Panniers and pit zips

Hooray hooray it's a wonderful day because my enormous red panniers have finally arrived.

They're fully waterproof with welded (?) seams, they've got solid bottoms and a plastic flap that folds down inside so they can stand on their own and they're bright red. All good so far. They normally retail for a whopping £79.99 (gasp of shock) but were £49.99 in the sale AND I got them through Ride 2 Work. Hurrah.

I'm hoping they'll eliminate the need for me to cycle with a rucksack and will deal with the hugely unattractive phenomenon of sweaty back syndrome. Mr Weenie, though his love for me is not in doubt, draws the line at hugging me straight after a long ride and instead murmurs about wouldn't I like to have a shower and he's put the hot water on.... hint hint.

I've got pit zips on my high-vis jacket but they've never really had much effect. cycling back from the shop without my rucksack was a revelation. My pits were icy cool.... Mmmmmmmmm.

What they may induce as a side effect is pannier envy. I've already cycled past several other panniers on the way back from the bike shop and, frankly, they're just not as good as mine, plus mine are bigger, and red.