1. Backpacks are fine until you wear a wonderful puffy insulated jacket and then try to put on and take off a loaded backpack about six times a day.

THE SOLUTION: Switch to a messenger bag that actually works MUCH better than the backpack ever did since everything sinks like a rock into a large bulge at the bottom of the backpack.

THE BONUS: The messenger bag is very light and stows neatly on the back rack above the panniers so I'm not lugging it on my back. It holds more than the backpack yet looks less bulky.

2. For some odd reason I like to listen to a rain shower tape on my Sansa Fuze 8 gig mp3 player. The sound of rain is very realistic and comforting. You can still hear approaching traffic or dogs about to eat the back of your heels and the sound of rain on a sunny day just sounds cool. Well that was all true in the summer when you were sweating off the liquids. However, in the winter, all it makes you do is want to pee and pee very badly and pee very soon.....and pee very frequently....

THE SOLUTION: Switch your mp3 player to listening to Prairie Home Companion Lake Wobegon podcasts which makes you laugh instead of pee.

THE BONUS: A bicyclist passing by who is laughing hysterically is more unsettling to car drivers and thus you become very visible and they give you a very wide berthy for fear you are going to do something even more odd.

3. Bike headlights. You could take out a second mortgage and buy super duper headlights OR

THE SOLUTION: you could take a chance on an Amazon review and go for two of these. They look like jet engines mounted on thye bike; they mount EXTREMELY easily and are VERY adjustable. Also that have a rather strong blue light that focuses in a nice fat circle so with good positioning of two of them you can be very confident while riding in the suburbs where there is some ambient light. They ARE however not for speed demons but who rides reallllllly fast at night anyway?

THE BONUS: They draw more comments from people than anything I've put on my bike. I've had the most fascinating conversations with strangers that started with a question about the lights. There is something about conversations at night with strangers about bikes that has a totally different focus and reward than daytime conversations about biking.

We are currently running at temps in the 50's in Delaware so when it drops lower I'm sure there will be more newbie lessons to be learned about riding in cold weather.