Parka Time?

On one of the most frigid nights before 2010, we went on a late-evening errand to the art store. Not wanting to have yet another "I am too cold to enjoy cycling" experience, I resorted to my floor-length down parka.

It may seem improbable that one can cycle in a coat like this, but it is doable. What you need is the kind of parka that unzips both from the top and from the bottom. I simply unzip it from the bottom to create whatever size opening I need for pedaling.

Bike and parka in motion. The shot is blurry but it shows off my headlight beams. The dynamo-powered headlight points forward (the beam furthest ahead of the bike), while the LED headlight points down at the road. This is essential when there are trecherous patches of black ice on the road, like now.

The art store is about a 20 minute walk from my house, or 5-7 minutes by bike. This is fairly representative of what my winter rides are like. Most of my current daily destinations are only 1-2 miles from my house, which makes for very short bike rides. For longer destinations, I used to rely on the Charles River Trail, which is not accessible once there is ice or snow on the ground - so in the winter I have not been going to those further-away places nearly as much.

Goods from the art store. The small bag looks deceptively modest, but the content - paintbrushes - can be painfully expensive. The store was having a sale and this was the last day of it, so I am glad I remembered on time.

Happy with my new paintbrushes.

After the art store, we decided to experiment with what it would be like to take a longer ride in freezing temperatures, and rode for a bit on a major road that leads out of town, stopping at a coffee shop and then heading home. It was okay, but did not feel entirely safe. The right lane was like an obstacle course: clusters of hardened snow suddenly popping up, potholes, icy patches. In addition to the parked cars on the right and moving cars on the left, it was a bit overwhelming to constantly watch out for all this, especially after dark. The good news is that with the parka I was at least able to finally cycle in these temperatures without feeling uncomfortable. A parka may look silly on a bike, but so what!

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The Best Laid Plans

Yesterday we both had a day off and planned to go on a long holiday ride. A mere 10 minutes into it, we decided it was time for Plan B and rode to a coffee shop instead. So it seems that I am officially a winter bike wimp! When the temperature is below 30° F (I think yesterday was a high of 25° F?) , I can't really handle more than a commute or an errand ride.

This conflicts with my daydreams of cycling serenely through snowy landscapes - not a soul in sight and my tires making a soft swooshing sound as they roll through the lightly packed powder. Right. The odd thing is that I love winter and have spent most of my life in cold climates. I have no problem cross-country skiing in much, much colder temperatures than this and with less clothes on. What's with this cycling discomfort? I was wearing more layers than a layered cake, including a thermal shirt, thick Irish wool sweater and a windbreaker trench, and the wind still pierced right through it all. And it's not as simple as being just "too cold", but more like going back and forth between being too cold and too hot every couple of minutes. I guess I could wear my XC ski clothes on the bike instead of my regular clothes, but this goes back to the whole "cycling in your regular clothes vs special clothes" debate. Well, at least I continue to ride my bike for transportation; short rides I can handle.

Unlike me, the Co-Habitant scoffs in the face of adversity with his skimpy outfit and no scarf. Tough guy.

According to him, only his hands and ears really get cold when he cycles, hence the wool hat and leather gloves.

I like these gloves very much, and they match his Pashley's leather accessories nicely.

Looking like a snowman in my overstuffed coat, I could only marvel at the Co-Habitant's tolerance of low temperatures. We are promised a blizzard tonight, so the real winter test will soon be upon us!

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Happy Holidays!

The Co-Habitant and I celebrate four holidays during the Festivus season! - and since one of them is already in progress, our cats urged us to send everybody some warm wishes. They even agreed to pose for these photos inside my Pashley basket.

To give you a sense of the size of the basket, our kitties are Norwegian Forest Cats, which are almost as large as Maine Coons. One is black and white, and the other is brown. They have asked that we not reveal their identities, and as you can see they are a bit camera shy.

And here is Eustacia Vye in her entirety, bedecked in a festive red bow. The holiday season has been good to us so far and we now own some better quality digital cameras - which will, hopefully, lead to nicer bike pictures on this weblog. Having read the holiday wishlists posted on some of the bicycle blogs out there, I realise that I am actually pretty satiated in the velo department and have no bicycle themed items on my list. It is good to be happy with what you have... Either that, or I better get my thinking cap on!

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All the Leaves Are Brown

Looks like the foliage season is officially over.

