If you’re short, you’ve probably had trouble finding a bike that fits. Which is probably why I’ve been approached by other cyclists many times over the years that I’ve owned my 42-cm Surly Long Haul Trucker. The most common question? “Will it—or a bike like it—fit me?” Other questions usually follow, and I’ve done my best to answer the ones I’m most frequently asked in “Small Talk About the 42cm Surly Long Haul Trucker.” But the initial question is the hardest to answer by far. Will a 42cm LHT fit you? I simply can’t say. No, not even if you give me a complete set of your measurements.

I can say this, though: You’re not condemned to an ill-fitting bike just because you’re short. Surly, Trek, and a growing number of other firms now offer small frames to accommodate short cyclists. But when shopping for a bike, you should realize that there’s a lot more to fit than inseam or “pubic bone height.” Sure, you should be able to straddle your bike with some room to spare. But there’s a fair amount of leeway here. I’m comfortable with as little as an inch or two of clearance, while some cyclists aren’t happy unless they have as much as four inches of air between their soft parts and the hard steel of the top tube.

My advice? Don’t allow a preoccupation with standover height to blind you to the importance of REACH. It’s every bit as important. If you have to stretch way out to get your hands on the bars or in the drops, it’s a good bet you’ll soon develop neck, shoulder, or arm pain. Unfortunately, there’s little correlation between reach and leg length. But this much, at least, is certain: You won’t suffer if you have an extra inch or two of top-tube clearance, but you will regret having too long a top tube. So I’d rather my frame ran a little small than a little too large. A top tube that’s much too long is just…well…too long. There’s no remedy. Worried about getting a frame which has the reach exactly right? Don’t be. Once you’re in the ballpark, you can swap out stems or handlebars until the reach is perfect.

The bottom line? Unless you’re a gambler at heart, it’s best if you can try the bike you’re planning to buy. Unfortunately, few local bike shops stock small frames. (“There’s no demand,” they say. And they make sure of this by not stocking small frames!) If a Surly has caught your eye, however, you could be in luck. Post a query on the Surly LHT and Cross Check forum. You just might find someone near you with a suitably sized frame who’ll let you take it out for a spin. It’s always worth a try. The ranks of Surly owners are swelling, and I’ve found the forum folks to be a friendly, forthcoming bunch.

Or maybe you’re trying to decide between the LHT and Trek 520? Both are well thought of, and I considered the Trek 520 when I was shopping for a touring bike. But in the end I chose the LHT. I figured it offered better value for money. The “complete” LHT costs more now that it did when I bought mine, of course, but I think it’s still good value. I also liked the fact that the smaller LHTs were designed around 26-inch wheels. I put a fair number of miles on gravel roads. I also fit studded tires in winter. And 26-inch wheels simply give me more options. (They’re also said to be sturdier than their 700c counterparts.) They minimize toe-clip overlap, too—and while I think this is a minor matter, it’s certainly not a bad thing.

So in the end, I bought an LHT. I haven’t regretted my choice.

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It’s hard to roll out of bed before the break of day, but one of the rewards of an early start is watching the sun come up. And it’s even better if your vantage point is the seat on your bike. Marcos Netto, Southern Hemisphere Correspondent and Contributing Photographer, shares this photo with us:

Right-click on the photo to embiggen.

It was shot after the 4:00 a.m. start to a six-hour ride from Canoas to Tramandaí Beach, a distance of some 80 miles. You’ll find the whole story of this 2009 trip at Marcos’ website. And don’t let the fact that you can’t read Portuguese deter you from stopping by. Marcos’ photos of his beautiful land speak a universal language.

Now here’s a short video clip by way of an appetizer:

Thanks, Marcos! This trip really was worth getting up early for.

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Killer cucumbers and septic sprouts notwithstanding, fresh is best in the vegetable department. Of course, toxic E. coli is really no laughing matter, but you get my drift, I’m sure. There’s just no substitute for fresh veggies. Yet it’s hard to keep vegetables fresh in the pack for much longer than a long weekend. Potatoes? OK. They’ll keep. But they’re the exception that tests the rule. They don’t suffer much in being dried, and it’s good not to have to haul the extra water around on the portages. Tomatoes, though, are something else. Nothing quite equals a fresh tomato. The bad news? Fresh tomatoes survive about as long in a pack as a lemon meringue pie. Still, the longer the trip, the more I crave them. Which makes it even harder for me to stomach the dried tomatoes on offer in the HyperMart. “Dried” is too tame a word to describe them. “Desiccated” comes nearer the truth. At their best, these shoe‑leather tough twists barely manage to hint at something that might — just might — have once been a half‑ripe tomato. I figured I could do better, and when I stumbled across some especially tasty cherry tomatoes recently, I seized the opportunity. I’d had good success drying other vegetables, after all. Why should I let tomatoes defeat me? What could be so hard about batch‑drying tomatoes?…Read more…

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