Bicycle commuting update: Revant lenses for Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses; Cyclemeter heart rate from Apple Watch; musings on Timbuk2

In between Storms of the Century™, I’m back to bicycle commuting to the office. (For not the best reasons: Weight loss (again, sigh), and, my senior mutt can’t make it up the stairs anymore, so she hasn’t been coming in with me, so I don’t need to accommodate her with my Jeep and a ramp[1] and ... But at least I feel better on the bike.)

Revant lenses for the Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses: 👍

I’ve been using the Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses again, an xmas present from my mom back in 2020.  They still work incredibly well, audio is good all things considered, and they don’t isolate me from the environment when I’m cycling. (I mostly stick to bike paths, with some limited time spent in traffic.) I’ve even been able to participate in Zoom conferences with vendors, boards of directors meetings, etc., while on my commute, and no one has complained about wind noise or said they’ve had any issues hearing me. Impressive.

The lenses are too dark for riding at dusk, though, and with sunset being, e.g., 17:56 (5:56 p.m.) today, I’m sometimes cutting that pretty close. My brother recently gifted me a set of Adapt Gray Photochromic replacement lenses by Revant, and they’re amazing, once I found instructions on how to swap them out.

Bose Frames Tempo sunglasses

Clear lenses inside on a dim day

Darkened lenses outside in direct sunlight

Getting data into Cyclemeter

Meanwhile, for some reason Cyclemeter wasn’t picking up my heart rate information from my Apple Watch 9, even though I have the “Elite” paid upgrade. Apparently, you have to start the app from your watch, not your phone. Which meant, for me, going into the Watch app on the phone, and then under All Watches, scrolling down until I found the Cyclemeter app and tapping to install it:

Now, I just need to get a cadence sensor setup, and I’ll have everything I used to have with my ancient CatEye dedicated computer[2], plus all the modern goodness a smartphone can provide. Apparently the Bontrager DuoTrap Combination Speed/Cadence Sensor will work with Cyclemeter (but will it work with my frame? Apparently not[3].). Or the Wahoo Fitness RPM Speed and Cadence sensors (which are probably more universal?).

Timbuk2 for the bicycle commuter

I’m using my Timbuk2 TRACK II Cycling Backpack (red on grey), which is higher visibility than the black and dark grey messenger bags / backpacks I otherwise have (and it has an accommodation for a bicycle helmet). Love my old Timbuk2 stuff, almost all of which is 10+ years old and in great condition. (Messenger bag with optional cross-strap, under seat and top tube bags, the TRACK II, etc.) But it seems like they’ve moved away from their bike-focused roots. They do still have some bicycle-specific stuff, though:

• Bicycle Seat Pack ($29)
• Tandem Pannier ($149)
• Goody Box ($39)
• Reflector Tail ($10)
  

But gone are things like the bicycle toolkit, the handlebar bag, the wider variety of panniers. I guess nothing lasts forever, and how many bike commuters are there really[4], vs. the masses who are fine with a solid backpack or messenger bag. (Though, if my Spirit backpack is any indication, even those are cheaper and way less awesome than they used to be. I mean, it hasn’t fallen apart or anything, and it fits what I need to carry with me for a day in the parks, but the material is thinner, the zippers are awkward and the main zipper snags the bag material way too often, etc., etc.)

Skincare

Somehow or another, I’ve started taking care of my skin (well, somewhat, at least), especially since I’m putting my face in the wind (and rain, and...) regularly again. Pretty basic, like, washing my face with micellar water (LPT: use a spray bottle), moisturizing, and using sun protection - specifically, Versed Guards Up. So far so good...

[1] Which, holy hell, I bought that April 28, 2023? It’s coming up on a year? And almost two years since I noticed her increased stiffness. She’s doing well on the Librela, which is administered monthly by our vet. (But the last couple of days every month before she gets the shot, she deteriorates noticeably.)

[2] Pretty sure it was the CC-CD200 ASTRALE 8? No, now that I think about it, I went wireless for the Trek (I had a wired computer on the Specialized Sirrus), it was the Cateye CD300DW.

[3] I’m told: “There has to be a slot for it on the chain stay. If you have one on your frame it is likely covered with a removable plastic cover.”

[4] Apparently, not that many: “An estimated 731,272 Americans used bicycles as their chief means of transportation to work in 2022, up from 2021 but down almost 75,000 from before the pandemic and 175,000 from the peak year of 2014 ... The 0.54% of US commuters who usually made the trip by bike in 2022 was the same as in 2019 but well down from 2014 and not far above the 0.5% measured in the decennial census way back in 1980.” Biking to Work Isn’t Gaining Any Ground in the US (September 27, 2023)