Basket Life- Help me find a bag!

Edit: I found a bag! I'm in love with my Swift Industries Sugarloaf. Full details of why I went with this bag and why I love it are in this post.

I’m approaching year my one-year anniversary of buying my Surly Straggler and if you’ve ever looked at my Instagram, it’s no secret that I love that bicycle. She fits me like no other bike ever has and we go on some outstanding adventures together. Over mountains, under bridges, finding new friends, and down highways. That glitter dream machine is truly a dream bicycle for me.

Because of the Shimano 105 components, I’m limited in my front carry capacity options. The cables are routed such a way that it limits the installation of a porteur or handlebar bag, and unless I switch my entire setup (or go with v-noodles to get the cables out of the way), I’m pretty much stuck with it. Thankfully, I’ve got some awesome local bike shop knowledge who was able to hook me up with a great front rack and basket, so I can still live that low-trail lifestyle and #basketlife.

I started out riding with the Soma Lucas Mini Front Rack and the Wald 137 basket. I was warned that the carrying capacity for this rack was 10lbs, and I regularly pushed that over its limit. This setup lasted quite a while, throughout my first camping season and into winter. It also survived two crashes, bearing the brunt of most of my falls and holding up pretty well. This rack was great overall, with an eyelet for a dynamo light and super lightweight.

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The Soma Lucas Mini Front Rack

Eventually however, I stressed this rack out beyond its capacity. Finally admitting that I like to carry lots of things, I settled on the Surly 8 Pack Rack, a much heavier duty chromoly steel rack with a 30lb carrying capacity. This rack seems much better suited to my bike set up, fitting way closer to the fork, improving handling, and overall feel.  This rack also has eyelets for my dynamo light, so making the switch was pretty easy.

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Surly 8 Pack Rack

Now that I’ve got the hardware dialed in, my biggest challenge is how to carry the soft goods. Searching the market of bike bags, there seems to be an infinite supply of backpacks, panniers, frame bags, porteur, and handlebar bags. But there are very limited options for bags specifically designed for baskets!

Most of the time if you see me rolling around town, my basket looks crazy. I’ll have groceries, shoes, maybe a change of clothes, food, and perhaps a pool noodle strapped to it. For camping trips I’ve been known to throw my tent poles in there along with a 6 pack and a speaker. I’ve searched REI high and low for a bag that will fit nice and neat to help me stay organizedand come up empty handed every time. My best option so far has been a reusable bag from Trader Joes.

Check out the photos below- thank God for a cargo net or my stuff would be flying all over the roads! I seriously need a better solution ASAP! 

I know of 2 companies making purposefully built basket bags- Sackville and Porcelain Rocket. Both seem to be pretty great- hooks/buttons on the bottom for extra security, zippered tops, organizational pockets, everything that you’d want in a bag. But they’re kind of boring, especially the Sackville one that I could actually afford. The Porcelain Rocket comes in lots of fun colors, but for $175, I could probably learn how to sew.

So, friends and creative types, anybody want to make me a basket bag? I’ll pay you! We can prototype on my bike and then get rich! It’s what all the cool kids are doing now days. We’ll even have an Instagram or something for your product line. 

My Next Thirty Years

I grew up deep in the heart of Texas in a very liberal household. My mom is from Pennsylvania and my dad is from Missouri. We were working class, raised Jewish, blue blooded Democrats. My mom was adamant that I would never talked with a Texan accent because it “sounded ignorant.” Despite all of this influence, there was no keeping me away from Tim McGraw.

The first time I made out with somebody all night long was to his “Greatest Hits” album  (true confession- he was a bull rider on my high school's rodeo team. How Texan is that?)  I slow danced at summer camp on the tennis court to “Don’t Take the Girl” and remember fondly driving down country roads singing “Down on the Farm.” As much as I loved my pop-punk CDs, Tim McGraw, sweet tea, and Texas country definitely held a special place in my heart.

As I’m about to hit my 30th birthday, I can’t help but think about his song “My Next 30 Years.” Look at these cheese ball lyrics:

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age

The ending of an era and the turning of a page

Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here

Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

 

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun

Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done

Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears

And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

 

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores

Cry a little less, laugh a little more

Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear

Figure out just what I’m doing here

In my next thirty years

 

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight

Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late

Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers

Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

 

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life

Raise a little family and hang out with my wife

Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear

Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years

In my next thirty year

 

Reading those lyrics, I gotta say, I’ve done a pretty good job so far. An upcoming blog post will cover some reflections on my last 10 years, but yeah, overall, I’m pretty darn pleased with things. So, Tim, thanks, I think I’d be ok doing all of that in my next 30 years.

 

Ten Thoughts I had During my First Randonneuring Ride

The French are so fancy. They have a great word for everything. Instead of saying “Hey, let’s go on a really long bike ride for no good reason”, they say “Let’s go randonneuring.”  I’ve been wanting to try out this sport for a while and last Friday offered the perfect chance, a night start 100k, or a populaire.

The Night Start 100k hosted by the Seattle International Randonneurs ride started in Snohomish at 7pm and took place mainly on the Centennial Trail, offering a great opportunity for rando newbies to test out our legs in a non-intimidating, welcoming environment. I’m obviously alive to tell my tale and over the course of 100 kilometers had a lot of time to think. Here are some of the things that went through my head during my first randonneuring ride.

