If a Tree Falls in the City
··· Jan 06 2011 · By ···
The philosophical question “If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody around, does it make a sound?” has been riddling philosophers for years. It’s all about perception of an event. Of course this tree in a forest, well outside of an earshot, doesn’t make a sound. But that’s not why I am writing this.
If a tree falls in the city, or in this case is prematurely cut down and fed into the chipper, it makes a lot of noise. But it isn’t the noise that I am writing about either.
We lost a good friend today. A mature, healthy, Coast Live Oak that was the first thing we saw each morning as we opened our sleeping eyes.
This tree, which sat on the property line between our next door neighbor, and the next house down, was sent to the chipper because a couple branches were removed about 6 months earlier. This became a point of contention between our neighbor, who is renovating her new house, and her neighbor. The branches were removed to make room for upcoming renovation work on the house. That’s the background.
Well, because of the size of the branches that were removed, an arborist came out and noted that the tree would most likely die. I really don’t get that one, but it is basically what the tree genius said. I waited to see the tree turn brown, and start to lose leaves. That never happened (keep in mind that coast live oaks are evergreen, so they don’t shed their leaves annually). From my perspective the tree remained healthy, and not endangering any houses around it or anything else.
So this morning, Dorothy looked out the window and said “There’s someone up in the tree!”. Sure enough a guy was climbing all up in this magnificent tree, chainsaw in hand prepping it for its impending demise. KEEP IN MIND, THIS WAS A STILL HEALTHY MATURE TREE!
I quickly ran out with my phone to get some pictures and video of the tree in its final minutes. (it’s kind of noisy)
Just click on the video below.
What possibly angers me the most is the fact that this tree was still healthy, and a favorite perch for birds, squirrels, bugs, spiders, moss, lichen… It was also a very pretty tree, symmetrical, teeming with life, and serving as a screen to the urban hillside in the distance. So now I am forced to look at the homes dotting the hillside which were behind the canopy of the coast live oak.
So today Dorothy and I grieve at the loss of this friend of ours. We are sad that our bird and critter friends no longer have a place to perch, eat, squabble, play. We wish the tree good passage into it’s next life as it’s chipped up remains help nourish the soil where they are deposited.
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Point Reyes – Tule Elk Preserve
··· Dec 15 2010 · By ···
Marin County is by far one of the most naturally beautiful places to live. This is evident in a number of ways; from the sweeping urban views of San Francisco from places like Sausalito or Tiburon to the thoughtfully preserved natural hillsides in the Marin Headlands, from the top of Mt. Tam to the foggy coast with stunning cliff-sides and hidden beaches. Point Reyes is such a place, jutting off to form Tomales Bay on the east with the mighty Pacific Ocean on the south and west shore of this awesome land formation.
What makes this place so cool? Well, it is for the most part a free place to roam around, part of the National Park Service and there are a bunch of really neat, quirky things about the land. First, there are a lot of dairy farms out on the point, essentially leasing the land their cows graze on from the NPS. The ranches that the dairy’s are located on are historical ranches where cows have grazed for a while. The Coast Miwok lived…
On Tomales Bay: Echa-kolum, Shotommo-wi (near the mouth of San Antonio Creek), Sakloki (opposite Tomales Point, Dillon Beach area), Utumia (Near present-day town of Tomales.) and At the present-day town of Olema: Olema-loke.
We traveled out to Pt. Reyes for an afternoon of hiking, looking at Tule Elk and the many coastal birds, and maybe a walk on the beach, or a look at the lighthouse. Well we did most of that stuff, and found a place that epitomizes the term micro-climate. You can almost find a different, distinct weather pattern every ¼ mile or so, walking in just about any direction out on Pt. Reyes.
Fortunately for Dorothy and I we headed up to the Tule Elk preserve to bother the small herd, and kind of think about how the “collective” we have essentially brought this breed back from the edge of extinction and now are scratching our heads how best to “manage” the herd, since this group of elk are pinned into the end of the point, and they really should have some more room to elk around in. Dairy farming sort of prevents that sharing of pasture land with the elk.
So with that in mind we walked around on a pretty easy trail that starts you out in a historic ranch that houses info and stuff now for the park. You start in going around a hillside, and head out towards the rugged coast line. The drop off is a couple hundred feet in some parts, but there aren’t any technical paths that put you in danger. Being this high up above sea level puts birds right at eye level as they catch ocean breezes and soar around.
