It can be said that one reason people enjoy commuting or traveling in a car, is that the car functions as an extension of their home while they are away at work or on the road. They keep a myriad of personal belongings in the car - from food and drinks, to changes of clothing and footwear, to reading material and selections from their music collection. Those who have children or pets often have toys and other objects associated with them scattered in the back. And then of course there are the familiar smells: Whether good or bad, the interior of a car takes on a distinct scent associated with its owners' activities and lifestyle. In essence, the car really does attain aspects of the driver's home over time, and this undoubtedly contributes to the emotional attachment many feel toward their vehicles. The Co-Habitant's dayjob involves extremely long shifts (12 hours is typical), and his colleagues routinely nip out to the car during breaks to retrieve various items and drop other items off. To do so is comforting when away from home for so long. This is also why the Co-Habitant equipped his
Pashley with both a saddlebag and handlebar bag, despite a relatively short commute: It was important to create a similar "homey" environment for his bicycle.
In my earlier post about handlebar bags, I mentioned the appeal of the idea that the bicycle can be turned into a mobile home - ready to go anywhere while still allowing the cyclist to feel as if their life is coming
with them, rather than being abandoned. Now that I have installed a handlebar bag on my own bicycle and have found myself in a situation where turning said bicycle into a mobile home is necessary, I truly understand what this feeling is like. While on Cape Cod, we are typically away from home from morning till late evening - during which time we work, go on rides, and do various things in town. All of those activities require different items to be taken along, including clothing, equipment and food. At this time of the year, there are also significant fluctuations in temperature in the course of the day (mid 40s- upper 80s) which must be taken into consideration. To my delight, the combination of a roomy handlebar bag and saddlebag can accommodate all of these concerns.
Typical contents of my handlebar bag: sweater, down vest, 2 extra hats, waterproof jacket, costume for photo shoot, props for photo shoot, make-up, shawl to use in leu of beach blanket, swim suit, flip-flops, extra pair of socks, 2 books, notebook, pen case with 2 pens, bar of chocolate, gloves, sunscreen, deodorant,
DZNuts, saddle cover, money and ID. Notice that the bag is not even full.
Typical contents of my saddle bag (now converted into a camera bag) are our photo equipment: This time, a digital SLR, a Medium Format film camera, 10 rolls of film, and, just for fun, a toy camera. We have a second Medium Format film camera that could also fit instead of the toy one.
The Co-Habitant carries his own clothing, our tool kit and medical kit, and both of our laptops. He only has a single saddlebag on his roadbike, so the laptops he transports in a messenger-style bag on his person - which is the one glaring imperfection in our set-up. Next time we take a trip like this, he will have some sort of handlebar + saddlebag set-up as well, where the handlebar bag is smaller than mine, but the saddlebag is larger - the type that can fit laptops and will require a rear rack. I think that both the larger
Rivendell and the
Ostrich saddlebags will fit this purpose, but any other suggestions for future are welcome.
Of course, turning my otherwise light
Rivendell into a "mobile home" has made it nearly as heavy as a typical Roadster - but the bike seems to handle no differently as a result. The longer I own this bicycle, the more I love it - which brings a new shade of meaning to "home is where the heart is".
I would definitely describe Vienna as a "cycling city" in term of its infrastructure. There is a good network of bike lanes, a bike share programme, many cyclists on the streets, and a decent system in place for integrating cycling with public transportation. All the more frustrating to be here bicycle-free! For a number of reasons, it was not practicable to either bring my own bicycle here or to rent one. I will express my Bike Rental Lament in a separate post. But for now, I give you a few images of night time Vienna - on foot.
For the purposes of sight seeing and tourism, this is not the best time to be in Vienna, as it is in between seasons. Scenic Autumn has ended, while the Weihnachten (Christmas) exuberance has not yet begun in earnest (On the photo above you can see that they've installed the holiday lights, but have not yet turned them on). Lucky for me, this matters not a bit, as I am working all day almost every single day that I am here. But don't feel too bad; I have been living in Vienna on and off for the past two years, and have already done all the sight seeing possible.
In some parts of the city center, the famous Viennese Christmas markets have already been set up. Those are the little lit-up tents you see in the foreground of the church.
Inside one of the tents. The Christmas markets sell everything from traditional foods and handmade toys, to Christmas decor, leather goods, and clothing.
Here is a stand with sausages and Glühwein (mulled wine).
A vintage roadster graces the cover of a detective novel.
For those with a fetish for fine gloves and tights (you know who I speak of, ladies!), being in Vienna around this time is especially difficult: lots of fine products by local designers are on offer. Thankfully, the high price of these prevented me from buying them - even if I did try to justify it to myself as a "cycling expense". No no no.
A traditional Viennese café: marble, dark wood, red velvet upholstery, dim lighting, waiters in crisp black and white, tiny silver trays, sugar cubes in crystal bowls, the works! If you have a chance to visit Vienna, plopping yourself down in one of these after a day of walking (or cycling) around the city, is a real treat.
I leave you now with an image of a Vienna Citybike station. Not many takers at 5:00 am!
Spanky is Julie's dog. He and Tuffee are friends and like to run up and down along the wire fence between our places.
Here you can see three deer in the grass. At the corner of the wall just beyond the deer on the walkway, by the tall tree is where they jumped over the wall to go meandering down through the meadow.
When most people ride on the Charles River trail, they keep to the popular loop around Boston and Cambridge. However, the trail goes on (and on and on), through beautiful reservation lands along the narrowing Charles River all the way to West Newton, Waltham and Weston.
Once you pass the point in Watertown where the popular route ends, the trail continues across the street. The entrance is narrow and easy to miss, so watch for the sign above.
There are a few instances where the trail interrupts, in which case the connector route is marked on the sidewalk with these "Blue Heron tracks".
An actual heron on the trail.
Here are some photos to give you an idea what this lesser-known part of the trail looks like. It is narrower and more "woodsy" than the popular Charles River loop. Fewer people, too.
The river is quite narrow here, and most of the bridges across it are pedestrian. They are beautiful and fun to cross, offering views of lily pads and miniature waterfalls.
There are several unpaved stretches, and many long stretches of boardwalk over marshland, with built-in observation decks. We had no problems cycling through the unpaved stretches on the Pashleys, and we saw roadbikes riding through them as well.
Another wooden bridge, and the entrance to Landry Park in Waltham.
This is home to the Charles River Museum of Industry. We have not gotten beyond this point yet, but as the map here indicates, the trail continues in the same manner towards Weston.
Altogether, it looks like the Charles River Trail might be 15 miles or so each way. If you are looking to get from West Newton to the center of Boston like MamaVee, I am guessing that this is maybe a 10 mile trip? If you are local and do this regularly, I welcome your thoughts about this trail and its use as a commuter route.