Panniers are Backpack Killers

If my experience is at all representative^*, backpack makers must despise rack and pannier makers. I have commuted with panniers for the last couple of years. Recently I had the pleasure of taking my Trek 520 (build update coming soon) to work and back a few times as I tested it out and tweaked some things. The bike has no racks yet and thus can't carry panniers, or as some call them, saddlebags. So, I went back to how I used to do it and strapped on my trusty old backpack.

I didn't like it at all. Here's why:

1) Sweaty Back - Going by all the crap I read, this is perhaps the most popular reason for disliking backpacks and is quite self-explanatory.

2) Shifting Load - I suppose if I had the straps better adjusted, this wouldn't have been a problem, but the backpack also would have bound my jacket even more tightly to my body, exacerbating problem number 1. My backpack shifted around when I was making turns and stuff and I had to compensate by changing my body position a little. I didn't like that.

3) Higher Centre of Gravity - Riding with panniers, I have become accustomed to a very stable bicycle (particularly in the rear) with a nice low centre of gravity. Carrying more weight up high felt pretty weird and less safe, although I suspect I could adjust to this pretty easily if I had to. After all, Mutant Winter's load rides pretty high too (although not as high as a backpack).

4) The Principle of the Thing - Before I used panniers, I wouldn't have had the following thought, but here it is. Given a choice, why would one strap a load to oneself rather than letting the machine carry it? It is kind of like inventing the first wagon and continuing to carry the basket of wheat on your head, or going to the grocery store in your car and carrying the food home on your lap. Machines are supposed to help us out with this kind of thing.

I suspect that people who get a rack and some panniers may never go back to the backpack unless, like me, they have no choice. This is also the reason that if I were a backpack maker, I would hate rack and pannier makers. Thankfully for them there are still lots of people who don't ride bikes often enough to invest in racks and panniers and who will stick to the backpack they use while on foot. Keep the up-tick in utility cyclists going, though, and there could be a rack/pannier vs. backpack showdown, or even shootout! That would be so cool! Oh Crap. I have just been struck by WTF syndrome again:

Ah well. It is what it is.

^* In the course of writing posts for this blog, I have come to realize that my experience and reactions and opinions may not be representative of normal people in any way, shape or form. Let me know if I am preaching to the choir or way off base in the comments!

Hey, Take A Load Off.

R A N T W I C K

PS - Please note that I did not mention messenger bags. I have never owned one, so I can't reasonably comment on them. Perhaps you could, though.

Random Acts of Lottery

You know how there are things you ride past every day that catch your eye? Well, there's a sign and item on my regular "late for work" commute route that has been there for a very long time.

I want to buy that plow. I don't own an ATV and probably never will. I guess I just want to put that sign out of its misery. Sadly, I don't have $150 to throw at something don't need or even want. But if I won the Lottery, it would be one of the first things I did with my newfound wealth. I would not, by the way, buy an ATV to go with it. Perhaps I could somehow incorporate it into the decor of my new super cool small neighbourhood pub featuring an abnormally excellent stage and sound system. How about you? Do you have something small and/or weird that you would do with a sudden influx of cash? Just wondering...

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

5 Unrelated Things I Really Like

As we approach Canadian Thanksgiving, my thoughts should be turning to things of true value, like family and love and food to eat, but I'll save that stuff for the actual Thanksgiving Weekend; it wouldn't do to have my priorities straight on days unsanctioned by Church and/or State, would it? For now I'm going to focus on some things I just really like other than the ones that seem to keep coming up around here like bikes and/or bike accessories and trees and/or tree products or the overuse of the phrase "and/or".

Some things are just so much better than others that those lesser things should have a complex. Thankfully they are things, and things can't have complexes or get angry or jealous. If I were one of those lesser things I would have a deep jealous hatred of the following 5 excellent items:

1) Zip Ties

So simple and ingenious and handy. Like a beer drinker with only 6 beers left on the Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend, I get a little antsy when my zip tie stash gets low.

2) The Tilt-A-Whirl

I laugh uncontrollably on the Tilt-A-Whirl. The older I get, the worse it becomes. My children like taking me on it because they almost never see me that way and I like letting them. When I say uncontrollably, I mean uncontrollably. Once I start I can't stop, and I start on the first good spin. Tears stream down my face. People in line laugh at me. It's fun.

3) Zipper Bags

I use these as parts sorters, camera rain covers, booties, you name it. Cheap. Waterproof. Yep.

4) Suspension Bridges

The bridge pictured above is the Mackinac Bridge. It connects "mainland" Michigan with its Upper Peninsula. I have travelled over it many times on my way from my current home in London Ontario to my family home in Thunder Bay. I think suspension bridges are beautiful, combining form and function, engineering and aesthetics. Seeing a suspension bridge just lifts my spirits, I guess.

5) USB Drives

USB drives are what I think technology should be... straightforward, useful little devices that just make things so much easier. I also like the physicality of them. Plug 'em in, carry them around, plug 'em in somewhere else. Computer files physically moved (rather than transmitted) from one place to another. Old Magic made new. For some unknown BS reason I don't like the phrase "thumb drive" when referring to them. I mean, who cares? I do, it would seem, because I am insane.

Well, that's it. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to make such a list, but you know, why not? Blogging is good that way. Have an excellent weekend and keep your eyes open for contenders in the Smackdown.

What about you? Got any to add?

R A N T W I C K

PS - I wrote this post on Thursday night. When I scheduled it to be published Friday morning, I noticed that the date was all ones and zeros...

mm/dd/yy - 10/01/10
dd/mm/yy - 01/10/10

Just for kicks,

100110 in binary = 38 in decimal and 26 in hexadecimal.

011010 in binary = 26 in decimal and 1A in hex.

I've become too lazy to do such conversions myself. Isn't the Internet great? No more thinking required. I used this converter.

Those numbers are completely meaningless to me. How about you? Wouldn't it be great if somebody reading this (or a friend) was turning 38 or 26 today? Or perhaps you could reach a little and freak out because today's test is in room 1A or something. Let me know.