unused gear

On Tuesday afternoon, the bike racks finally arrived. “Finally” isn’t a dig at Nashbar, since I did opt for the cheapest US Post shipping option, though I’d be happy to dig at Nashbar over the literature they include in every package about some colon cleanser and its miraculous curative effects. It’s enough to put me off the company and send me elsewhere on the interweb for cheap bicycle gear.

So anyway, the racks came on Tuesday. That night I installed them on our two bikes. I wish mine had come with instructions as to which kind of bolt was intended to be used to attach what part to where, but for the time being the rack is bolted on and feels secure. I’ll put off being mad about it until it falls off because I used the wrong bolt for something.

I’m anticipating having to deal with a Too Much Crap On My Bike problem soon: The rack is made to bolt to the threaded hole near the rear wheel hub, but I can tell from looking at my wife’s bike that when the extra Solobug trailer hitch finally arrives, it will take up enough extra space that I’ll need to attach the rack to one of the other holes nearby instead. Problem is, there’s only one hole that’s threaded. Using one of the other holes will require a bolt and nut. Bleah. I’ll deal with it later if/when the hitch comes in.

With the rack in place and the panniers in the closet, I was ready to commute without my backpack and get some shopping done on the way home from work, right? Wrong. Wednesday is work-at-home day, so no commute for me. Today I’m back at work but actually drove to campus with my wife. There’s a soaking rain outside that’s been going since yesterday afternoon, and the big grocery panniers don’t offer any rain protection at all. Ordinarily I’d just wrap my things in plastic bags and get on with it, but today I was schlepping some borrowed books and didn’t want to risk the water damage. So… it’s a car day, today.