What's in Your Panniers?!

I was waiting for the light to cross John Nolan Drive when two MAMILs pulled up next to me on their road bikes. What’s a MAMIL you ask? That would be a Middle-Aged Man In Lycra. I noticed the man closest to me was eyeballing my bike with a bit of intrigue. Since my Dutch bike is somewhat of a novelty around Madison, I’m used to this. I anticipated him to ask about the bike as others often do. However, it was something else that caught his interest in particular. He asked, “What have you got in your panniers?! Not ALL of your possessions I hope!”

This of course made me laugh. The light changed and we were on our respective ways. I pedaled along thinking about the stark differences between myself and the MAMIL, who passed me and sped away. He rode a bike manufactured to be as light as possible. Nothing superfluous was attached to it - no fenders, bags, or racks - not an ounce of extra weight.

Carrying camera equipment by bike

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is my 45 lb steel bike. It has front and rear racks, large panniers, fenders, a chainguard, and skirt guards. The consideration here is every-day practicality, not lightness and speed, although I can keep up with the average cyclist on the paths. The bike is built for haulin’ and can carry 115 lbs on the racks. Even fully loaded, it still handles well and isn’t awkward.

Getting groceries by bike

To answer his question, no, I didn’t have all my possessions in my panniers, only those necessary for a regular weekday, and that happens to be a good bit of stuff! I had my work bag with my laptop, large planner, and writing supplies (which for me means pens in every color imaginable). I also have a gym bag with clothes, shoes, and toiletries. Then there’s my lunchbox, and the small, but essential items, such as my wallet, phone, lip balm, etc.

Some days require enough gear that I use a large gym bag PLUS my panniers!

Perhaps it takes a little more planning and preparation to set out each day on my bike, but it won’t surprise you that I think it’s totally worth it. It also can be more of a hassle to make impromptu stops or an extra challenge to meet someone at a restaurant, when I have so much stuff in tow. This sometimes means leaving my used gym clothes in my panniers along with my lunchbox. I figure if someone steals that stuff, the joke’s on them.

WorkCycles Secret Service

After several years of year-round use, my trusty old Dutch bike was becoming rusty and less trustworthy. The time had come to replace it with a nicer, more reliable ride. There was no question about it - I would definitely be getting another Dutch bike. As I’ve written about in the past, I find Dutch bikes to be perfectly suited for everyday cycling. My older bike was very basic and I was looking forward to something a little fancier. Enter WorkCycles.

I rode a WorkCycles while visiting Portland and was immediately impressed by its luxurious feel, sturdy construction, and top-of-the-line components. Peter has been riding around on a WorkCycles for a couple years now and has been quite pleased with his bike. I’ve also read many good reviews. The only way to know for sure though was to test ride them myself.

I headed down to Chicago to visit J.C. Lind Bike Co., which had the WorkCycles Oma and Secret Service in stock, as well as a Pilen that I was curious about. I took each bike out for a spin and they were all great, but I knew the Secret Service was the one. It’s more appropriate for the longer distances I ride than the traditional Oma, which is less lively in its handling.

The Secret Service offers a smooth ride that you have to experience to understand. I won’t go into all the specs, which you can find here, but a few of my favorite features include rollerbrakes, which are great in the snow. Also, whereas as my old Dutch bike has three gears, the Secret Service has eight, a noticeable advantage on hills.

Along with the heavy duty rear rack, I have a frame-mounted front rack as well. So far I’ve hauled my daily essentials, groceries, and even video equipment with the bike. I’ve been super impressed by how well it handles with the racks loaded and that I don’t really sense the extra weight.

The dynamo lighting is very convenient. However, because I set out before dawn and go through some areas without streetlights, I’ve also attached a USB rechargeable light to the handlebars.

Several years ago Peter purchased a bike from J.C. Lind Bike Co. and rode it back to Madison. I opted to bring my new bike home an easier way. The bike rack wasn’t exactly designed for step-through bikes, but it worked with a little creativity. Once back in Madison, Peter and I immediately set out on a celebratory ride on our respective WorkCycles.

Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with my new bike!

She's Got Leggings

And she knows how to use them. Hey, my dad listened to a lot of ZZ Top when I was growing up - I couldn’t help myself! In my years of biking in cold weather, I’ve identified the best garments that work well with my style and the time I spend in the saddle. Today I’m giving a shout-out to leggings!

I have some cotton leggings that are great for the fall and spring. They are warm, have a tight knit that helps to block the wind, and are super comfy. 

The ultimate in leggings for winter are fleece leggings, which look like typical leggings on the outside, but have plush, brushed fleece on the inside. These are warmer and better at blocking the winter wind than cotton leggings. Bonus - they are very quick drying and can handle a light rain or snowfall.

For freezing days - and you know we have plenty of those here in Wisconsin - I double them up. Yes, two luscious layers of fleece leggings. It’s like having your legs in a windproof, warm cloud!

I wear skirts most days during the colder months because it’s hard to beat the warmth and comfort of fleece leggings. My pants aren’t nearly as warm and it’s not comfortable to squeeze my skinny jeans on over leggings or long janes. 

Not only are fleece leggings perfect for cold-weather riding, they are also inexpensive to add to your wardrobe - I’ve found them at TJ Maxx for about $10 a pair. Don’t avoid the weather - avoid not dressing properly for it!

Biking into the Future - DIY Electric Bike

Please welcome my friend Seth to the blog! He’s here to share how he added an electric assist to a couple of everyday bikes and how it’s helped him bike more often. - Alyson

I love to bike for the thrill of being outside with the wind on my face and feeling close to nature. Still, there are days when I wake up late and am pressed for time, or when it seems so easy to just hop in my car and drive that I forget why I like biking to work.

I wanted to avoid these kinds of mornings and make going by bike the easy decision. How could I get to work faster, but without the rush? How could I still get in some exercise, yet ride when I am dog-tired or unmotivated? Enter modern technology.

Prefabricated electric bikes can be bulky and expensive, but it’s possible to convert existing bikes at a fraction of the cost and with little extra weight (about 7lbs). This seemed like just the thing to get me and my girlfriend on our bikes on those days we might not otherwise ride.

After about an afternoon’s worth of work, our bikes were sporting inconspicuous, lightweight, motorized hubs powered by rechargeable battery packs. The hubs are controlled by a handlebar-mounted throttle with a tiny display panel indicating power usage. It’s easy to use - engage the throttle for a boost or ride the old-fashioned way when it’s disengaged with no additional drag.  

How much the throttle is engaged + the amount of pedaling = how fast the bike will go, as well as how much juice is drained from the battery. With the throttle fully engaged and without any pedaling, our electric bikes go about 15 miles an hour, for 8-10 miles. With pedaling, we can reach 20 miles an hour and a much longer distance.
Each charge of the battery costs only about $0.03 worth of electricity. I just need to remember to bring it in and charge it!

Our trips by bike have gone beyond simply getting to work. Now we’re running errands and heading out to see friends on our bikes. If you hear a slight whirring sound on the bike path and see a couple of smiling faces, it just might be us.

Contact

You can send me email at lakowske at gmail dot com for any questions about the electric conversion.  Feel free to stop by my website sethlakowske.com to learn more about what I am up to.

A Hot Mess

If my name wasn’t Alyson, it would be Betty. Sweaty Betty. Sweating can be a major concern for people considering biking for transportation. So let’s have a candid talk about it!

For many bike commuters, sweat won’t be a problem. Your ride will be short enough that you won’t have the time to work up much heat. Or maybe your ride is stop and go, so again, you’re not likely to get sweaty.

