To Pannier or not Two Pannier

I have used panniers for a number of years. I was a messenger bag person for several years and thought that panniers had their place for touring or tons of stuff transport. But do I really want to haul around those bags every day on my bike? Turns out yes, yes I do. I have taken a lot of grief when people would pick up my bicycle and complain how much it weighed (I still don't understand why they would complain about such things). I carry a lot of stuff with me. The nice thing is that I almost always have what I need (and a bunch extra) when I am... wherever. Extra shirt, socks, hat (hats?), phone charger, tools, tubes, various spare bike tid-bits, lock (at least 4' cable for locking extra bikes for those that have forgotten theirs), you get the idea.

But come winter, I sometimes lose the rear rack (panniers are bolted on for extra quietness and security) and opt for a backpack. I like the backpack vs. messenger bag so as to keep the weight more centered on my body for squirrely snowy conditions. I wasn't so sure how much difference it makes, but I just removed the rack/bag from my bike this morning and immediately noticed how much easier my bike handles when the snow deepens. The only drawback being that with the stupid bag on my back, there is no breathing back there. Not the worst thing in the winter. Well worth the extra confidence I have when cornering and it makes the ride more fun. I need all I can get to keep going in the snow and cold. So the backpack stays loaded up until most of the snow is gone. That will maybe keep the fun factor a little higher during the next couple fortnights.

More Snow

It continues to snow here in the twin cities. I am not sure how close we are going to come to a record for snowfall for this winter season, but it is definitely more than we have had for several years. So far every broomball game I have played has been with at lease 1/2" of snow on the ice.

With all the snow we have received, it has made riding a real joy. The streets are getting narrower and narrower and today riding home was the ever fun slipping and sliding with all the ice underneath the fresh snow. Of course it could have been worse if there was more moisture in the snow. Winter just isn't my favorite time for riding. I do enjoy being out in the snow and if I can be on a trail away from automobiles, where I don't have to fight the divots made by people walking, biking is great. The snow deadens all the noise of the city and it can be incredibly peaceful. But those trail conditions are very rare. I guess the way to get around that is to go for a ride at 3AM.

I am already starting to plan out my biking season. I have a little interest in trying a brevet series. We have a number of them in the area, and with Trans Iowa almost kicking off the actual biking season, I should be in pretty good shape to participate. It would mean joining TCBC which I have never done. Having worked in a bike shop here in the cities over 10 years, I should spread the love around. It's good to keep trying different things.

Sanyo Dynamo

I saw these a while ago and finally took the time to build one into a wheel. I have wanted to have a winter dynamo wheel for some time and I bit the bullet with this very inexpensive hub. Right out of the box it feels smoother than a Shimano but not as smooth as a Schmidt. I can tell you that if you use the correct spokes for a Shimano hub, the Sanyo will fit with the spokes being just a touch short. Not unreasonable at all.


A slightly annoying feature to the Sanyo is the connector for the light. The Shimano hub has a casing that protects the wires after attaching them to the connector. Sanyo builds this casing into the hub, which means that if you unplug the headlight, there is a greater chance for the wires to pull out. Not a huge thing, but I am glad I am using it for winter riding when I don't have to deal with many flat tyres.

We will see how the long term, violent conditions wear at the hub. I don't put tons of miles on during the snowiest time of the year, but my bike sure sees some awful conditions. As far as I can tell the Sanyo should be great for dealing with this. I have run a Surly sealed bearing hub for my rear wheel for 3 years now and I have yet to replace bearings (not that they couldn't use it, it just isn't totally necessary yet). I am hoping that this dynamo will be just as nice. I will purchase a replacement set of bearings this summer and put them right next to the Surly's to hang out until I need them, several years down the road.

More Baking

We have been doing a little baking this holiday season. Our neighbors are very generous with their snow blower, so we figure we should be generous with our cookies. Our church serves at Dorothy Day and requested cookies, so there are 4 more dozen. My brother lives in a small apartment where cooking space is not abundant, another couple dozen. I always like to take some up to the bike shop, always a nice treat. Then we need to make sure we have some to take with us for Christmas in SD. And that leaves, hopefully, a few leftover for us to consume here at the house. I think it will take a few more mixing bowls before I feel we have enough.

