Grounded Indefinitely but with Great Gear

Bummer.

While I was in La Jolla last week, I suddenly developed labyrinthitis.

Not the "Help! Help! I'm lost in this stupid maze" kind of thing brought on by agreeing to do something that's supposedly meditative with a group of New Age friends. I am talking about the inner ear disorder. (Lots of useful information about this condition and its treatment can be found here.) I saw my doctor about it yesterday and the upshot is that for now Electric Nita Lou has been indefinitely grounded.

I hate the word indefinitely. It's so...indefinite!

I can't drive the car or ride my bike, but it's the latter that's killing me.

Now my only option is to be an armchair electric cyclist. Boy does that summon up a bizarre mental image!

So we'll all just have to make the best of it. Which means that this is as good a time as any to talk about gear. Not the kind you shift into to help you ascend a steep incline. I am talking about stuff that you buy to make your electric bike commute easier.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the need for capacious panniers as a way to transport all the items that are necessary for an electric bike commuter's wardrobe changes and hairstyling needs, etc. But it took some time for me to find the right combination of carry-alls to hold everything with which I travel. I searched high and low for a supplier of the manufacturer-designed streamlined side cases (and rack) that fit on my bike, but at most places they were on backorder. Plus I needed to find something else--I didn't know what--to hold all my bulkier items. Want to know where I finally found the gear for my purposes?

eBay.

Yep, good old eBay. As longtime readers of my Cafe Nita Lou blog know, I've purchased all kinds of things on eBay including my daughter's senior prom dress. I don't know why looking for cycling gear there didn't occur to me in the first place.

I found just what I needed! Two side cases that can hold folded clothing, computer, papers, computer cords, pens, and miscellaneous items of the type one might put in a briefcase as carry-on. Plus a wonderful hard-shell bucket-type container that makes my electric bike look even more like a motorcycle! (My secret dream is to own an aqua-colored Harley.) If I didn't have labrynthitis, I'd rush outside right now and take some photos of my new gear on my bike. But I'll have to save that fun activity for some future non-vertiginous day.

For now, all I can do is leave you with the above links to the eBay listings for the gear that I bought. Yes, the prices are steep for these items. But when you break it down to a cost-per-day amount (remembering that it's impossible to quantify the invaluable benefit of a decrease in getting-out-the-door-at-5:45 a.m. hassle), it's well worth it to me.

Or at least, it is when I'm not lost in a stupid maze of labyrinthitis and grounded indefinitely.

Have I mentioned how much I hate that word indefinitely?