Pre-ride Annoyance
 

Yesterday I'm flying home from work to sneak a ride in before dark. I get changed, with the right number of layers for the temp and wind, fill the water bottle, put on the helmet, grab the bike off the rack, pump up the tires and have a valve stem rupture. Takes an additional 12 minutes to put in the new tube. Wife sticks her head out the back door while I'm making the tube change and says, "What are your swearing at? The whole neighborhood can hear you."

I love riding. I really do, but there are some pre-ride things that just really annoy me. At the top of the list is a flat just as your're ready to push off. So, I'm wondering........

What is the single pre-ride experience that you find most annoying?

Getting out of bed.

Well, NOS88, like me, you have a lot of bikes. I should probably have a bag properly set up for each one, but I don't. So making sure I have the right inner tubes packed is always an adventure and I can never seem to remember where I put my mini-pump. And, oh yeah, I oughta take a snack. Why isn't there ever any food in this house? And, let's see, honey, have you seen the cell phone? Are you sure? And why are the cats yowling? Oh, they haven't been fed, and we don't have any cat food. So, I guess I'd better go to the store. Maybe I'd better just log onto Bike Forums and see if Webb Diego has hauled any of those old reprobates off to the pokey.

I usually pump up tires at night if there is even a sliver of a chance to ride the next day. I inflate a few pounds over my ideal pressure to allow for seepage.

Getting together winter gear and getting dressed properly is a workout in itself for me. I try to keep my stuff laying around where it's handy, but nooooo...wifey has different ideas. :rolleyes: Sometimes I must re-find stuff at the last minute. That's when my cussing begins.

Blackberry: I enjoyed your pics of Italy's working bikes.

People at the group ride who can't get their shiznit together either.

Getting all your winter gear on and then ..... toilet calls

gloves,coat , gilet , tights, bib shorts etc etc to take off, and then back on again

Even though I had been 5 mins before putting everything on!!!!!

george

Twelve minutes, NOS? Not bad for a tube change. Takes me that long to find the pump.

Rejoice.

Get out on the bike, nice day.....15 minutes later, the temp drops 25 degrees and it starts snowing......

Usually not a problem if I'm on the mountainbike, but I'm on a skinny tire roadie and the wife is on a trike!

Getting al pumped up for a ride, and having all those niggling little things that life has keeping me from my ride. That, and my wife seems to be adept at a crisis just when I am getting ready for a ride. But then again, she just bought me a Garmin Edge 305, so all is forgiven. Would have been anyway. She is the love of my life!

There are many, but perhaps one that comes to mind quickly is being all ready to ride and the phone rings and it's someone (daughter, client, etc.) who "really" needs to talk. :eek:

I'm right there with you NOS. I'd probably also add any "mechanical" like chain rub or chain not shifting properly. When I'm ready to ride I'm ready to go. Sometimes I've even bagged a ride if I have a flat as it completely changed my whole mindset.

For a while I had a rash of the valve stem issues that always showed up when pumping up the tires. I don't know if it was a bad rim tape job or a weak batch of tubes. I've been fortunate lately on that end, thank goodness.

Driving 25 miles to a start location for a 66 mile club ride and discovering I'd left my helmet, gloves and shoes at home.

^^^^as above^^^^

I've driven an hour to go mountain biking, only to discover that I forgot my helmet. Fortunately, a local Walmart saved the day.

Right up there is what happened today. I grab my Garmin, turn it on, and discover that my son forgot to turn it off last night and hence drained the battery. Oh sure, it may not seem like a big deal to you but if you're a geek with OCD, it can be a nightmare.

Just like you, valve stem issues, usually after pumping up the tube I am "deflated" by either a rupture , breaking the valve stem off or breaking the core when unscrewing/screwing it. I started 2007 with a new personal record of 3 in a row and 2 disabled bikes before I got one that co-operated. I don't swear tho, just start mumbling & talking to myself about the injustices of life. Don

A couple of weeks ago I was all set to go riding. I had all my gear on and pushed the bike out the door and it started snowing. So I took off all my gear and hung up the bike and looked out the window and it stopped snowing. And it never did snow that day but I missed riding.

Taking my used shorts to post office after selling it on ebay after last ride. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Then putting on a just received pair I got for half the cost. :D :D :D :D :D

These days with limited daylight, it would have to be guys at the office that call an impromptu meeting just as I'm about to leave to go ride.

And getting to the post office before remembering that you haven't washed them! :eek: :eek:

But going ahead and mailing them anyway!!! :D :D

I've tried to do what you've described and gotten caught in traffic on the way home. Watching the sun sink as you edge your way forward, trying to get around a fender bender, is an unpleasant experience.

The most annoying thing i put up with is haveing to check my blood sugar before i ride. If its a little low I've got to get something to eat and wait for the food to raise the blood sugar back up. By then I just dont want to ride. I guess it is better than getting out on the trail and have a problem. (which I have)

I'm kind of shocked by all the reported valve stem problems in this thread. I don't think I've ever experienced this sort of tube failure (at least, not once in the last 10 years or so).

What type of tubes/pumps are you all using? Is there a common cause for these failures?

I've learned to really like riding through dusk and into darkness. I bet if you tried it you would like it too and then you can shed another one of life's many small frustrations.

Or here's a tip...don't bike commute.

I actually like riding at night, but I have a dedicated bike set up to do this. It's got more reflective material on the wheels, and I've mounted lighting front and back. It truth be told, I'm just too much in a hurry to be switching lighting from one bike to another. It's ususally not the bike I start a ride with in the afternoon. Typically, my night riding gets done after it's been dark for a bit.

Since I'm a one bike sort of a guy (GASP!!!) switching over any of the stuff I might need to ride is not a consideration. I have a rear blinkie (Bell) and a 3 watt luxeon LED headlight (it's a 3 AA mini mag light with my own custom twin hose clamp handlebar mount). That 3 watt LED is BRIGHT and so is the blinkie. The bike also has reflectors in the wheels, one on the bars facing front and one pedal has two reflectors as well. If I get runned over, it won't be from being invisible.

What frustrates me before I go? Not much really, I guess trying to decide how to dress to be warm enough without melting would be as close as it gets to being a frustration. But putting a carrier on the bike and strapping a windbreaker on there has pretty well taken care of that one, so....keep thinking, thinking, ah I got it, it's frustrating if the under armor is not freshly washed and in the top drawer ready to go.