It was just yesterday that I said, when describing my bike’s new carrying capacity, "the possibilities are endless".  How right I was.

Today  I tried out my rack and pannier for the first time and carried my laptop, a bunch of work stuff, food, a change of clothes and more on the 9.2 mile ride in on my pony with amazing ease.  I really didn’t even notice a difference – except when I was carrying my bike down the stairs at my building and it was crazy heavy.

For the ride home I had anticipated a light load, but wait!  What’s that in the photo, nestled down in there, having just been safely transported by me and my pony the 9.2 miles home?  Why, I think it’s – it is!  A growler of beer from Fitger’s Brewhouse! 

My coworker dropped this delightful growler of Hefe Roggen off at the office for me on her way back into town from Duluth, and while at first I thought I’d leave it in the office fridge till tomorrow, when I have to drive, then I thought, I’m gonna have to find out how lots of beer fares in the pannier sooner or later, may as well be today.  As it turns out, it works perfectly.  It wasn’t even all that snug I might add – in fact, I dare say I could probably fit 2 growlers!  Good to know, good to know. 

I’m participating in this Bike2Benefits program, where you commit to bike, ride the bus, or carpool at least once a week for 8 weeks, and then are entered to win sweet free stuff.  The coolest part is they have this calendar thingy where you enter when you ride your bike and how far your commute was, and it tracks how many miles you’ve ridden, how much money you’ve saved (based on a per mile cost for maintenance, tires, and gas at $3.50/gallon, which it is already more than), how much less CO2 you’ve emitted than if you’d driven, and how much less air quality pollution you’ve created than if you’d driven (carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and organic compounds, three of the most common pollutants).  And after only 3 days of bike commuting, I’ve ridden 55 miles, saved $12.65, produced 54.22 lbs less CO2 and 2.19 lbs less air quality pollution!

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