All the leaves are brown (yes, and the sky is grey la-la-la). And while I would not go so far as to say this makes me dream of moving to California, I do find myself curious - for the first time in my life - about what it would be to like to live in that year-round cycling paradise where the Rivendells roam free with the carefree riders upon them wearing nothing but the thinnest layer of soft merino. But these are just idle thoughts really; I need seasons and I love the winter. It's just that this bleh season between the beautiful leaves and the arrival of snow can be a little dreary.

As you can see, Eustacia Vye is doing well, and the gray weather does not bother her too much. She is especially proud of having perfected the act of carrying my satchel in her basket. We have figured out a way to shove it in sideways and diagonally, so that only a corner sticks out. I am hoping that my next laptop (the current one is slowly but surely dying) will be the smaller MacBook Air, which will solve my transportation difficulties altogether.

One thing I keep forgetting to comment on, is cycling in a long coat. All of my cold-season coats are long - with the hem ending either just at the knees or below. I was nervous about cycling in them, but I am glad to report that it's been just fine. My Pashley and vintage Raleigh have skirt-guards, but the Globe I rode in Vienna did not, and even that was problem-free. I think that wool coats are too stiff to fly into the spokes, but I am curious whether other people have had this happen? Also, I find that the heavy wool texture of my coats has excellent non-slip properties, so that I can wear even the silkiest skirts underneath and not worry about sliding on the saddle. So really, give it a try - winter outerwear is great!

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Cycling Lessons From Miss Brodie

Don't know whether others have seen the classic film, The Prime of Jean Brodie, based on the novel by Muriel Spark. It ends badly, and the main character - a deluded school mistress in 1930s Scottland - is not somebody one would strive to emulate. But I do admire her beautiful cycling skills! In fact, the opening scene of the film - where Miss Brody is shown gracefully cycling to the school where she teaches on a loop-frame bicycle with a basket - has no doubt influenced my own choice of bicycle and my notion of what "riding a bicycle" should be like. So here are some stills from the sequence that inspired me.

Miss Brodie mounts her bicycle with ease using the proper Sheldon Brown method. Her long, narrow skirt does not seem to impede the mounting maneuver one bit.

Notice how straight her leg is on the pedal as she cycles: completely extended. She would definitely not be able to reach the ground with her toe in traffic.

Ah, here she indicates that she is about to stop. Look at all that stuff on her bike! Rolls of paper in the basket, and what looks like a wooden trunk strapped to the rear rack. You can hardly tell due to the bad quality of these images, but it looks like her bicycle has all blackout parts on it. Does anybody know what year they began doing that?

To get off the bicycle, she takes her right foot off the pedal and swings the leg over the frame while the bicycle is still in motion.

Then she coasts for a bit in this standing position - with the left foot on the left pedal and the right foot supposedly in the air next to it? - until she hops off and the bicycle comes to a stop. Impressive! - and no way can I pull that off.

In the film, one of Miss Brodie's catch-phrases was that she was "a woman in her prime" - even though she was distinctly old-maidish by 1930s standards. My theory is that her cycling is what kept her feeling young and beautiful.

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To the Grocery Store: An Exercise in Aesthetics

There are many grocery stores close to where we live, but we prefer to go to a particular one, down by the Charles River. This is the shortcut we take to get to the river from the Harvard campus.

It is such a nice little stretch to cycle through. I wanted to document the feeling of being there before the grimness of November sets in.

The Co-Habitant advancing into the distance.

I must say that I love the look of men's coat-tails flapping in the wind when they cycle.

And here I am. Alas, no coat-tails.

The Pashleys arrive at the grocery store. If you are local, you can probably guess where this is, even with the limited visual cues. I thought the yellow stripes went nicely with the foliage in the previous photos.

I am happy here, because this was one of my first trips after the latest adjustments to my Pashley (raising and setting back the saddle). My legs are almost completely extended on the pedals now, and I can still touch the ground with one toe while remaining on the saddle. (I know, I know - I need to learn how to ride without being able to reach the ground! )

The Co-Habitant is happy here as well, because we did not spend too much time inside the grocery store. Most of the time, everything we shop for easily fits into my basket and his saddlebag. Not a lot of hastle there.

