We tooled around town on the Bianchi this morning: playground, doctor, Whole Foods, Trader Joes. This was finally my first bike trip to Trader Joes! I’m pretty sure I can’t hang the Milano on the railing where the cool kids hang their bikes, but I did share a bike rack with a hipster bike out front. In order to fit my groceries in the basket, I had to take everything out of the bag, put the bag in the basket, and then repack it item-by-item. Not ideal, but better than no baskets.

In the early evening we headed off to our old neighborhood for a walk around the lake with a friend and her new baby. I didn’t want to walk all the way over there so I loaded up the double trailer: two kids, umbrella stroller, balance bike, snacks, toys, non-SPD shoes. I finally see where a trailer than converts to a stroller would come in handy. At the beginning of the ride I thought about looking for one on Craigslist, but as the big kid whacked the little kid in the face with 20 yards to go I decided I’m better off with my current Bobikes setup and normal double trailer for occasional use.

We made it around the lake at a fairly good pace. We started out with the big kid on the balance bike and the little kid in the stroller, but he got tired and wanted to sit in the stroller so I threw the little one on my back. We had to swap back and forth this way several times, but it kept us moving steadily enough that our baby friend stayed asleep the whole way around. I hadn’t been sure how I’d manage carrying the balance bike around if he didn’t want to ride, but it fit perfectly on the little stroller’s handles. Not sure we’ll make a habit of using the trailer for a while, but I might try cramming all this stuff in again in a month or so with some “gentle hands” discussion ahead of time.

Daily distance: 9.4 miles
Cumulative: 157.3 miles