12.23 Studios

(09/16/24)

Ok, we're well into the 9th month, Summer is officially over, Election Season is heating up (I'm so glad I'm not in a swing state), and my lack of progress in cycling is making me antsy...
I had to have blood drawn twice to get my latest blood sugar result, and it's still too high - 8.2 A1c. After tweaking my diet to more real food and beginning to factor in items on the low end of the Glycemic Index scale, I'm still no closer to the under 7 goal. I guess I'm still not doing enough walking and cycling...
Anyway, the next thing to do would be portion control; strictly limit the carb count of items on the low GI list to between 50-60g per meal. For example, limiting myself to one serving of canned chili (around 30g, or half a can), then balancing the rest with higher fiber carbs. Normally that means saving the rest of the can in a ziploc bag for a day, but it's harder to store portions or fresh fruits and veggies without a fridge. And because I didn't plan to keep an apartment (ok, SRO) in the city under the previous 'walkabout' plan, I didn't get a fridge. But now that I have to keep a 'base camp,' it makes sense to go ahead and get a mini fridge...

Mini Fridges currently being sold at Target...

At the very least, I could keep the number one cycling road food item, bananas, on hand to pack in the morning to start a day long bike ride. I could also keep small containers of half-n-half or protein shake to go with a high fiber cereal, or finally have a handful of berries and not have to discard the rest after a day. My nutritionist advised me to add more variety to my diet and cut back on the bacon and sausage with my eggs...
Meanwhile, I decided to tweak my gear for scout riding. I weighed my tool kit, assorted camera gear, assorted bike gear, road food, mini first aid kit, etc, and it came to a little over 5lbs - a relatively light load, not enough for the 25L laptop bag or the 35-40L backpack. The solution would be a nice big fanny pack or tactical waist bag. After the usual unsatisfying round of local window shopping for a reasonably priced pack that only had a single large compartment, I went ahead and looked on Amazon...

This is what I almost went with - a feature-heavy tactical range bag with a main compartment that wasn't wide enough, for $40. I kept looking...

At a military surplus store, I found this Army Molle II waist pack that's about 15" wide for about $10. According to reviews, at least one other person uses it as a cycling day bag to avoid getting a sweaty back. Anyway, I ordered it and should get it in a few days...

(09/23/24)

Yeah, a few days turned into a week - not that bad where Amazon and Louis DeJoy's USPS is concerned, but at least it arrived in decent shape...

The military waist pack looks new as advertised...

The bare minimum items the pack should hold: patch kit and tools, spokes and pump, camera tripod and selfie stick, electronics and bike gear baggie, small first aid kit. I left out the action camera with chest mount and the road snacks because they'll obviously be on my body or in a few convenient pockets...

The closed up waist pack has enough room to hold a few more items, like the B-roll camera or the solar power bank...

The waist pack feels nice and secure, not low enough to interfere with riding. On the scale it comes to about 4lbs, perfect for a day long bike ride. I still need to carry lunch, wipes, a few trash bags, lights, etc, and I'd rather not put that stuff in one of the front racks, but I have a solution for that too...

At the online store LightInTheBox I found this Outdoor Accessories Bag amongst their Camping gear, also for $10, but because they're based in Singapore, it'll take another week or so for it to arrive...
This bag can be bungee strapped to the rear rack, giving me the lightest setup so far for Scout riding. Cool...

(09/27/24)

Ok, about the mini fridge...
I went to one of the Target stores to see what they had available, and one of each model in the earlier photo was on the shelf. I went to the service counter and said I wanted to buy one of them for 'same day delivery' like it says on the store website, but was told it would only be delivered from the store's warehouse, and it wouldn't be same day either. I didn't like that option because of the many customer complaints about appliances arriving with dents or broken parts. I could only take a fridge from the store if I had access to a vehicle or used an Uber...
As it happened, the employee I was talking to was a slightly older Black woman who offered to let me use her vehicle and hand truck to bring it home for gas money. I agreed and set up to buy one on Saturday...

(09/28/24)

We met at the store around Noon, I used her hand truck to lug it to her hatchback, and by 1PM I had it in my apt ready for unboxing...

Even though it's less than 3 cubic feet, it still takes up a lot of space in my tiny crib. The box itself wasn't damaged, and because it's only 35lbs it wasn't that hard getting it upstairs without using the hand truck...

The mini fridge didn't have any dents or broken components, and the door wasn't misaligned...

I gave the compressor a thorough inspection - if anything goes bad with this appliance, it'll be a leak in the system, and the mini fridge only has a one year warranty...

The inside looked good. The reason I got this slightly larger fridge over the cube unit is that extra shelf...

The door is reversible, but I don't care about that...
Anyway, to make sure it works ok I plugged it in, set the dial halfway and went to the store for a few things to put in the tiny freezer (I could have them for dinner if it crapped out). I returned about an hour later and found it cold enough to keep the bananas fresh and the frozen veggies from dripping. Good; I can now experiment with more produce and portion control...

(09/29/24)

Ok, I finished up Saturday with making room for the fridge. On Sunday I made another store run, focused on stocking up...

It's nice having more than one day's worth of protein, dairy and fresh produce on hand. I don't have to take daily store runs now, and it makes an early morning bike ride much easier...
Next step is to stock up on sweet and salty road snacks, and resist the temptation of dipping into them while I wait for the second day bag...

(09/30/24)

The second day bag is still a few days away, so this time I went back to the old neighborhood $3 store for a DIY banana travel case. Yeah, Amazon and Walmart sells cute banana-shaped plastic cases, but they're so cheap it's not worth the hassle and extra cost to order online or shlep to the East Bay for a couple. An average food container roughly 8x6x3" should do...

As expected, the store off 16th & Mission had this container in the back. It looked big enough and cost $4...
I swung by the grocery store and picked up a few road snacks on the way home, then I checked the fit with a banana after trimming the stem a bit. The container has tapered sides, but it should hold two moderately sized bananas just fine...

The other plastic cases had tiny air holes, but I prefer more ventilation. In any case, the bananas would be the first snacks consumed on a day ride, leaving the case open for use...

The case looks good, and I don't have to wait for the second day bag to arrive to check the fit...

According to the dimensions from the store site, the banana case will take up between 35-40% of space. The rest will come from assorted candy bars, ziploc baggies of crackers and little cakes, wipes and a few wastebasket bags. Since I'm riding on the coast I can always buy a lunch instead of carrying...
I'll find out in a few days...

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