The Porteur Bag

Back in the day, when I acquired Sweetpea, and Bleriot became just my utility bike, there were a few changes.  I added a kickstand, upgraded the rear rack, and, eventually added a Platrack to my little front rack, for a porteur-style platform.

This called for a proper porteur bag, but it took me a long while to get there.  I'd use bungies and all sorts of bags, none of which looked particularly nice.  Having my bikes look nice is kind of a thing for me.

(this looks tacky)

Then Lesli gave me some big pieces of waxed canvas.  I could make a bag.  It spent a couple of years being designed in my head, and by then I'd acquired some Pendleton blanket-weight fabric (do NOT ask how much it costs per yard, even at the outlet store.  Just don't.), and my sister-in-law, who runs a halfway house for textiles*, came into some fluorescent green and pink Cordura, which she figured I could find a use for.

I've been collecting bike helmet buckles and straps (WELL WASHED) from helmet giveaways (we confiscated the old one so it would not be used again).  I certainly had the pieces.

I wanted a fully-lined bag, with some internal pockets for the bits that get lost in the big compartment, and a pocket on the outside for my u-lock and cable, because it takes forever to attach and remove it from my rear rack.  The lining had to be removable (for washing), and the bottom was to be stiffened with a piece of Coroplast (I have a small stash of old lawn signs just for this purpose)

The strap - well, I could BUY webbing, but what with the waxed canvas and Pendleton fabric, it called for an exceptional strap.  I tossed my yarn stash, and wove a strap to match the Pendleton fabric, because I could.



Measured the rack.  Measured the distance between the handlebars - that was a constraining factor.

Made a paper pattern and binder-clipped it together (best sewing accessory since the metal needle, although the Clover Wonder Clips may step ahead in line).

Stared at it awhile.  Looked at other bags on flickr, in particular, David Parsons' bags.

The original design:

Basically, the same size as a reusable grocery bag, but an inch deeper.

Sewing it was fun - my Bernina 930 was certainly up to the task, but arguing with the heavy fabrics did prove a bit of a challenge.

The lock pocket, which was a simple flat pocket, decided it wanted to be a bellows pocket, due to the depth of the lock and cable.

The bag clips to the rack with helmet webbing adjusting clips (Bern and Bell), and running the strp through the tombstone before clipping it; works very well.

The result:







And, in use:





Notes for next time (hah)
Make it taller for better roll-topping, and use a wider strap.

On the whole, though, I am pretty happy with it.

*textile halfway house - fabrics in interesting quantities show up on her porch.  She redistributes them.  Anything from a bolt of raw silk upholstery fabric (pajamas for me!) to the Cordura, to ribbing, to...

Errandonnee 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12

Errands 8 and 9
I couldn't access my credit union account online, and the phone numbers they offered to send a new password to - well, I didn't recognize either of them.  This, of course, happened on a Friday night.  So a personal trip to the credit union on Monday morning was necessary.  We got it all unwound, not without a serious amount of time being spent, including multiple calls to their tech support.  Funny part of the trip - the person helping me said "yours is the lowest account number I've seen!" (Personal business)

From there, I went by my LBS, because Bleriot's Cane Creek SCR-5c brake levers are giving it up (they are 10 years old; maybe they've been bounced hard on the pavement a few years back).  Sadly, they didn't have them, and that was where I'd bought them originally.  The mechanic said maybe they were no longer made.  I didn't think so.  Went home and ordered them from Universal Cycles.  (Store)

7.1 miles

Errand 10
Personal care, but not for me.  Close family member is going through a very stressful time; I figured she needed a walk to talk it though.  So we hiked to Michael's and the Mill End Store.  Things were purchased, but that wasn't the point.

Cherries are blooming

back of her head

2.5 miles

Errands 11 and 12
We were babysitting grandson #1 for a couple of days, and brought his bike (Wishbone 3 in 1, great strider bike that grows with the kid, and yes, I did buy it for his first birthday present) along.  Day the second had non-rain, so he wanted to ride the bike to the park (.5 miles uphill, and he's not yet 4 years old).  On the way, he wanted to stop at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's home. He convinced Great Grandma to come along.  My dad elected to stay home.  We went to the first park (elementary school playground), and, after awhile adjourned to the newly-remodeled park.  He and my husband played on the equipment.  I did, a bit, but hung out on the swings with my mom.

Someone got to ride a bike

Knock knock knocking on great-grandparents' door

Elementary School playground

New play structure achievement unlocked

The playground at the new park

my mom on the swing

Work, school, or volunteering (because we were shepherding a child, and HE was on the bike :-) )
Social (visiting with the great grandparents)

1.5 miles.