Back home through the tree-lined shortcut. The grocery store trip was actually at the end of a long day of riding all over town. We both had Friday-Sunday off (a rarity due to our unconventional schedules) and enjoyed the weekend together. A good thing, as in a few days I am off to Europe again for the rest of November.

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Friendly Witches and Scenic Graveyards

Was I a good witch or a bad witch for Halloween? Only Eustacia knows, and she is not talking. I rolled through the night with reflective sidewalls and plenty of lights on my bicycle, and I think only good witches do that. Bad ones tend to hide under the cover of darkness.

On this ghoulish night, I present you also with this photo of me and Marianne cycling through Provincetown Cemetery at dusk. I spent part of my childhood in a small New England town, where we lived down the street from a very old graveyard. Its presence seemed entirely normal; my friends and I would even take walks there after dark. Only later did I discover that graveyards freaked other people out. That and old Victorian houses with floorboards that creak even when no one is walking on them. Go figure!

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Godspeed, Lucy 3-Speed!

Today I said Good-Bye to one of my bicycles, Lucy 3-Speed. I loved having her, but I simply could not keep so many bicycles in my apartment - or sustain the financial expenditure of restoring them. Given that I now have the DL-1 - my dream vintage Raleigh - the Lady's Sports was redundant and I had to set her free. But it makes me happy that she has found a new loving home!

I rode Lucy to Open Bicycle, where I met up with the lovely lady who will be her new guardian. I need to check whether it is all right to post a photo of her and Lucy here; they look great together. Amazingly, the new owner lives in the same city and state as my parents - so Lucy is in fact going back to her home town!

I attached this Basil wicker basket to the rear rack and transported it to the shop as well. It is a handlebar basket that I bought new but decided not to install on my Pashley. Hopefully it will also find a new owner who will love it. This was a big "De-clutter the Art Studio from Bicycle-Related Items" day. But what is in the basket, you ask?

Oh just a few vintage Brooks B72 saddles! I have accumulated these over the past year and they had to go as well - don't need 3 extra saddles! They do look beautiful piled up in the wicker basket.

I am happy that I've been able to let go of these things, because I really never wanted to become a hoarder/collector. I love bicycles and bicycle accessories, but I am looking for a few that are perfect for me, rather than for a "stable". Maybe some day, when I have a house with a barn and more money. But for now, Godspeed!

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Laptop Transport: Trusting Your Bicycle with Your Precious Machine

There are basically two options for transporting your belongings while cycling: (1) on your person in a backpack or messenger bag, or (2) in a contraption attached to the bicycle itself, such as a basket, pannier, saddlebag, or other fixture. When it comes to most of my belongings, the choice on this is clear: I would rather not carry anything on my back while cycling, especially since my bicycles are fitted with racks and have great transport capacity. But when it comes to my laptop (a large MacBookPro), I just can't seem to "let go" and trust it to the care of a bicycle. I carry it either in the large leather satchel in the photo above, or in the Chrome messenger bag pictured below. The leather satchel is more suitable to my personal style, but the Chrome bag is more ergonomic and feels better on longer rides. Between the two of them, I have pretty much gotten accustomed to carrying my laptop on my back while cycling, even for long stretches.

Still, I am plagued with the question of why I do this, when my bicycles are rated to handle the weight and could make my life so much easier in this respect. There are panniers specifically designed for laptop transport and sturdy wire baskets for the rear rack that will safely do the job as well. Some even strap laptop bags directly to their racks with bungee cords, and some make their own panniers out of handsome vintage satchels using Arkel or Ortlieb attachments. So I suppose for me, it is really an issue of trust and control: Somehow it feels that the laptop is safer with me than attached to the bicycle. I have browsed countless times through all the panniers in the local bike shops, but ultimately I just can't imagine myself cycling with my laptop dangling over my rear wheel and out of my field of vision. Instead of watching the road and enjoying the ride, I'd be thinking about my laptop.

Is this a logical concern on my part? I am not sure. On the one hand, if I should fall on my bicycle, the laptop is just as likely to get damaged if it sits in a pannier than if it sits on my back. Also, the straps and closure of a messenger bag are probably no less likely to fail than the attachment points of a pannier system. However, if the bicycle itself should fall over without me on it, the laptop is more likely to get damaged. How statistically likely any of these scenarios are to actually happen, I have no idea. So I think it really comes down to one's subjective perception of security.

