Category : Bikes

My passion for bikes and bicycling exploded in 2004 when I got swept away in Portland Oregon’s burgeoning cycling scene. That community was so much fun. I raced and cheered cyclocross for a few years, enjoyed a lot of Oregon XC MTB, and went on several long tours such as Portland to San Francisco along 101, Crater Lake to Portland, and Charleston, South Carolina to Boone, North Carolina. During my spare time, I built an independent business around my passion: Little Package Cycling Caps. Bikes are super fun. Bicycling is freedom!

Old trail sign on the Kokopelli trail with sage prairie in background

Backpacking the Kokopelli Trail – Part 1

In the spring of 2019, I solo backpacked (self-supported) from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah on the Kokopelli Trail. Given it was a relatively high snow year and the wet weather forecast, this was sorta dumb. But I was determined to hike “the entire Colorado Plateau” after a geologist friend asked about the Hayduke. He was driving me to Vegas so I could pick up a rental car in 2016, just before the first time I hiked it. He seemed to challenge me when he said: “Why would the Hayduke not cover the entire Plateau?” I am not sure he was exactly throwing down that gauntlet, but that’s how I took it, and even after having hiked the Hayduke twice, once in each direction, I decided to put together my own hiking route which stretched the entire Plateau. I mapped continue reading…

A man and his motorbike in Alabama Hills, with snowy Sierra in background

Whitney, Tim, and Willy

Women guard your husbands ‘cuz if they this fun they’re at risk of getting snagged on the local adventurettes. This is Tim. He stopped to smoke a cigarette near my van and I bummed one cuz… good lookin’ lone motobiker? I asked about his planned rides. When he mentioned the Inyo Range, I convinced him that if he was gonna bike it, he needed to do it right, and ride the entire crest. He asked if I would want to come, and duh, guess what I said. So the next day found us BRAPPING the fuck up Cerro Gordo Road, riding clear past the salt tram to New York Butte, then back down the Swansea Grade. We hit some high speeds, which in hindsight was just stupid AF, but in the moment sorta… fun? I just hung on to the continue reading…

SSCWC in bikini

Bikini Cross – Where it All Started

Some people thought this was un-feminist of me, not classy, etc. The rest of us were just having a real good time. Wage FUN, Portland! #sscxwc, much latergram 2007 (photo via @unnskyldmeg, credit @cxmagazine) This was a time I was working on becoming less shy and consciously forcing myself out of my shell by doing things only confident women would do (so I thought). This was a time when I got much better at not giving so many fucks. It wasn’t about attention like I’m sure many confused or jealous people thought, it was about personal growth and making fun. And yet, several years after MANY photos were taken that cold October day, an online bike publication decided to host a caption contest with one of the less flattering images. Horrifying comments about my looks and acceptability as a mate continue reading…

Cover for video of man descending white mountain on bicycle

Abram’s Descent

Abram (abramwashere.com) descends White Mountain a little more carefully with a borrowed bike and helmet. I invited him the day before and he pulled gear together despite being couch-surfing in a new town; I was able to borrow a 4×4 truck – pretty incredible luck of ours. You can see the summit hut up high in both clips. But look at that scenery 10,000 feet below! My 26″ hardtail did just fine from the top; all those years of hard riding came back to me just like… riding a bicycle. SO. MUCH. FUN. 😀 Big thank you Julie F ❤️

Latergram

There’s a road all the way to the summit of White Mountain (14,246ft), which makes it by far the easiest 14er summit in California (or perhaps anywhere in the USA). From what I understand, once a year the final 7 miles of chunky road even opens for the general public to drive past the gate! How easy, but how darn cool. The White range affords spectacular views of the High Sierra range, the Inyos, and Death Valley on a clear day, and White Mountain itself is beautiful as a lava cake with caramel sauce. (But it’s not white, nor is it edible.) Maybe because it’s so accessible, its summit log has been a bit abused, with people scribbling their names on any piece of anything they can wrangle, and tossing it in the log box. Folks need to document their continue reading…

me on a bike with a friend

Roller Race

TBT to bikier times in Portland Oregon (2011?). I’m sitting on a stationary track bike about to have my legs torn off by some women with huge legs. I’m pretty sure the infamous Tori Bortman (background) roped me into this roller race even though I was wearing a dress. Hike up the dress, borrow some pants, and pedal myself into the barf cave. Yes, my hair was like cut like that for a couple years. Wanna say photo by Dan Sharp?

blue ridge chestoa viewpoint

Chestoa

Throwback to Chestoa View Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina 2009. Absolute exhaustion overtook me on a long bike tour and I slept overnight on the cobbles, right there. Totally cooked. Photo by

velocipede races close up

Velocipede Races Cover

This time last year I was reading a quick and fun book by Emily June Street called The Velocipede Races, preparing to illustrate its cover. The book centers around a young woman’s passion for cycling, is tinged with steampunky Victoriana, and is also digestibly feminist. In short, I totally enjoyed it and had no trouble finding inspiration to design its new cover. I decided to use a papercutting/scherenschnitte style and incorporate the corset, trying to capturing a mood… of a sporty lady craving to burst out of that delicate corset. Here’s what I initially submitted to Elly Blue over at Microcosm Publishing: To my surprise, the advance copy went black, which I’m glad was a temporary shift! It still looked cool, but I hated to see the illustration’s depth and contrast lost. We hashed things out because Joe at Microcosm continue reading…

Mount Laguna Shreddin

Just before I did one of my famous slo-mo endos on a technical downhill section and pretty much destroyed my shin. Useless knee pads. Beer, beer, oxycodone, bed! But dude! The Noble Canyon trail is sick! Thanks Keith darling for being my MTB buddy for the week.

