Biking Day 6: Panniers!

[chargirlgenius]

It was a chilly morning, but last night I set my minimum biking temp at 50, and it was above that by the time I left this morning. I'm hoping by fall that I'll be used to this enough that I can drop that minimum temp. I was dressed just about right in a long sleeved t-shirt and fleece. I also wore Jeff's mesh safety orange motorcycle vest over my black fleece, for additional visibility. But damn, the hot shower was welcome once I got here!

The ride itself went fine. I played catch up and pass with a (polite) school bus for a while. I shouted at some kid waiting for a bus as I rode by, "TOO MUCH COLOGNE!" Because there was. Seriously, if I can smell your axe body spray as I ride by at 15 mph on a bike, 15 feet from you? UR DOIN IT WRONG. He should consider my advice a favor.


Balancing warmth with the need for air to cool down my sweaty self is going to require some experimentation. I have a wind breaker, but once I get heated up I need that breeze. When it gets really cold, I might reconsider. I'll also need gloves, and a good shoe solution.

We went to the bike shop on Friday, and picked up a rack and panniers to carry my gear. It felt MUCH better to not be wearing the backpack this morning. What a difference. I also got a tool kit, pump, tire irons, and a tube, so I'm *hauling* a lot more too. Better safe than sorry!

I've been researching new bikes, and I'm still not sure what I want. Well, I know I *want* a road bike, but I'm debating whether I should consider a hybrid. Hybrids are geared more like a road bike, but don't have the drop handlebars, have more rugged wheels (though you can get slicks for a more road-bike-like tire), and are generally heavier. For the roads out here, I definitely want a road bike. But if I ever get a job up town, I'll be tooling around town (if I can do a park-n-ride bike commute). My co-worker says that he's never had any trouble with a road bike in Old Town, so maybe it's not an issue. Jeff, though, thinks that with the kids getting bigger I should get a hybrid. I guess it's more sturdy if I get one of those tandem attachments for the back? But I already have an older mountain bike (from before hybrids really got popular) that might do the trick for that kind of riding? I won't exactly want to go fast with a boy on the back anyway.

But then there's the price differential. I could probably get a hybrid $200 cheaper than a road bike. If it weren't for that, the road bike would win hands-down.

I definitely want a woman's bike. We tend to have different body proportions than men, and the bikes have a shorter top tube, among other things. I still have my old Terry, which are bikes made only for women. Some Terrys even have a smaller front wheel to accomodate a super short top tube. I'd get that all tuned up and tricked out, but it's still equipped with the old friction gear shifters. The levers are also way down by the wheel, which isn't so bad when you're not shifting a lot, but I AM.


These aren't getting too annoying, are they? I cut because I care, but it still makes a f-list scroll. I still have thoughts that I want to remember later, but in the future, I probably won't write every day that I ride.

Comments

[isenglass.livejournal.com]

Huh. I could swear that I only have one shifter which doesn't make sense with that many gears. I need to look at my bike again. This helps though. Thanks!