In the end, taking the first step towards trusting my bicycle with my laptop ended up being simpler than I thought. As it turns out, my leather satchel fits quite comfortably into the front basket on my Pashley, and the edges get lodged in the wicker, so that the bag remains sturdy when the bicycle is in motion. It never occurred to me that this could be a possibility, because I assumed that the satchel would be much too large for the basket and also that it would bounce. But there you have it. I am pleasantly surprised that there are no bouncing issues: Once stuck in the basket, the satchel does not budge; the wicker sort of closes in on it and holds it firmly in place. I feel comfortable with this set-up, because I see the bag in front of me at all times and know that it is doing okay. Not sure whether this will be my permanent method of transportation from now on, but it worked splendidly for some errands close to home.

I would love to hear how other people carry their laptops while cycling, and how those solutions are working out for them.

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Review of "Eustacia Vye": Pashley Princess Sovereign

[Edited to add: There is now an updated review of this bicycle here. I suggest reading the updated version first, as it's the most complete.]

Meet Eustacia Vye: my precious and unique beauty, made by Pashley and customised by the fine people at Harris Cyclery. If you are familiar with the works of Thomas Hardy, you probably got the reference of the name. (If not, read Thomas Hardy!) Eustacia roams the heaths and meadows with wild abandon, seducing those whom she encounters with her regal beauty. And she is excellent in Boston traffic.

Here are the front and back views. If you are interested in how I came to select this bicycle, you can read about it here.

I. THE BICYCLE:

The Pashley Princess Sovereign is a classic "loop-frame" ladies bicycle. It comes standard with fenders, a fully enclosed chaincase, dress-guards, a heavy-duty black Pletscher rack, a hub-driven dynamo headlight and an LED rear light, a Brooks B66S saddle (sprung, suspended leather), enclosed hub brakes, puncture-resistant Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, a pump attached to the frame with braze-ons, an "O-Lock" for the back wheel, a "ding-dong" bell, and an enormous wicker basket. My Princess is the 20" frame (51 cm), which fits my 5'7" (170 cm) proportions perfectly. Standard specs for the Princess Sovereign can be viewed on Pashley's website here.

For those not familiar with Pashley, they are an English manufacturer and have been making traditional bicycles since 1926, specialising in transport cycles and classic English roadsters.

A close-up of the Pashley headbadge.

This is a traditionally lugged and brazed handbuilt frame. The frame is powder-coated and the paintjob is very durable (a powder coated finish will scratch and scuff, whereas a liquid-coated finish will chip). The Princess is available in two colours: "Buckingham Black" and "Regency Green." I chose the green, because it seemed to have a stronger personality, and because I generally like green bicycles. The shade is a dark and subdued "British racing green".

Pashley bicycles are made in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Some cool photos of their factory, including the brazing process, can be viewed here.

II. CUSTOMISATIONS:

As mentioned earlier, many customisations have been done to this bicycle. Here they are, not at all in the order of importance or magnitude:

Dress-guards: We replaced the standard dressguard pictured here with a netted dress-guard I bought in Germany. I wanted a dressguard that resembled latticed wroght iron rather than transparent plastic. This one certainly does. It also covers more of the wheel than the original dressguard.

Here is a close-up of the netting over the chaincase...

... and around the opening for the "O-Lock". The O-Lock is a European locking system that locks the rear wheel, making the bicycle impossible to be ridden away by a thief. In most areas in the US, it is probably prudent to use this for supplementary purposes only.

Kickstand: We replaced the standard Princess kickstand with the Pletscher Twin-Legger, which provides support on both sides of the bicycle and lifts either the back or the front wheel off the ground (you can adjust the balance to determine which).

Not all bicycles will accommodate this kickstand, but the Princess has a special braze-on below the bottom bracket for this purpose.

Grips: We replaced the standard Raleigh-style plastic grips with Brooks leather washer grips in brown. These are probably the most comfortable handlebar grips I have ever tried: They provide just the right amount of texture, softness, suppleness and durability. And they look gorgeous!

Gearing and Brakes: But wait, what's this next to the right grip? The Princess Sovereign comes with a Sturmey Archer 5-speed hub. Mine has been replaced with a 7-speed Shimano Nexus coasterbrake hub (and yes, the gear-shifter has been twined and shellacked). This is by far the most dramatic customisation, and I cannot thank Harris Cyclery enough for doing such an amazing job.

