is something else.

OP glad you are okay.