Dec 2008 Today's Commute - Pix of New Commuter

[pardes]

I finally took some photos of my lovely new commuter bike. It's SUCH a pleasure to ride!


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/3152282335_afe2c8fa94.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/3152281357_7ed253599f.jpg?v=0

The gentleman also waiting for the bus said, "Young lady, how old are you?"

"63," I replied.

"Yes, I thought so," he said. "A youngster. I'm 83 and fit as a fiddle!"


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/3152288101_308fe10869.jpg?v=0

I enjoy riding at night but I'm also looking forward to shorter days and longer rides after work.

[tulip]

Great ride! I miss commuting, but I'm so glad to work from home. Enjoy your new ride.

[Selkie]

Looks like a great bike. Many happy miles together and here's hoping for an early spring!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow you really set that bike up nicely- reflecting materials, bags, blinkies, mirror, super headlights, etc. Very nice, very impressive. :) Tell us what brand/model of bike you got again please?
Those are huge panniers though- are you using them for grocery shopping aside from commuting to work?

P.s. one thing jumps out at me from the photos: the streets look so...clean and smooth compared to where I live! :o (Where are all the potholes and cracks and chunks of asphalt dug up by the snowplows?) ;)

[OakLeaf]

Nice bike!

[Tri Girl]

What a great looking setup! :D What brand are your panniers? They look really nice.

[malkin]

spiff!

Delaware looks very civilized!

[maillotpois]

That is a great set up!! Very visible and looks like you can carry a LOT of stuff!

[pardes]

Wow you really set that bike up nicely- reflecting materials, bags, blinkies, mirror, super headlights, etc. Very nice, very impressive. :) Tell us what brand/model of bike you got again please?
Those are huge panniers though- are you using them for grocery shopping aside from commuting to work?

It's a Transeo something or other, I forget. The panniers are from Arkel. I use them for everything from everyday commuting to work and for grocery shopping they hold more than I can actually drive home! I like the panniers but the fast hook up system doesn't work very well. Theoretically you lift the bag and the spring drops down to quickly attach to the bike. Wrong. The spring system is a pain and I just end up hooking it on manually (rather quickly when it's not dark) and since I don't go over too many bumps I don't bother hooking the bottom hook.

Yes, Delaware is civilized but the natives are very restless....they seem to love to blow their horn when they are 2 inches behind my bike.

[pardes]

That is a great set up!! Very visible and looks like you can carry a LOT of stuff!

Often more than I can carry easily. Like a large bag of dogfood.

The flat looking thingy on the front is a large (collapsed) insulated cooler than expands to hold even more. I haven't had to use it yet since the back panniers holds way too much already.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Often more than I can carry easily. Like a large bag of dogfood.

The flat looking thingy on the front is a large (collapsed) insulated cooler than expands to hold even more. I haven't had to use it yet since the back panniers holds way too much already.

Do the big back panniers collapse folded up when empty as well?

Those tires look like you will never get a flat in a million years! :D

[fastdogs]

This made me think of a recent craigslist posting- it was a bike cargo trailer, that collapsed into a rear rack. So the pictures looked like you carried it as a regular (heavy duty looking ) rack on your bike, and it sort of swung back to the ground and folded out into a trailer. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.
vickie

[pardes]

Those tires look like you will never get a flat in a million years! :D

Funny you should mention that. The next morning (today) when I went to get on the bike the rear tire was flat.

Eeeeekkkks! Talk about unprepared! The little thiny adaptor for the tire valve was at work in the bag on my other bicycle, plus I didn't have a pump, plus I didn't have spare tube.....the list goes on with all the things I don't have.

The only good thing about it was that I was only going in to work for two hours and just bagged the day and took the bike in for repairs. Darin, my favorite mechanic found a slit in the tire but couldn't figure out where the tube was leaking so he put a new one on.

You should have seen his expression when he asked me when was the last time I checked the tire pressure. "Ummmmm, on the day you sold me the bike? Ummmmmm 6 weeks ago."

Well, you know. It's something I kept meaning to do.....

I am now stocked up on tubes, pump, little bullets of CO2, tools, etc. And naturally I also dragged home a new helmet that 1) fits much better and 2) matches the silver bike, and of course a pair of windproof, waterproof gloves, and I forget what else.....

Oh CRAP, I forgot to buy a tire gauge!

Darin has made me promise to bring the bike in every 2 weeks or so for a checkup and in the next couple of weeks, he's going to teach me how to do all the little things I need to know how to do. That should be fun!

[Zen]

Doesn't the pump have a gauge?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yeah you need several extra tubes, patch kits, and to learn how to change a flat! After the first two practice times, it gets to be kind of cool to do.

You should have a regular good floor pump at home with a gauge on it, because that's the one you'll use most often. :)

Gee I hope I didn't jinx you with my previous comment about never getting flats! :eek:

[pardes]

Gee I hope I didn't jinx you with my previous comment about never getting flats! :eek:

Well, let's see....I've been biking on and off for 55 years and I've NEVER HAD A FLAT TIRE BEFOREEEEEEEEE. It's alllllllll your fault. Not that I'm pointing fingers or anything.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/pointing-finger.jpg

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

http://nikkishell.typepad.com/nikkishell/images/2007/10/10/p1000376.jpg

[pardes]

Oh that picture is PRICELESS! ROTF

[sbctwin]

Lisa, that kitty picture is priceless:p

[Selkie]

What did Rudy and Pohoho do to that Kitty to make her/him so sad?

[pardes]

You may wonder why I'm awake at 2AM. An hour ago I went out to check the bike and make sure I had everything I needed for work in the panniers.

This time the FRONT tire was flat. I think the bike mechanic and I were so focused on the back tire problem, no one checked the front. It was still strapped to the car so I didn't run over anything new.

I tried pumping it up, several times, but I could hear a hissing sound at the stem. I'm not quite ready for this. I have a new tube but I don't have the doodads to take the tire and tube off the rim. (Forget to buy them).

So I'll be dragging the bike back in again for repairs, a lesson in changing tires, and buying the last of the tools I need. I'm not quite sure how to fit this in with going to work tomorrow but it will all work out.

[emily_in_nc]

I tried pumping it up, several times, but I could hear a hissing sound at the stem. I'm not quite ready for this. I have a new tube but I don't have the doodads to take the tire and tube off the rim. (Forget to buy them).

Is it possible the pump just wasn't seated correctly on the valve? You will hear hissing (and make no progress pumping) if you don't get a good seal. This happens to me fairly often. But, I agree with taking it in to make sure you know how to change a tire. If a tire is completely flat, the tube needs changing, and the tire needs to be checked to ensure there is nothing inside (glass, thorn, etc) that can continue to poke through tubes, and that there is not a large gash that goes all the way through. Unless it's just a routine topping off of the air, I never just pump up a flat tire and go -- it will go flat again since something caused that flat in the first place!

Good luck!