Yesterday I beat the a Google maps bike directions estimate by three minutes–uphill to Whittier! So I felt I could adequately compare bike and driving options to my hair appointment today. Google told me it’d take 12 minutes to drive to Ballard and 23 minutes to bike there. Considering I have the world’s worst parking karma and the time needed to walk from my awful parking spot, I decided things were equal for the ride over. The 28-minute bike versus 12-minute drive on the way home probably couldn’t be argued into a wash, but I didn’t point that out as I left my husband trying to work from home while minding the four-year old.

I noticed the old train tracks that cross the Burke-Gilman bike path by 6th Avenue NW have been spray painted red. I’m considering it a little bit of beautification (well, safetyfication anyway) of the west side of the trail while the east side is being fully revamped.

I was tempted to stop in at Dutch Bike Co on my way by, but I don’t want to have to admit I’m still having a bit of trouble on the hills even with my awesome new hub. Today was fine with just one passenger, but I haven’t made it up the steep and short route with both kids yet. However, I’m still not completely over the neverending cold so I have high hopes things will be great in a week or so.

Today was huge. Most of the hilly stuff was at the beginning for our usual Wednesday trek to Whittier, but then we did a bunch of new stuff. First up was a side trip the little one and I took to Honore Artisan Bakery while the big one did his class. Cute place, but a little on the fancy side so no blueberry muffin to go for the big kid and nothing dairy- and soy-free (no surprise there) for the little one. But we had a nice coffee and from-home snack on the outdoor adirondack chairs.

Next up was a detour through Sunset Hill to pick up a Craigslist CARES harness. I’m contemplating making our next trip car- and carseat-free so the cheap harness was lure enough to get me to attempt a ride to a neighborhood with “Hill” in its name. It was easy getting there from Whittier, but I don’t know that I could make it up from Market.

Then we coasted down to the Ballard Locks because I forgot about the south side ramp closure. I have yet to ride over the Ballard Brige and I hear it’s no picnic (I think because it’s narrow on the bridge and busy streets on either side) so I decided to try to carry the bike up the stairs. I dismounted the kids and was about the pick up the bike when a guy hopped up from his spot on the grass with his wife and four dogs and offered to carry my bike. Even without kids, that thing is HEAVY so I not-very-convincingly told him I could manage and then thanked him profusely a million times (once for each stair) on the way up.

We paused to watch trains for a bit and also made a quick stop for kid hot dogs along the waterfront at The Frankfurter. I’m a sucker for any business that declares itself “the best” and stands that don’t require removing kids from the bike are so convenient. I love this picture a tourist couple took for me. Payback for my complaining about the kids not ever both looking at the camera.

Fortified for more riding, we headed south toward the Tom Bihn messenger bag factory, which finally (yay!) has regular retail hours. Notice I say “toward” and not “to” the factory. It’s a well-known fact I easily get lost and the detour signs really threw me off. I think the road closures didn’t actually affect my route much, but I’d already convinced myself we were lost and got farther and farther off track. At least we got to see extra train tracks and trains.

The kids were a bit stir crazy by the time we arrived so we didn’t stay long and made our way (just getting a little lost this time) back up to Pioneer Square as quickly as possible for lunch and running around. We were very close to the King Street Amtrak Station so we biked over, but were distracted by all the exciting construction equipment outside that we didn’t lock up and go in. Next time.

My map doesn’t include our getting lost mileage, but we must have done 30 miles all told. Needless to say, I’m not in a hurry to have such a big day again. We were out from 9:30 until 4:15 and most of that time was spent in the saddle.

We’ve had a couple exciting car-free days: yesterday we took the bus to Mounger Pool in Magnolia. We’ve only gone by car in the past. And today we took our first non-car trip to the chiropractor in Wedgwood. It looked too hilly to bike so my obvious options were taking two buses or walking a mile and taking one bus. I don’t know what my hangup is about transferring buses, but I have yet to do it with kids and I was too lazy to walk a mile so we biked to the university and grabbed the bus from there.

I was feeling confident on my bike-on-bus skills having done it twice now so I didn’t watch the video tutorial several times last night as I usually do. It went well…except when I forgot to close the bike rack at the end. So back to watching the video in preparation.

