From Holsters to Corsets: The Cycling Accessory Fetish

Entering the Brooks booth at Interbike was an experience that I can only describe as "trippy." Not only did I feel as if I'd stepped into a Skittles commercial - or at least a Brooks + Skittles "collabo" (Ride the Rainbow...), but I was seeing objects that, at first glance, distinctly resembled gun holsters - in a variety of lollypop shades.

Upon a closer look it became apparent that these were in fact tiny handbags shaped like Brooks saddles. The representative cheerfully explained that Brooks had the idea to make leather saddle covers to class up bikes that came with plastic saddles. But the project did not work, so they turned the would-be saddle covers into handbags - and thus we have the Victoria bag.

I am not sure what I have a harder time imagining - someone buying a leather cover for their plastic saddle, or someone carrying a neon leather saddle-shaped purse. And while at first I thought the gun holster comparison was just in my head, I soon heard others voice the same sentiment as they walked by the display. What do you think, would this match your work outfit?

And lest you be wearing trousers on a bike with no chaincase, a leather strap in a matching shade could be just the thing.



As long as it all matched your handlebar tape. And your apple-green saddle.



Of course if you're not a fan of colourful accessories, Brooks offers the subdued "paratrooper" look in tasteful shades of gray and beige.



Okay, I really don't mean to tease Brooks so much. They had "normal" stuff too, like their regular line of saddles, a promising rain cape and their new city leather grips (which I would buy if they didn't have those cold metal sections at the ends). But something just felt a little off about their booth - as if they were on the verge of losing perspective.



Taking the classic route to fetish-appeal, Klean Kanteen draped itself in caramel leather, for a look suggesting vintage flasks. I like it. But the one problem I see with this, is that the outside of these bottles tends to always get wet and the leather is bound to get discoloured and misshapen as a result over time - something that does not happen with shellacked twine, because the shellac waterproofs it.



This particular Klean Kanteen had a wooden inlay on the lid with a Brompton logo on it, and may have been a limited edition model made especially for Brompton bicycles.



Sculptural bicycle pumps from Lezyne in stainless steel and wood. People couldn't stop touching them, running their hands against the surface.



A bicycle pump that makes you want to use it by appealing to your sense of touch? Okay, I admit I want these. You got to me, Lezyne.



Po Campo's new "self-referetial" print is really too lighthearted to be truly fetishistic, but deserves a mention. Obsessed with bicycles? What a better way to show it than to get a bicycle bag with pictures of, well, bicycles on it. Should leave no doubt as to your love of cycling.



Alternatively, you could opt for the new Logan Tote - a pannier shaped like a dainty doctor's bag and designed to carry anything from diapers and formula bottles to camera equipment and the i-Pad. The myriad of belts and buckles that come with Po-Campo bags contribute to the visual curiosity factor, particularly when a tiny bag ends up capable of securing things like heavy jackets and yoga mats.



The Brompton "Oratory" cycling jacket has gotten both praise and slack in the press for being useful/ unnecessary (pick one), sparking debate as to whether urban cycling-specific designs overcomplicate matters and undermine the whole idea of being able to ride in regular clothing.



Not sure where I stand on that issue, but regardless - the Brompton jacket has a number of fine details that appealing regardless of whether one even needs a jacket at all.



The jacket is corduroy, with a wicking bamboo lining depicting a drawing of the Brompton Oratoryby English graffiti artist, Kid Acne (Get it? Graffiti for an urban jacket? Graffiti of a building instead of on a building? Oh the cleverness of it!..).



But no tale of accessory fetishism is complete without a visit withBerthoud. I have an odd relationship with Berthoud bags, in that I tend to lose my mind when I see them - especially several in the same place at the same time. The shades of gray fabric and caramel leather are just right, the straps are perfectly proportioned... But when it comes down to it, I cannot bring myself to actually buy one of the bags. It's not just the price, but something about the look would make me self-conscious to have it on my own bike.



A case of being too perfect? Maybe!



And then there are the panniers. These are available in many sizes and use the R&K Klick-fix system, which I love. But I can't get over the "corset" look of the side expansions - which, although obviously purpose-driven, to me seem to be the ultimate symbol of our tendency to fetishise bicycle accessories. It's not a bad thing per se, if it makes us happy and makes us ride our bikes more. But we each have different comfort levels. I'll go for leather, wood and twine, but will stop short of holsters and corsetry.

Casablanca (5.9), Art's Route (5.9), and the Problem of Tunnel Vision

In mid-July, I got the chance to climb with Maryana again, for the first time since April. I had been busy, and my available days hadn't matched up well with hers. I'd been forced to turn her down so many times it was a wonder she'd still speak to me.



