Sunday, May 15

A Day Without Flats...

A day without a flat is like a day without sunshine. So it rained today. Sometimes it rained hard. I got to see lightning and hear thunder on the way home. Fortunately, nothing was too close at hand, so I didn't have to experience a "near strike" situation. ON THE OTHER HAND, it was nasty enough for me to forgo the "on the way home" cup of coffee. Sometimes, we have to make mighty sacrifices for the bike commute.

Still, valuable items were learned on the quest to become "more than just a fair weather cyclist."

First off, I validated my new approach of "double bagging" my saddle to withstand the rain and using those same bags to keep things bone dry in the trunk. While I didn't take a photo, I demonstrated once again that a used plastic sandwich bag makes a dandy bag to keep a cell phone and wallet in and dry.

Double Bagging the Saddle and Keeping the Goodies Dry - Double Duty
I also tested the polyethylene booty "keep the shoes dry" strategy. It worked, though I discovered that commuting puts a much higher toll on my right one than on my left. I also suggest that anyone considering this approach will want to match the cut of the booty with the cut of the shoe. A little higher cuts would have been better for "Costco Court Classic" shoes. Still,  today's experience suggests I'll get at least two commutes out of each pair of booties and maybe three with some selected duct tape reinforcement.

Left Booty, Relatively Good After Six Miles
Right Booty Gets Shredded Faster Due to Stops

Saddle Stays Pretty Dry Despite Heavy Rain

No Wait to Use the Grill Today

3 comments:

GreenComotion said...

Steve,
Today, I too used the sandwich bag to protect my wallet (not exactly sure if there was anything in it worth protecting...) and my phone!

I am not gonna say "Stay dry", as we desperately need the rain :)

Peace :)

John Romeo Alpha said...

Well, it's good you didn't get another flat, for changing a flat in the pouring rain w/thunder and lightning would fall low on the pleasantness scale. Around 1, I think.

limom said...

I like them booties!

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