You might have heard the old proverb: For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost. It means that even the smallest of details can prevent a successful outcome. That was true for me today.
I went out into the garage this morning and noticed that my bike had cobwebs on it. I guess the spiders were trying to tell me that I was overdue for a ride. I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a ride to blow the cobwebs off of the bike—literally.
Of course, I planned to do some portable operating during my ride. After some thought as to what I needed to bring, I gathered everything up and started stuffing the radio gear into my pannier bags. I put everything into the truck, loaded up the bike, and off I went.
I went to one of my favorite trails, the Schuylkill River Trail, and rode a couple of miles up to Lower Perkiomen Park. I found a bench away from the trail and proceeded to unpack my radio stuff.
Radio—check!
Battery—check!
Cables, paddles, and earbuds—check!
Antenna pole and ground mount—check!
Antenna bag containing my 19-foot vertical parts—oops!
I frantically searched through my pannier bags only to conclude that I must have left my antenna bag at home. A phone call to my (far) better half confirmed that my bag of antenna parts was indeed at home. Although I used a checklist, I made the fatal mistake of checking off the antenna bag before actually packing it in the pannier bags. Doh!
I didn’t get to operate from the park today, but it was still a great day for a ride. And, the cobwebs are gone.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 
That’s not the first time you’ve had cobwebs. In the “More On” section viewed from my Reader, one of your previous posts is “First Bike Ride of 2018” showing you nice looking bike and a pole next to it. You wrote that you “brushed the cobwebs. . .” LOL
I’m sure it was a nice ride nontheless. Lessons Learned. . . the hard way!
73
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Good catch! The spiders love my garage! 🙂
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We’ve got too many down here in Georgia, in the event you run short.
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Unfortunately it happens all too often that we stand in a remote place (on a mountain top) and find that a little something is missing.
For this reason I have started to use checklists for my outdoor (SOTA) activities. It may sound silly, but this is the only way I can survive the daily struggle with Murphy.
73, Roman
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I agree with you on the checklists. I use them all the time. This time, however, I got a little careless.
Yes, Murphy is always lurking nearby.
73, Craig WB3GCK
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