Today I built a weather shield for the Yepp kid seat. I’d like to say it’s to protect my sweet toddler from the rain, but it’s really so I could go fast downhill again. The little guy misses his fairing on the old bike and hasn’t adjusted to the sensation of the wind in his face yet. I first got the idea from this DIT: Shade and rain covers for the PeaPod LT article on Every Day Adventurers, though I don’t have the same seat and the drilling of holes isn’t in my repertoire. You Ain’t Got Jack more recently created and step-by-stepped this awesome and easily duplicated D.I.Y. Child’s Bike Seat Weather Protector.

Yesterday we swung by Tweedy & Popp for supplies, but couldn’t find PVC pipe so just got some expensive zip ties. This morning I attached the sunshade from my umbrella stroller (a handed down UPPAbaby G-LiTE) to the seat directly with the new zip ties, but it wasn’t quite high enough and the toddler didn’t like it brushing against his helmet. The holes in the Yepp make attaching things easy (no drilling necessary!), though my pricey eight-inch zip ties were a little on the short size.

Today we went to Stoneway Hardware and found half-inch PVC pipe and slightly less expensive eleven-inch zip ties. My rain cover is more HAIY (half-ass it yourself) than DIY so please follow the You Ain’t Got Jack tutorial to make yourself an awesome one. My initial batch of zip tying things together left me with one arm strap stuck to the pipe. Oops. But once I redid that one spot, things looked very sturdy. It’s four zip ties holding the pipe to the bike and four zip ties holding the canopy to the pipe.

The only problem is, he doesn’t like it! I have a BOB jogging stroller rain shield that fits very well upside down. The back of the canopy is completely open so I don’t have to worry about venting…but of course that doesn’t matter if I can’t put the shield down. Grr.

We rode around with it tucked around the canopy and I zoomed down some hills hoping he’d change his tune, but he chose wind over comfort. I’m not hoping for rain, but I do want an opportunity to get him used to the cover.

The canopy blocks a teeny bit of the view behind me. Even before today, I’ve been thinking about rear-view mirrors. They seem useful for seeing the kids, but I originally got the idea because it’s embarrassing to realize a cyclist has been stuck behind me in a bike lane listening to our inane conversations. A month ago on Dexter a guy may have heard a long, ridiculous, hypothetical discussion about whether or not we should buy a convertible car. And a common theme overheard this week is chasing down and catching pretend trains: “Don’t worry, Mama, it’s a very slow train–as slow as you!” Not that I can necessarily steer the conversations to more mundane subjects when I notice someone behind us, but at least I can try.

Today’s miles: 9.3 miles
April cumulative: 275.6 miles