Fall Riding...

Can be a ton of fun! The ability to get out and ride my bike, have beautiful places to ride it, and have people to ride with are among the things I'm thankful for this week.

Hope everyone gets a chance to ride this Thanksgiving week - or at least get outside for a bit! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Bike to Vote!

For some thoughts on biking and voting, check out my post at BikeCommuters.com. TL;DR version: Ride your bike to the polls, and make sure you research what's on your ballot before you go!

Post-Sandy Status

This was about the worst I could find within a half mile of my house:

Yes it's a bit more water than usual, but hardly newsworthy. We thankfully seem to have escaped the brunt of the storm.

This guy appears to have taken it all very calmly:

(Apologies for the lack of zoom, but this is the best my phone can do, and I was on a bridge so it's not like I could sneak closer).

The same ride on which I took these photos (Monday morning - things actually looked BETTER on Tuesday) was my first ride out on my road single speed, an old Bridgestone 450 with a few upgrades, since I changed the gearing up a little. I like it so far, we'll see how it does on some longer and faster rides. It was also a test of the Continental Super Sport Plus tires (on test for BikeCommuters.com) in the rain - they seemed to hold up well, though my lack of confidence with skinny tires on wet leaves meant I probably didn't push the limits!

Review: WTB Freedom Cruz 29er tires

I've been riding the WTB Freedom Cruz 29er tires on my Redline Monocog 29er for a few months now, and just posted a full review of them over at BikeCommuters.com. The basics: at a 29 x 2.0" size (they come in 26" as well), these are not for your typical city bike or hybrid! Per product description, they're meant to "turn your 29″ dirt-crusted steed into a quick and nimble commuter workhorse." While in general I prefer to keep my mountain bikes on mostly dirt, I had the bike available and a new bike I was riding more, so on the tires went! After a couple months of solid riding, I can definitely say the Freedom Cruz fits the bill for commuting! Very smooth-rolling for sure. They also seem to track well on surfaces ranging from pavement to hardpack dirt - I wouldn't want to try them out in a lot of mud or loose dirt, but on smooth surfaces they work well (wet or dry)
For the full take on these tires, please click on over to the review at BikeCommuters.com!

Asleep at the Handlebars

We went out for lunch, shopping, and playing in the fountain on Labor Day. We all had fun... but some of us couldn't make it all the way back before starting naptime! The Yepp Mini and Electra Townie are definitely a good combination.

Waterproof Testing (Velo Transit gear)

Over the past couple months I've been reviewing the Velo Transit Edge 40 backpack and Metro 20 Pannier for BikeCommuters.com. One of the big selling points of these was the waterproof quality... but it unfortunately didn't rain during commuting hours (or really, hardly at all) during the entire time I had them.  So... I had to set up my own testing grounds... otherwise known as a sprinkler in my backyard.  As you'll see, I had some help...

A bike rack mounted to a couple 2x4's served to hold things up

Otis wanted to help, but didn't really like getting wet

R thought getting wet was a lot of fun and volunteers to help in future product testing

Both the backpack and pannier came through pretty well on the waterproof front - some water got through on the outside pockets (or looked like it would eventually), but the main pockets of both stayed quite dry - unlike me and my test assistants!

Photos of Life

I've been busy lately and have a few posts in the works - for here, for MtnBikeRiders.com, and for BikeCommuters.com - but for now I figured I'd share a few photos I've taken recently.  Enjoy!

New bike and a beautiful background

Water play on a hot day

This tractor has pedals

Happy girl in a comfy chair

Who're you looking at?