Errandonnee 6 and 7

Not raining.  Stack of library books waiting for me.  Free birthday drink at Starbucks.  This was a plan.

First, to the library, where I commiserated with another patron about the hassle of locking up.

Picked up my 4(!) books (Interlibrary Loan, three from Tacoma, WA, one from Worthington, OH), and went back out to unlock.  Same patron, also planning to leave.  His personal music at the time was "Hey Joe" (baBAAAbabababaBAAA; been awhile since I heard that one.  Decades, maybe).

Thence to Starbucks, where I lived dangerously and just helmet-locked.  Ordered their newer Chai Tea Latte (lightly sweetened, more spicy than the original, or so the server claimed) in my personal commuter mug.

And home, via the Hall Creek Enhancement.  Saw one duck.

Learnings - Interlibrary Loan books can come from as far away as Scotland!

4.3 miles.

Errandonnee One, Two, and Three

And it was a good thing I had receipts, totally forgot about the picture thing until the last stop!

March 20, 2017

From home to the dentist - 7.3 miles.

I went the northern route, on the Hwy 26 bike path, then experimented with staying south of Hwy 26 at Camelot Ct (mi 2.4), rather then the usual path continuation to Skyline/Scholl's Ferry with the interesting left turn onto Humphrey/Hewett.  Learning there - more steeper climbing that way!

From there, I would have normally dropped down Dosch to Sunset (mi 5), but both Google Maps and RWGPS suggested I continue up to Fairmount Blvd, and then drop down through the neighborhood side streets.  Every road descending from Fairmount is steep.  Intellectually I knew that.  I did.  How bad could it be?  9-10% downgrades, narrow twisty roads, and generally more potholes and grit than pavement.  I was never so happy to make it down to Sunset Blvd in my life.  Once there, I only had to go another easy mile.

As for the dentist - I will say that N20 makes a dental visit much less stressful.  Plus, the dentist decided it was much less work than originally estimated, so it cost me much less as well!

See receipt #1 for documentation.

From the dentist to the library - 7.6 miles.

The plan from here was to cut between Wilson HS and Rieke Elementary down to SW Vermont, work my way to Multnomah Village (we'll be back here at least once this coming week), and then follow my known route back to Beaverton, except continuing on SW 5th to the library, rather than turning north just before Hwy 217.  Really, I only needed supplementary navigation assistance from Fairmount to the dentist, and then from there to Multnomah Village.

The only unknown was would the Fanno Creek Trail be open?  There had been some contentious trail closures (Portland Water Bureau has a sewage pump station on the trail OUTSIDE THEIR CITY LIMITS AND OUTSIDE THEIR COUNTY!) for pump station work, and the proposed detour put cyclists on SW Garden Home Rd.  Sounds bucolic and all, but that section is a highly traveled, very narrow 2 lane road with ditches right at the fog lines.  I myself pestered both our parks district (it is their trail) and the road department, and they did put up Bicycles on Roadway signs.  The few times I rode that way, though, I crossed Garden Home and paralleled it through the neighborhoods until SW Oleson Rd.

To make a short story long, I was pleasantly surprised to find the construction finished and the trail open.

Felt a few rain drops along here.

So, right, the library.   I was picking up a book which was an interlibrary loan, and, after fruitlessly searching the Hold books racks, I asked where it was - turns out ILL books must be picked up and checked out at the service desk.  The book came all the way from Nebraska.  Pretty cool.

See receipt #2 for documentation.

From the library to the fabric store - .8 miles.

Nothing to report here.  Got to the fabric store, bought my velcro for the Porteur Bag Sewing Project (for flaps to attach the removable lining), had a great conversation with the cashier about the project, as I was adding the velcro to my plastic bag (suboptimal and tacky).

From the fabric store to home - 1.3 miles.

Since I had gone to the fabric store, I continued directly east through the Hall Creek Enhancement to SW 114th.  While it is very short, I love riding through there.  The creek was very high, and I only saw a couple of Canada geese.  Usually there are ducks everywhere.

See receipt #3 for documentation, and I even took a couple of pictures.

I could have stopped for coffee, but I was getting tired of locking and unlocking my bike.  There is good coffee at home.

Beat the rain home.

The route.

Total distance - 17 miles.

