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

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

I'm learning stuff!

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

I read the headline and thought "but panniers are not appropriate for bicycle costume!"

[thornbury.livejournal.com]

Pena.. panne.. uhh.. oh - saddlebags!

:^D

[ladyaneira.livejournal.com]

No, keep 'em coming!

Here is my annoying little rant of the day, which I considered posting on my own blog but decided it wasn't worth its own entry. (So I'm putting it on your blog instead! :-D )

Every school day, regardless of whether Luke and I walk or ride the bike, we pass a silver car idling at a street corner. Just today, I realized why: it's one of Luke's classmates and her mom. Yes. This is what they do: get it the car, drive a HALF BLOCK, idle by the street corner (school bus stop) until the bus comes, at which point the bus drives the remaining FOUR BLOCKS to school. AIEEEEEE. WTF, people?

[isenglass.livejournal.com]

So how do you go about learning how to use bicycle gears? I have a 10-speed but I pretty much just leave it on 3 all of the time because I don't know what to do.

[jljonsn.livejournal.com]

I was talking to Bruce & Kerry at lunch time (ran into them at the coffee shop).

I mentioned your wanting to upgrade from the Terry, and they thought the Terry was an excellent bike, but some of the mechanicals are dated. Which seems to correspond with your feelings. Bruce suggested they could be upgraded easily, which would give you the continued use of your beloved frame, with all the spiffy features of new bikes.

[technomage.livejournal.com]

I like the updates and they make inspired to try for a ride to Oxon Hell from Silver Springs.... only I'd be taking my life into my own hands in SO many ways.

If you love your old Terry you should take it into a good bike shop and see if they can replace the gear shifters and change their location to one you like. The chances are good that for less than $100 they can do just what you want. I'd recommend a shop, but both the ones I use are in College Park, which is a touch out of your neighborhood.

[soucyn.livejournal.com]

When I got my panniers, I brought them up to the register at REI together, and they rang up one thinking they were a set. I didn't even realize that they basically gave me a 50% discount on them. That said, I've done grocery shopping with them - like enough food for two people to go a good 4 or more days.

We've been walking to work for months now, instead of riding, but it's probably time to get the bikes out and start making some of our after work trips on them...

Lastly, here's a site that's got some decent bike commuting tips: http://www.runmuki.com/commute/index.html

[karolines.livejournal.com]

re: a super short top tube

ok- so i read "a super short tube top" and wondered if that was more a benefit for the spactators? new bike fashions?

am considering a new bike for me. oh what a difference it made when the guy at the bike shop put me on one the right size. but just adjusting my seat to the right hight helped a lot...