1.       1 kilometer didn’t take very long to ride. 100 of these won’t take very long at all. (This was probably 10 minutes into the ride.)

2.       Sleeping more than 4 hours the night before would’ve been a really good idea. I had grand plans of going to bed early, hydrating well, and starting the ride fresh, but that all got thrown out the window with Thursday’s Point83 ride. You’re only 29 once, right?

3.       I wonder what my tire pressure is at right now? Should it be higher?

4.       Gnats don’t taste like anything when they fly in your mouth at a high rate of speed. The people on Naked and Afraid™ should design a gnat trap and eat lots of those for protein. (I think this is when the sleep deprivation started to set in.

5.       Do you really need three bollards on each end of a rail trail? Seems like two is perfectly sufficient to keep motorized vehicles off, while not impeding cyclists.

6.       Math is really hard at 12:30 in the morning, you’ve been riding bikes for 5.5 hours and subsequently figuring out that you have 13 miles left to ride and not 7 is really defeating to your morale.

7.       Strava is unnecessary and counts way too slow. Turn it off and enjoy the ride. The checkpoint will be there regardless.

8.       My knee hurts when I’m clipped in. It’s probably time for a bike fit to have that looked at.

9.       Running over a slug makes an awful squishing noise.

10.   Maintaining a 9mph average speed over 62 miles is actually pretty easy, it’s just a matter of not stopping as much as I usually do. I think I might be able to get into this rando thing.

Dress for Success - Gwynnie Bee Review

Lots of folks assume that I work full time in the bike industry but I actually have a big kid, grown up adult job in the logistics industry. Since 2008, I've worked at the corporate headquarters of a huge logistics company in downtown Seattle, which is kind of amazing since I have a degree in Women Studies. I got stupid lucky when I graduated from UW, landed at a company that believed in me, and I've worked my way up into my current position since then!

My company requires a VERY strict dress code-including shirts and ties for men, and business professional for women. While not explicitly stated, this includes covering up visible tattoos and basically looking super-dooper professional at all times.

Compared to many of my friends who work at tech start-ups, Amazon, and other more relaxed companies, it can be a little frustrating to not be able to roll into work in cute black skinny jeans and an adorable shirt or sundress.

As just about any woman who has to dress up can tell you, it also gets really expensive, really fast. A dress suit can cost anywhere from $150-400, a skirt or dress can be upwards of $80, and even a nice shirt can be $50 up. This gets pricey fast, especially in a culture that doesn't value styles that can be worn year after year.

My laziness towards my work outfits reached an ultimate peak this past year, which I just started keeping all of my clothes at work. I've been known to have 3 blazers, 6 pairs of shoes, and 4 pairs of pants in my locker at work at all times. I would just bring a different shirt to work, throw it on and be ready to go. Functional and within the dress code? Yep! Cute, eh, not so much. 

That all changed recently when I discovered Gwynnie Bee. This service is stupid awesome, and I freaking love it. $99 a month for 3 items at a time. All of the items I've gotten have been adorable, perfectly suitable for work, and in really good shape. The shipping is really fast, so even though they say 3 items at a time, I had 15+ different outfits for April, and May is shaping up to be the same way.

They have a huge variety of clothing to select- from contemporary work outfits (blazers, dresses, shirts, skirts), to cocktail dresses, to super cute outfits I would wear on a date. The best thing is that ALL of the clothing fits! Their sizing runs from sizes 10-32 (for real!)- I'm a size 14 and have been able to find nearly everything I've wanted in my size.

Here's what I have lined up to be sent to me soon:

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Can you tell I'm really into dresses right now?

Don't mind the goofy face in this photo- I usually only take selfies when I'm on my bike. This was my favorite dress so far, paired with my own blazer, and I got more compliments than I ever have on any outfit at work. 

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The other great thing is that if you *really* love something, you can keep it and your card gets charged! So simple!

So, needless to say, I'm totally hooked on it. I hate shopping, but with this, I just pick out clothes on the internet, they get shipped to me, when I'm done with them, I put them in a bag and send them back. I don't even have to do laundry. And then they send me more. So easy.

I think a few things could be improved, specifically with their ecological impact. Each garment comes shipped in a cardboard box and wrapped in purple tissue paper. I can understand the first box being packaged with way, but subsequent boxes could be shipped in the blue poly bags that they have you return items in. I understand that the cardboard boxes are recyclable, but with 7-10 shipments arriving per month, this feels pretty wasteful.

Each garment also comes with an individual cardboard hangtag that says "Wash on gentle cycle" that has been safety pinned on. With the freedom to keep each garment as long as you like, I understand why they've included these instructions, but do they really need to be on each garment? Unless you take the time to separate the safety pin, ribbon, and cardboard, this little hangtag is not going to be successfully recycled.

Gwynnie Bee does make a good faith effort to encourage bulk returns, only including 2 return envelopes for every 3 items they ship you, which I applaud them for.

Overall, I really enjoy this service and it's drastically reduced my shopping habits. 

If you want to try a month for free, use this link: http://goo.gl/lT7MSD .