For some of us, this isn’t the case. I bike eight miles to work and there are several stretches where I can pick up the pace and go fast for miles at a time. I know the adage is, “bike slowly if you don’t want to sweat,” but I can’t help it. If I can go fast, I will - it’s part of the fun of biking!
Over the years I’ve been biking for transportation, I’ve gotten comfortable in my own (sweaty) skin. I’ve found that sweating doesn't make you “dirty.” I can sweat a little in the morning and still feel fresh for the day. I’ve developed non-showering methods to freshen up and choose clothing that will keep me cool.

What doesn’t feel fresh and can lead to body odor is wearing sweaty synthetic fabrics. In the winter my go-tos are wool and cashmere because they are quick-drying and never smell. Tank tops are my favorite for hot summer days because of the great ventilation. Often I’ll bike in a tank top and throw on a light cardigan at work. If it’s a particularly hot and humid day, I may even bring a fresh shirt to change into at work.

Look - you might sweat, but that doesn't mean you have to shower. Get used to a little sweat, it’s ok. Really.

Bike into an Active Lifestyle

Getting a significant amount of daily exercise used to be a challenge for me, but when I got a new job in 2010, I started biking about seven miles to work. As such, a sizable dose of daily exercise became the norm rather than the exception. On the recreational side, I was really getting into touring and bike camping, extending my rides tens of miles and hours in the saddle, getting a feel for what I was capable of.

Around this time, I started tracking my physical activity in a log I have faithfully kept to this day. It can be easy to feel like you’ve been active when you’ve really been a couch potato. I know, I’ve been there. The log is not so easily fooled! 

Before the boost in activity from my longer bike commute, I struggled to meet my goal of averaging one hour of exercise a day. Days would go by with nothing to record in my log. Then when I felt motivated, I’d go to the UW-Madison rec center to pound out a few (boring) miles on the treadmill, journey on a long walk around town, do some yoga, or on occasion take my vintage Schwinn on what felt like an epic ride of 20 miles. Yet, I never created a habit out of any of it that amounted to much exercise - my log made that clear.

Since then, my experiences with biking have given me confidence to try new fitness activities, like long-distance running, bouldering, and CrossFit. Having established the habit of daily exercise has made it easier to integrate these new activities into my lifestyle, maybe like learning a second foreign language. 

Now I have no problem surpassing what were once goals I struggled to achieve. My exercise log is documentation of how far I’ve come and a way for me to celebrate my success. 

Try biking for transportation as the first step toward an active lifestyle. You don’t need to be in shape to get started, it’s easy to fit into your day, and it will make you feel good. Keep track of your progress. In the beginning, your bike may just get you to work - then see where else it takes you!

A Stand of Trees

There’s something romantic about changing into your party clothes with only the cover of a few bare trees and your husband yelling, “car!” when you need to duck down.

Our friend’s annual Kentucky Derby party isn’t an event you want to miss - the company and mint juleps can’t be beat. So when our friends moved out to the country near Cross Plains a few years ago, we continued to bike to the party. 

On account of a stiff headwind topping 20 mph, this year’s trip was slow going on the Military Ridge State Trail and became a real struggle when we turned off the trail onto hilly country roads. I had a couple heart-sinking moments while grinding up a hill into the wind and realizing I already was in my lowest gear. I groaned, yelled out, and spun my legs vehemently to make it to the top.

I was happy when we could see our au naturel changing area off in the distance - it meant we had only about a mile left! We grabbed our panniers stuffed with our party clothes and headed down the ditch and into the trees. For the full story of packing and changing in this manner, check out this video post I made last year.

After changing and freshening up, Peter and I rode off to the party, pulling up looking like we didn’t bike.

Rainy Day Go-Bag

It’s time for spring showers. Instead of groaning about the weather, I put together a rainy day go-bag.

I already owned decent rain gear, so a little rain was not the problem, rather it was the hassle of getting all my stuff together. Rifling through my coat closet to find rain pants and searching a bin of camping gear for a dry sack, when I should have already been out the door and well on my way, was no fun. By the time I had found everything, it was difficult to retain a good attitude about riding through the rain - it was already an inconvenience.

