A bike shop with a play area and a toddler potty seat insert, does it get any better than this??

We carpooled with my friend and her two little boys to Clever Cycles in Portland today so she could get a new two-kid-carrying bike. She had her eye on a Gazelle Bloom with Yepp seats front and back. The bike was too big, but they had a great little Breezer Uptown 8. It’s got a Yepp on the front and Bobike Maxi (same as me!) on the back. They had to swap out handlebars and stem and also added a Brooks saddle and double kickstand. They didn’t have all the parts to attach a front rack so the eventual front basket is still being worked out. So keep in mind it will soon be even cuter than it is now:

While she was shopping I test rode a couple bikes. First I took out an Xtracycle. It’s funny–I know I want an Xtracycle in a year or two, but I’ve never been on one. I had planned to put the baby in the Yepp bike seat and have the big kid hang on behind, but the baby wouldn’t leave the play area. The play area’s puppy came along so I could still get the feel for carrying two beings. Naturally, the verdict is that I loved it!

I also took out a Nihola cargo bike. I thought it would feel just like the Christiania, but its handling is quite different…though also tricky at first. I should have taken a Christiania out again to compare, but I didn’t want to overdo it. Based on my recollection of my WheelHouse Santa Barbara test ride, I think I prefer the Christiania to the Nihola. But they’re both freaky. I think I’m just better suited to two wheels. Clever Cycles has a Gazelle Cabby hung from the ceiling so I pointed it out to the boys and reminded them of our LA Cabby adventure and told them we’d be using one in a few days, too.

Not much mileage to add to my 30 Days of Cycling tally, but it still counts!
Daily distance: 0.5 mile
Cumulative: 46.8 miles