I wasn’t clear. I went through the 32 oz of water after the 20-minute trip as I was cooling down (and waiting for the meeting to start). I figure that if that much water worked this time, I should be okay with 32 oz of water no matter where I go. I do drink water ALL THE TIME, though, so my requirements probably aren’t typical.

A smaller laptop would make it easier, but I have a hard time buying something like that without being able to try it out and see how much use it’ll get. I’m worried it’ll end up like my abortive attempts to use a PDA.

Angel: That’s great! My ride would be a lot better if it were at the beginning and end of the day. It’d be cooler and would take a smaller proportion of time. It’s hard for me to get jazzed up about spending 40 minutes travelling back and forth to a meeting that lasts less than an hour.

When I got my bike, I invested in a pannier. Maggie and I each have one saddlebag that attaches to that (passed down from her father). When we get back, I’m thinking about getting an old milk crate and attaching it to the pannier as well so that I can carry more groceries (and perhaps my laptop). It was definitely worth the money!

I hope to get into a better routine about it once my schedule is a little more normal (with less travelling). Of course, by then it’ll be colder too, so we’ll see!

If I had to choose one thing that I could change about my daily bike ride, it would be my backpack. It makes me hot, but I have to carry my lunch and change of clothes, primarily, with me. I’d like to get some expanded trunk space, but I haven’t been able to make the investment yet.

As for water, I take along my empty water canteen when I leave in the morning and fill it up when I arrive at the credit union while I’m changing into my work clothes. Then, I just make sure I don’t refill before heading off at night, so I leave with it either empty or nearly so. It helps not to have the extra weight in my pack. This is especially true if I decide to detour by the library on the way home and pick up half a dozen books. Since my ride is only 15 minutes, I don’t get too dehydrated.

I hope you keep up with it. It can be tons of fun once you get into the routine.

1) Helmet chin straps are not meant to hold the helmet to your head! My helmet is certainly not an expensive one, but has a great one-handed adjustment on the back to hold the helmet on. The chin strap is only there to make sure the helmet doesn’t fall off in those rare instances, so it’s perfectly safe without choking me. Getting a helmet like this helps tremendously.

2) If you went through 32 oz of water on a 20 minute ride, you were probably quite dehydrated beforehand. I seem to go through 32 oz in about 1-2 hours of hard riding on long trips. For short trips I don’t carry water. I just drink a little before leaving, and more when I get there. Staying hydrated throughout the day is important, and will mean you don’t need to carry that extra 2 pounds on your bike while riding.

3) My old laptop was 7 pounds, barely fits in small bags, and in general is not suited for being mobile (great, huh?). This spring I bought an Eee PC which is only 2 pounds, can handle everything I need to do, surfs the web better than any other computer I have used, and has a 7″ screen. I can easily put this in my 7oz bag and get around town while still “being connected.” Any way to reduce the weight you carry will help immensely. Having a 17 pound bike with an ultralight bag and not carrying water (but I do carry 16oz juice because I’m diabetic) makes it easy to bike to work.