First outing with a pannier!
On Sunday, I took my Pack Rat out with a pannier to get some brunch, get some work done and run a few errands. I need to start getting used to riding with a load so this was a necessary and VERY informative test run.
I loaded up my bike with my Swift Industries Sugarloaf Basket Bag and one of the Ortlieb Back-Roller Free panniers and rode into the city to find a brunch spot.
The pannier already had a little weight because I was bringing my laptop and a few extra layers to be prepared for the weather. I also had my u-lock and spare tote bag in there. In the front, I had a bunch of other crap, likely things I didn’t need, but I was being liberal in overpacking since I need to get used to carrying a lot of weight around anyway.
Remember how Dave, the mechanic at Bicycle Roots, and I had had a brief conversation about possibly changing the crankset for lower gearing? Well, that probably should have been a longer conversation. I took the Manhattan Bridge into the city and was using the lowest gear for most of the way over it. It wasn’t especially challenging, but it wasn’t that easy either. And this was with only one pannier! And a mostly empty pannier at that! So I guess changing the crankset became an easy decision.
Despite the struggle, I made it to the other side of the bridge and found a nice little spot for brunch.
I had pretty much the best coffee and best Eggs Benedict that I’ve had in a while. The place got very crowded, very quickly, but I was tucked away in a nice little corner of the bar and was left undisturbed while I worked on my blog and did a little research.
After that, I took my time getting to a store where I needed to run some errands. I decided to ride around Washington Square Park and stopped to participate in a rally for Ukraine.
Riding my bike is helping me to become a little more flexible. I am generally very regimented and like sticking to a plan but lately while riding, I’m trying to be more open to experiencing whatever happens to be around me. I would never have passed by this rally and participated in it if I hadn’t been riding my bike around to get errands done.
From there, I stopped and picked out some gifts for my friends who just had a baby! I wasn’t thrilled about the ride back over the bridge (is anyone here surprised by that?) but was rewarded by this beautiful message once I got back to Brooklyn:
