Why do people do this?

[kernel crash]

Has this happened to you? You show up for a ride. There's always a guy who pulls up and has to put his bike back together from scratch. There's another who needs to pump up his tires and then remembers that he still has that slow leak from two weeks ago. Still another that needs air in his shox and doesn't have a pump. Hey anybody got any oil? I got a stiff link over here. Hey, whats that guy doing? Truing his wheels!!! WTF! Solution = Spend ten minutes the night before a big ride and go over your equipment. Thanks in advance.

[Slappy]

Sorry - I was too drunk last night to take care of it.

:D

[aveski2000]

I was kind of guilty of it tonight. I wasn't planning on riding, but a friend I haven't been out with this summer was riding at Bradbury tonight. I was toasty from yesterday's ride and not really prepped. I got home from work, threw everything in the car and headed up for the ride. I went to put my shoes on and discovered I had two left shoes. (I have two pairs of identical shoes). I put them on and it didn't feel too bad. The cleats engaged in the pedals just fine. We had one of the best rides of the year. We were in a high speed flow. The trails were in great shape. They are Shimano pedals.

[BrianK]

Hey, everyone knows half the fun of mountain biking is working on the bikes, so why not start the ride off with a good 15 minutes of maintanence! ;)

[bullitfreerider]

Has this happened to you? You show up for a ride. There's always a guy who pulls up and has to put his bike back together from scratch. There's another who needs to pump up his tires and then remembers that he still has that slow leak from two weeks ago. Still another that needs air in his shox and doesn't have a pump. Hey anybody got any oil? I got a stiff link over here. Hey, whats that guy doing? Truing his wheels!!! WTF! Solution = Spend ten minutes the night before a big ride and go over your equipment. Thanks in advance.

You forgot the rider who shows up late and then has to do the aforementioned. How about....."does anyone have any extra water"? I could never understand a rider who would show up on race day with a flat tire on the bike.

Actually, I don't mind a slight delay. It gives me time to put on all that armor.
WHAT......you think I'm going to drive to the ride with leg, arm, chest and back armor on....
...and shoes, full face and backpack? Hey, you can't put your keys in the back pack till after you park the car.
You can't find your wallet and cell phone and when you do, you forget to put them in the back pack till after
you lock the car and are ready to ride.

At least I take a full bag acessories with extra everything. Which reminds me......at the recent Flattest Century a car rolls up and this guy gets out of the car with his buddies and then he discovers he forgot his spandex shorts at home. Knowing he was desparate, I offered to sell him a pair of used but freshly washed bike shorts. When he finally said "done deal" after 15 minutes or so, I went to dig them out of the bag only to find I had left them at home.

[Tim]

Used bike shorts = desperation indeed.

[SteveC]

I don't mind a slight delay either. That way if someone's 'running late' they have a chance, and I have time to stretch, suit up, and/or work on MY bike!(although usually I save that for when I get home--your bike SHOULD be ready to be safely ridden when you get there)
Usually a 10 minute window is fine with me.......
SC

[Slider]

My quiet time in the barn, working on the bike, is something I look forward to. I never head out for a ride without doing some maintenance first, usually the night before in case things go wrong, to leave time for a last minute shop run.

Of course, I may be trying to extend the life of what most would consider a toasted wheel, so trail maintenance isn't unheard of. But the wheel was as ready as possible before the ride.

People who ignore their bike, which is equal to a best friend in my book, also have other issues, I'd bet.

Slider

[Jisch]

Unless its blatant lack of prep (i.e. a bad wheel on a derrailler two weeks in a row!), I don't mind a LITTLE bike maintenance in the parking lot - applying lube etc. Anything beyond that is irritating.

My pet peeve is lateness. I hate saying a ride starts at 9:00 and people drive up at 9:10 or whatever. I guess my assumption is that when I say 9:00, I mean ready to ride at 9:00... that burns me. I suppose someone arriving at 9:00 then having to fix their bike would make me mad.

John

[off piste]

<SNIP>


My pet peeve is lateness. I hate saying a ride starts at 9:00 and people drive up at 9:10 or whatever. I guess my assumption is that when I say 9:00, I mean ready to ride at 9:00... that burns me. I suppose someone arriving at 9:00 then having to fix their bike would make me mad.

John

Don't ever ride with us up in Dracut on Sundays!:rolleyes:

[hogboy]

they are called ed'scuses for a reason

[BigMac]

I don't mind waiting a few minutes, god knows I have made others wait.
few min are no big deal all in good sportsmanship.
never know the guy /girl that holds you up may end up being the one helping you tool your bike on the trail when you have a mechanical.

[Mr_Cheeze]

Once or twice, no problem. I have a couple of friends, one male, one female that are chronically not just tardy but conatantly unprepared to hit the trails as well. It ends up being 20 minutes of additional wait time. So we finally stopped waiting. Screw 'em. The male friend got the hint after just started taking off without him... for a while, anyway, before he lapsed back into his former habits. The female friend... well, she never did get it, so we stopped inviting her. Harsh? Probably. But since she would not only arrive late and unprepared, she would also complain too often about the trails that I take and... get this... the distance travelled because she needs to be back at a certain time!

One can only tolerate so much of this crap.

[MTBME]

Don't ever ride with us up in Dracut on Sundays!:rolleyes:

Hey, speak for yourself. By the way, how's that broken saddle cover?

[off piste]

Seat's ded. I'm hoping my new one gets here before the NEBC ride this Sunday. You still in on that?

[MTBME]

My quiet time in the barn, working on the bike, is something I look forward to. I never head out for a ride without doing some maintenance first.
Slider

I like to wash and dry the bike outside once in awhile, quite often actually. Takes time but it gives me a chance to find issues before they become problems on the trail. Pump up the shock and the tires the night before. I run about 35psi front and rear. I'm lucky if I get 1 flat a year. And I'm counting 4 bikes combined. I usually have to throw out my new spare tubes after a couple of years because they get all dried out.

[Scott O]

take a random sampling of @7 people. get them into mountain biking. Guarenteed that in any group there will be the people who show up on time with the bike in pristine conidition, a group that's always late and have maintenance issues, and then some people who fall in between. Human nature.