Documentation:

Coffeeneuring 2016, #6 and #7

#6: Verboort Sausage Festival
Date: November 5
Destination: Verboort Sausage Festival, Verboort, OR
Beverage: Hot Chocolate
Bike Friendliness: Leaned the bike somewhere outside the Bingo tent
Bicycle: Sweetpea
Total mileage: 2.8 miles



I really had planned to have a theme of "Places I Have Not Coffeeneured Before", but that fell apart today.  Too much rain.  Way too much rain.

So, upon finishing the Verboort Populaire, there I was in the Bingo tent.  I went for the Hot Chocolate and Sausage on a Stick, and, in a very first (I've been doing this ride since 2007), I played bingo.

After finishing up the hot chocolate and sausage, and not winning at bingo ($3 grand prize), we then rode back to the start, in Forest Grove, 2.8 miles.  Sadly, because Porter Rd is closed (bridge reconstruction), we did have to take Martin Rd.  The shoulder is good almost the whole way back.  Almost.  The rain, which had been consistent, but not heavy all day, decided to up its game and dump on us the whole way back.

#7: Ridgewood Park, Coffee Outside
Date: November 8
Destination: Ridgewood Park
Beverage: Coffee
Bike Friendliness: of course
Bicycle: Rivendell Bleriot
Total mileage: 2.1 miles



We've got a freshly-remodeled park in our neighborhood, just the other side of the elementary school.  The original reservoir, with tennis courts on top, has been replaced by an enormous reservoir, a pumphouse (of which we got a tour when the park re-opened), tennis and pickleball courts on top, new trails, an excellent new play structure, a bocce pitch, water fountain, and a covered picnic area.  The water department and parks district have really stepped up their game.

Coffee Outside gear updates this year were an Optimus Terra HE cookset, which is probably overkill, but I still have this secret wish to go bikepacking some time.  And I'd been organized enough last year that I could lay my hands on the cookset/Svea 123 stove (fits inside the cookset) right away.

Ground some coffee, put water in my insulated coffee mug and milk in a little bottle, then figured out how to carry everything up to the park.  Maybe last year I said I need to sew up a twee porteur bag.  I am saying that again with a little more emphasis.





Cruised around the neighborhood, then up to the park from the new park entrance, and established myself in the picnic area.  Maybe some knitting happened while I was waiting for the coffee to brew.

Surfacing

Haven't posted anything lately, because, well, I haven't been riding.

So, it is 6 weeks out from surgery, and the doctor cleared me to do whatever I wanted, but not all at once.

I rode out to meet Susan O for lunch, day before yesterday.  I enjoy having lunch with Susan, and she is located in the relatively flat direction.  15.75 miles on the Bleriot.  Heart rate was way up there, although I didn't feel bad.  Pace was a couple mph below my usual for that route.  And I felt every single vertical foot on the return.  I have to start somewhere.

A picture

Bikes, to prove it happened (Susan's new Wicked built by Corey Thompson)

And some new handknit socks, made with yarn I had just laying around the house

Yesterday I dug up the baby hand weights (2 lbs!), and started on the lifting program which is safe for little old ladies in nursing homes.  It does progress from there, truly.  For some of the exercises, I started with the 2lb weight, decided that was ridiculous, and used the 5lb weight.  My arms are stronger than my core at the moment.

Baby steps.

Coffeeneuring: Civic Duty and Bogza Coffee

Ride: 7  (I think.  I might have 3 rides in one week and will need another ride)
Date: Monday, November 2
Distance: 4.72 miles
Destination: Bogza Coffee, Beaverton, OR
Bike: Rivendell
Beverage: Borgia Mocha
Bike Friendliness: Super nice today; garage door was open, so I parked it behind my chair

Library book needed returning and voting needed to happen.  All voting in Oregon is by mail, so we get our voters' pamphlet, campaign mail and ballot in plenty of time to read through it all, vote, and mail it back.  Except the election is TOMORROW, and mail might not do it.  Fortunately, the library is a official drop-off site.  For that matter, the central official ballot drop-off site is not much further, but I didn't want to go there today.

Zipped over to the library, put the book in the magic return slot (scans the book's RFID chip and checks it right back in, probably triggering an email to the next person in line for the book), and, then, VERY trustingly, did not lock the bike before going inside to drop off the ballot.  There were some missionaries hanging right by the bike rack, so they'd see if it went off with someone who wasn't me.



Contemplated a route from the library to Bogza - most direct is north on Hall Blvd, then left on Millikan Way.  A bit dicey between Broadway and Millikan, because the bike lane vanishes, the lanes are narrow, and the traffic can be swift.  Fortunately, many red lights today, so I could merge in and take the lane.

