The Commuter's Tool Kit

Accelerating into abandon

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Some of the hard-core, no-matter-the-weather bike commuters I have known over the decades have a single (and humongous) tool kit which they pack in the same pannier whether they're heading to work, riding for fun on the weekend, or hitting the road or trail on tour. It's a matter of convenience with them (packing the same tool kit all the time) and a willingness to accept the far greater weight and bulk than is necessary to keep them in the saddle around town.

But what really is necessary to get them—or, more importantly, you and me—saddled up once more after a breakdown in town? What if we don't cotton to carrying the kitchen sink, especially since there's no way we can imagine ourselves struggling by the side of a city street to replace a spoke on the way to work? Can we manage the mental gymnastics involved in the weekend addition of a second small bag of tools to that pannier or rack trunk or handlebar bag, and then the Monday-morning before-work subtraction of the bag once again? I mean, if a broken spoke on the freewheel side isn't a sign from God that you shouldn't go to work that day . . .  Just explain it to your boss. And when you're looking for a new job, try to get one a little closer to home.

Alas, like most things in biking (and in politics, history, relationships . . . especially in relationships) there are disagreements about what is essential to get the broken-down commuter moving again. There's only one right answer, of course, and oddly enough, it is the one we happen to hold individually. Why? Because the term "commuting" describes what a lot of bikers do in a whole lot of places.

Think about it. I've had 30-plus-mile daily "commutes" across rust-belt inner cities during my teaching days, piece-o'-cake 10-mile round-trips on Salt Lake's wide streets during grad school, a few work-at-home years in St. Louis of doing almost all my chores and errands on two wheels, and two decades now of pedaling in towns and cities across the nation when visiting friends and traveling on photo shoots. All of this riding fits under the "commuting" rubric, and all of it represents, in some small part, the very different kinds of commuting that all of you do. Thus, how could any one anything be perfect for all of us?