I wanted a coaster brake on the back wheel instead of the (hand-operated) drum brake that Pashley bicycles normally come with. Most people would have been glad to have the standard hand-operated brake option, but I wanted a coaster brake due to some problems with the nerves in my right hand. I can operate a hand-brake, but in stop-and-go traffic a coaster brake is more comfortable.

To accommodate this, the wheelbuilder at Harris Cyclery rebuilt the back wheel of the bicycle. This was done so impeccably, that it looks stock and absolutely flawless. I also asked Harris to set the gears lower, to make it easier to climb hills. They used a 23-tooth cog, which provided the lowest setting possible, given the enclosed chaincase. The 2 extra gears that came with the Nexus hub were pretty helpful in the hill-climbing aspect as well!

The front wheel retained the original Sturmey Archer hub dynamo/drum brake.

If you're confused, this means that I have a hand-operated front-wheel brake on the left handlebar, a 7-speed gear shifter on the right handlebar, and a coaster brake on the back-wheel that is operated with the feet by pedaling backwards.

Lights: We have added extra lights to supplement the standard lighting system.

Saddlebag: Not exactly a customisation, but the bag on the rear rack is a Carradice Barley. I absolutely love these remarkably roomy and attractive bags.

Initially, I had considered also replacing the basket and saddle, but on further testing decided to keep the originals. Please note that the 20" and 22.5" frames apparently come with a larger and more sturdy basket than the 17" frame.

III. IMPRESSIONS:

My first impressions of Eustacia can be summarised as "gorgeous, fits me perfectly and rolls like a dream... but unreasonably heavy". I had tested the Pashley Princess before purchase and had also tried several Dutch bikes -- so I thought I was prepared for the weight. But that was before I had to carry it up and down the porch stairs every time I wanted to ride it. I admit that during the first few days of ownership, I cursed and despaired, gave myself many bruises, and almost fell down the stairs a couple of times under Eustacia's weight. I was pretty upset about it and could not reconcile the fact that I had the most beautiful, elegant bike in the world and found it unmanageable.

Then, after a week, something magical happened: The bicycle miraculously lost weight! Well, either that, or I developed arm strength. Either way, carrying it up and down the porch stairs now takes only a couple of seconds and I take it in stride. Do I wish it were a lighter bicycle? I honestly cannot say for sure: Its weight also contributes to its stability, comfort on the road, reliability in traffic and tank-like indifference to pot-holes. (Edited to add: See also this post about speed.)

A summary of pros and cons:

Pros:
. stunning looks
. quality construction
. utilitarian add-ons
. luxurious accessories
. curved step-trough frame for easy on-off with skirts
. roomy and well-proportioned, with 3 frame sizes to choose from (I am 5'7", got a 20" frame, and can just reach the ground with my toes in the lowest saddle position).
. upright posture for relaxed riding, great views of surroundings, and visibility to traffic
. enclosed hub brakes make it weather resistant
. puncture-resistant tires are pretty much indestructible
. super stable
. handles extremely well in traffic
. sneers at pot-holes

Cons:
. heavy (specs state 45lb, but more like 50lb once you add accessories)
. not "agile" or sporty by any means; slow to accelerate
. upright posture restricts speed and uphill cycling
. saddle adjustment can be tricky with a "sliding off effect" unless perfectly tweaked
. if you are a private person who dislikes being approached by strangers, you might be overwhelmed with the attention this bike will get you. I get an average of 2-3 comments each time I take it out of the house.

IV. CONCLUSIONS:

The Pashley Princess Sovereign will give you elegant utility, with the bonus gift of increased upper body strength. As a town-and-country bike and a transport bike, it is a success. An agile, sporty bike it is not (and to be fair, does not claim to be). As with any bicycle, you can always customise components, which includes lowering the gears if you live in a hilly area. Enjoy the city and the meadows, and be prepared for lots of attention when people see this bicycle!


Edited to add:

Since this review, I have aded updates that may also be useful:
Pashley Princess as winter bike

Pashley Princess after some modifications

Pashley Princess with cream Delta Cruiser tires

For other perspectives on the Pashley Princess, you may also want to check out...
. Miss Sarah at Girls and Bicycles
. Sigrid at My Hyggelig

. Michael at EcoVelo
. Lorenza at Where Do Roots Belong
. Dottie at Let's Go Ride a Bike

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