The crows seemed as interested at seeing us as we were to be seeing them, just a few feet away, just coasting along on the wind, cawing away.
I spoke about the micro-climates earlier and we finally hit that point of feeling the weather just suddenly start changing, as the fog decided to make its march onto the beach, up the cliffs and across the point. So we turned around, to see a small group of Tule Elk chilling up on the hillside beside the path. Their heads perked up as they, one by one, became aware of our presence in their yard. We stood around, checking them out with the zoom lens on our camera, snapping a few pictures, then started back to the ranch.
The beach was ruled out this time, but as we started our drive off the point, we decided to take Sir Francis Drake to the end where the Point Reyes Lighthouse sits but by the time we got there, the weather had turned into the fog equivalent of a blizzard. There was Zero visibility, with wicked fast winds. What’s the point in enduring that to see a lighthouse? Especially since there is no doubt that I will make my way to Point Reyes many times down the line.
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Thanksgiving
··· Dec 03 2010 · By ···
I see it as no coincidence that we chose a Spiral Wines Napa Cabernet Sauvignon for our Thanksgiving table. From the label:
As humanity’s oldest symbol, the spiral represents eternal change, reminding us that life is not a straight line. It symbolizes new beginnings, renewal and hope for the future.
Beautiful and so apropos.
Thanksgiving Poem
Visions of roasting root vegetables
and the sweet scent of buttery pie crust
swirled through my mind for a week before Thanksgiving,
our first holiday in this lovely place we’ve chosen to
Make Home.
As a child, I would wander amongst homemade aprons
donned by the ladies of the family.
Giddily anticipating big mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy
and the scrumptious dessert table.
As different as we were, we all came together to eat and celebrate
and share.
I remember the feeling of warmth and companionship.
Here, though, there is no family nearby
to share with.
So we begin a new phase of life,
and a new tradition:
Our family’s Thanksgiving celebration.
And blessed we are this year
with a dear old friend at our table,
her presence bringing those feelings of warmth and companionship.
Our tradition begun, our family strengthened.
A little sugar pumpkin and zucchini bread
baked up the day before.
And crimson red cranberry sauce, always on my family’s table,
cooked and pretty in a glass jar.
Pie crusts made the night before,
and in the morning we sliced many apples
and mixed fillings with the pumpkin and lots of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Good smells even before baking.
Stuffing (not stuffed into anything) with the star ingredient: fresh sage.
At my request, boiled then roasted new potatoes, red and purple -
the perfect texture.
And the turkey,
a once-a-year treat for us.
Why so many complicated recipes and stress about this meal?
Brining, rubbing complex seasoning mixes under the skin, star anise…
We followed the Diestel family’s guidance, range growing turkeys since 1949,
less than 3 hours east of here:
olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika rubbed on the skin
and add some white wine to the juices for an earthy gravy.
Simple, taste-full, and deeply appreciated.
A gift of life and sustenance and the centerpiece of our
Giving of Thanks.
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Matcha Latte
··· Nov 08 2010 · By ···
In an ongoing effort to consume less coffee (because of various not-great effects it has on me), I’ve discovered matcha. At first, I thought it was just any green tea ground up (like the gunpowder J grinds in the pestle and adds to smoothies sometimes), but after more research, have learned it’s green tea grown and processed in a very specific way. Because you are consuming the whole leaf (as opposed to just the “broth” of steeped leaves) you enjoy substantially more of the many beneficial nutrients of green tea. Some of the other positive effects (thank-you, Rebekah, for motivating me to give this yummy drink a try): improved metabolism, digestion, calmness, clarity, and concentration – no wonder this was/is the zen monks’ drink of choice!
I have not tried matcha simply whisked with hot water. My preparation of choice is a matcha latte, following this basic recipe and sweeten with a little agave. It’s surprisingly delicious in a very unique way and I do find it provides a steady stream of calm energy (Note: I used 2 tsp for a latte today and found the effects to be a bit jittery so I think 1 tsp, maybe heaping, is enough.) I love making it in a clear mug because the creamy green color is fun!
Matcha can be quite expensive. We are fortunate to have a wonderful asian market here in San Rafael (good selection including always fresh produce and Excellent customer service) that offers a 1 oz. canister, imported from Japan, for $6.99 which is a great bargain.
