Cycling is getting fashionable. Cities like New York are emerging recently as bike friendly towns. That was not always the case. AbouttTen years ago, you were not prepared to see any bike at all in Manhattan, and it was too dangerous to ride one. Today, there are many seperate bike lanes in Manhattan, but you still need to wear a helmet and be cautious with the cars and especially with the cabs. There are bicycle shops sprouting everywhere in New York, and you can get rentals.
There is now also a bike map for New York, and also Google maps are testing bike maps. There are foldable bicycles which are very practical to carry in your car. You park your car where you find a parking spot, and then you are off on your bike to go shopping in the city. 
Buy some bicycle bags, the ones from Ortlieb are of high quality, and they are all water proof. You need water proof bags. Bags which are only water resistant will not do it, because if it rains the content will be wet after about twenty minutes. With Ortlieb bags the content does not get wet at all. I also use Ortlieb bags to go to the beach.
I am a digital nomad (some call it digital boheme). When I visited Zurich in May 2010 my backpack fell apart. I am not a typical backpack user but a backpack is very convenient for me. My laptop, camera and phone with all the charging devices and adaptors for Europe need to travel with me. The backpack I used was not really great as it would not be water proof and that’s not at all good when you carry electronic devices with you. How did I solve this problem?
Luckily, I happened to visit a tradeshow for outdoor fashion and sports and came to the Ortlieb booth. At the booth a messenger bag from Ortlieb was in a container and a water jet constantly sprayed loads of water on it. I thought well that’s a cool bag. I asked the sales staff and it turned out that the Ortlieb messenger bags are waterproof and very handy indeed. I have not heard about Ortlieb before. Ortlieb is a German company founded in 1982 and located in Southern Germany which designs and manufactures products for outdoor use.
Back in Zurich I bought two of them one in black (see photo below) and one in silver. The silver messenger bag is so cute that I have actually not used it yet.
What I like about the messenger bag is that it is 100% water proof, does always look good on me and can be used both in the city as well as for outdoor sports. As you can see on my two photos I have two dogs and ride my mountain bike with them so that they get a really good work out. With my messenger bag I have everything I need with me all the time. In my next blog I will tell you how I use it and why I need it. In the meantime check them out on Ortlieb USA
my Ortlieb messenger bag in action
my Ortlieb messenger bag
waterproof and top functionality: the Ortlieb messenger bag
We drive a 1998 Dodge Durango and wanted to do outdoor sports with our Labrador Max. He needs the exercise and jogging with him, although it’s cool for me and Max, it is not something we can do as a family. Hence we decided to switch to mountain bikes. We got ourselves two mountain bikes from REI and put them into the car. so far so good. Bu then we got a second dog, Emma, a Belgian Sheppard dog and the two bikes would not fit anymore into the car. OK, so now what? We went again to REI with the intention to buy a rack for the roof or any other fixtures that would hold these two bikes. At REI they were very helpful and educated us about all options. I particular they said that the strap on racks, though nice, are a bit of a hassle and not so stable. So we decided to go for the roof option. Amongst them we single out one, paid and went home. Monday the following we they called us and informed us that upon double checking, that option we bought would not fit the Dodge Durango. They said that they would research it for us and get back to us with a new option. I said fine. A day later they called me again and said that they found a rack. It’s from Thule, a Swedish manufacturer, and they just announced it’s availability in the US. REI then even referred me to a website where I can buy it. I am a bit reluctant to shop these things on a website, I must admit. I mean I have never purchased something like that on the web. So I went to rackattack, called them and ordered over the internet. I got two Thule 594XT sidearms with no problem and shipment was free (and I mean this is a quite a sizable article to ship). Installation was fine and it works well for us. Now the reason I think I should post it is to say:
- Great attitude and customer service from REI.
- Great product from Thule. It helped us where there was no other option, but
- make sure you check every time before you drive off that back and front wheel fixtures of the bike are put on tightly.
Additionally, they give no information about the sidearm fixture. It may be obvious but this sidearm has to be at a certain angle with the wheel otherwise the bike can still wiggle around and potentially jump out of the sidearm fixture on rough road conditions. In our experience it has to be at least 70 degree angle.
Thule 594xt sidearm