Yesterday I had a really good day taking my son for the first time to BPW and we both had a cracking day.

We packed the car and drove back to Sussex. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the front wheels for both the bikes were 200 miles away. Oh how I laughed.

So if you’re on here, thank you very much for finding and trudging up the hill to hand them in. My embarrassment is mitigated and you saved me a lot of money and inconvenience. Really really appreciated.

Has anyone else done this? Please say yes…

where abouts in sussex?
I’m heading there on friday from Worthing…
Could pick them up if it helps??

DrP

The reverse – packed the bikes into the car, drove to where we were going to ride and found I’d left 2 front wheels at home.

Disappointed to say the least…..

Drove out to my local hill the other week and the moment I parked the van it dawned on me that my bike was still in my garage at home.

It had been a stressful week, TBF.

Left helmet at home, had to buy a new one, at glentress so costly!

I had to guy shoes at BPW last visit, does make it an expensive day. My mate referred to as an idiot tax which was fair.

Helmet, gloves and front wheel all left in front garden, luckily realised after only 20 minutes drive.

I once left a set of full panniers in the street in portsmouth after an iow trip.. Full of camping stuff, wallet, phone etc. Chap found it, phoned up the first contact on my phone who thought it was a wind up…i went to collect the stuff the guy was in a hostel of some sorts and wouldn’t take any cash. I still can’t believe it, there are some good people out there.

Mate of mine recently went away for a weekend cycling, with old school mates in the wye valley. Took bike but forgot shoes helmet gloves garmin etc etc.
Went for a few walks instead.

Built new wheel. Fitted tyre and got it to seat tubeless etc. Put bike and wheel in car. Drove to ride. Pulled wheel out, fitted to fork. Noticed there was no disk on the hub. Drove home.

I learned from a trip to the skatepark when I was a kid. “Er, dad, where’s my board?”

Now I obsessively check every item before I go to any sporting do and always think I’ve forgotten something anyway.

I do find riding to the ride is the best way to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything 😉

Had to take saddle of bike to fit it in car; left saddle on roof of car, surprisingly wasn’t there when I got to the trail. Hurrumph.

I do find riding to the ride is the best way to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything 😉

Doesn’t always work. Started a ride one winter morning years ago. Couple of hundred yards from the off we turn into the wind and sleet. Pete starts swearing. We stop to work out what the crack is. Helmet, check. Buff, check. Waterproof, check. Gloves, check. Winter tights, check. Tartan M&S comfy bedroom slippers, check. He went back home to bed.

I used to have the bad habit of putting stuff on a vehicle somewhere, temporarily whilst loading, then forgetting and driving off. Lost climbing guidebooks like this. Gutted.
Nowadays the wiper/gutter area is a good place to dump bottles. Last year I finished a ride and had 3 or 4 bottles dumped there. Driving back I had all sorts of idiots flashing at me – ridiculous…. then got home and spotted 4 bottles still resting on the wipers.

i seem to recall that back in the days of the early mleh rides at afan, treemagnet forgot his helmet, bought a brand new zen, wore it for the ride and then left it in the car park.

Guilty as charged!!

Yeah I’ve done similar.

Long ride out, thick mud probably about 80Km from home, broken derailleur, called the wife from a little café in a village. I had to wait ages and eventually the tea room threw me out. Finally the wife turns up, and I have a cold take out coffee and a cake for her troubles.

Jump in the car get home throw the bike in the workshop to worry about later.

Next morning looking all over the house for my wallet, only to slowly realise where it is! in my camelbak 80Km away, propped up outside the tea room door. Along with a leatherman tool and a load of spares.

Tried calling the tea room but it is Sunday now, so I decided to drive over there and it was exactly where I left it and the place was busy with all sorts of people milling around.

The camelbak was my issue one and I would have been gutted.

It happens.

I’ve left shoes at home, resulting in having to buy flat pedals and skate shoes 80 miles away.

I’ve also left a wheel next to the car then driven over it. Apart from QR skewer all OK.

I always do a head to toe check for all my kit before I set off nowadays.

When going windsurfing I often have to stop the van en route and check everything is in there. The kit is stored in a few different places in the garage so it’s easy to mislay something. Especially the bag of mast extensions.

I drove to some local woods yesterday to walk the dog. I forgot the dog. She was still in the garage at home.

The reverse – packed the bikes into the car, drove to where we were going to ride and found I’d left 2 front wheels at home.