While I am not following a strict and elaborate method, filling the kettle, sifting the tea powder, heating and foaming the (soy) milk, waiting for the water to boil, and blending it all together is a nice time to slow down and mindfully reflect on the four basic elements of the Japanese tea ceremony:
Matcha is the tea that is used in the well-known Japanese tea ceremony which was established by Zen-master Sen-no-Rikyu in the 1570s. The ceremony follows four basic principles:
- Harmony (wa)
- Respect (kei)
- Purity (sei)
- Tranquility (jaku)
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Leather Bike Saddles
··· Nov 03 2010 · By ···
I have quite an attraction for leather bike saddles. Why? Well, they are comfortable as heck once they are broken in, they will last a long time if cared for properly, and they are just so darned cute.
My personal saddle clutch includes a vintage Brooks B-15, a Brooks B-17, and a vintage B-66. I use the B-15 on my Crystal singlespeed bike. I ride this one most often, and have been happy with the ride for the most part. I have been thinking of sturdying it up a bit by punching some holes in the sides and lacing it up. I could do it like this but I don’t really think that using a drill to make the holes is the best way. Here is a better “photographic discussion” from McBomb over at flickr. Using a punch is such a better way to work holes into leather. Anyway the sidewalls on the B-15 are pretty flimsy, and lacing it up should put some additional firmness in the seat (which it really needs).
The B-17 is mounted on my Gary Fisher Mt. Bike currently, although it is supposed to be Dorothy’s saddle. I picked it up when we were living in Boston on the sale rack at EMS. It really needs (as they all do) a good oiling, or treating, or whatever leather gets coated with to keep it nice and moist. Well, not moist, but to keep it from getting rough and dried. So that’s gotta be done so they are all good to go for the winter, which in the Bay Area means rain.
The B-66 was a bargain at $25 so I picked it up from an online auction and haven’t done much to it except find a nut for one of the spring mounts, and conditioned the leather. The B-66 has a little larger seat area than the B-15 and B-17 so it would be nice on a cruiser or maybe on the Mixte when I get that bike rolling. Dorothy doesn’t much like the B-66, she’s had it on her Gary Fisher before. I have a feeling it’s got something to do with the springs. They are kind of weak and old, and the saddle does shift around under you a lot and it finds a way to dig in a little bit. The sidewalls are a little weak on the B-66 as well, so this saddle might be improved by lacing as well. A perfect seat to for guests who want to take a bike ride around San Rafael.
I looked around a bit on the old internet, and really didn’t see a good list of leather saddle manufacturers all in one place, so I thought I would start a list of some companies, old and new, who have built, or do build leather bike saddles. Some of these companies aren’t around any longer, others are bringing Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturing know how into new versions of leather saddles. And through it all, Brooks continues to make saddles much the same way they always have. So here’s that list.
- Brooks – England
- Wrights – England – I haven’t really found a good article on Wrights.
- Ideale – France – Check this photo history of some Ideale Saddles
- Fu Jih (Tops) – Taiwan – If you have some money and want to buy a case of these, here is where you begin
- Imperial Products – Taiwan sold under the marque Gyes. You can get one at Crow Cycle, and for the price, (around $60) why wouldn’t you?
- Persons – USA – I like the saddles here. They most closely match various Brooks models, but are (or at least were) priced quite a bit less. It appears that they have exhausted most of their stock of the majority of their leather saddle lines. I still don’t know where these are manufactured.
- Selle An Atomica – USA – These guys have done their science, and have created a patented cutout and laminating process that makes the saddle comfortable for long rides, reduces numbness… Be sure to watch their video at the bottom of their home page.
I am a viewer of “How It’s Made”, and caught an episode the other day that had a segment where they went to Brooks, and showed how they make saddles. Here is a version of it with a Russian (???) narrator. Enjoy!
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Second Friday Art Walk
··· Oct 14 2010 · By ···
One of the nice things about San Rafael is that there is a rather strong arts community. This means that there are lots of opportunities to take in, purchase, be inspired by, even exhibit art.
One of the ways that the San Rafael arts community presents its art to the public is by holding a monthly art walk downtown on 4th St. (and some of the surrounding streets). This event is called the 2nd Friday Art Walk, and happens – you guessed it – on the second Friday of each month. It’s put on by Art Works Downtown, a San Rafael arts incubator.
Well, since Dorothy and I are interested in local art, and have missed taking part in things like this since we left Kalamazoo (where they have a monthly Art Hop that is similar to this) we thought it would be nice to head downtown and get our art on.
