On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 8:27 PM, Ben T <syncro@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mar 20, 2013, at 7:23 PM, Robert Stevens <mtbiker62@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > I pulled over, got out to look to see if it was still up
> > there, and it wasn't. "Oh shuckeedarn  what a morning this is turning
> out to be."
>
>
>
>
Always always double-secure your bikes and wheels onto any external
racks!   I have a redundant bungee for each bike and an old toe strap for
each wheel...Remember toe clips and straps before click-in pedals?  These
extra straps all live right on my Yakima rack and when I use the rack's
securing system, I  back it up with the straps...I have nightmares about
looking in my center mirror and seeing my Colnago dragging along behind the
van, a result of any number of mistakes or  gear failures when putting it
on the rack......

The one bike is more costly than the whole van...Could happen, just today I
was coming home from windsurfing, up the Columbia River Gorge into a
headwind with recorded gusts of 70mph, vehicle speed also 70mph...=140mph
apparent wind....that is why I mounted my rack on the rear hatch rather
than my roof...and why the second back up attachment system...  Or in Baja
where you might encounter a full day of washboard..tends to loosen things
up a bit....

   I wish I had a $20 for every time, before I began almost always leaving
all my bicycle gear in my Vanagon all the time,  a $ twenty for every time
I went to start a ride and...."Oh Crap! Forgot my wheel at home"....and
somewhat familiar, too... is "Oh Crap!  I left my front  wheel at the
race"...but those usually get back to me eventually...