I've Got a Sweet Rack...

...on my bike :)

And I installed it myself- booyah!

Originally I had bought a rack at Canadian Tire, but upon opening the package and attempting to install it, I learned that it didn't work with my type of braking system. So I returned that one and then planned to buy one at the bike shop when I brought my bike in for repairs a couple weeks ago (and getting the guys there to install it for me), but I was so rushed dropping it off that I had no time for that.

I ended up picking this one up at Mountain Equipment Co-op last week! I just wanted something simple as my dad had gotten me a couple of pannier bags for my birthday that will attach to it. It took me awhile to install the bike rack because it had a about a billion pieces. Also, I couldn't figure out how to attach it to the seat stay braze on mounts (they were too wide), so I had to use the extenders that it came with, but I couldn't tighten the bolts on it because there was NO finger room. hmmm....

Red is where it is supposed to attach (braze-on mounts), green is the extenders

I might get my coworker, who is good with bikes, to take a look at it. However, the rest of the rack was easy to install and on there good in tight, so I am not too worried about it going flying off at any point. I think my bike is honestly a little weird- stuff never is easy to attach to it! I even walked around and looked at other bikes with rear racks and they all looked much more straight-forward than mine.

I would like to add, for anyone looking to add a rack to their bike, that this seemed to require a lot of tools. I was glad I brought my whole toolkit down because I ended up using two different screwdrivers, a wrench, and a ratchet.

On Tuesday I decided to bike to work, so I loaded up my panniers (happy to find out my purse and bike lock fit easily in one and my work clothes and shoes fit in the other), and took off! It was a tough ride- my thighs were clearly out of practice and according to my app it took me 55 minutes to complete the 12km ride. But the bags stayed on! I have no idea if I attached them right. I just kind of made it up.

And yes, I bring my bike into my office. Especially when the afternoon calls for severe thunderstorms :)