So that rainy days no longer upset my morning routine, I put all my rain gear in a dry sack and keep it stashed somewhere easily accessible. Maybe the sky is clear on my way to work, but it’ll be raining when I’m heading home -  I just grab my rainy day go-bag and well, go!
 
Here’s what’s in my bag: rain pants, small dry sack, and lightweight rain jacket with a hood.

My backpack is water-resistant and will keep its contents dry in a light shower, but in heavier rain I slide it into the large dry sack before putting it in my bike basket. Anything I want to easily access - phone, keys, wallet, - I put in the small dry sack, which also goes into my basket.

Spring Transformation of Bike Paths

The bell broke off my bike a couple of months ago and I hadn’t bothered to replace it, mainly because I didn’t have much use for it. During the winter, I have long stretches of empty path to myself. Now that it’s warming up, it’s a different story.

Just like the migratory birds, all of the other path users are back with the warmer weather. Nice sunny days flood the paths with walkers, joggers, strollers, road cyclists, and the seasonal everyday cyclists, along with the occasional skateboarder. That’s when a bell comes in handy.

I enjoy watching the transformation with every ride - I see another species of bird that’s returned, the shoots of daffodils, as well as Madisonians coming out to walk, run, or bike off their cabin fever.  

Welcome back!

Are You Crazy?

Reflecting back on biking through this winter, it’s not the frigid winds I battled or the snow I plowed through that made the greatest impression. Rather, I can’t stop thinking about how often I arrived somewhere by bike and was asked, “Are you crazy?”

I felt like I never had a good response to this question and it always seemed to catch me off guard. While it was never posed in a rude way, having your sanity questioned by others on a daily basis can make you wonder about yourself or just make you feel weird.  

Continuing to bike during the colder months makes sense to me for all of the reasons I have described in previous posts, so I tried to better understand the statement in the question. I think usually it's meant as a pat on the back rather than a personal jab, like I must be proud to be a “crazy, hardcore winter biker.” However, I would not describe myself that way.

I thought about an appropriate way to respond. Because the question can seem to be committing the faux pas of judging someone else’s lifestyle choice to their face, it's sometimes tempting to give a snarky response. Probably just as off-putting would be to pontificate about the benefits of bicycling to the environment and one’s health. Too brief of a reply or just shrugging off the question wastes having someone else’s ear. Instead, I want to use the opportunity to advocate for biking year-round by letting them know that I don’t think I'm something special for doing so. For me, biking during the winter isn't some act of self-sacrifice on behalf of the planet. I actually find it personally rewarding.

Then one day, it just came out. I was greeted with the usual question by a stranger and I was able to answer in a way that I think describes why I continue my life by bike throughout the seasons:

“I get a lot out of the time I spend on my bike each day. It both relaxes and energizes me. It gives me time with my thoughts or to observe the world around me. It makes me feel good. It’s such a pleasant part of my day that cold weather isn’t enough to make me stop and it’s not something I can give up for months out of the year.”

Wintertime Bike Care

Have you ever taken something you love for granted? When I look at my road-salt encrusted bike, I wonder, “How did I let it come to this?!” It’s easy to make excuses for my negligence, because it’s been such a cold winter. After arriving home, I’d rush inside to let my eyelash-cicles melt and leave my bike to rust in the garage, rather than ever taking some time to clean it off.

No excuses - my bike is slowly dying under that coat of sparkling salt. I got some great tips for caring for my bike throughout the winter from Dan Sorger of DBC City Bike Design. I gathered up the supplies he suggested and got to work giving my bike, Madeline, the love a trusty steed deserves.

In the basement and ready for a bath

I set up a work area in the basement where I could wipe down the bike with some dish soap and warm water. Dan suggests using a sponge, because you want to float the dirt and grit off the bike, not grind it into the paint.

Look at the grit that accumulated inside the chain case!

The next step is applying a layer of wax on all the metal to create a moisture barrier and to prevent the bike from rusting. I picked up some car wax from the hardware store and applied it per the instructions.

Looking good!