September was a quiet #30daysofbiking month, but good practice for the real deal next April. I had more instances of just riding up and down the street in front of my house than in any previous round of 30 Days of Biking, but any little bit of riding counts and it’s pretty fun to creatively squeeze a bike ride at the end of the day.

We had a pretty fun month:

• We’re dogsitting and took our borrowed doggie to the Labor Day Cargo Bike Ride. She’s used to riding in a bike basket and running alongside a bike so she had fun and we’re having a blast having a dog in the house again after losing Bettie a year ago.
• We took part in Kidical Massive, all the Kidical Masses leading a family bike on the same day (September 19th) and it was huge: 221 participants at our ride during Ballard Summer Parkways!
• And I ended the month by kicking off a fun project…

It is a well-known fact that I love carrying bikes with my bike, be it multiple bikes or other cargo bikes. My Xtracycle FreeLoader bags make it easy to bag-and-drag (front wheel in the cargo bike, rear wheel trailing behind), and this even works with a bike in each bag, but it’s time to up my game. If I put a 20-inch wheel or bigger in my right-hand bag, it often pinches my rear derailleur cable, making it so I can’t shift. I have a triple on the front so it’s not that big a deal, but biking is more fun when I can shift freely. And now that the kids are on 24- and 20-inch bikes, that means if I’m carrying both of their bikes, I’m prone to the pinch. And also: that bigger bike with the 24-inch wheel takes up so much room that my bigger kid has to sit side saddle. It works OK, but it’s easier to carry the kids when their weight is more evenly distributed. And also-also: both kids now have quick-release wheels on the front so that opens up some possibilities…

So on the last day of 30 Days of Biking, I bagged-and-dragged for what may possibly be the last time! I stuck my Surly Straggler on the Surly Big Dummy and pedaled down to drop the Big Dummy off to Haulin’ Colin’ for a two-bike fork-mount tow hitch. I can’t wait!!

Now if you’re into online biking challenges and are sad that you have to wait until April for the next one, don’t despair! Today marks the start of the Coffeeneuring Challenge. My friend Marley and I kicked it off at the very first opportunity: we set out right at midnight, rode our bikes to Seattle University, chose a nice spot by the fountain, and made #coffeeoutside. I hope we were the first coffeeneurers in our time zone to get to it. I think my coffeeneuring theme shall be “Coffeeneuring with friends” so please let me know if you’d like to coffeeneur in tandem.