Not very smart!! Live and learn.

Boy, did I almost screw up. I was out on a long ride Sunday. At about 40 miles a clinking, rattling noise developed that just made no sense (and was driving me nuts). The noise sounded as if it was in the front end of my bike. I only heard the noise on "rough" pavement. When the road was smooth I heard nothing. While riding I checked the stem cap, crank play, shoe cleat and bounced the front end and couldn't hear anything. There was no chain slap against the chainstay. Nothing was malfunctioning so I kept riding. At 50 miles I stopped to eat a sandwich I brought and checked some more potentials - stem play, brake pads, water bottle cages - ah ha! One cage was a little loose. I didn't see how a carbon cage on a metal frame could make the noise I heard but I tightened it and got rolling again. It was many miles before I hit some rough pavement, I think its called chip and seal asphalt. The noise started again. Dang! I left it alone until Thursday night and started pulling things off the bike. I couldn't make the noise on the bike stand or while bouncing it. I knew that noises travel on metal frames. A noise in the rear can travel to the front. So I started taking things apart. I removed the chain and then rear wheel and leaned the rear wheel against the wall. I thought for a second and bounced the rear wheel - faint noise. I shook it from side to side and A HA! My cassette (the rear cogs) was loose. What the??? Then I remembered, when I put the cassette on before the TN trip I tightened the cassette lockring but backed off to add a little oil later. Never added the oil and became a disaster waiting to happen. I had noticed a little shifting miss, but I thought that my chain needed relube sooner than normal. Actually, it was just another clue. Most bike noises are not normal. They are often trying to tell you something. What could have been the worst case scenario had it come really loose? Well, it can't come totally off because of the dropout. I would have had to periodically get off the bike, hand tighten the lockring and ride until it came loose again. I probably would have reduced cassette gear changes and relied on chain ring changes. Oh yeah, you need two special tools for cassette maintenance. Neither which is practical to lug around on a ride. Of course when cassette work is done right, you don't need them on a ride anyway. Doh!