We didn’t have a lot of time, so we felt it would be best if we stuck to the densest part of the art walk, between C and D Streets on 4th. This worked out good, as we were able to check out a number of galleries and the Art Works facilities. Overall, most of the art was paintings, mixed media, and photographs at most of the places we went. I didn’t take too careful of notes on who the artists art or anything this time, but one of the things that I did notice is that a lot of artists are working in encaustic. For those who haven’t heard of encaustic, it is basically a pigmented bees wax that is layered onto the canvas (or board, or whatever). That layering gives the work a really cool depth. You can also do stuff like transferring things onto it, then covering the transfer with more encaustic medium. You get the picture, I am sure, if not check here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting . Anyway, maybe it is a bit played out as the medium of the moment, but I like how it looks and I even hope to get into a little experimental wax painting some time soon (hands rubbing together)…
One of my favorites is the Folk Art Gallery. I had a nice chat with the owner, Sharon Christovich, who is also an artist (it is indeed obvious that she has an artist’s eye). She really seems to enjoy what she does. They specialize in unique, handmade things that are produced by various native peoples from Mexico to Africa to Peru to the Middle East (and a lot of places in between). One of the things that I enjoy about a lot of the products in places like this is you see a lot of re-use of items that in the USA we typically will throw out. Dorothy pointed out a neat chicken (or cock) made from old plastic bags (hopefully clean). I noticed this door curtain made from strung together plastic bottle pieces, garden hose, and other stuff we normally pitch, or recycle. It’s cool!
There are also some more traditional items like this funny hat that might have been used in some ceremony or celebration that you see in National Geographic magazine.
It’s nice to be part of a community with a thriving local artist scene, and I have only scratched the surface with what D & I experienced here in San Rafael. A few years back we produced a little video about a Cotati based artist 3D Edddy. Needless to say, Dorothy and I are totally looking forward to exploring the art scene all up in this place we call home.
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Univega Bikes
··· Oct 13 2010 · By ···
I was given a pair of nearly matching Univega 10 speed bikes a while back, a Gran Turismo racer and a SuperTen Mixte. These are both really neat bikes in their own right. I am in the process of fixing them up and making them roadworthy, so let me tell you a little about them as they are currently.
Let’s start with the Gran Turismo. For starters the frame is made from 1024 steel butted tubing. Some research on this type of steel indicates that it is a fairly heavy steel that is not too highly regarded by the bike snobs who like their rides light. Whatever, I like a steel frame myself, so the 1024 will do. The forks are probably the same material. Whatever heaviness that the frame has is partly made up for by having a set of Araya 27” aluminum alloy rims. These rims aren’t anything special, but it is nice that they aren’t steel. The gearing components are SunTour V-GT-Luxe and are shifted with end of bar friction hybrid (they click in one direction) shifters. The brakes are Dia Compe center pull, and are in need of some new pads.
For the most part, I like this bike. I am not sure if I am going to keep it as a 10 speed, or make it into another single speed bike.
The SuperTen mixte is a pretty cool bike. I have been wanting a mixte frame for some time, and am glad that this one dropped into my lap. Of course, the frame is too small for me, so this bike is going to become a lender bike for visitors who want to go for a bike ride, or for Dorothy to tool around on. It is a heavy one, with steel everything, from the Araya rims to the handlebars and seatpost. The tires on both bikes are dry rotted and in very bad shape, yet they all hold air (at least for a while). Obviously the rubber all needs to be replaced.
The modern mixte frame is an offshoot of the porteur frames that delivered newspapers and other things around Paris many years ago. As you can see from the pictures here, a good number of frames had a third stay in the rear triangle, even with a standard mens top bar. There are a few examples of a dropped top tube in this collection as well.
Well, enough history. I am planning to fit this bike with some different gear. The first thing to go will be the drop bars. I really can’t stand drop bars and think that some old style swept back handlebars will hook this bike up and provide the rider with a more upright posture. A leather saddle (of course), and maybe some new gearing options (like an internally geared hub) will do this bike nicely. Both of these bikes are a bit on the heavy side, with the mixte being the heavier of the two. I would like to ultimately change out the rims, but that may have to wait for a while so I can concentrate on getting an old Schwinn Jaguar built up for Dorothy.
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Lowdown ina Showdown
··· Oct 01 2010 · By ···
I’m just going to come out and say it right away, Dub Step is the ultimate underground dance music. Now that I got that out of the way, let me get down to some of my reasoning.
