Packin' the Panniers

One of the most important skills for cyclocommuting is knowing what to take along and how to take it. During the summer months which is the most active part of the cyclocommuting year it's a given that for long commutes (over 5 miles) will likely require a shower or some sort of clean up at the destination. The temperature during the summer in Houston averages in the upper 90's to lower 100's with equally high humidity so sweaty is the norm even when standing still.; consequently, half my load is wash up materials the other half clothes for work.

Over time I figured that the right hand pannier was best for clothes and the left for clean up gear. Why?? I don't know.. It worked out that way, but I think in part it's because I park my bike on the left side of my desk which put the clothes and shoes close to hand, but your results may vary and you may want to experiment to see what works best for you

Like anything else, the best way to pack for cyclecommuting is to plan ahead. I typically leave the bike pre-packed with as much gear as I'm able which saves at least a half hour of prep time on the morning of departure.

I pack my panniers so that everthing is modular and can be removed and re-inserted easily. My clothes are folded so that they are as narrow as possible and then rolled up.

The first step is to fold my slacks in half at the knee as if I were hanging them on a hanger:















The next step is to flip it over so the now folded legs face upward:
















Next fold them longitudally so that it resembels a length of 2 by 4:


















Next move on to folding the shirt. I usually start out folding it similar to how it came out of it's original package like so:
















Then fold this package longitudinally:
















Then present the shirt on top of the folded pants. It's best to match the widest part of the shirt (Usually the collar end) with the widest part of the pants (the folded waistband).
















The next step is to roll up the shirt and pants like a sleeping bag starting from the widest end and ending with the narrowest:

















Then using the belt (I have more than one of the same type so I don't need to break things apart when I need this particular style of belt for other functions.) cinch up the bundle.















Typically I would then put the bundle in a plastic grocery bag. Why? For starters, the bundle bulges out of the pannier a bit and once prior to taking this step I was caught in a thunderstorm that thoroughly saturated this pack of outerwear. Secondly, it helps keep the extra loose end of the belt from flopping out of the pannier and getting caught in the spokes or dragging.














Here is a pictoral overview of everything that is pre-packed the night before in my right hand panniers:


Left shoe, T-shirt, Underwear, sock bundle, cargo web bungee, Outerwear bundle, right shoe.


The T-shirt is folded like the outerwear shirt and rolled up. It's then stuffed in the left shoe. The sock and the underwear are stuffed in the right shoe.

(Not Shown) I pack the pannier-hood pocket just prior to departure and in it I keep my glasses in a rigd case as well as alternate sunglass lenses in my sunglass case and the spare cargo web bungee .

The packing

The first step is to insert the shoes into the pannier. I usually insert them so the soles are facing towards the wheels. It's mainly to keep any loose clothes clean that I might shove into it in the future.

The outerwear roll is then pushed down over the shoes.
















Here is the now loaded pannier mounted on the bike:

The rolled up T-shirt in the pannier bungee is used as a rag for cleaning rain smudged eye glasses










The left pannier carries toiletries and a towel for showering. The towel is folded in thirds so that it is narrow enough to fit in the pannier. The shaving kit is placed in the pannier-hood pocket along with my electric razor. I found a typical shaving kit to be a little large for the pannier-hood pocket; however, a case for a blood pressure cuff turns out to be just the right size. I imagine that there are shaving kit bags of similar size available and that's what I'd recommend.
One of the last things that gets packed and is usually laid right on top of the towel is the charger for my niterider Digital Evolution headlight. During spring and summer I only need the headlight in the morning; however, to cover contingencies I tend to charge the battery that I used to get to work immediately upon arrival. The reason being that if on the way home I make a stop either scheduled or unscheduled (like for a beer at Kennally's Irish pub) the light is ready for use if I don't leave until after the sun goes down.

The shaving kit contains a bar of soap in a traveling soap dish, toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, a small hotel size bottle of shampoo, and a can of deodorant. I suppose if you're into it you could include a small bottle of foo foo/Colóne/ aftershave, but I've never been into that sort of thing.

