Bike fails: Wrong valve length, forgot the pump, didn't check the route ...

Embarrassing to share your own missteps as TOUR editor? Maybe. Will I do it anyway? Definitely. But pssst - not all of them are mine just like that happened as I wrote them down; for example, I no longer know whether my diversions at the ferry was 20, 30 or 50 kilometres long.

>> Eight mistakes on bikepacking tours

>> 9 cycling gloves for winter in the test

>> 5 lessons learnt from 12 years of bike commuting

>> Commuting in winter? With a few tips you can

1. hose with incorrect valve length

Flat tyre on the mountain, mood goes, tube out, new tube in. And then comes that "Why am I like this?" moment. Because the valve of the replacement inner tube protrudes just two millimetres from the aero rim. I don't have a patch with me, nor do I have a valve extension. So there's only one thing left to do: push. Several kilometres to the S-Bahn. Another nice fail is when the inner tube in the puncture kit has not been repaired or replaced after the last puncture.

Tip: Before every ride, check that the hose fits and is intact. One Valve extension weighs nothing, but saves the day.

If you opt for TPU for your hoses, be sure to familiarise yourself with the Correct installation and repair of TPU hoses. >> TPU hoses can be used, for example buy here

2. forget the pump

Yes, I managed that too. After work, I quickly jumped into my cycling gear for an after-work ride. After a few kilometres, the rear becomes spongy. Clear case: flat tyre. Also clear: the pump is at home. I choose the direct route home and somehow make it back to the front door. Have I learnt anything from this? Yes and no. Sometimes I consciously decide to take a risk and don't pack a pump.

My most dramatic flat tyre? I got one in winter after work, 0 °C, on my 30 kilometre commute. This time I have everything with me and think, what luck. Then the tubeless patch doesn't hold. A second tubeless salami and pumping again doesn't help. So I pull in an inner tube - and with half-frozen fingers, I immediately puncture it. I end up pushing three kilometres to the track. If I hadn't started so many repair attempts, I would have been home much earlier. Or, as is so often the case, I wouldn't have had a puncture repair kit with me that day.

Tip: Nevertheless Pack even on short journeys your breakdown kit in. If you have a Battery air pump (test) regularly check the charge level of the battery.

3. light not charged

Lights are mandatory, especially when it gets dark early. As a cyclist in the city, I can see enough to get home without lights thanks to street lighting at an appropriate speed. But others can't see me. I'm consistent about it. "Poor visibility? Only with lights!". Because I like to observe how well or badly I can see other people. How often do I come across dark shadows that I only recognise at the last moment? It's handy that I work in a bicycle editorial office. That means I can borrow a test light if I forget mine. Or borrow a charging cable if my light is empty.

Or I go home by public transport.

Tip: After every journey, check the battery level of your Bicycle light (test) and take it into your home for charging if necessary.

4. route not checked

"It'll be fine" I keep thinking to myself and later find myself in the middle of undergrowth with my bike on my shoulder. Or riding my racing bike on a gravel section that I don't want to ride. "Komooted" is the term used on social media to describe this. It describes the fact that the route planned with Komoot has surprises in store. Admittedly, I love planning routes in detail. Sometimes I know there's a route coming up that I don't know if it still exists.

One day I learnt the hard way that I should have checked the website of a ferry on my route. Because the ferry isn't running. Actually, many planning apps already give me clues: Stairs, ferry, ... I knew about the ferry and simply didn't check whether it was running. If I had done that, I would have been spared the 30 kilometre diversions.

Tip: Check your route, check the details and don't rely on the fact that every route in your planning app is actually rideable. Most are based on OpenStreetMap and if nobody enters that a route that once existed no longer exists, it will continue to be displayed.

5. forget snacks

It happens exactly once - and then never again. Actually. My best hunger pangs come, how could it be otherwise, on an after-work ride. I'd only planned a short ride and thought I'd be fine, I didn't need a snack. Spoiler: I do. Within the first few metres, I realise that the afternoon biscuit has been too long and was too small. "This could be something," I think. At the next junction, I come to the rescue: a petrol station. I buy a butter pretzel and a bag of gummy bears. I inhale half of the pretzel directly together with a handful of gummy bears. The rest goes into my jersey pocket.

Not getting enough energy can mess up more than just one tour; if it happens more often, health problems can be the result.

Tip: Always one Emergency bar or gel in the saddlebag. It doesn't go bad, but reliably saves the mood.

You learn from your mistakes. And at some point you can even laugh about them. If you save my blunders, you're already one step further than I was back then.