When I first started turfing, less than a week ago today, I was carrying my mobile phone in the handlebar bag you see above – and for those interested in bicycle things, it’s a Drop Bear and the handlebar is Love Mud Confucius, both from Alpkit – it did not take long to realise the limitations of this method.
The main issue was not being able to see the screen whilst on the move. I would first check the location of the next zone and then head there on the bike but often I would find myself stopping short and having to continue further on or overshooting the location and having to backtrack. This was becoming very frustrating and also loses quite a bit of time. There was also the risk of dropping the phone each time it was removed from the handlebar bag, something quite easy to do when wearing cycling gloves. I’m also aware that my turfing to date has been in my local patch, on streets well known to me and I suspect that this method would be even more awkward when Turfing streets new to me, for example, in Edinburgh.
I persevered for a few days but soon decided that a mobile phone handlebar mount was a much better solution and used up some Amazon gift vouchers to purchase one for £18.00. Mounting on the bars was easy enough, although I tried it in various positions before choosing the one you see above. I wanted to retain access to the bag, the bell and also to see the gear indicator. One thing does come to mind having the phone so exposed to the elements, keeping the phone dry when it’s raining. Again, Amazon has the answer, a waterproof mobile phone case. A problem simply resolved. I hope to test the phone mount out in the next few days.
No zones taken today, mostly due to icy conditions and not feeling so well, however, interesting to see my points total has risen from 18,200 to almost 19,500 since yesterday. On the down side, 4 zones lost. Aye well, all part of the fun!
Copyright ©2020 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