Helmets & Gloves

It just occurred to me that in my description of clothing in earlier posts I never got around to talking about helmets or gloves. I consider both necessary safety equipment. I'm especially a helmet advocate as back in college I had a good friend who was a Cat III road rider, a truly gifted athlete who on his way to visit a friend hit a patch of sand and went down hard, hitting his head on the pavement. He wound up in the hospital for weeks with right side paralysis and had to go through years of therapy. He never rode a bike again. So naturally, I'm never without my "brain bucket." when out in traffic or when the risk of falling is high. My one exception is whenI'm very very close to home (I.E. test riding immediately in front of the house) or I know the roads I'll be on very very well and there is absolutely no traffic at all (think residential street).

The main criteria is to make sure the helmet is SNELL certified other than that let you budget and conscenice be your guide. As of late I've been partial to Specialized helmets. The current one I've had since '98 (Yeah, I know it's over the 4 year rule) is an "Air Cut" in black. Which raises the next subject.. Color. Black is good in foggy conditions, but lousy in the dark. It's also lousy in bright sunlight as it absorbs heat directly from the sun. White is pretty good at night and in bright sunlight, but is terrible in foggy or snowy conditions. Red depending on the shade is okay in fog, but not terrific. Heatwise it's a little better than black. If you do most of you commuting at night or before the sun comes up my vote is for either white, Neon Yellow, or Red. (I'd include blaze/hunter's orange, but my experiences with this color have not been happy ones)

Road helmets are good, if you primarily a racer, but I've found mountian bike, sport or "enthusiast" helmets to be more practical. The usually have a clip on visor
. I've found that the visor is very helpful for holding on a head lamp or battery powered miners lamp.

Gloves.. I'm old school. By far I've found Performances' crochet gloves are the best, but in times past when I could get them I'd also wear Rhode gear gloves; however, I believe Rhode Gear is out of the glove buisness . These are also a matter of taste, but you definately want a pair of you go down. Lacerated palms are pretty painful while they are healing.

Got in another run and Discovered I'm not alone!

The monsoons again have paused which allowed me another commuter run. So far this is the wettest summer I've ever seen here in Houston. As a consequence I'm slowly seeing a roll back on my belt line as my love of good food remains unabated and I have no good way of burning off the calories.

This morning as I was making my turn from Antione east onto Memorial Drive I was surprised and greeted by a fellow bicycle commuter. His name was Brian and he's a hortaculturalist who works in Memorial Park. We rode along together until he had to go his way and I had to go mine. He told me he's been doing this now for about a year and a half and 40 pounds ago. He even told me that.. Dare I say it?? There are women Bicycle commuters! He said he's met one. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of this or our encounter. I'm unbelievably jazzed to have met another of my kind. I even made a respectable time to the office, an hour and 21 minutes which is only a minute off of record time. I probably could have bettered this; however, before starting out it was apparent that the slow-leak-gremlin had made his rounds of my garage as my rear tire of my MTB was super soft. As I rode along I'd periodically hop off and finger check my tire pressure. Plus I feel I didn't do half bad as I had ridden a 14 mile road bike training ride the day before, and that the last flurry of training prior to this was almost a week and a half ago. My legs ache a little, but definitely not like a year and a half ago, before I had gotten some semblance of shape back .

Rain Rain Go Away

Well the monsoons have begun. It's rained almost every day for the past 3 weeks. All training and commuting has stopped untill the weather improves. In the mean time I've been working on my ongoing Raliegh 20 projects. I have two of them that I have been restoring. A green one which is nicely rust free and a brown "rust bucket." Actually the plan make both into product improved Raliegh 20's replacing the stock cottered cranks with 3 piece cotterless cranks, shimano 424 SPD pedals, Brooks Conquest Saddles, Alloy rims, Cool Stop brake blocks, and one day replacing the Sturmey-Archer 3 speed drive train with the new 8 speed rear hub, and possibly setting the front wheel up with a Dynohub for lighting. Plus a rear rack setup with grocery panniers..

The aim of all this? To have a pair of bikes that can serve as short distance round the neighborhood bikes for guests and as a jump and run grocery getters. Lets face it conventional bikes are set and forget to one person and when you adjust it to anothers settings, it never fully feels right to the original rider when it's reset. Plus, I have three grocery stores within 5 miles, but to use my MTB would require completely unloading my panniers which are too small for a proper grocery run. I want a bike that I can just jump on and go with open bag panniers

It's also rather useful to have a set of bikes of matched capabilities when in a relationship or dating. This is something I learned when I was married as my MTB and road bike were too big and unfamiliar to my then wife. The green Twenty fit her better, but needed overhaul which caused it to have greater than usual resistance. Plus the differential between 20" and 26" wheels would cause me pull far ahead. So at that time it dawned on me that a matched pair of easily adjustable bikes would be a good thing to have.