It was a nice day today, so they had one of the glass doors rolled up.  Made bike parking easy - I put it right behind the squashy chair that I wanted to sit in anyway!



Borgia Mocha, and some forward progress on the Fair Isle Flower Sock.  This sock has been very frustrating - the first contrast color I chose didn't work out (unravel!), then the sock seemed overly baggy (unravel to the end of the stranded work) and use a smaller needle.  I think I've got it now.

Fitz joined me for awhile, and then headed home to get ready for woodworking class.

I then rode home via the brand new extension of Rose Biggi Ave - it used to be a parking lot cut through, followed by some outstanding potholes, and another parking lot which gave onto Dawson St.  Now it is an excellent street and shiny new bridge over Beaverton Creek, which is formed by the confluence of Hall Creek and Messinger Creek.  Messinger Creek is currently channeled into a storm sewer which terminates right at the edge of our property, and is currently overwhelming the catch basin and private diversion pipe, and flooding our downhill neighbor.  More than you wanted to know.

Coffeeneuring: Dive Run to Ava Roasteria

Ride: 5?
Date: Sunday, Oct 18

Distance: 4.8 miles

Destination: Ava Roasteria Beaverton

Bike: Rivendell

Beverage: Pumpkin Spice Latte

The library sent me a "book ready" notice, and, as I had two books to return, and hadn't coffeeneured yet this week, I thought I'd combine the two.  Grabbed the sock I am knitting, and headed out.

The library closes at 5 on Sunday, and I zipped in just under the wire.  Books managed, I coasted over the couple blocks to Ava.  As I noted last year, it is open 24/7 (good if, say, someone is finishing a permanent in the middle of the night), and appears to be very popular with the "I want to study in a coffeeshop with my textbooks and laptop" crowd.



So popular that I locked up in the rack, ordered a pumpkin spice latte, and found an open table outside.

Careful examination of the sock revealed that I only needed 1.5" more knitting before I could start the toe, so I interspersed knitting, drinking, and people-watching.  Got to where I could start the toe decreases, and headed home, because toes are easier to knit with double point needles, or a long cable circular needle, and I did not have either with me.

Sadly, looking at the bag I use on the porteur rack, I am again feeling the need to make a somewhat larger and more esthetically pleasing bag.  I have the materials, just need to come up with a design and get to it.

Coffeeneuring: Coffee with Beth

Ride: 4
Date: Friday, Oct 16

Distance: 28.47 mi

Vertical feet: 2000

Location: Saint Cupcake SW,  1138 SW Morrison St

Bike Friendliness: Adorable whisk bike rack.  See the picture.

Beverage: Americano

Food: a Lemon dot and an Chocolate Hazelnut dot (mini cupcakes)

Beth and I have been promising ourselves that we'd get together for coffee for much too long.  We finally pulled it off.

Our meetup place was Saint Cupcake, which, while not the original Saint Cupcake, still makes a very nice array of cupcakes, both standard and mini sizes.

My route into Portland includes going over Sylvan summit, then coasting to the Zoo, up a bit to Kingston Rd, then downhill through Washington Park and SW Portland.

Saint Cupcake has an adorable bike rack.

Beth arrived as I was locking up.  We got ourselves coffee, and in my case, a couple of exceptionally tasty dots (mini cupcakes).

In my case there was some knitting on a sock, and we spent a fair amount of time catching up.

My other agenda for day was to ride over the shiny new Tillikum Bridge, and stop in at Rivelo on the other side, to buy some leather/crochet cycling gloves.  We rode down to the Willamette RIver, then started working our way south to the bridge.  Eventually, we just took ourselves to where the endless stream of cyclists was riding from.

The views from the bridge are wonderful.







Now, I could fill this post up with a stupid number of pictures of the bridge, but you could just view them here.

As well as mission accomplished at Rivelo, we met another Google Riv lister, and visited with John.  He walked us out to meet our bikes.

Casting about for what to do next, I suggested we ride on the Springwater Corridor Trail.  it was clear and sunny as we rode along the Willamette River.  And then we found ourselves in Sellwood, it was after 1pm, and we wanted some lunch.

A burger place was located, and we sat down to some yummy burgers and fries.  And more catching up.

Then Beth had to get home, so we headed our separate ways.  I got to ride over the Tillikum Bridge (oooh! more pictures!).  I followed the other cyclists to see where I'd end up, which turned out to be Portland State University.  So, four blocks north, and I was on Jefferson, headed back up to Washington Park, and then home.

The elevation profile