In one sense we were still climbers of similar capabilities; we were both wading into Gunks 5.10 climbs. But in another sense we were different. Maryana was climbing more, and actually getting somewhere on these climbs. Since I'd last seen her Maryana had led Simple Stuff, Nosedive, and Birdcage. By contrast, I'd successfully onsighted the one-move Splashtic and backed off of every other 5.10 I tried.



I was excited to see what she could do when we got together. Unfortunately our time was short, and we both struggled with our warm-ups.



We were both interested in leading Wegetables, so we hiked on down to the far end of the Trapps. Maryana decided to start with Casablanca (5.9), a climb with a short, reachy roof crux that she'd struggled with once before.



This was a climb I had sent onsight, although I had to try reaching the jug in several different ways before I finally just popped for it and easily grabbed it. Maryana was thinking she'd probably solve it immediately this time around, since she'd improved as a climber so much over the last year or so since her last attempt.



But alas, she struggled again. She wormed around the big roof flake in several different ways, trying to reach the jug, but she just couldn't get it. One of the good things about Casablanca is that you can do this over and over again and never hang on your gear, because it is easy to step down to the stance beneath the flake. Maryana did this several times, but eventually took a hang or two on her cam in the flexy flake (it holds!).



Finally she tried something different, throwing a heel and getting over the roof, delicately reaching up until she had the good hold. Afterwards she said she felt like she'd approached the climb with tunnel vision, thinking there had to be a way she could reach the hold directly, since she'd seen others do it. If she'd considered the heel hook more quickly she surely would have sent it.



I had a few inches on Maryana and I could just pop for the hold, so I didn't give much thought to what she said, although perhaps I should have paid more attention.



Safety alert: there are still slings on the tree just over the lip on Casablanca. Please do not rap from this tree. It is DEAD. Maryana could move the tree with her hands. It is not safe. There is a larger, living tree with slings about 20-30 feet higher. We used doubles, tied together, to rap from this tree. A 70 meter would likely make it, but a single 60 probably won't. You should either do the climb with doubles or do the second pitch, so you can use the Casa Emilio raps or walk off.



After we rapped down, I suggested we try the nearby Casanova (5.9-), a no-star climb that goes through the roof at a different place. I looked the roof over on rappel and it looked pretty cool. But the climb was in the full-on sun and Maryana wisely wanted to look for shade on this hot hot day.



So I suggested Art's Route (5.9), a climb that Dick Williams upgraded to two stars in his 2004 guidebook. And on Art's Route I had a little tunnel vision episode of my own.



I got through the first crux, an awkward mantel over a low roof. It wasn't pretty and I used a knee but I will take it.



Then at the second crux, which involves getting over a bigger ceiling and into a notch, I thought I had it figured out. From underneath the roof, moving to the right for a second I could see a hold I needed to reach, and I also clipped a very useful fixed nut. Then, from back under the roof, I made the big move to reach the key hold on my first try.



I now know this is the hardest move on the pitch, but after I grabbed the key hold I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get myself over the roof and into the notch. I tried it over and over again, and every time I couldn't make it. I climbed down several times and after a while I started hanging on that fixed nut.



Finally I realized that like Maryana, I was suffering from tunnel vision. In my case it was literally true. I was looking only into the notch for holds. I was failing to try to find a hold outside the notch that I could use to pull myself up and into it. Once I realized this I got it on the first try, the climb was over, and I cursed myself for my stupidity. This could easily have been an onsight. Maryana ran right up it as the second.



Art's Route is just a short, single pitch, but it is a very nice climb with two very different, and pretty difficult, cruxes. I highly recommend it and I will be back to send it!







(Photo: Cowering under Wegetables, trying vainly to wait outa storm.)



Probably I will return to do it on a day in which I try Casanova and Wegetables as well. Maryana and I never got to do Wegetables. It grew overcast as we worked on Art's Route and it started pouring right as we arrived underneath Wegetables. We crouched there against the wall staying relatively dry for forty-five minutes, hoping the storm would pass without getting the climb wet. But as it continued and the rain came down harder and harder, we realized that not only was Wegetables in jeopardy, but that our whole day might be shot. Eventually the rain dripped through the roofs all over the climb and we gave up, marching out in the continuing downpour. We were thwarted after just two pitches.



While we stood there I looked over the climb and gained a renewed hunger for coming back to lead it. I remembered the tough spots and I think I still have the beta in mind to send the thing. I need to have a good autumn with lots of splitter weather so I can come back and conquer these 5.9's and 5.10's that are piling up, waiting for me.

Vehicles of Equality

[image via cnn]

Last week many of us were following the #women2drive campaign in Saudi Arabia - a move organised via social media, where about 40 Saudi women drove cars in protest of their country's ban on female drivers. Saudi Arabia is the only country where it is currently prohibited for a woman to drive. The ban has become a symbol of gender inequality, while driving has become a symbol of freedom and women's liberation. It is unclear as of yet what effect the protest will have on Saudi policy toward women drivers. Meanwhile I've received an email from a cycling activist, asking whether I thought bicycles would at any point be incorporated into the movement.