So far the green one is closer to being ready. The biggest problem being faced by both projects is the hunt for a suitable bottom bracket. All sites documenting similar upgrades are vague about what they used and what their parts source was. I've outsourced this part of the project to Daniel Boone Cycles. When they get the green one done I'll then do the brown one on my own. On the brown I was hoping to use the orginal cranks for the time being; however, somewhere in this bike's past some one really laid into the cotters with a hammer so there is a bad chainwheel wobble (possble bent spindle.) Right now I'm looking for a Sugino 3-piece BMX crank with a 44 tooth Chainwheel to set aside for this bike untill I have funds avaialble to take it the rest of the way.

At last!

Finally commuted to work this past Friday. In the process I also found a slightly easier route. Historically I would ride down Gessner to Barryknoll and then work through the southern most of the Memorial Villages to Memorial Drive. This time I just rolled right down Westview which is pretty much residential for half it's length and then missing my southerly turn Chimney Rock (It's named different at Westview and I always forget the street name.) I turned south on Antoine which once crossing I-10 then drops me on Memorial Drive about 3 to 4 miles from the outskirts of Memorial Park.

This time I had to carry my PC repair bag with me and My already heavy mountian bike had to be pushing 100lbs. I also decided at the last minute to ride with my Ipod; however, I didn't use stereo headphones, but a monophonic earpiece so I could still listen to traffic. I also opted to listen to an hour long podcast as opposed to perpetually pulling out the Ipod and risking it clattering to the street. I didn't do half bad all things considered. I averaged 11.48 MPH round trip which isn't bad on a heavily laden mountin bike. Also the new route was four miles shorter than the old route.

Here is a Pic of my bike parked at the office propped up by desk. My PC repair bag is the Reliant Energy bag acting like a "boot" bag with the long carry strap threaded through the rear rack. The blue trunk bag is actually a cooler with an "ice substute" a couple cans of soda and lunch loaded. Right pannier has work clothes, the left abolution materials (towel, soap, toothpaste, etc.)

Biding Time

Discovered yesterday while driving that part of my homecoming route is currently impassible due to deconstruction for storm sewer installation. The section is on Memorial Drive just west of Chimney rock and east of Khulman. At this point Memorial Drive is reduced to one lane east and one lane west which at rush hour under normal circumstances is already risky; however, add loose soil, construction equipment, and illiterate Mexican construction workers milling around could be a recipe for falling in front of a car. Unfortunately this is the only and best route for going home any other direction would add several more miles to the commute.

In the mean time, I'm continuing to road bike train which I must confess I enjoy tremendously for it means instead of only getting 1 to 2 hours of sleep and waking up at 4am I can sleep in to almost 7am and get between 4 and 6 hours. Plus, I enjoy being able to ride with other people which I don't get to do when commuting. Also, dare-I-say-it? I enjoy the women cyclists also there in the park. At least two are part of the University of Houston team and one is a 5'9" leggy blonde . I know I don't have a chinaman chance of garnering more than a "hello" from this lady, but "Oh MY GOD!" does she fill out those red and black Cycling shorts and my heart pounds, the blood rushes in my ears when she laps me.. Not a few of those women got it going on and make cyling shorts downright sexy..

The re-training begins.

I did a recovery ride on Monday and didn't do half bad for being off the bike for almost half a month. The goal was to go over 14 miles in under an hour and twenty minutes as on my work commute I usually make it to work in an hour twenty and 14 miles is the one way distance. On this ride I rode 17.63 in 1:10:51 and averaged 14.9 MPH. Unfortunately in the process I may have re-infected myself with whatever little beasties that gave me pneumonia before as I had a sore throat afterwards. I had forgotten to wash out and disinfect the camelback the night before.

Yesterday I wanted to go ride so bad; however, I had to go to court instead. About a month ago I had a little altercationwith a Metro bus so last night I had to go enter a pleading.. I copped to no contest and defensive driving.