Confessions of a Cycle Commuter « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Confessions of a Cycle Commuter

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Started 14 years ago by Min
Latest reply from edinburgh87

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Min
Member

A light hearted topic about silly things you have forgotten to take with you and how you managed!

Today I managed to turn up at work without my keys. First time I have done this and I am not sure how I managed it. I have had to take my bike in with me and hide it though luckily the people who would object also cycle to work and would understand it is an emergency. I also had to walk around in my cycling clothes having not showered until I remembered that spare locker keys are kept.

D'oh.

Still, perhaps not quite as bad as last week when I came to work without any trousers. Not normally a problem except that this particular day, unlike pretty much every other, I was wearing lycra shorts and had to walk around in them the whole day. Not only did I feel (and no doubt look..) stupid but I was freezing as we are air conditioned to death. Won't be doing that one again. Till next time..

Posted 14 years ago #
Stepdoh
Member

I always forget socks, so usually rockin' the Don Johnson, nice bit of ankle showing, look.

Actually I think that's fashionable at the moment. Just not in a suit.

Posted 14 years ago #
steveo
Member

I forgot my trousers once, had to ride back and get them. No way my work would let me stroll around in my shorts.

Forgot i took my shoes home one day, spent the day in my mucky trainers hardly moving from my desk...

Forgot my pass more times than i care to remember, my last off office trying to get out the garage is pain with out a pass since you need some one to let you out.

I keep a spare lock in my drawer and my colleague has my spare desk drawer key so i can all ways get my wash gear and lock up my bike if i forget my keys.

Posted 14 years ago #
Kim
Member

I remember getting home one evening to find my pannier missing, which had my cloths in it (my keys and wallet were in my jeans pocket), so I cycled all the back to the Botanic (where I was then working) carefully looking to see where it might of fallen off. Only to find it sitting in the bike shed where I had left it while I unlocked the bike...

Posted 14 years ago #
Arellcat
Moderator

Normally I leave a lock at work, but occasionally I'll borrow it for an unanticipated errand. If course, it helps if I remember to bring it in with me the next day. With the trusty rusty commuter bike I would probably line it up in the midst of the other bikes and chance it, but I once managed it with the posh bike. I had to ask a friend to lock my bike to his, which was fine for a while except he had to leave early and I was working late.

I've forgotten to bring a top before. Somehow cycling jerseys or hiking t-shirts don't go terribly well with dress trousers.

Posted 14 years ago #
Min
Member

Done the sock thing a few times but so far have never ridden away leaving my pannier behind.

If it happens, I will blame Kim for putting the possibility in to my head. ;-)

Posted 14 years ago #
kaputnik
Moderator

I've done the turn up at work with no trousers thing before, and resorted to cycling over to the Gyle for a 9AM pair of their cheapest.

What I've found most annoying is getting home and thinking I've my mobile phone at work, to cycle all the way back (I don't have a landline so kind of need it), been unable to find it only to get home and realise I'd never even taken it to work in the first place :(

Oh and then there's cycle all the way to work with the fly in my shorts down... would have thought I'd have noticed the draught!

Posted 14 years ago #
Min
Member

LOL! Maybe it only fell down when you dismounted at your destination?

Posted 14 years ago #
maninaskirt
Member

Once many years ago, I forgot all my normal work clothes. I usually have them in a back-pack (shoes, shirt, trousers, tie - the lot!). So I just had a T-shirt, trainers and fairly short shorts when I arrived at the office.

I was actually within a mile of work, having travelled around eight or so, when I realised that the back pack seemed very light - cos it wasn't there! I had left it at home!

The secretary was open-mouthed :0 and I saw her constantly looking out the corner of her eyes whenever I went past her desk.

My wife brought the backpack in around 10:30 that day so all's well that ends well! (Twas in the good old days before mobile phones so had to use a landline at office.)

Posted 14 years ago #
spytfyre
Member

Have fogotten lock and borrowed another
Have forgotten keys and got access to bike shed from security staff, missed my shower but had a change of clothes
Have forgotten shirt and as my work trousers live in my locker I got away without it (there was a day when a Fifer had forgotten his kit and sat all day in his cycling gear, one person sent round an email with a pic of Right Said Fred as he looked very similar in the tight shirt)
Have forgotten work pass and had a temporary day pass
Have forgotten wallet but don't need it during the day as canteen uses a web cash loaded card system
In short if I forget anything I am not in too much trouble

Posted 14 years ago #
wee folding bike
Member

I've never forgotten my kit and I usually have a couple of days worth of shirts there at anyone time anyway.

I have on two occasions had smart fellows hide my kit. The first time they hid it all but I only lived a couple of miles away so I went home and came back in the car.

The second time they only hid my shoes so I spent the morning in black and fuchsia Sidi cycling shoes with conventional cleats. Eventually someone found my normal Doctor Marten footwear.

Posted 14 years ago #
ARobComp
Member

I rode to the royal mile during the festival on my old steel tourer and locked it to absolutely nothing. I managed to securely lock my d-lock through the bike hoop but not actually to my bike. Luckily it was still there 5 hours later!!

Posted 14 years ago #
gembo
Member

very reassuring string this as I have forgotten kit so many times that I have started keeping spares at various drop off zones.