I attended the September 19th Lowdown ina Showdown event at the Showdown bar in San Francisco, right next door to the legendary Tu Lan Vietnamese Restaurant. This event is a free, monthly Dub Step dance party and BBQ that is also in collaboration with a weekly free Dub Step event across 6th St. at Anu called Ritual. Really, how can you go wrong with two free events. (as of this writing, it is unsure whether either of these events are continuing)
So I called up some friends in the City, and we headed down to see what all the fuss is about. The fuss is all about deep dark beats, MCs rhyming, bodies moving, and some good clean underground fun.
Ritual is the larger event, with a bigger dance floor. It looks like there is a waiting list to get in, but what really goes on is that the club is 21+ so anyone younger than that just hangs out on the sidewalk in front, dancing, hanging, eating BBQ, even playing retro video games on some old NES consoles that are set up. When you go in, Anu is dark, hot, and loud – just the alchemy needed to get bodies moving. We set up camp along the side for a while, had some drinks (I had some water since I was driving) and watched the action and took in the sounds.
The one thing that you immediately notice when listening to Dubstep in a proper setting (loud dark club) is that the music is pretty stripped down, almost minimal and sort of slow. That’s alright, because it is really the underlying bass line that serves as the meat of Dubstep. I could go into a whole page on what makes a song Dubstep (versus, say Garage, Twostep, Jungle…) but it is better to just provide a link to the Wikipedia article on Dubstep to get you started. I do like this opening quote attributed to the All Music description of Dubstep.
“its tense, almost oppressively dark sound was built on tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals”
Meanwhile, over at the Showdown, UFO! was getting ready for his set. I have been a huge fan of UFO! back when I lived in SF and was part of the Jungle scene in the late 1990s. In case you missed out on that scene, too bad, because the way that I feel currently about how Dubstep is the ultimate underground dance music, is the way I felt about the San Francisco Jungle scene back then. I was familiar with the UK jungle that was popular, with all of its offshoots. But I was fortunate to see first hand how those building blocks were interpreted and transformed by a bunch of talented DJs and musicians, who created a very unique San Francisco Jungle sound. Among them was UFO! Part of the Phunckateck crew UFO! regularly filled the dancefloor wherever he played, mixing a tight combination of UK and local tracks, while keeping the beats gritty, dark, and full. In addition to his spinning and mixing, UFO! was a character, sometimes stopping a track to yell something across the floor, then getting right back to it, without missing a beat. Oh, those were some good times!
So I had this chance to see UFO! perform again for the first time in like 12 years. Seeing that he is on a bill for some Dubstep, I thought that is a good change for him. Wow, did I ever enjoy his set! It was like a natural progression that took some 10+ years to get from the Jungle he was producing back in the late 90s to the Dubstep whatever you wanna call it that he was throwing down here in 2010. I felt that the only thing that was wrong with things during his set was the mic hogging MC who couldn’t shut up! There is a time for MCs to do their thing, but they don’t have to try to find a rhyme all the time (sorry). And the lady MC who had the mic during UFO!’s set was just harshing things in a major way (and don’t get me started on the feedback from the mic). Regardless of all that, UFO! worked his style into his mix, including his patented “stop the music to yell things across the floor” move (mostly aimed at the girl on the mic).
Driving back across the Golden Gate Bridge, through some of the thickest San Francisco fog I have ever seen with the sounds still fresh in my head, I smiled and sent cosmic thank you to UFO!
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Curtains for the Apartment
··· Sep 30 2010 · By ···
One of the cool things about moving into a new place is that you get a chance to decorate that place to make it fit your personality and sense of style.
We are currently renting a place, and like a lot of rentals, things in the apartment are pretty plain. White walls, grey carpeting, and horizontal blinds. So D and I decided that it might be nice to have a little color. A good way to do that is by putting up some curtains.
Now I don’t know how many of you out there have gone out buying curtains lately but they are pretty pricey, and mostly made in China. So knowing that I have a nice sewing machine, and some fabric and thread, I set out to put up some privacy curtains around Dorothy’s work area. These curtains are really just half window blinds, that still let us see out of the top of the windows, while keeping the views from below blocked at night.
So I decided that hanging them from regular curtain rods is boring, and ugly, so D and I went to our local hardware store, Jackson’s, and got some 1/16” cable, and some grommets attach to the curtains and slide onto the cable.
Next I set out to measure how much fabric I would need, gathered it all up, and threw it into the old sewing machine. It really doesn’t take too long to get some simple rectangular fabric panels sewn together. The hard part is getting the seams sewn in straight.