Lighthouse Surrounded by Trail Trash

The Best Ultra Lightweight Sleeping Bags

Ultra lightweight sleeping bags are purpose-built for long-haul treks where space is at a premium and weight is counted in grams, but they can also be used on your ordinary family camping trips. I call that win-win! The sleeping bag is part of “The Big Three:” your backpack, your tent, and your sleeping bag. These three items comprise the most weight, and take up the most space of all your gear. Also, they are items (aside from food and shoes) that can make–or break–your hike or tour. Be prepared to shell out good money up front (and not have to re-purchase something better later). This is an investment you’ll be putting to very good use. A sleeping bag is a camper’s best friend. Considerations Bag girth and length. You want enough room to be able to roll over in your continue reading…

tropical wool cycling cap

This Cap Was Perfect

I got this great letter from a customer of mine who loved his Little Package cap. I got many letters like this over the years, and wanted to share this one to share the love! I love getting letters like this. Getting them now that I’m done making caps is a little sad, but that’s OK. It’s nice to be reminded I made lots of great little things. [box type=”note” size=”large” border=”full” icon=”none”]Hi Caroline, I’m sad to hear that you’re not currently making caps. I bought a cap from you a couple of years ago and I recently lost it. I know you’re not open for new orders, I just wanted to share its story a little. This cap was perfect. It accompanied me on countless journeys, and kept my head warm through rain, sleet and snow. It kept my continue reading…

PCT Gear Review

I was really comfortable with my gear along the Pacific Crest Trail, so I thought I would share it with you, and explain why it worked. Please note beforehand that I purchased all these items with my own money after carefully researching them, and was not given anything for review. The following are my opinions. If you look at this photograph with me, I will talk about the items shown, left to right, one row at a time. Click a link to skip forward to that gear item.

orange wool knit cycling cap

Bike Craft 2012

It’s getting busy in my studio but I had to take a minute aside to let everyone know Little Package will be at the Bike Craft fair this year. This will be the 5th or 6th time I’ve tabled at this wonderful, homegrown Portland event, and as always, I’m looking forward to it. It’s so fun to be in a room with dozens of other local crafters who have worked hard to bring their bike style to life. Please put it on your calendar! BIKE CRAFT 2012 December 1 and 2, 11am-6pm Sandbox Studios, 420 NE 9th Portland, Oregon USA This month I am trying to catch up on the wait list that formed when I was out of action in August and September, packing and shipping orders from my online shop (which include semi-custom orders), and designing and sewing continue reading…

Collarbone – 6 weeks, 5 days out

So this is my new right collarbone. I’m pretty happy — as happy as one can be, I guess — with the new shape. And I’m proud that I healed it myself, trusting nature to do its job (though that was tough sometimes). There are some fairly good resources online for people with broken collarbones wanting to know what to do. I really had no idea, and never went to the doctor, so I did a lot of Googling. I got the most (but not necessarily the best) information from these two websites: – Pinkbike broken collarbone recovery time Of course that’s the first thing people want to know. How long will I endure this hell? – John’s Clavicle Page Lay expert-ish, though a bit pro-surgery. Some things I learned: 1) It doesn’t matter what sling you use, figure-8 or continue reading…

Collarbone Update

Exactly 4 weeks ago I crashed a dirt jumper on a wooden ramp & broke my right collarbone. Looking back a month has gone by quickly, but trust me: individually, those 28 days each took an eternity to pass. I thought at week three my bone would be fused and by week four I would be sewing, but last week I had a setback. A massive spasm in the middle of the night re-broke my collarbone. No joke. It was a nightmare. But real. I thought I’d have to start over… But this morning I woke and realized my bone had finally fused! Seems like broken bones learn from their mistakes. Now that it’s fused I can move around much more freely. I took two walks. I even swung my arm a little. I bought my own groceries! Today in continue reading…

My Collarbone 8/18/2012

Regression Success!

It’s been a week since some mean gravity stole me from the air and threw me down on Lumberyard wood, breaking my clavicle. Mean, mean gravity. That choice little moment cut in half everything that preceded it, and what followed, into two separate worlds. Here I am in bed strapped together with braces and slings, in awful pain. This time last week I was just figuring out how to clear all the tables in the beginner flow sequence, looking a little more like this: You can see exactly where I fell 11 seconds into this video (the first 15 seconds of the video shows what I’ve been working on). There is a little jump I was experimenting with, trying to get some extra speed. The third or fourth time on it, I just bailed straight off it, landing down on continue reading…

White 970 human whisperer

Human Whisperer

This week I pulled an insane maneuver: I sold the sewing machine I use to make cycling caps — before getting a replacement. I sold it right out from under my business, without warning or much planning. It had been listed on Craigslist for several weeks as part of my plan to buy a new machine to improve my tax situation, and suddenly one evening someone wanted it badly. Off it went to a happy new home, perfectly good but massively depreciated. Off it went, leaving me high and dry. A replacement won’t be here until mid-next week. I do own these two vintage “backup” sewing machines, though. They sit pretty, high up on a shelf above my desk, collecting compliments and dust. I pulled them both down this week in a desperate attempt to keep up with sewing jobs. continue reading…