Riding home from Wedgwood we were able to check out a portion of the Burke-Gilman Trail closure detour. It’s hilly. It wasn’t too hilly to handle this direction, but I don’t think I could manage the other way. We saw lots of plastic-shrouded detour signs ready to be unveiled in two days.

I had planned to check out the recently redone Matthews Beach playground, but was so happy to finally reach the Burke-Gilman and fed up with stopping to check my list of directions at every turn that I went south instead of north. It wasn’t beach weather, but I had promised beach so we stopped at Magnuson Park beach instead. It was freezing. They played at the water’s edge for a bit, but when the Canada Geese got out of the water and huddled together to warm up, we called it a day.

Things are back to normal! Well, I’ve still got a bit of a cold, but the kids are 100% and the weather is nice. I had hoped to fit our towels, toys, and snacks into my two baskets and my husband’s big messenger bag, but we had to resort to the Burley trailer, too. The funny thing is, the kids both wanted to ride in the trailer. I think it was more about riding with Papa than riding secluded in the trailer.

I made the mistake of leading the way and immediately heard, “You know what we need to get you? Some pedals and shoes!” Is it possible to change a cyclist into a regular ol’ bike rider? Granted, he’s right to worry about my pedaling style–I have to keep my feet on the outer edges of my pedals and my knees out to the side a bit so I won’t bump the front seat. Not enough to look funny (I think), but enough to draw the attention of my SPD-shod husband. But he also called me fast, so that made up for it.

On the way home I saw two Xtracycles up ahead on the Burke-Gilman Trail in Fremont and insisted we catch up to them. It took us a few minutes during which I pointed out all the wonderful benefits of owning an Xtracycle which resulted in a “You want an Xtracycle, we’ll get you an Xtracycle!” Woo hoo! The pestering has finally paid off. Then the pair of X’s on the trail turned out to be Car Free Days so we said hi and chatted for half a mile before they turned off.

The photo is from my morning excursion to the grocery store. I hadn’t wanted to bring the Pillow Pet along, but in retrospect, a bulky light Pillow Pet that doesn’t leave the basket is a much better tagalong than a tiny backpack filled with heavy pebbles and trains that doesn’t leave the basket. Funnily, at the beach a family with a small child clutching a Mini Pillow Pet was admiring my bike and I heard the mom say, “But we have so much stuff to bring along, like the Pillow Pet.”

I’ve been down with a cold for a week and counting and missing lots of wonderful Seattle bike events. It started with the Aaron’s Bicycle Repair Memorial Day Cargo Bike Ride. Before reading the description I had no idea it’s flat (which I still need to see with my own eyes and wheels to believe) from the waterfront to West Seattle. I’m keeping their Pike Place Market to Lincoln Park route handy and intend to try it soon. It’s been fun taking the water taxi over, but considering the fact that I can’t read the schedule to save my life and that it doesn’t operate daily year-round, a bike-only route sounds great.

Yesterday we all missed watching the Ballard Crit. Two years ago I was too tired and pregnant and opted to nap while the rest of the family went. Last year we all went and had a great time. I talked about going this year, but ended up napping instead. I guess we’re due to attend again next year.

Today was the Tweed Ride which is too hip for the likes of me and the Port of Seattle Centennial Bike Ride which I thought sounded like a good ride for us, and probably the closest I’ll ever get to riding a century (not because it’s close to 100 miles–it’s only 14–but because it’s got a lot of the same letters in the title).

Instead I took the big kid to Touch-A-Truck at Magnuson Park, figuring the 5-mile ride wouldn’t be too rough. The ride was OK, but the Brica snack pod was unable to cling to the Bobike maxi through the multitude of bumps on the Burke-Gilman Trail by the University. The silver lining is that the lid of the plastic snack cup it came with stayed fastened. And the trail was filled with friendly sun-kissed Seattlites who hurriedly picked up my dropped pieces before I even had a chance to stop the bike. We’ll give it another try, probably with a lighter water bottle and attached somewhere else if we’re planning to encounter a lot of bumps. So not a total fail, but I was loath to give up precious basket space to carry it the rest of the day.

It was a wise move to take the bike to Magnuson–the place was jammed with cars looking for parking for Touch-A-Truck, the playground, and a gazillion soccer games. Of the three friends I ran into, two of them also came by bike. I had expected to see five other friends and can only assume they gave up looking for parking and headed back home.