Well, I got it all together, and realized that the front fabric measurement was taken from an earlier window measurement, where we had the top of the curtain 8” or so shorter. So I had to improvise, and what I came up with was to bring the longer backing fabric, and fold it at the bottom and come up the front, like a big off white cuff. It actually looks pretty good. So we got those hung, and are now moving on the next phase, the front room window panels. Let the sewing commence.
Dorothy Says: I love the curtains! They are cheery and totally original, and make me feel cozy and private after dark. And, when we’re having a Marin heat wave (like last week) and it’s 90+ degrees, they help keep it cool during the day while still letting light filter through!
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Bike Knicker Battle
··· Sep 29 2010 · By ···UPDATE, 18 Nov. 2010
The Zoic Knicker has shown a weakness. There is a little section of fabric just above the zipper on each of the cargo pockets that has a flap. The point where that part of fabric is sewn under the top seam of the pocket flap, onto the leg of the trouser, has separated from that seam. It is pretty sorry since I have only had these things for 2 months, and this isn’t even a stress point. I am thinking about shipping them back to hucknroll. At least the seam isn’t compromised on the flap which is pretty solid.
Well, here is a shot of the shredded pocket.
*****ORIGINAL POST *****
I recently picked up a couple different pairs of knickers for biking, tooling around, hanging out, whatever. With Autumn here, and Winter just around the corner, something a little more substantial was called for, and knickers seemed the perfect thing.
I got my hands on a pair of Endura Zyme knickers and a pair of Zoic Reign knickers, and here is a brief report of what I feel about both of them.
The Endura Zyme knickers are really tough, made with the thick brushed cordura nylon. I have about a 35″ waist and usually wear pants that range between 34-36″ waist. The Large size of the Endura is dialed right in to that size. They are roomy, but not baggy, and have cinches on the waist to snug them up if I don’t feel like wearing a belt. I don’t really need a belt with them, because they fit so well, but I like to wear one because the snap on the front seems to pop open when riding if I lean too far forward. The length of the knickers for me is just about right, maybe an inch shorter than I would like though. They have two knee darts that when I ride, end up above my knee. The darts are sewn for a shorter leg than mine (I am 6’3″ BTW). This doesn’t cause any trouble, it’s just a design peeve of mine that the darts are sewn in, but don’t hit where they should. The end cuff has a velcro tab that adjusts to tighten the cuff up a bit if you like. I like that it is easy to adjust, but doesn’t get in the way. The pockets are plentiful, without going overboard. Two front pockets and two on the back all with zippers keep things where they need to be. There are also two front thigh mounted pockets that fit phones or pens, one is open the other closes with a zipper.
Overall I like the Enduras, they seem to keep in the heat a bit so they might be a bit too much in hot temps, but fall, winter, and spring these are good to go.
The Zoic Reign knickers I just got are pretty nice. Their sizes are different, and I had to get a XL. The size chart for XL ranges from 36-39″ I would say 35-36″ is safe. The cut of the legs on these are extra long, they hit just below my mid calf, and I have pretty long legs. The leg end cinch lets you easily bunch them up and wear them just under the knee, that gives a bit of play in them for pedaling or walking or kicking. The cinching cord is hidden inside the cuff though, and it is a bit hard to adjust. They are a bit skinnier than the Enduras so if you have huge thighs you might have to think about something with a more generous cut. The nylon they are made from is more of a mid weight ripstop and lighter than the Enduras. Still being nylon they trap heat, fortunately there are two leg zips that open up just below the crotch on each leg (inside thigh seam) to let a little fresh air in, there is a mesh liner there to keep things from peeking out. They came with a padded inner short, that doesn’t look terrible when worn inside these, I’m just not too into the padded inner short thing though. My Brooks saddles fit me well enough, and don’t present a need for extra padding. The pockets on the Reign knickers are as such. Front pockets cut in jean style with a little change pockette. One zipped pocket on the right side in back. 3 cargo pockets, one on the left leg, two on the right, with a spot in one for a phone or music player with threading holes for a headphone. I like that feature a lot, because I hate my phone flopping around in my bag or other pockets.
Overall, I kind of like the Endura more than the Zoic, but each are rather good, stylish knickers that you can wear tooling around town, or just hanging out having a beer in the City. I got both of these on sale, so who knows if they will continue to be around next season, since clothing manufacturers seem to be fickle and don’t like to keep styles around for too long.