And we're off!

The car's all loaded up tonight because it's race day tomorrow - it's the LA tri series #2 in San Dimas (drive east until you reach the middle of nowhere, continue 10 miles, then turn left). I'm just doing the sprint distance (300m swim, 13.5k bike and 5k run), but it'll be my first mass swim start ever, so I'm kind of nervous.

I've spent this week trying to get Gary's handlebar situation worked out (they keep sagging mid-ride - Gary's terribly embarrassed and swears this has never, ever happened before), and now I think everything's good to go, although I'm taking the hex set with me just in case.

Transition opens at 6, but since my wave doesn't go off until 8:25, I probably won't get there until about 6:30. Yes, I know all the good spots on the racks will be gone, but I'm probably going to be near the back of the pack so it shouldn't be too crowded during transitions, and I want to sleep the extra half-hour.

My main concern tonight is that I got a tetanus shot at my yearly checkup today, and my arm hurts like hell tonight. Hopefully it'll be better in the morning.

Check back for a race report, and I'll see if I can get any photos. Last time I just didn't think about it.

Grocery bag pannier official road test

Yesterday, I rode from my home in West LA to my community garden plot in West Hollywood. It's about 18 miles round trip, and doesn't have any really big hills - although the gentle rolling swells of asphalt on Santa Monica Blvd in Century City are daunting when one's got a headwind.

Since I was bringing my long-handled pruners to cut up my fava bean plants, I chose to take the new grocery bag pannier so I could just drop the pruners in and leave the handles sticking up out of the bag. Also I was bringing a bin of kitchen scraps to dump into the composter that's in the garden plot.

The grocery bag pannier is way easier to get on and off the bike and the open top design makes access easier, but it doesn't feel as stable as the heavier duty compression type panniers, especially on the beat up pavement of Los Angeles' notoriously bad roads. The bag shook a lot as we rolled over potholes and steel plates, and I started to get concerned that the plastic clips holding it to the rack were going to break.

I made it to the garden, did my thing and then stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home. They had five pound bags of pears, but I didn't feel the pannier was sturdy enough to hold them, so I just got a bottle of water and a discounted bottle of tempranillo. Yum.

So, verdict? Good for short trips, but I don't think I'll use it for a cross town haul again.


The ride home was into a strong headwind the entire way, so I spent most of the ride trying to find a gear which would allow me to make some progress but not burn out my quads.

I never managed to find it, so by the time I got home my legs felt like lead, which I guess is good exercise.