A reader, Mike, left a comment not long ago about the Atlas bike that he rode in India. His comment about those “heavy, slow, indestructible” utilitarian bikes prompted this post. For those of you who are interested, here is a picture that Mike sent me of the bikes to which he was referring. Read a little bit of what Mike said about these bikes that he and his friends rode while traveling in India:

“My favorite is the one in the middle—I really like the “hood ornament.” Note that the seats are all adjusted to top tube height. When I asked if I could have my seat raised, the guide gave me a strange look. As far as I could tell, everyone just rode with the seat at the lowest level—this was not about ideal ergonomics!”

Mike, I know the feeling. I rode a typical Dutch bike on a trip in Holland. The seat was way to low for me, and the short seatpost didn’t really offer much adjustment. At first the position bothered me, but I adapted pretty fast. Maybe the pedaling position wasn’t efficient, but the upright position was ideal for sightseeing and I ended up riding that bike several hundred kilometers over the course of a week.

On the subject of utilitarian bikes, Jo sent me a link to pictures of his homemade bamboo “grocery bag” panniers. Nice work Jo.

Oh yeah, if you sent me an email in the last week or so, it may be a while before I can get back to you. Last week, I took off a few days off to travel and visit family for Easter. I left my computer at home for this trip, so this morning when I checked email I couldn’t believe how many messages I received related to this blog. I’ll get to them eventually, but right now I am catching up at work from the few days off. I need to get a lot done this week so that I will be able to take a bit more time off next week for the Tour de Georgia. I am still not sure how many stages I will be able to watch in person, but I do know for sure that I won’t miss the finish on top of Brasstown Bald next Friday. I can’t wait.