[image via wn]

To clarify, women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to cycle just as they're not permitted to drive. That is, they are allowed to be passengers on a bicycle, but not operators. The point of the ban is to prevent women from going off on their own, and so it applies to any vehicle that facilitates travel. However, I doubt that Saudi women will be getting on bicycles and staging a #women2ride movement any time soon. While in some cultures there is now a trend to associate cycling will freedom (freedom from dependence on fuel, from being stuck in traffic, from having to find parking, from hour-long commutes, from financial strain, etc.), the bicycle does not symbolise any of those things in Saudi Arabia. Neither does it symbolise travel, in the contemporary sense: A car can travel further and more efficiently if fuel is not an issue.In order for a group to protest not being able to engage in an activity, that activity has to be perceived as desirable. And I just don't think cycling has that status in Saudi Arabia.



[image via rfe/rl]

There areother issues to consider as well. Operating a bicycle is deemed "too sexy" by some government and religious figures in conservative Middle Eastern countries. In Iran there is technically no travel ban in effect for women, but the Iranian Women's Cycling Team was stopped by the police while training last October and told that the activity is not permitted in public, as it is too provocative.



There is also the question of safety. Driving in protest is safer than cycling in protest, as on a bicycle a person is more vulnerable to recognition, apprehension, and potential attack.



[image viabikehugger]

While in Western cultures the bicycle became a symbol of gender equality in the Edwardian era, I don't think that this can be applied to today's situation in countries where basic women's rights are being debated - particularly in the Middle East. The circumstances are too different. Should cycling activists feel threatened by the#women2drive initiative? I think that would be highly misguided. But the question of how to make bicycling more accessible to women in this region is worth considering.

Moving On :: Tok to Kluane

Sunday, August 22nd - - It is about 90 miles from Tok to the Canadian Border on the Alaska Highway. To get where I'm going (Haines) you have to backtrack a bit. Because of the terrain, your route options are limited - there aren't all that many roads in Alaska! (Reference the map at the bottom of my previous post.)

On my first drive through the area, the skies were gray and gloomy and it didn't really look all that pretty. But with somewhat blue skies and sunshine, things looked different this time around. There are so many small lakes and ponds dotting the landscape and with the mountains in the distance, it was quite nice.

You are probably getting tired of seeing reflections of the sky in the water, but I just can't help myself! I am captivated by them... a narrow view between the trees.

Even with the sunshine, there occasionally were a few scattered showers.
Once you get into Yukon Territory in Canada you are traveling on the absolute worst section of the Alaska highway! For nearly 100 miles you are jostled and jarred by dips and rises and jumbled pavement. If you are lucky you can get up to 45 mph in some sections but if you're not paying attention and you come to an area of bad pavement driving that fast you're in for an exciting ride!

I took several shots of the pavement but it just doesn't show what it was really like. See those yellow flags alongside the road? Those indicate dips in the highway. So while you are jostled from side to side with the uneven pavement, when you reach the dips you are also bouncing up and down. Throw in a few potholes and several really bad sections for a challenging ride! I was so happy to get through it unscathed.

I made it to the Lake Kluane (pronounced CLUE-AH-KNEE) area in late afternoon, and, remembering Sue's glowing report of the Cottonwood Campground, I stopped there for the night. It has to be one of the nicest campgrounds I've stayed in, not just on this Alaska trip, but anywhere!

The view from my campsite, looking south. Gorgeous. Forty-six miles long, Lake Kluane is the largest lake in Yukon Territory and the highway follows it on the west side for about half of its length.

A closeup of the mountains on the south side of the lake.
The next morning, the wind was calm and the sun was shining. And, of course, the reflections in the lake were amazing.

From the bridge on the west side of the south end. This is actually a river that feeds the glacial water into the lake.

Looking east. A narrow peninsula juts out from the western side of the lake.

The highway is at the base of that mountain, following the shoreline. Ten miles north of that point is the Cottonwood Campground.

Nick and Tonyia Visit The Villages

Nick and Tonyia came to visit Rich and Donna this weekend. We made plans to get together at our place Friday night, but ended up moving it to Saturday. Ava had fun catching up with Rich and Donna and Nick and Tonyia. Donna brought a mix, and Nathan got to work making us some yummy frozen drinks.



We visited on the lanai for a bit, until it started to rain. Nathan also made us some very yummy fajitas. Donna brought two different kinds of chips and salsa to add to the dinner. We had plenty to eat and it was nice to have a table that we all fit around.



