Dave's Good Stuff

Once more into the breach, dear friends…

Posted On Monday, December 1st, 2008 By David Veatch

The Dew Drop, having arrived, and then having been equipped for commuting, was used for the first time this fine December 1st (in an interesting, if relatively insignificant, bit of serendipity) to great effect.

It was an uneventful ride, which, truth be told, is how I’d prefer it. I must admit it would be nice to have a remarkable ride, if what I was remarking upon was an overabundance of wealth falling out of the back of a truck and the owner giving me a shrug and a *meh*, thus indicating that his misfortune was my fortune, or, having already secured said swag, I rode around, tossing money at puzzled pedestrians while flailing about and yelling in a frightening manner. However, given the very nature of this activity I’ve decided to partake in, and the nature of those who share the thoroughfares and byways on which I perform said partaking, it is more likely, though not, I maintain, inevitable, that I would remark upon the remarkable from a hospital bed, having had not money thrown at me, but several tons of metal and plastic controlled (not controlled?) by an inattentive pilot.

Temperature at departure… 27°F. with a pretty good NW crosswind. I was chilly, but not overly so, thanks to my clothing choices.

Feet: Wool socks, plastic bags over the toes, MTB shoes and neoprene toe covers.
Legs: Neoprene leg covers and sweats.
Torso: Neoprene base layer and a windbreaker.
Head: Headcover and helmet.
Hands: Salsa Cycles N’Agua gloves.

About the only thing I expect to change as the temperatures drop is fleece pull over layer, swapping out the N’Agua’s with the Toastadas, and adding full foot neoprene boots for the feet.

Plus, disc brakes rock.

Living solo as I do these days, I don’t have the benefit of being able to leave my car here at work, needing it, as I often do, after hours. So, instead, I’ve had to alter how I get my work clothes to work. I previously outlined three methods, reproduced here for your convenience:

Method, The First: Involved packing the next day’s clothes each night (or frantically in the morning) in the panniers and carrying them with me every day. Method, The Second: I tried driving a week’s worth of clothes into work Sunday night, and then exchanging them for another weeks worth of clothes the following Sunday. Method, The Third: Drive a weeks worth of clothes in on the first work day of the week, leave the car at work, and drive everything back on the last.

The first method is out. I used that method for quite a while, and have decided that I’m just not a fan.

The third method won’t work for reasons just discussed. In case you’re short term memory is similar to mine these days, it’s b/c I need my car in the evenings.

That leaves the second method. It did not work out so well previously b/c I had the option of evening transportation. Without that in place, necessity (and a desire to not pack my clothes every single day) forces me to give it another shot. I’ll let you know how it works out. I’m sure you simply cannot wait.