Two Things

The Mojave Water Bottle Cage is sprung to hold bottles very tightly.

First Impressions On The Velo Orange Items:

I have already given a pretty detailed look at the Camp Snap Camera HERE, so this bit will focus on the other two items I bought, the Mojave Water Bottle Cage and the Burrito Supreme Handle Bar Bag.  

First, the Mojave cage. This thing is pretty stoutly made. You also have a nicely attached back plate with several mounting holes to set the cage in place on a frame or fork member as you'd like to have it. These mounting holes also work with Three-Pack mounts. 

The cage is made in such a way that it has spring tension on the bottle you choose to put in there, as long as it is a bigger diameter than the cage at rest. This cage is made for oversized containers, so nothing close to a typical water bottle for a bicycle will work. We're talking Nalgene bottles and the like here which can include anything round in profile large enough for this cage.

As an example, I have what was a nutritional powder canister converted to food storage which I am planing on using in the Mojave Cage. This canister is plastic and since it is a little larger in diameter than the Mojave Cage is, I have to push the canister in which in turn pushes each half of the Mojave cage outward. The Mojave Cage has such a grip on this canister that I think it will stay in there even during the roughest of trails. 

Which is a good thing since I wouldn't want to lose my vittles, now would I? No, I would not. We'll (hopefully) be putting this thing to the test this coming weekend when N.Y. Roll and I are planning a little overnighter. 

Now as for the Burrito Supreme Bag, I gotta say I have been very impressed so far. This bag has exceeded my expectations for such a bag, which I will admit, those expectations were pretty low. But this bag hangs really tight up against the Top Shelf Bar, (a match made in heaven, perhaps?), and it looks really nice.  

I particular like the sheen of the fabric and in concert with the color of this bag, it has a bronze look to it. It really doesn't match my Tamland Two's red, white, and blue scheme, but it looks so good I almost don't mind it. 

The sheen of the fabric doesn't translate over in this image, but this bag looks great in the Sunshine.

I like that the zipper faces the rider in this set up. 

I cruised around a bit to see how it was to zip and unzip the bag one-handed, which is the litmus test for any cockpit mounted bag. I was able to get that done easily and so I think as time goes by and things settle in a bit it will get easier to operate and this bag looks like it will be a winner to me. 

If there is one thing that bugs me about it that would be the plastic buckles for the straps that hold the Burrito Supreme to the bar. There is no good place to "stash" the loose ends. Take a Revelate bag, as an example, which has a nice feature built into the buckles to stash the loose ends, or their little loop holders that some of the newer bags from Revelate have. Little details like that separate the best from the rest, in my opinion. 

Victory Ride: I don't have a lot to add to this, but here are a couple of details on the ride which will happen June 15th out of Urbana Iowa. By the way, if you don't know anything about this, you can click HERE for why this ride is happening. 

Time & Location: Since I am thinking this will be a casually paced ride and that we have a little over 50 miles now (see below the reason for that), I wanted it to end at a reasonable time for post-ride socializing or for folks that need to drive home to have a chance to get back before it gets too dark out. I also figured there is no reason to start at the crack of dawn so folks driving in can have a bit better go of it. Therefore; I have landed on 9:00am at the Cedar Valley Nature Trail head parking lot in Urbana. This lot is located off Capital Street just off Sunset Street near the City Hall.

The Route: The route has lengthened a bit because after I saw N.Y. Roll's proposed route I noted a lot of Cedar Valley Nature Trail being used and I told him "I am a gravel guy!". So he re-routed a section but that added miles, so there ya go! I'm not too concerned about it. 

There looks to be a few stops planned into this. There is one near Vinton, an overlook onto the Cedar River. Then there is Vinton, a decent sized town, where we can use a Casey's Convenience store as a stop/resupply. Finally, we will be rolling through Brandon, Iowa, a small village once used as a checkpoint for Trans Iowa v3, and is the place where the World's Largest Frying Pan is located. N.Y. Roll thought we need to have our picture made there. 

Social & Weather: Then there is the social aspect. There isn't much in Urbana. I hear tell there is a Casey's there, maybe a bar? We will see. As far as weather, expect it to be hot, possibly humid, windy, and there is always the chance for a pop-up thunderstorm. If the weather looks sketchy running up to this we probably will call it off and reschedule. Keep your eyes peeled here the week before if you think you might come.

Stay tuned...