duct tape mechanic

During the delirium right before my ride-induced coma on Sunday, I asked Rob to bring my bike in from the car. Right before I fell into oblivion, he came in, outraged.

"Why do you have duct tape on your bike?"
"It keeps--"
"You can't have duct tape on your bike! With the 9 billion dollars we have spent on your cycling,"--He's as prone to exaggeration as I am...it's more like $2 billion, tops--"you cannot have duct tape hanging off your bike."
"It's not hanging off, it's more wrapped around."
"No. Duct. Tape. It's like a kid with tape on his glasses. Just get new glasses."
"So I should get a new bike?"
"No!"

I'm sure we would have continued in this vein, and in fact we may have, but I sort of lost consciousness.

So why do I have duct tape on my bike? Lemme 'splain.

About a year ago, I replaced my purloined (from Rob) black Cannondale saddle bag with a Timbuk2 pink saddle bag. This was mainly because the Cannondale was too small to hold my speed lever, but also because--pink!

In this year, I have been going through shorts at a dismaying rate. The Timbuk2 bag has a velcro strap that wraps around the seat post to secure it to the bike. This velcro strap has a hard edge which, if not positioned just so, eventually and painfully rubs a hole in every single pair of my cycling shorts. Since my preferred shorts go for $90/pair (though I only buy them on sale for $70 or less), this is bad.

After ruining a new pair in just two rides, I decided that I couldn't go on like this. Getting a new saddlebag would be the most obvious option, and was in fact the first thing I thought of. Upon shopping for a new one, though, I discovered two things: a) pink saddlebags are hard to find, and b) nearly all saddlebags, pink or otherwise, have a velcro seatpost closure. After a few days of considering, I decided on the #1 solution for do-it-yourselfers everywhere...

Duct tape.

I tore off two 4-inch strips and carefully covered the front of the offending velcro strap. About 100-120 miles later, I think I can safely say that this has done the trick. Except that it offends my husband.

Maybe electrical tape would be better?