Bay Area cyclist Alison Chaiken doesn’t like backpack hydration systems. The plastic bladder is easy to puncture, difficult to clean and expensive to replace. The backpack is annoying to cyclists. Alison came up with this homebrew bite valve hydration system that uses PET soda bottles and other readily available parts.

Gents, Alison is single. She’s a physicist who likes working with large powered tools and she reads Cyclelicious. My heart swoons.

For more DIY bike stuff, see Bike Hacks.

Flickr user Panda Face sews his own cycling caps. You can too.

I think many cyclists are familiar with Rainlegs, which are lightweight water and wind resistant panels that cover the thighs to keep your pants dry in the rain. For cyclists, they’re perfect adjuncts to fenders.

“khyungyokpo” in Seattle gives his step-by-step instructions for Ghetto-style rainlegs made from a $16 pair of rubberized rainpants in this Flickr photoset.