Great for practicing wheelies and manuals though. Every time I decide to go for a local ride and leave all the crap at home I’ll have either a major mechanical failure or a puncture that won’t seal. Love a good walk home. It’s called a push bike after all

Thanks all, there are some reassuring stories here 😉

DrP – I’m in Horsham so not a million miles away. Could that work? Very kind of you to volunteer. I was going to pick them up Wednesday other wise.

Cheers

Yeah,me too.Left a front wheel in a remote wood near a small loch somewhere in the Trossachs.Realised half way back to Glasgow.Remote locations and unlit country roads without sat nav all look very similar in the dark…

Camping in Wales. Bikes locked in car overnight.

Went to ride Cadair Idris the next day, parked up and went to get the bikes out. Yep, forgotten the keys for the lock… 😒

A few years ago, everyone turned up at Coed y Brenin for a fun day out on our bikes.

We, i say everyone, because someone (who shall remain nameless…) went to Afan by mistake…….. DOH!

I’m a diving instructor. The guy who taught told me to make a list of everything that you need for a dive, then make a list of all the things that can go wrong.
…then copy that list onto your phone.
…then make another copy and leave it at your departure point.
Then check them before you leave … and that means CHECK THE LIST, not have a quick glance.

I’ve carried that over into other areas of my life. Make Lists. Use them.

Woman who came on holiday (from Finland) a few weeks ago to Basque MTB who had forgotten to pack her front wheel…

I work in motorsport and we had a journalist who wanted to test one of our cars,so we got to the circuit,unloaded the car,got it warmed up and ready to go,the phone rang and the guy says”I’m at the circuit,can’t find you”,we say well we are here at Donnington Park waiting,it went quiet and then the guy starts laughing,turns out he was at Silverstone!

Have left a few bits of it at home in the past including axles and seat posts / saddles. Not happy.

Dummest – and luckiest – was one particular Sunday in the winter of 03. Parked my brand new motor up on Reigate Hill then rode for 3 hrs in the freezing rain. Returned to car. No keys in pocket. Nor in pack. Panic set in. Looked through the window and spotted them in the ignition. Dick. Not something I’ve repeated since.

I haven’t left the keys in the ignition but I did leave the side door of my van wide open during a 2-3 hour night ride at Rivington once (in quite a busy car park).

I don’t wanna know what people were getting up to in my back seats.

I’ve rocked up to a weekends riding with everything needed except brake discs

Left two wheels at Haldon car park and drove 160 miles home. Never saw them again, despite my sister heading back, calls to the centre and cafe etc…

And it was a Hope hub with Stans Crest rim on one 🙁

Had a friend who drove his son 70 miles to a race KNOWING he’d not packed his shoes, despite being told to check his race bag the night before. Nice lesson that one.

Forgot flat shoes recently.

Crocs. Gaffer tape. Ankles. Sorted. Looked pretty special.

Arrived at the carpark and realised as I got changed that I had left my shoes at home – drove home and got shoes returned with about 5 minutes to go before the start cut off time.

2 years later padlocked bike in back of car overnight as an early start in the morning. Arrived at venue went to the loo, walking back to the car when that horrible feeling dawned on me I’d left the padlock keys at home. To far to go home and get keys. My wife was well impressed…

Still could have been worse 😉
David Cameron left daughter behind after pub visit

^ That’s worse than the time he locked his bike to a waist-height bollard. If only these examples marked the extent of his incompetence.

We went to Pangbourne for a few hours, playing on the swings and slide etc.. Well, my lad was only 5, so it was acceptable. Did some cycling, played some footie… Got home all good.

2 days later “Daddy, where’s my bicycle….” took me 20 mins to work out i’d left it at the playground… It wasn’t there 2 days later.

Sat on boot lip changing shoes after a ride. Car keys sitting prominently in view on the plastic rim of the boot, so I dont loose them or throw them in the bag of muddy clothes.

Stand up, shut boot.

Hazards flash as the boot shutting has pushed down on the lock button, trapping the keys under the boot lid.

Still owe my GF an emergency pick up. Thankfully I had my phone and had already put a hoody on, as it was an hours wait.

I’ve done the boot lip/key thing twice now, with it locking the car both times. Once parked at Grenoside putting the bike in the boot, managed to prise the corner of the bootlid up enough with a car wheel nut wrench and 4 people getting their hands round the boot lid to fish them out. Second time was with the work van, took the AA a while to retrieve them. I don’t put keys on the boot lip now..