Thanks for Visiting TWD and welcome to the first post!

While I’ve had the website name and site going for a bit, I hadn’t been able to come up with a good time to start posting.  I had thoughts of starting with a tour or training for a race but figured that starting with the standard day to day and what makes up a majority of the miles on my bikes (following the N+1 formula) would be best.

While I’ve been commuting off and on to my work since February of ’14, It was only a here and there kinda effort.  After getting to the point where the 15.6 mile ride wasn’t a problem both morning and night I thought I could make it more of a full time effort.  Starting with this morning’s ride in, I’m going to see how long I can keep up a continuous commute while dealing with heat, monsoons;

schedules, and whatever else comes along.

Overall, it’s starting our great with a beautiful sunrise over Redington Pass this morning…

As part of getting ready for the full time commuting I did some searching for a touring bike to use for the ride.  Here’s a brief overview of what I’m starting with;

Nashbar TR-1 touring bike

After doing some research and weighing out the options, I decided on the TR-1.  Fortunately, my better half and I celebrate our 20 year anniversary this year and I was able to make this my gift.  In addition the price (which was helped by one of Nashbar’s 20% off everything in your cart), the other reason that I chose the TR-1 was because the general reviews were decent.  Nobody seemed to have bad things to say about it other than being heavy.

Regarding weight, just the bike, without pannier, water, or electronics comes in at 32 lbs.  Loaded for the commute, it adds up to 44-49 lbs depending on whether I’m bringing shoes or two days of clothes with me.  In doing some research over at bikeforums.net, it’s not out of line for a baseline touring bike.

Prior to riding, I made some minor changes.  The stem came on it had me huched over a bit.  While it’s not a problem and I ride this way on the road bike, I was hoping for more of an upright riding position on the commuter/tourer.  The Kalloy stem with 115 degree angle helped to get me into position.  The next change was the seat.  I had picked up a Brooks B-17 while on a trip with my wife to Vancouver last year.

I’ve got a 128 miles on the saddle/bike as of this morning and it seems like it’s finally getting softer.  The last change to the bike was swapping out the Kenda 32c tires for some Continental Touring Plus tires in a 37c.

While the Kenda tires weren’t bad, I really wanted to get something that had a good reputation for resisting flats and a softer ride.  So far, it’s been nice soft(er) ride and no flats.

For water, use the Performance 24oz water bottles.  When it’s been 95 degrees, two of these get me through the hour that it takes to get home.

Packing wise, I have two options.  One is the Nasbar garment bag pannier.  it works well and hold a lot, with the only downside being that it weighs a bit.  The one that I use most often is a Ortlieb Office bag large plus with the QL3 mounting bracket.

While it’s not lightweight (1730g for the one side vs 1440g for a pair of Front Roller Plus bags) it does hold 21L/1282 cu. in.  It’s enough to take one change of clothes, a small laptop (Asus T100 transformer Book  & accessories), and lunch.  From the specifications and the reviews, it’s waterproof which should help if I get caught in one of Southern Arizona’s epic monsoons.

More to come as I go along and more details on the electronics and whatnot’s.