Inventory That Under the Saddle Bag

Like most recreational cyclists I carry some essentials repair items in an under the saddle bag.  Or at least I thought I did!  I usually have two or three tubes, a patch kit, a multitool, a leatherman, even some anti-chafing creme.  I also thought I had a roll of electrical tape.

You know where this is going, don't you?  I've been riding on a new rear wheel for the past three weeks.  I got a flat on it the first day I rode home with it, but chalked that up to bad luck.  Then yesterday on my commute I flatted in the morning and then again in the evening.  This time roadside in 96F/36C summer heat I pulled the tired entirely off the wheel determined to find the embedded piece of crap that had penetrated my kevlar belted Specialized Armadillos.  And then I saw it.  The rim tape was askew.  This exposed the bare metal holes for the spokes and that's what punctured my tubes.

OK, no problem.  That's why I have electrical tape in my bag.  No, I don't?  Fortunately, I use some old cut up mountain bike tubes as rubber bands.  They don't deteriorate over time.  Anyway, I cut them into strips, put them over the exposed spoke hole, and carefully put a replacement tube into place.  What do you know, that improvised boot got me home (around 13 miles of waiting for the other shoe to drop).  

Let this be a lesson, kids.  Inventory that under the saddle bag.  Do you have everything you think you have?  Is that tire cement dry?  Have some glueless patches just in case (I carry those to help out people w/other tube sizes)?

You never know what's going to be handy on the road.