Our plan was this: beer.

Ok, we did ride our bikes a bit. We enjoyed an afternoon road ride from Pensacola Beach to Navarre and back with my dad, who recently got a road bike of his own and seems to have been bitten by the bike bug! The wind was great when it was at our backs on the way to Navarre, but the way back was pretty brutal.

Side note: Boys are good to have around in many cycling situations. For this ride, Rossitron made a great wind breaker. Thanks babe!
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Of course we rode around New Orleans with Elisa as well, mostly on the quest for food. If you find yourself in Nola in need of a good breakfast, get yoself to Slim Goodies and get the Creole Slammer – crawfish etouffee over hasbrowns with a fried egg on top. HEAVEN.

This time around we decided to enjoyed the glorious street car for a day as well, which made it much easier to view the beautiful city and drink Daiquiris.

But lest we forget the most important thing: beer. Drinking in the streets is the way to live (on vacation anyway)! Abita Fall Fest = delicious.

We’ll meet at a cocktail lounge in Wicker Park at 7 p.m. The ride will meander around the north side and stop at a few fine places for refreshments. Check back here for more details.

Dottie is so sweet to organize this to introduce me to the city and the awesome folks who live and ride there.  I am very excited!

Alas, Ellen won't be there.

Now…what to wear?  Must go shopping…

OH…and Saturday morning, Cyclin’ Missy and I will be celebrating Dottie’s birthday with a lovely ladies only brunch in Chicago.  It is like a dream come true; lovely ladies, bikes rides, brunch, birthday and blogging!  Please join us if you can.  Details coming for that as well.

Hope to see many new and friendly faces.  Boys, I want to see you in your best Friday night!  Ladies, Saturday will be just lovely.

To bikes and (new) friends!

As many of our long time readers know, I have had a problem finding a bag that gets everything I need, dry and comfortably, to work and play. Banjo Brothers, a friend of both Bici and Bike Skirt, sent a Commuter Backpack as a prize for the Flirty Thirty race.  I didn’t win it, but was intrigued.  Could this be the solution I was looking for?

Messenger bags are wonderful, but I need 2 straps.  I have a long, thin neck and have always had issues with it.  I was also in a car accident in college that gave me soft tissue damage that won’t go away.  None of my bikes have the capabilities for panniers (although I am looking into getting that fixed with a local bike builder), so a backpack is the only way to go for me.

After multiple emails (they were so helpful) to determine which size would work best for me, one arrived at my doorstep.  One look and I knew I would never use my old LLBean bag again.  This thing is classy looking, complete with reflective features that look good even off the bike.  Bells and whistles, but not so many that it is bordering on ridiculous.  Pockets for pens, pencils, cell phone, bike lock keys and a larger pocked for other random things (in my case; wallet, lipstick, bike repair stuffs). There is also a side pocket just right for a U lock that is easily accessible when the pack is on.  This has been the most surprisingly handy pocket so far.

Roomy?…oh my.  I got the medium with 1500 cubic inches of space. I packed it out to see how much it could carry.  Here is what I loaded it down with:

work day: 2 moleskin notebooks, full change of clothes, shoes, sunglasses case, large make up case, lock

work +play day: change of clothes, makeup case, 6 pack of beer, bottle of wine, triscuits, lock

Grocery day: a full weeks worth of groceries.  pork tenderloin, grapes, pop tarts, 1/2 gallon of milk, 2 cans of veggies, jar of spaghetti sauce and dry pasta, lock

conference day: laptop, rainjacket, t shirt, 2 notebooks, 2 magazines, lock

I waited to post this review until I had ridden in a good downpour with it.  On said day, I also got a flat in the storm, so the waterproof claim was definitely tested.  I arrived soaking wet, with everything in the bag bone dry.  I had a few items in the outer pockets that were damp, but anything in the large waterproof liner was dry.

The straps do distribute the weight evenly though I do use the waist strap as well.  The bag itself is not light, something I had to get used to.  When fully loaded, it is a heavy thing to hoist on.  I also find that if I put it low on my back, it pulls a bit on my neck.  I am still tweaking the correct strap length.  The u lock pocket makes for an uneven weight distribution that takes some strap adjustment necessary in order to keep it from falling one way or the other.

All in all, I would recommend this bag to anyone needing a good, sturdy backpack.  If you just want to carry around a notebook and repair kit, this is a bit much.  For the serious commuter however, it has everything you need.  The price is reasonable for all the amenities at $79.99.  Oh, and the folks running the company are good people who care about your comfort and happiness.  When I tweeted that my back hurt, I got a message asking if I wanted to trade or how they could help.  That is rare and welcome.

Bike Love!

When you order one, tell ‘em Bike Skirt sent you…

Goes with everything

This morning, I awoke to this lovely sight…SNOW!!!

obviously I had to ride in it. So I got dressed (skirt, boots, raincoat) and headed to a friend’s for brunch. It was snowing hard. Let me tell you, it is not easy climbing a (albeit small) mountain on unplowed, undriven roads. I was sliding all over the place. In a curve of the mountain I heard a whistle and “Lady, you MUST be crazy!”. Looked up and it was a policeman, standing next to a flipped over car, with a firetruck and ambulance nearby. I yelled back “Too late to turn around now” and he responded with “Hope you are ready to fall, because you are gonna!”. Thanks for the encouragement.

needless to say, I did not fall (ha!), but did enjoy the sights. We don’t get snow here often, so it is a very big deal. As I was riding, the park was filling up with families bringing sleds and cardboard to slide down the sides of the park and people building snowmen all along the road. It was lovely and so much better than being in a car (although perhaps a bit scarier…). Mick Jagger loves the snow.

The ride home was sunny and you heard water dripping as the snow melted. It was nice while it lasted.

sad car