I have, yet again, re-configured the Surly for commuting. I decided I wanted to ditch the basket, primarily so I could ride the bike on the weekends without the added weight. I put on my old Carradice saddlebag, and tried to carry the laptop in my messenger bag. After a day’s commuting, I had two observations:

1. The saddlebag is the perfect size for commuting. It swallowed a stuff sack full of my day’s kit (clothes, food, tools, food, and various other small items) with ease.
2. The messenger bag is not at all perfect for carrying my laptop case.

Back on went the basket.

These days, I am using the basket for the laptop case and the saddlebag for everything else, and it’s worked out quite well. The Carradice is holding an amazing amount of stuff, and in yesterday morning’s deluge, it kept my stuff bone dry. The weight on the bike is better balanced, making it easier to throw it over my shoulder to get up and down the stairs to the porch. Ideally, this winter I’ll move to some sort of porteur rack in the front, which would have much smaller profile than the basket, but this requires at least a new fork for proper mounting.

Monday was the first real dose of miserable fall/winter-ish weather, with rain and lower temperatures. I made two mistakes with my kit:

1. Nylon pants
2. No gloves

I actually think #2 was good idea, since my fleece gloves don’t keep my hands warm or dry in the rain. But #1 was a mistake. I probably should have gone with kneewarmers and shorts. That combo would not have kept me dry, but at least I would have been warmer. Conditions like these are always difficult to dress for, however, since it’s not quite cold enough to break out the soft shell (and water resistant) pants, but cold enough to be a bit miserable if you are wet.

Posted on 27 November 2007