Originally posted by surreal
-i need to check out the safety/advocacy forum for info on driving thru high-crime areas... as my route to school includes that kind of neighbourhood.-speaking of hauling more stuff: i wanna get some panniers. anyone have any recomendations? i have found cool stuff at www.inertiadesigns.com; i'm looking at the "expedition" bags. any thoughts/feedback, anyone?

For safety, if you can, carry a cell-phone, but not a weapon. And keep alert and show through body language that you're alert: no-goods are much less apt to pick on alert, assertive-looking targets than on meek, sluggish looking ones, just as in the rest of the animal kingdom.

Re: panniers--quality depends in large part on how much you're willing to spend, but also what you need depends in large part on how much you are wanting to carry, and the weather conditions. If you have large feet, like mine, you will appreciate the design that is cut back at the bottom, so your heels don't strike the bags. It's very annoying if every pedal stroke causes contact with the panniers!

Bear in mind that no panniers are completely waterproof: but good quality plastic sacks ARE. So if you're going to have to be in the rain for more than a few minutes, wrap everything inside the bags in good plastic and you'll be spared considerable grief.

what i dont understand is how i've avoided getting tickets, being that i was riding like a buffoon in front of cops.

Hey, I've seen bike cops here riding on sidewalks, so they don't have much room to criticize ordinary cyclists, seems to me...


anyone got good advice on a nice headlight/set of headlights?

Do a search on "lights" etc. and you'll find a wealth of discussion on this topic. I don't think there's a good solution, but there are several adequate ones.