YOGA_O
Member
I'm spending the summer in the Upstate area of South Carolina. While I'm here, I'm preparing/training for a 100 mile fundraising ride in La Crosse, WI for Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF).
Today, I made my way over to the crown jewel of paved trail riding in the area, The Swamp Rabbit Trail, in Greenville, SC. The Swamp Rabbit is about a 28 mile trail, but today I rode a total of 18 miles from Unity Park out to scenic Travelers Rest and back. This was my first ride on the Swamp Rabbit with my S40, and it was also my first ride using the new Race Cage hanging off the back of the headrest. I was looking forward to trying out my Camelback 3.0L water bladder, and seeing how putting all my little bits of stuff would work out.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with everything. The trail is a mild climb to get out to Travelers Rest, and then a fun ride back. Like all trails, there are road crossings and a wide variety of people & wildlife along the trail that you have to smile and navigate through. The Race Cage performed well, but there's a few changes I'll work on.
1 - I need to try a Velcro strap to hold the water bladder tube in a better position. I was having to tuck it into the V of my shirt to keep it from flying away, and I was worried that it was going to catch in the rear wheel spokes. Every time I stopped and leaned forward, it would pop out and as I was getting started again, I was wobbling all over the path trying to grab the tube and tuck it back in.
2 - As others have indicated, small stuff in the case wanders around a bit. this is especially annoying when you have hard items like keys, tools, granola bars in wrappers, as every bump creates some jangly noise. I rested the bladder on a small towel, and that was perfect, but I need a smaller bag, or maybe another towel to rest that stuff on. The Race Cage will be great for carrying a vest, or other clothing items you might need to add/subtract as the ride goes along.
3 - The Race Cage makes the whole bike longer, D'UH! - I've been putting the bike in my Honda Fit, and it was working really well, but I had to move the front passenger seat forward all the way to get it to fit with the Race Cage on, and it was a little more work to get it all to fit in the Fit. I might have to evaluate what I might need on any particular ride and decide the night before whether to remove the bag and just use the banana bag.
I also used the Stoppy as my traveling stand as I needed to remove/install the rear wheel. It worked wonderfully.
Here's a few pics from the ride. If you'd like to support me on my Breakthrough T1D ride, here's the link for my fundraising page. TIA!
Today, I made my way over to the crown jewel of paved trail riding in the area, The Swamp Rabbit Trail, in Greenville, SC. The Swamp Rabbit is about a 28 mile trail, but today I rode a total of 18 miles from Unity Park out to scenic Travelers Rest and back. This was my first ride on the Swamp Rabbit with my S40, and it was also my first ride using the new Race Cage hanging off the back of the headrest. I was looking forward to trying out my Camelback 3.0L water bladder, and seeing how putting all my little bits of stuff would work out.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with everything. The trail is a mild climb to get out to Travelers Rest, and then a fun ride back. Like all trails, there are road crossings and a wide variety of people & wildlife along the trail that you have to smile and navigate through. The Race Cage performed well, but there's a few changes I'll work on.
1 - I need to try a Velcro strap to hold the water bladder tube in a better position. I was having to tuck it into the V of my shirt to keep it from flying away, and I was worried that it was going to catch in the rear wheel spokes. Every time I stopped and leaned forward, it would pop out and as I was getting started again, I was wobbling all over the path trying to grab the tube and tuck it back in.
2 - As others have indicated, small stuff in the case wanders around a bit. this is especially annoying when you have hard items like keys, tools, granola bars in wrappers, as every bump creates some jangly noise. I rested the bladder on a small towel, and that was perfect, but I need a smaller bag, or maybe another towel to rest that stuff on. The Race Cage will be great for carrying a vest, or other clothing items you might need to add/subtract as the ride goes along.
3 - The Race Cage makes the whole bike longer, D'UH! - I've been putting the bike in my Honda Fit, and it was working really well, but I had to move the front passenger seat forward all the way to get it to fit with the Race Cage on, and it was a little more work to get it all to fit in the Fit. I might have to evaluate what I might need on any particular ride and decide the night before whether to remove the bag and just use the banana bag.
I also used the Stoppy as my traveling stand as I needed to remove/install the rear wheel. It worked wonderfully.
Here's a few pics from the ride. If you'd like to support me on my Breakthrough T1D ride, here's the link for my fundraising page. TIA!
