on portaging heavy loads day after day

hauling gear while atop your cycle should be pain free. i abandoned mess bags years ago after my back started to hurt. what all those bag makers forget to tell you is unequally loading your shoulders can twist your spine up real good. no matter what brand, how fancy the padding, or how intricate the applique work on the flap is, the load still sits on one side of your body. never mind the fact that your lungs are compressed the whole time too. i've found it handy to be able to breath freely. your results may vary though.

so then i started using a porteur rack to haul my bag around. relief at last. yeah it takes a moment or two to figure out handling nuances with the load on the front but it's not bad at all. only downside was time spent bungeeing the bag down and keeping it good and snug to minimize rattling.

so i went and bought a chrome backpack. no spin twisting, no compressed lungs, but you're still holding the up the weight. and a pack on the back makes it tough to regulate heat when layering up for winter. you can unzip your jacket all you want, there's no air circulating around to cool you. but it was so easy to pack and go.

i'd go back and forth between porteur and bag largely depending on mood.

this past summer i went back to the pack daily out of shear laziness. bungees were a hassle and it was hot anyway so what was a little more sweat. still kept the rack in place for beer runs but it largely remained unused.

fall temps roll in and layers pile on and guess what? i'm overheating again when it's in the forties. porteur loaded up and unzipping my jacket actually does something and i'm happy once more. been rolling this way for weeks now.

well yesterday, i had to do a coffee run on the way to work and decided to use the pack for lock up ease. beans paid for and loaded, i was on my way. didn't make it more than two miles before i got the shits of the bag. heavy, hot, bulky. onto the rack it went but my bungee job wasn't the best and i had to stop to readjust. this got me thinking.



i've had this gigantic wald delivery basket for a couple years now but it mainly sat collecting dust in the garage. why not break out this bad boy again but ditch the included hardware and just ziptie right to the porteur?



looks tough and ghetto all at once. fits my chrome ranchero just fine with plenty of vertical room to spare. less bungees needed so it's really a drop and go system. odd loads and beer runs will be handled with ease. and if need be i can still carry the pack if the load warrants. the crosscheck is my dedicated commuter so why not commit and make load carrying a priority. i think i'm officially done carrying a pack. let the bike do the work instead.