Staying Dry In My Commuter Pants

It's April, and that means rain showers and thunderstorms. We've had a pretty soggy couple of weeks here in southwest Missouri. Nothing unusual, but I've had some sloppy rides to and from work. Lucky for me, my wife and son gave me a shiny new pair of black Levi's Commuter trousers for my birthday last month. I had seen a couple of videos on YouTube showing that the pants were water-repellent, so I figured I should give them a try.

After unwrapping the Commuter trousers, I went straight over to the sink and put them under running water. Sure enough, the water rolled right off, leaving the fabric dry. I've worn them a handful of times now, and the pants have a great fit, strategic reinforcement in key areas of heavy wear, and reflective seams such that cuffing the pants gives you side reflectors. Ginger heard that the water-repellent properties eventually wear off, which makes sense considering the material itself isn't intrinsically water-shedding. But whatever; they're heavy duty and totally weather proof for the time being.

Now I just need to pick up a couple more pairs in other colors. Collect the whole set, eh?

My first Cruisin' for a Brewsin

Finally! I got to go on the Cruisin' for a Brewsin', and it was even more fun than advertised.

I hadn't been able to go until now because I either worked on the evening of the third Thursday of the month, or we hadn't booked a sitter in time. At last, though, the stars aligned, and I got to see what everyone was talking about.

To say it was fun would be the biggest understatement in town. It's a friendly crew; I knew a bunch of the people who went, but met a few new people as well. Everyone was really nice, and riding in a group in town is always weirdly empowering.

We started out at the Dugout, then took a few laps around the square before heading over to Ebbet's Field, and then popping in to Skinny Slim's for an unscheduled visit before heading into Patton Alley. Cody and I peeled off at that point and headed home, but everyone else went back to the Dugout to finish the night off.

It was extra awesome, you guys. I'm definitely going again, and you should, too.

Cruisin' for a Brewsin': April Installment

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since Cruisin' for a Brewsin' #1 of 2014. But here we are with the 3rd Thursday of the month upon us, which means it's time for CfaB #2. That's right: April's installment of CfaB is tomorrow night. It's looking like the weather might be less than perfect; there's a chance of light rain in the afternoon. But on the other hand, the route is going to be pretty good. As always, we'll be kicking things off at Dugout at 6:30pm. Then we'll take the long way to Ebbet's, followed by Patton Alley, and wrap things things up back at the Dugout.

For those who are interested, I'll be opening the doors to the Tinkery at around 5:30pm for a little CfaB pre-party brewsin'. Give me a call, text, or hit me up on Facebook if you need directions to our place. Hope to see you tomorrow night!

Bikes Are Cool. Helmets Are Cool.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a crack forming in my beloved, 6-7ish year old Giro Phase helmet. It was with a degree sadness that I then went on the hunt for a new skid lid. I tried out a couple of helmets. One, which my son chose for me, was universal-size. With my head as narrow as it is, universal-size helmets make me look faintly like a young child wearing his father's helmet. The second was a size small, but was a bit too tight and adjustable-fit hardware dug uncomfortably into my scalp. And that's when I found a 2009 model Giro Phase on Performance.com. Not exactly new and exciting, but it fit just as expected and is a nice low-profile and great-looking lid. In the image above, you can see my old sun-faded Phase on the right, and the shiny new Phase on the left. I'm hoping that the new one lasts at least as long as its predecessor.