I can't do lightweight cycling

[Blue Hills]

I would be one of those you see with very little with them. I basically carry two full water bottles, a pump and a small saddle bag that has a spare tube, patch kit, bike multi-tool and a packet of Gu along with my phone, ID and house key. And you would be correct that I am usually riding a loop that never takes me more than about 5 miles from my home. I'll do the 10 mile loop twice on most days but have been known to do it three times. There is a 12 to 13 mile loop that I intend to do once I feel I can tackle the additional hill climbs on that route but it essentially follows the same general loop with some added detours. I have gotten flats before and I will fix them on the road so I can ride home. The only time I was forced to walk was when a small piece of stick somehow got lodged in the lower pulleys of my rear derailleur and I ended up snapping the entire derailleur off completely. No amount of tools would have allowed me to fix that one on the fly. But years ago when I first started riding on the road with my new road bike after years of mountain biking I would continue to carry everything in a backpack simply because that was what I was used to. I did a few rides with an attorney I knew from work who also rode in my area and when he saw me with the backpack he said "That's very mountain." I said "So what" and he repeated "That's very mountain." I didn't ride with him after that. I don't have patience for roadie snobs.

if you use a saddlebag (or maybe you mean just one small underseatpacks) you aren't ultra minimal.
And you say you have two water bottles - top marks.
I used to lead lots of rides - I once notoriously refused water to a roadee wannabee/fakenger who had come out with just one bottle in order to save weight/fit in with some "rules"

 

[andrew_s]

A lot of it's down to mindset.
If there's nobody at the other end of a phone, you can get back home with quite a lot of bike damage.

I (or companions) have got home with...
Broken frame (gearside dropout separated from chainstay, seat tube separated from BB, down tube separated from head tube)
Split wheel rim (worn through, but caught before complete failure)
Broken QR
Broken handlebar (next to stem)
broken crank (pedal end, ride one legged)
Broken pedal (ride on pedal spindle)
Rear mech in spokes (go singlespeed)
Completely failed tyre (bead split off)

 

[MntnMan62]

if you use a saddlebag (or maybe you mean just one small underseatpacks) you aren't ultra minimal.
And you say you have two water bottles - top marks.
I used to lead lots of rides - I once notoriously refused water to a roadee wannabee/fakenger who had come out with just one bottle in order to save weight/fit in with some "rules"

Yes. My "saddle bag" is actually one of those very small under the seat bags. And yes, two water bottles. I've never been a weight weenie. After all, I use the same mountain bike clipless pedals that I have on my mountain bike so I wouldn't have to buy a second pair of shoes. And I wear mountain bike shoes when riding my road bike. Although they are so old now that any tread on the bottom of the shoes has long worn away.

 

[ColinJ]

If there's nobody at the other end of a phone, you can get back home with quite a lot of bike damage.

I rode home one-legged after breaking a crank. Fortunately, I was only 8 kms from home and it was a pretty flat route. (Still damn hard work though!)

My saddle clamp broke about 2 kms from home so I rode back standing up, downhill all the way.

My stem failed so that was another walk home, but I was lucky again - only about a 30 minute walk.

I lost a jockey wheel about 6 kms from home. I looked everywhere but couldn't find the bolt. The first 4 kms were downhill so they were an easy freewheeling descent. I then clipped my right foot into the left pedal and scooted the bike back the flat couple of kms remaining - that was surprisingly tiring.

 

[Andy in Germany]

A lot of it's down to mindset.
If there's nobody at the other end of a phone, you can get back home with quite a lot of bike damage.

I (or companions) have got home with...
Broken frame (gearside dropout separated from chainstay, seat tube separated from BB, down tube separated from head tube)
Split wheel rim (worn through, but caught before complete failure)
Broken QR
Broken handlebar (next to stem)
broken crank (pedal end, ride one legged)
Broken pedal (ride on pedal spindle)
Rear mech in spokes (go singlespeed)
Completely failed tyre (bead split off)

My goodness, that was quite an eventful ride...

 

[bigjim]

You can easily attach a carradice saddlebag to most saddles by using longer straps and twisting them around the rails.

 

[Reynard]

The benefit of being prepared for all eventualities...

On today's ride I found a new-to-me stretch of hedgerow, which yielded a pannier full of apples.

 

[matticus]

Hoorah - an apple-hedge. Don't see many of those!

 

[Reynard]

There's a few around here, though yield can be erratic.

At this time of year, I tend to do most of my rides on the hybrid, as there's always good hedgerow pickings. Saw some promising looking blackberry canes there as well. The fruit were huge, so likely an "escaped" cultivated variety, so I'll be going back with some tupperware boxes in my pannier.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

There are a number of cyclist rescue services that can fix or pickup a stranded Cyclist of Means. If going tool-free ultralight matters that much, they probably can and should sort themselves out with such a service.

Which works in summer , not so much in the winter where you might be waiting for rescue in hypothermic conditions for a few hours.