After dinner, we got out the Phase 10 game and played that until quite late. Only half of us had played before so we played a practice hand to teach the others and then we were off and running. We were neck and neck at the end with Nick being the final winner.



This morning we met at Golden Coral and then Nick and Tonyia had to head back out. It was a great weekend that went by much too fast!

A Dabble in Route Planning

The past year has been a great eye-opener for me as far as finding new places to ride in an area I thought I'd exhausted. In particular, I've been impressed by local randonneuse Pamela Blalock's ability to design routes entirely along back roads, with minimal motorised traffic. This style of route involves more climbing than typical, and, at times, some intense navigation. But having gotten used to both, I've come to appreciate the opportunities routes like this provide: to travel on my bike largely undisturbed by cars, and to truly get to know an area, with all its hidden scenery and useful shortcuts.I also appreciate that Pamela's routes are not a matter of luck or psychic powers, but of dedicated research and strategic exploring.






Until recently I did not feel sufficiently confident in my navigation skills to try this myself, butnow that is changing. I am planning a ride heading North, and getting out of Boston straight up the coast is a thoroughly unpleasant business. There is no good way to do it; for the first 10 miles it is all dangerous roads and lots of congestion. So I wanted to plan a route that would swing out west and come around from there, connecting to the northern route at a point where it calms down. This adds about 30 extra miles to the start of the trip, but I will take 40 pleasant miles over 10 unpleasant ones any time.






In planning the westward route extension, my goal was to try and do it along lightly traveled back roads, possibly with some unpaved stretches. I started by studying similar routes that go through the area, combining and modifying them based on personal experience, maps, and educated guesswork, until I'd strung something together that went where I needed it to go. I loaded the route onto GPS, printed out a cue sheet, and got on my bike to test out my handiwork.






For my first time trying something like this, it wasn't bad. There were lots of turns that would drive some people nuts and a few awkward climbs - the kind where a climb starts right after a sharp turn, catching you by surprise, so that you're downshifting madly from a high gear. This I didn't mind, particularly since I was the only vehicle on the road much of the time. But there was also a couple of mistakes/ surprises - not necessarily bad, but educational.






My route included a few unpaved trails, all except one of which I was already familiar with. The one I was not familiar with turned out to be more technical than I'd expected.






A shortcut through the woods, the narrow bumpy trail wound its way downhill between trees rather tightly. I was able to ride it, but made a note to avoid it on skinny tires, in wet weather and in the dark. Looking at the map, I saw there was a way to circumvent the woods on the road, so I then went back and tested that stretch to make sure it was a sufficiently traffic-free alternative.






While not ideal for all bikes and all occasions, this trail proved to be incredibly scenic this time of year. For much of it, I cycled under a canopy of budding magnolia blossoms.The sun brought out their colours against the blue sky, and the warm weather brought out their scent.






Riding here, I felt as if I'd been gifted a rare glimpse into something special and rare. Only for 2 weeks of the year do these flowers blossom. And all it takes is one windy, rainy day, for all this tentative pinkness to be stripped off its branches before the flowers even fully open up.






Spring is such a delicate time of the year. The greens are pale, the tangled trees are transparent like lace. In the summer this will all become fuller, heavier, thicker - a dense fabric.






Even moss is paler and softer. I love coming back to the woods season after season and seeing it all change.






Further along, I found myself on a stretch of road that was much busier than expected. So I changed course in hopes of finding a better alternative. On the map I saw a tangle of side streets that it looked like I could ride through to get to my next point, skipping the busy road. So I did just that, and found myself in a cul-de-sac neighbourhood situated on a substantial hill. Looking for the best route, I ended up going over this hill several times from different directions, until I found the sequence I was happiest with.




On one of the streets I passed a group of small boys with their kids' bikes. The poor things could only ride them up and down short stretches in front of their house before the road became too steep. Seeing me continue all the way up the hill, the boys stopped what they were doing, stood still and stared, saying "Whoa, I want to do that!" and "That's a nice bike, lady!" They had not reached that age yet where youthful mockery becomes hard to detect; it was clear their delight was genuine.






Later, I encountered a woman walking a llama, as casually as if she were walking a dog. Normally I am not good at making quick u-turns, but this time it was no problem (llama!).






Heading home along a quiet trail, I realised that in the course of the past 50 miles there had only been a few stretches with noticeable car traffic. And now that I had a better understanding of the neighbourhoods around those stretches, I could make changes to improve those parts as well. It wasn't perfect, but I am pretty happy with my first serious attempt at backroad route planning. Even the parts that did not go as expected allowed me to explore and discover interesting pockets I would have otherwise missed.




Having a network of new, "secret" as some locals refer to them, routes through familiar areas is extremely exciting and a great way to travel. I am looking forward to doing more of this!