Along with all the cookies, some ideas have been "baking" in my brain for a while. I am wanting to get back into more of a daily routine. I want to be more consistent for writing what is rolling around in my brain. Looking back through previous posts, I am reminded of why I write stuff down. It really is about clearing out my mind and being able to concretely focus on what is happening in my life. Even though there is a lot of trivial events, it is the process of taking a thought through from start to finish. Like most everything, practice makes ease of all.

I have been slacking in the photo department for a while and that will not do. I have started to make the practice of carrying a camera with me wherever I go in order to be able to capture scenes like this:

Bishop Leonidas Lent-Hamline University
(hat by anonymous)

Let it Snow

I'm not proud of it, but I called off work today. We are receiving a bit of snow here in the Twin Cities and my attempt at riding to work was not what I would call fun. This is one of the very few times I wish I had a Pugsley (or a new Mukluk!). I know I could have made it to the shop, but what concerned me more was how difficult it would be to make it back home. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have a lot of customers anyway.

So I guess that means I bake cookies and maybe spend a little time in the basement starting the Cross Check conversion to Trans Iowa mode. Not that there is a lot to do, but I think there is still some mud that I can dig out from this year's attempt. That while keeping an eye on the street. We have already dug out one of our neighbors trying to make it through the intersection.

(view from my front door)

Enjoy the snow!

Shifting?

Most of the time, for the last 6 years, I ride bicycles with only 1 gear to choose from. My favorite thing about single/fixed riding is that there is very little chain noise. No chain slap. No caught between gears grinding. No derailleur rub. And if I run 1/8" chains (and remember to lubricate them), there is VERY little noise. So when I first saw the Sturmey Archer SX-3 two years ago now(?), I thought I better try one.

A while back now, I had to do some ordering at the bike shop which is not my normal job. This always gets me into trouble because it forces me to look through catalogs and browse distributors web sites. Sure enough, the SX-3 was on special so of course it went right onto the order. Over the next few weeks I collected the rest of the parts for the wheel build and now have a multi-geared fixed gear.


I wanted to keep my Cross Check clean, so I mounted the shifter on the rear rack. It takes a little getting used to, but ended up being very easy to reach back for shifting. I don't plan on shifting a bunch anyways, so the overall outcome is very much to my liking. My first impression is that there is waaaaaay too much play in the hub. I don't have a digital angle finder (I should look for an app), but I estimate my cranks can move back and forth nearly 4 degrees. Doesn't seem like much, but that is 12mm of travel. And it's weird travel too. I am used to having a bit of runout, but there is always tension on the chain. This is free play. A little different and weird.

I also feel like there is a lot of drag in the lowest gear. I spin at a pretty high rate, and I chose a cog that was in stock and it is too high of a gear. This means that I have been riding in the lowest gear most of the time. I feel a lot less drag in the second and third gear. There is very little rolling resistance, but some drag as the gears churn. I am looking to order a larger cog to lower everything down. I think the gearing steps are spaced appropriately, I just hope I can make everything work out to my liking. I am more than likely going to have to change my chainring as well.

So I am playing around with gearing and am going to ride it until the weather turns foul and I have to break out the winter bike. I am fairly certain I can get used to the hub resistance, but I have a feeling the play is what is going to be what keeps it from going back on the bike next year.

Vacation Time

This time of year is when I am able to take a little time off from work. We try to celebrate our wedding anniversary by taking various trips often including camping expeditions. This year was our 10th year as an official couple so we stepped it up a touch and went to a Bed & Breakfast near Grand Marais. It was a nice little place, probably not exactly our style of vacation, but a great experience.

One of the most exciting things is that I borrowed my cousin's Nikon D90. I haven't used that nice of a camera, ever, and it was a real treat to shoot. I was amazed how easy it was to operate, but most of my photos show my lack of experience with it. I did manage to come up with this sunset photo right on the bay.



The fall colors were great, but as a rainstorm had blown through a couple days before, a number of leaves were knocked onto the ground. We also had a fair amount of cloud cover and rain. But a great place to get in touch with nature and remind me of how lucky I really am.