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Things I saw on my way to work this morning...

A man crouched beside a green junction box, trying to match the diagram on his clipboard to the wires inside. He was wearing a bright yellow plastic headset, clamped over his black turban.

A man striding quickly up the road, a pink lunch bag in one hand and a huge carrier containing a Playmobil box in the other. A little girl in a pink anorak and a cream party dress ran to keep up with him.

A blonde girl on the train, asleep with her arm curled round her partner and a huge smile on her face.

An immensely cheerful man with gingery hair, fighting with the ticket barriers before declaring "Ah! It's the green arrow that it gives it away."


As I cycled up Whiteknights Road, the rain brought an unexpected waft of wild garlic with it. A police car with blacked-out windows passed me, ferocious barking coming from within.

Well. Eugh.

Today is raw cold and drizzly in Reading. It's like a mission-statement for November.

And a warning that for the next 3-4 months, cycling to work isn't going to be a lot of fun.

Brr. Must buy new gloves.

So, cycling persons... I need a recommendation. I want to buy a rear pannier, but I want one that turns into a rucksack when it's not on the bike. I know these exist, because I know someone who's got one. But they seem to be very thin on the ground (or, possibly, are known by a particular name which I do not know and thus cannot google for). Needs to be large enough to fit a 15" laptop and a bunch of other stuff, and should have a few zippy pockets.

I am currently using a Hamax pannier rack - I don't know how much variation there is in racks, or whether there are different systems for fixing, so any advice on that would be welcome.

If you're going to do the classic LJ-answer-thing and tell me why I don't want what I think I want but should instead buy something totally different, please read the detailed bit below :)

( The small print )

In other cycling news, I finally decided I was brave/balanced enough to put my seat up to the proper height for the length of my legs. Whereupon my nasty very-uncomfortable-saddle problem promptly vanished. Which just means I should have listened to alien8 and put the saddle up in the first place :)