I moved most of my family’s worldly possessions to a new house last weekend. New to me that is, as it was built in 1890. In process of packing up our stuff, I was reminded that I’ve got baggage, baggage of the bag type. Hiking bags, messenger bags, hydration packs, seat bags, panniers handlebar bags, and good old backpacks.

I’ve always been on the look out for the “perfect” bag for various cycling activities, some have come close, but in the end it’s always a compromise.

Take commuting for example. I’ve used an XL Timbuk2 bag for years. I got it made at Interbike in Anaheim in 1995 I think, back when Timbuk2 brought their production line to the show and took orders for custom bags. It is big enough to take just about anything I would want to carry on my back, but when carrying less than giant loads it is overkill and the sheer size of the bag keeps the sweat and body heat from dissipating during the summer. I’ve tried various back packs too, from a super minimalist bag from REI to the rather large Seal Line I tested in issue 133. I like all of them for various reasons, and have kept them in the quiver for certain loads in certain weather.

Same thing with hydration packs. I’ve got a super small 50 oz model (it is really my daughters, but I’ve borrowed it for XC racing), a minimalist bag with little more than a sleeve for the bladder and shoulder straps, and an older Camelbak Hawg for those long days in the saddle. I’m currently riding with a new Ergon bag and getting the fit dialed in. Again, all these bag fill a niche purpose and so I keep them around.

I also have a couple of sets of panniers, a few handlebar bags and various stuff sacks I’ve used for touring. In preparation for my self-supported 400 mile race from Philedelphia to Pittsburgh I’m trying out some bags from Jeff at Carousel Design Works. Jeff made the bags for Jay Petervary’s record setting ride Great Divide Race last year. The bags are designed as a system, using the bike itself to support bags, eliminating the need for racks. Between these options and my Xtracycle I’ve got tons of options for touring, from absolutely minimalist kit for moving fast and light, to slow rolling but supremely comfortable.

I’ve got a ton of other bags floating about, and have given away a fair share also after they failed to meet my needs or expectations. Better than collecting ceramics pigs, right?

It seems like most things there is no magic bullet for bags, much the same as bikes and wheel sizes. If you gotta choose just one type you make the decision based on what option works best for you combination of fitness, skill set, riding style and riding ares(s). I’m glad we’ve all got options these days.

The Dirt Rag van is overloaded and Eric, Karl, and I are ready for a departure early tomorrow morning, heading south to Fayetteville, TN for the next stop on the World Tour. We had so much fun at last year’s Dirt Sweat & Gears (DSG) race that we decided to make the ten plus hour trip again this year.

Karl Rosengarth Photo

In addition to the 12-hr race, promoter Clay Higgins has also added a singlespeed only race to the calendar of events this Friday 5/2. Details about the SS race have been few and far between but any race dubbed Singlespeed USA ought to be epic. If race sponsors are any indication, I’m guessing there will be boozy undertone for much of the weekend.

Karl Rosengarth Photo

We’ll have the full World Tour booth complete with magazines, swag, and subscription premiums. We’ll be giving away free stuff in the form of tires from Kenda and WTB, casual and technical T’s from Hoss, and sweet Dirt Rag edition cables from Jagwire. You know the gig by now, sign up for a subscription and get free stuff.

Be sure to stop by the booth say hello and give us hell.

The Transportation Research Boards’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 500, Vol. 18, Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan: A Guide for Reducing Collisions Involving Bicycles provides strategies that can be employed to reduce collisions involving bicycles. The 177-page report contains information that may be useful for bicycle advocates and organizations looking to improve bicycle safety conditions in their communities. You may download the 117 page report (4.2MB) here, and learn more at the Transportation Research Boards’s website.

There is an overwhelming amount of things to see and do here at Sea Otter. What’s really cool is that this is true for everybody, not just us freeloading journalists. Granted I’m typing this from the warm, wind-free comfort of the media center, free cup of hot tea by my side, but that’s only because I’m slaving away to document the goings-on.

Despite warnings of traditionally nasty weather, Friday was relatively warm and sunny (although ironically not nearly as warm as it was back in Pittsburgh).

While walking to the booth I spotted Norco pro Ryan Leech doing a trials demo, one of three per day, on a custom set of steel bar obstacles. His moves were so fluid and confident, it looked almost easy enough for anyone to try, if it weren’t for the threat of an awfully hard landing.

The bar he’s balancing on below is more narrow than the tires on his bike.

The groms, sporting helmets newly decorated by Maurice himself, were impressed and lined up for autographs.

Next I attended a presentation by the SRAM folks of some new things they’ve got coming out soon. (Is it 2009 already?) Chief among them is their new Elixir brake set, meant to offer more power than the Juicy with lighter weight than the Code. They had a nifty machined Plexiglass model of the Elixir’s lever (sorry, my photo of it didn’t come out well), showing its innovative master cylinder design that uses an abbreviated-cone-shaped push rod moving in a tapered guide for gradual, modulated engagement.

Also news: the Reba lineup gets an overhaul with SID-style redesign of the chassis and internals, and incorporating the new Maxle Light quick-release thru-axle system, which will be an option on Reba forks including the 29er version. The Maxle Light should be a nice complement to the Reba’s new 120mm travel option. The Revelation forks have been upgraded to 140mm of travel and will have the Maxle Light option too. Seems that thru-axle QRs are the wave of the future, with Fox debuting their own lighter-weight cross country version as well… This is a good thing in my opinion, as traditional quick releases are just not beefy enough for the limits being tested by the latest lightweight, long-travel bikes.

Also spotted: the latest bling from Truvativ, as modeled here by the legendary Greg “H-Ball” Herbold himself. It seems I can finally dig my anodized green barends out of the closet.

