I’ve had some business I needed to do in town on a business day for two weeks. The weather socked in for several days: I tried getting out on Thursday but the road was so muddy I didn’t want to do that to the bike. Today was the day.
First step is to put the bike rack on the Jeep…
…which immediately hit a snag because the hitch pin was missing.
Okay that’s bad but not necessarily a show stopper. More than once I’ve laid the pin and its locking key on the bumper and forgotten to put them back in the hitch, right? So they shook loose on the long bumpy driveway between Ian’s place, where I store the bike and the rack, and my place. I’ll find it.
So I went on a long hilly walk, all the way down, and didn’t find any hardware. On the way back I got to wondering, “Could I have put the damned thing on the trailer ball fitting instead of where it belongs?” And that was such a stupid idea, it would have been such a stupid thing to do, that I almost didn’t check to answer the question.
Haven’t put much mileage on the bike this year, on account of how puny I felt for most of the summer. This might be the last ride to town – it’s gonna turn cold soon.
Still, I did just barely pass 1600 on the odometer, so 150ish miles without really trying.
I don’t suppose keeping a pin in each gizmo that uses one, plus one emergency spare stashed somewhere, is an option.
Entering my seventh decade I have found that saying aloud “Where would I put this if I was me?” works pretty well.
Just … din’t domit around otherboeople, you get *looks*.
Irving, that’s exactly what I do. Each of my inserts has a pin and its cotter pin. I don’t ever have to look for one, and if I use one on another of my vehicles, they’re already there, whatever their purpose is.
I couldn’t resist throwing in all three.
Ah, just do what I’ve seen people do, push a stick through it. What could go wrong, anyway?
A screwdriver held in place by a wrap of duct tape works just fine.
It’s good to see that your ebike is still running well, Joel.
Every day there is something new. I thought that it was common to store the ball hitch with the pin in it in the back behind the rear seat of a truck, or, in my case, in the back of the SUV with all the other paraphernalia. I do this because leaving the pin in the hitch can get ugly when it rusts in place.
And, yes, I also have several spares because I’m old and tired of playing the “where the hell did I leave it now?” game.