Five Boro Bike Tour 2014: Let's Rock and Roll

I'm ready for the Five Boro Bike Tour and if you look carefully you'll see me at the start line. Hopefully the coffee will have kicked in by then. 

You may have noticed the ammo boxes attached to the rear of my 1981 Turner Hypercycle. I will explain. 

Baffled by the new security rules that forbade any bags over 420 cubic inches (but allowed baskets) I looked for something that was that size or smaller. I landed on 380 cubic inch plastic ammo boxes from Harbor Freight Tools that cost $5.99 each that look interesting and have waterproof lids. I bought three, and I attached two to the rear rack using deck rigging loops from a kayak. The lip on the top of the boxes keeps them from sliding down. 

The one on the top stayed on with simple bolts. As you can see it is a lot better looking than the twin frame bag and clipboard ad hoc solution I had last year.

I've obviously gone through my tour packet. After reading about how we no longer had those weedy tour jerseys I ended up making a weedy tour jersey on my own out of thin bungee rope. The helmet cover - new this year -  defied the normal laws of fabric and and stretched over my helmet easily, but it made me feel sorry for the Rockin Noggins and Nutcase helmet fans. Also, I hope the covers wouldn't affect the ability of group riders to attach small rats or other items so they could find each other easily.

    Photo from 2012 TD Bank FBBT

I made a very slight modification to my helmet because the cover conceals this website's name. Look for it during the tour. If you're riding today I hope you had as much fun circumventing the new bag rules as I did, and have a great ride. If you're looking for something to do before the start, I recommend reading The Delhi & Gurgaon Adventure from Biking Nations. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.