Another thing I sometimes find happening to me is that I get into work, gather my work clothes and go to get changed. I then find I have forgotten an item (e.g. trousers) and I am then faced with the dilemma of getting changed back into cycling gear or making a dash for it. The chap who sits next to me has taken the bold decision to get changed in the space behind our desk when the person who usually sits there is away. I wonder if anyone else has spotted such exhibitionism linked to cycle gear into work gear and vice versa?

Posted 14 years ago #
wee folding bike
Member

I use the dark room, head of dept uses the chemical store.

Sometimes I just use Craghopper Kiwi zip offs and don't need to change anywhere.

Posted 14 years ago #
Min
Member

Today I forgot my security pass, my towel and my wallet.

Since select rooms (the ones I use) are air conditioned to death I was freezing all day and could only look out at the lovely sunshine and imagine how warm it might be out there. To make things worse, because I have run out of coffee and had no money I couldn't buy any to warm up and couldn't bring myself to admit my stupidity and borrow any from friends (likewise security pass). It was so cold my legs even felt cold through my trousers. At least I remembered my trousers I suppose..

Posted 14 years ago #
Smudge
Member

Have forgotten towel and soap/gel before, hopefully not too soon again!

Posted 14 years ago #
steveo
Member

Me:I forgot my trousers once, had to ride back and get them. No way my work would let me stroll around in my shorts.

Forgot them again today, but my boss has kindly let me off with them. They're not bike shorts so that probably counts in my favour. Though its lovely today and i'm not sure i'd have minded having to go back...

Posted 13 years ago #
Min
Member

D'oh.
Today was a bit of a danger zone since I needed to take a full compliment of stuff. I merely forgot my face moisturiser and had to sit rubbing hand cream into my face. Felt a bit daft but it did the trick.

Posted 13 years ago #
kaputnik
Moderator

@Steveo - at least they're not making you do your work in your pants

Posted 13 years ago #
wingpig
Member

This reminds me that I still need to move my spare spare trousers and a spare spare shirt from my locker to my desk, so that if I forget my pass (to which my locker key is attached) I can still dress in uncomfortable office-clothing to appease the old-fangled whims of management (without waiting a few hours for building management to retrieve a spare key).

Posted 13 years ago #
DaveC
Member

at least they're not making you do your work in your pants

Reminds me of sports at school, always one bloke who had to do PE in his pants. For Footie or Rugby (Games) they had you dig around in the spare sports kit bin. All sorts of sweaty unhygenic stuff in there!

Posted 13 years ago #
onlyalice
Member

I managed to securely lock my d-lock through the bike hoop but not actually to my bike.

I've done that! Actually, the other way around - lock was on my bike but not the rack. Also once took a phone call when I was locking my bike up on the Meadows, then went into a shop and came out to realise that I'd distractedly not locked it at all, just put my lock and keys down in the basket and left it like that. DOH! It seems my (girly, customised) bike is not the most desirable to thieves...
It's always lock-related woe with me, apart from those incidents and breaking my key off in the lock (as you may remember), I've also forgotten to bring my lock to work once. Never the keys, just the big, heavy lock.

Oh, wait, the stupidest thing I've ever done: when I was quite a new cyclist I fitted a new set of mudguards, pretty pleased with myself for taking off and replacing the wheels, but actually failed to hook the tension thing back up on one of the brakes (sorry I don't know what parts are called, but I have v-brakes so the little spring thing that keeps the brake in place) and so cycled to work with the back brake applied. I couldn't work out what was wrong, arg!

Posted 13 years ago #
gembo
Member

Today I couldn't find the key to the garage door (at home) so had to take it off its hinges to get in at the bikes.

Posted 13 years ago #
wee folding bike
Member

So you should always keep a bike inside the house too.

Posted 13 years ago #
Min
Member

Been a while since I did anything really stupid but yesterday I went to the gym before work (stupid enough you might think). I took my bottle - filled with sports drink - off my bike and slung it into my pannier. When I got in I opened my pannier to find that the top had not been down properly and my pannier and clothes for the day were now awash with energy drink.
The t-shirt was the most soaked so I had to wear the shirt I already had on, luckily a merino wool one. I had to wear trousers with damp patches on as - yes - like in my first post I was wearing lycra shorts.

Perhaps the fashion gods are trying to tell me something?

Posted 13 years ago #
Wilmington's Cow
Member

Yesterday morning I was wallowing in my own genius after relaising that despite forgetting to bring cufflinks I had an emergency pair in the drawer at work. Only then to realise that I had also forgotten a shirt.

Fortunately I get in early, so had time to ride home and back in and only be 20 minutes late...

Posted 13 years ago #
Min
Member

D'oh! Thanks heavens for informal clothing type jobs.

They should have made you work in your vest and pants..

Posted 13 years ago #
cb
Member

If the cufflinks are bling enough no one will notice the missing shirt.

Posted 13 years ago #
Nelly
Member

Somebody took my socks as I was in the shower this morning........suspect it was an accident

Posted 13 years ago #
MeepMeep
Member

I'm wearing skirts this week... I forgot my tights yesterday and was too stubborn to cycle home to get them, having purposefully arrived early to get some peace in the office. 8 hours (and very sore toes) later, I was starting to regret it.

The only plus side is that I've forgotten more critical items of underwear before so the lack of tights was bearable in the grand scheme of things!

Posted 13 years ago #

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