So far this CarFreeBrad experiment has revealed one indisputable fact.  Forgetting your keys SUCKS way more if you travel by bike than car.

The problem is based in the distance from said keys that you can travel in each instance. A driver will at worst get to his/her car, realize the missing item(keys) and have a 5 minute inconvenience to start the day.  A cyclist on the other hand, has much greater travel potential before realizing the item(keys) are missing.  The situation(based on actual events) goes something like this.  The biker packs up, hits the road and gets approximately 3 miles across town under the threat of freezing rain the entire time, as he settles in at the bike rack of his destination it and attempts to lock up his bike he comes the shocking realization that he can’t lock it up because he has NO KEYS!  The keys are sitting on the counter waiting for him to grab them on the way out.

Instead of starting the day with a slight inconvenience, our biking friends entire day is now altered and tough decisions must be made.  Does he fake lock his bike?  By trying to make it look locked.  Cancel the rest of his morning, return home to grab the keys(assuming he can get into his apt) then make the journey back under threat of freezing rain.  Most likely(and what actually happened), he will fake lock his bike and then spend the rest of the day on edge worried that someone will steal it and constantly move it from rack to rack just incase a thief is casing the joint and targeting his beat up commuter bike.

Regardless of how it gets played.  Forgetting your keys on bike is far worse for your life then if you drive.  Drivers may have won this battle but the war wages on!