Habits are a wonderful thing. Whenever I go for a bike ride, I put my house keys in my left rear jersey pocket, my phone in the right, and maybe a snack or sunglasses or coin pouch in the centre one. I hop on the bike, ride off, and reach back and pat pockets, right then left … just to be sure.
Today I was leaving Lorne to ride the 60km back to Waurn Ponds before catching the train to Melbourne to have the house to myself for two days while I had to go to work…. First ride of the year, along the Great Ocean Road and inland to the first place I can catch a train.
Before this at lunchtime I’d taken my keys out of my pants pockets and left them in an unusual place in the house, so when I got changed into my cycling gear I didn’t see my keys and didn’t pick them up. Kiss the family goodbye, out the door, onto the bike, down the driveway, pat pat … screech … then back up the hill to the house where I sheepishly came back inside to collect my keys! It would have been a very frustrating ride to have got however far along towards Waurn Ponds before finding out I had no house keys, no credit card, no cash and no Myki card for the train!