During the SRAM presentation we were distracted by crazy motor sounds coming from nearby, so afterward we walked over with Eric Schutt, SRAM’s PR dude extraordinaire, to see what the ruckus was. Magura was hosting a demonstration by Aaron Colton, a 16-year-old streetbike freestyle wonder, riding a (full-size!) Kawasaki equipped with Magura brakes. Holy crap was this insane—the laws of physics seemed to be bent.

I missed getting a good shot of the insane nose wheelies about six times (you can see Aaron’s foot just behind the helmeted spectator below.) Gives you some idea of how tight the space was that he was operating in. And that chain-link fence sure didn’t look all that sturdy…

Toward the end of the day I spotted Trips for Kids’ booth, where they are selling donated items to raise money for their awesome programs. If you’re not already familiar, check out their site and get involved. Good stuff.

At the end of the day, I scored a coveted spot at SRAM’s famous hosting of hot laps on the racetrack with drivers from Skip Barber’s Racing School. We took turns donning big helmets and piling in to Mazdas for a couple loops around Laguna Seca’s twisty-turny course. During the first lap I was sure we were all going to die – the infuriatingly cavalier driver took the turns at such wheel-squealing velocity it seemed there was no way we’d avoid doing one of those spectacular multi-flip crashes, but miraculously, he kept the rubber side down (although we lost quite a bit of that rubber on the course). The track’s infamous corkscrew didn’t seem possible to navigate at such speed, even while we were screaming through it. On the second lap I relaxed enough to marvel at the driver’s skill, and wanted to ask a couple questions, but decided not to distract him. I had to apologize for my shouted expletives but nobody seemed to mind. (Probably not the first or the last the driver heard that day.) Sorry, no photos here either, as my hands were shaking too badly afterward to even unzip the camera case.

Dirt Rag is on the scene at the 18th annual Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. This event has grown over the years into much more than just a race, although the competition does cover just about every discipline on two wheels. It’s also a mini-tradeshow with over 300 exhibitors (all open to consumers), skills clinics, music and movie entertainment, kids activities, and more. All in all it’s the de facto kickoff for the mountain bike season.

New this year is a Product Demo area where folks can try out the latest bikes on dirt jumps and pump tracks, in addition to the trails already available for demo fun. The races include the usual mix of cross country, dual slalom, and downhill, plus an adventure race, dirt jump contest, road races, and even two Golden State BMX Championship series races. A new event that we will be watching from our nearby booth is the SRAM Dual Stunt, a mix of dual slalom and stunt elements in which racers run two at a time on a 400ft. course over some scary-looking obstacles, designed by none other than longtime Dirt Rag friends Jeff Lenosky and Ray Petro of Ray’s Indoor MTB.

Speaking of our booth, we’ve come fully prepared to compete with all the other vendors vying for your attention with a full load of merch for sale at discounted prices. Along with our other fine World Tour sponsors, SealLine and Platypus have provided some sweet swag for any new or renewal subscribers who sign up at Sea Otter. Stop on buy the Dirt Rag Booth (#306), renew your subscription, and get hooked up.

Get a Seal Line Urban Tote with your subscription at Sea Otter!

Man! I don’t know what it is with the arrival of spring. Maybe it is just the good feeling of breaking out of an extremely long winter this year, or maybe it’s me getting (gulp) more mature and responsible. Whatever the case I feel energized! I love the sun. I’ve reflected on the past year to see what I’ve done right and wrong and know what I need to do this year.

But for today it felt good to ride my road bike after months of waiting and to dress on the lighter side. Music I’ve heard a thousand times before sounds fresh and I feel like I’ve achieved something new in my own playing, an awareness that has only occurred a few times before.

So, spring is here, life is good and I have a new task ahead of me. Six months ago I added a Weimaraner puppy to my household and now Roman is almost 8-months old and full of energy. He’s a smart pup, got the basic commands down and a few obedience classes under his collar. He loves hiking and running in the woods, listens off-leash as long as I have a pocket full of treats, and is now just about ready to begin mountain biking with me. In issue #111, Karen wrote an article “Singletrack Hounds” and I recently revisited it to check out her suggestions. Come to find out, her article is pretty dead on and she mentions a few things that I’ve read in other places as well.

One thing Karen’s article mentions, is that pups younger than 1-year old shouldn’t be run to hard, because of hip dysplacia and joint development, and I’ve researched the same conclusion as well. So I’m going to start at a soccer field near my house and have him concentrate on following me at a slow pace. The distractions there should be limited, there aren’t any trees for me to run into while coaching him and the perimeter is fenced in. Roman’s endurance and agility level should be alright for short rides while he gets comfortable running next to a bike and following my commands. His pack instinct is already really strong, so I’m sure he will want to stay with me.

The pads on his paws are pretty tough too. Roman’s been hiking with my girlfriend and me since he was 7-weeks old and has progressed from a 10-minute stroll to 2.5 hours of fun. His legs are definitely long and muscular, and his coordination and reaction speed has improved tremendously in the last month. I like to think it’s because of the indoor soccer I play with him using a tennis ball. He likes to cheat a little and bite my feet, so I just tackle him to keep it fair. He’s healthy, well fed and fast! But we are still going to take it slow to moderate.

Once Roman is following my guidance consistently on the soccer field, I’ll take him to the same trails he hikes on and pick the pace up as he matures. I figure a recognizable place will be good for him and I know when and where the most people visit the park, so his introduction to mountain biking on single track will be done on off hours and on trails that are out of the way, for both of our safety. It will also be easier to keep him behind me on the narrow trails and reinforce that I’m the leader of the pack, a necessity in any dog training.

Keep an eye out for updates on Roman’s progression and what I’ve found works and doesn’t work for us. Maybe it will help you and your dog, or future puppy, enjoy the trails together and keep everyone healthy. –Shannon Mominee.