New Bag

Right now, it's Intersession at school. That means that for the month of January our kids are doing their elective classes, we are doing professional development and school-wide planning, and in the afternoon, we work with students who still need to show mastery of course work.

Intersession is sort of relaxing, sort of. I am notorious for roaming around the school pushing a wheelie chair that has a padded seat, rather than sitting on the plastic kid chairs because all we do is sit all day. We meet all day, in workshops, in planning sessions, in interventions. It is very productive, but long and tiring. Another reason why my rear needs the comfort is because I do my best to ride every day. This year, the riding is much easier to do because I got a new bike backpack!

Mine is the Chrome Ranchero, which is the medium-sized backpack by the famous messenger bag company. It's just like the bag in the left of this picture.

Mine has a white stripe across the back, but I look pretty much like these guys, so you get the idea.

Why did I bring another bag into my life? If you know me, you know that I have more bags (and jackets) than I could ever need. Did I really need this one? Well, I'd argue that I did. I love riding my fixed gear. I love it, love it, love it. My dad asked me why I liked the fixed gear and it basically comes down to the same reason that I'll always drive a standard (as long as they keep making them). There's just something about having total control of your movements. And I love that on a fixie I have to pedal non-stop. It makes me feel strong and athletic. Anyway, I've been wanting to ride my fixie as much as possible. In the winter, my clothes are bulkier and my laptop doesn't fit in my usual bike bag (unless I wanted to ride the xtracycle). So, I got the Chrome bag at a good price and so far, I'm totally happy to have it in my life. I opted for a backpack rather than the shoulder bag (which is way more cool, but way less comfortable).

What can the bag do? Well, I really like that it has a large main pocket that is easy to wipe down and can handle wet stuff and there is a velcro sealed pocket in front of the main pocket that goes down the entire front of the bag. I keep my lock in there so it doesn't get anything dirty or banged up. There are a few more little pockets, one that fits my book and another that fits my moleskine, phone, credit cards, keys and a nylon tote bag. I have trekked back and forth with lunch, laptop, and an entire outfit. I also did my grocery shopping for the week and was all set with this bag. Potentially, I could have gone with the bigger size, but I think this one will do just fine and keep me from carrying too much. Oh, and it's made in the USA. In my fine state, even. Very cool.

When it gets warmer again and I don't need sweaters, I'll probably go back to my Deuter (kind of like this one) on days when I don't need a laptop going back and forth. And once I have time to fix my kickstand, I'll rotate the Xtracycle in since that's a sweet ride.