Apr 2 - bike work, mostly

Not really work, more fussing than work.  I removed the front rack and bag, attached the headlight to the crown and did a crummy job with wire management.  There are too many wires, with the wire to the light from the hub, the remote control and wire, the usb cable to the Garmin ... it's all a bundle, not neat.  At least with the front rack all those wires were cable tied to the underside of the rack and out of sight.  Now it's a mess.

I'm trying to figure out how I can drop some weight but at the same time, leave some flexibility.  Of course the biggest issue is not so much the "dead weight" of fixed items but the "optional weight" of crap that I carry.  The rack and bag weigh 3 pounds.  That doesn't seem like a lot except when you figure that's about 15% extra weight.  Of course the optional weight, between the front and back racks, likely comes to about 10 pounds ...

The other issue is travel hassle. All this has to be disassembled and packed, reassembled at the ride location and then disassembled and packed again for travel home.  I'm looking for something simpler.

There are bags that simply attach to the handlebars with velcro straps.  They can hold a lot of weight but, depending on the setup, can be unwieldy.  The velcro straps get in the way of my Garmin, without some alternate attachment.

My little top-tube pannier is an option but it's not very convenient and doesn't really hold much -- some small tools and food.  There are a variety of click-on handlebar bag options that get varying degrees of good and bad reviews.  Cost starts mounting up, naturally.

So ... I'm going to try something.  I've got an existing Velo-Orange bag that was setup for the rack that I'm going to re-setup for Klick-Fix attachment.  I've ordered the frame and handlebar adapter and have been researching ways of attaching the bag to the frame.  There are bags that are designed for the frame and I ultimately might end up going that route but I will play around with home-made in the meantime.  We'll see.

Cassie got a walk, a couple of car-trips (Publix and Home Depot) and then, late afternoon, a trip to the south causeway sandbar.  Storm clouds threatened but didn't drop anything.

There was a huge system moving across the state and I'd decided against riding but we never really got much here.  Had I ridden south, I'd have been slammed.  The girls spend much of the day in squishy shoes; it rained hard and long at Epcot.  Them's the breaks !

The ICW water temperature was 79F, reflecting the warm weather that we've had; the air was hot and sultry.  This morning the air temperature is cooler, only 60F, a pleasant change but it's going to get warmer again.

Today ... don't know.  I should probably get out for a ride as I've got the 600k next weekend.  I'll be heading to Mass shortly; I've already been to the gym.  It's quiet there early Sunday a.m. -- not deserted, but quiet.

Onward !