The Schuylkill is gearing up for spring. A “Site-Seeing” barge is at the ready
and I noticed this adorable little cabin on a recent trip.
It’s some kind of maintenance station, I think, but with a rather tugboat-like charm. I think Dave V is missing his home town, though, since the back of the float still says “NY NY”. He’s definitely not in New York any more.
This is why biking is so wonderful:
Textures.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Brompton? And how much I love being able to take Basil (said Brompton) anywhere and everywhere?
Or, rather, between the highway and the trail:
It’s like a little world all its own, with a meandering creek, no less.
It’s a hit!
Basil’s M bag is the perfect size for longer runs with a short stop, or for light errands that don’t involve grocery-hauling.
There’s only one thing I wish were different.
As you can see, there’s an embroidered iguana on the flap of the underseat bag; it’s a commercial embroidered patch I picked up years ago. I used it because the flap looked a little bare, and, after all, the iguana color coordinates well. I’d kind of like to have one on the M bag’s front flap, too
Sadly, I haven’t been able to find another similar patch on the Internet (or anywhere else), so the flap on the new M bag remains unembellished for the moment. We’ll see if anything else turns up. Or maybe it’s just fine plain.
In the meantime, I’m really enjoying the convenience of a front bag that is neither too big nor too small, and is kitted out for times when I want to haul stuff, but not too much. This is my everyday Goldilocks bag: It’s just right!
The problem with the open sleeve on the back of the T bag is that, if you want to use it for a water bottle, the bottle tends to stick against the fabric of the pocket as it is used. That’s a pain when you are riding.
One of the clever fellows on Brompton Talk (I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember who) said that he’d slipped a cut-off milk carton into the open sleeve at the back of his Brompton T bag in order to solve this difficulty. UK milk cartons must be a better fit; ours here in the USA didn’t work well.
However, a cut-off seltzer water bottle worked perfectly. (Something slightly larger would, too, but I’m not sure what that would be.) Above: back of the T bag, cut off Faygo bottle (midwestern? must have bought this back from a trip), and tall Sigg metal water bottle.
Seltzer bottle dropped into the T bag sleeve. There’s room for a larger inner “sleeve”, but for my purposes, this works just fine.
Water bottle in place, and now super easy to lift in and out. No drag at all — it’s a brilliant, low-impact fix, in fact!
Notice the fuzz on the pocket in that final picture? Fuzz that isn’t present in the first image?
I had “help”.
A sunny clear day like this seems to suggest that spring is on the way.
That water is seriously icy though. It’ll be a while still.
This was the first in a series of five progressive rides offered by Tim C., of the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia. Each Saturday in March we meet and ride ten miles more than were completed the previous week.
I take the train into meet the group, and usually have a little while to wander around 30th Street Station until it’s time to meet up, the train schedule being what it is. On this trip, I noticed that there is still a pile of debris in back of the station (or is this the front? or formerly the front?), but Drexel has put up a bright new banner across the street. The perpetually revolving door leading to the construction site is now stilled; that’s probably going to reduce the utility bill a bit.
Then I typically have a few minutes to kill once I get to the meeting point. I like that, but when it’s this cold, it’s important to keep moving. These geese were completely unconcerned as Basil and I circled around the shambles of the Italian Fountain behind the art museum. (They’re looking pretty fit considering that they’ve just survived a winter.)
I finally got a shot of The Outbound Station coffee shop, where the group has often stopped in the past. Ironically, considering how often I’ve been there and failed to get a photo, it was closed today. It’s a nifty little place, bicycle-themed, just off the Schuylkill River Trail — and our putative destination today.
I suspect it has had a harder winter than those geese; I hope it will be open as the season warms up, and that we’ll have the opportunity to pop in again in the future.
Saul posed with Basil at the Outbound.
He looks quite at ease next to a Brompton, doesn’t he?
We ended up at the 401 Diner, where we were treated very nicely. Basil was even offered special accommodation behind the counter, which was truly beyond the call of duty.
Saul snapped a shot of Basil tucked behind the front counter. Basil really was small enough to fit, and no one seemed to find him in the way.
The sky was changing as we clattered down the track on our way home
and we were met by the slightest of snow flurries as we stepped off the train.
(Why, yes, that is a wee bit of cat fuzz next to the tiniest of snow flakes. It’s a problem. I roller Basil’s bag regularly, but he does have occasional contact with perhaps too many cats. They like him; what can I say?)
This was technically a 25 mile/40 km ride, for purposes of the progressive, but Basil and I managed a little over 30 miles/48 km before hopping on the train and heading home. A great ride, and great company — what could be better?
Say what you will about pre-rusted bridges
. . . they blend nicely into the winter landscape.
When a Brompton bicycle is folded, the seat is lowered to lock the fold in place. It’s a brilliant and simple solution to ensure that, when carried, a Brompton won’t unfold and flop all over the place.
However, this means that each time the bike is unfolded, the seat must be raised to the correct height for the rider. In good weather, this is easy for me; I know exactly to which point on my body Basil’s seat must be raised.
In winter, not so much. I’m not sure where any part of me is under my winter gear.
The guys on Brompton Talk use various methods to mark the post height. The simplest is permanent marker, but I found it difficult to see, and, though “permanent”, it rubs off.
Next simplest was electrical tape. Perfect: All I do now is gently raise Basil’s seat until I feel the tape touch the seat tube, and off we go!
I assume that the edges will roll after a while, in which case I’ll just turn Basil upside down once again, and re-apply the tape.
If it turns out that the soles of my summer cycling sandals have the same thickness as my cycling shoes, I have another option in mind . . . but that’s for later. In the meantime, this low-tech, non-invasive, solution works very well.
Basil poses by a stone wall, with his T bag:
This was a muddy, muddy ride, even though I didn’t need my rain cape. (That’s the yellow fabric poking out of the mesh pockets in the front of the T bag.)
This is the grubbiest Basil’s been, so far. I expect this will be a much more common occurrence this month than it was in February when this photo was taken. (Not to worry; he gets a good cleaning as soon as we arrive home.)