We hit Metropolitan Market on the way home and crammed a bagful of groceries in with our other stuff. It’s nice not having one kid along for grocery trips–I was able to put my messenger bag in the front seat rather than wear it. I was eager to ride up Brooklyn and see how it felt with the new hub, but between my cold and not riding much for weeks, it wasn’t a fun hill. It seems it’ll still be a while before I can really appreciate my easier gearing. However, I didn’t have to walk at all and that is proof the new hub was worth it.

In upcoming bikey stuff I’ll most likely miss, Tuesday night is something called Heels on Wheels in Capitol Hill. Hopefully it’s a regular thing that I can make one day. And now, more napping…

There are so many exciting new gismos on the Bianchi! The pox-free four-year old and I took the bus (so pleasant with only one kid in tow!) to Dutch Bike Co to retrieve the bike. It was drizzling when we left the house, but gorgeous by the time we reached the shop. I wheeled us down to the viewing platform at Fremont Canal Park for some photos of our new bits. Note: ADA accessible viewing platform means ramps, but not necessarily generous turning room so we probably won’t try this again.

Most exciting/expensive is the Shimano 8-speed internal hub. It doesn’t make for a very exciting picture, but here it is:

And here is the new shifter that goes with it. It’s oriented differently from the old one (twist up for easier instead of down) so that will take some getting used to. I’ve had a bit of practice with that, though, as the Dutch cargo bikes I’ve rented in the past are the same. I also finally got a bike bell, which I found by Googling “cute bike bell.”

It didn’t seem wise to only give one kid access to a bell, so I got two. The front bell is a bunny and the rear bell is a kitty. The kitty is attached to the front of the rear rack for now, but I might try to find a different place for it.

Next up is the Brica snack pod to hold snacks and drink for the rear kid. It’s designed to go on a stroller or car seat and works fine on the Bobike maxi. It makes it harder to put bulky stuff in the basket under it, but it’s easy enough to momentarily remove if I really want to cram large items under it.

For my own water (or more likely, a small cylindrical container filled with trains and rocks) I got an Orbea lateral-entry water bottle cage. It’s carbon fiber which I find hilarious on my bike. You can also see the zip ties holding my new cable in place. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I would have been disappointed if Fritz “King of Zip Ties” Rice hadn’t utilized any. They’re not the first zip ties he’s put on my bike, by the way.

I don’t think the cage will hold a full-sized water bottle, but at least it holds a 12 ounce Thermos FUNtainer (7.38 inches high):

I had hoped to stop by the library and grocery store before heading home to really load up and test the new gear range…but I forgot to bring my bike lock. So I can’t comment yet on how much easier things are. I’m also quite out of shape from being cooped up for the last few weeks so I might not appreciate how awesome the new hub is until I’m back in fighting form. Once home, I discovered my final delivery of exciting stuff had arrived: my new Betty Basket Liners! I’m having some fit issues so they’re not ready to roll quite yet, but expect a full report on them, too, soon.

Daily distance: 4.9 miles
Bike Month cumulative: 76.9 miles

Not a lot of biking lately. We’ve been stuck home the last two weeks with chicken pox. The older kid is just about over it, but the little one hasn’t caught it yet so our quarantine extends for up to four more weeks.

Last week, I was able to get out alone to swing by the F5 Bike to Work Day Street Party. Sadly, I arrived too late to say hi to my Kidical Mass friends, but I got my free water bottle and stopped by Dutch Bike Co to check on the status of my on-order internal-gear hub. It’s in! However, the official purpose of my trip out was to pick up calamine lotion and groceries so I logged the 8.8 miles as a Team One Less Minivan Group Health Commute Challenge trip. And, wow, I was able to fit a lot of groceries on the bike with no kids! Plus I ran into my friend Julie with her husband and two kids (both at the after party and at the grocery store) so we had an unofficial Kidical Mass ride home together. Her 14-month old is in an iBert front seat and the 4-and-a-half year old is on a trail-a-bike.

Since today’s trip was to drop off the bike to have the new hub installed, it doesn’t seem appropriate to count the miles. The internal hub also has eight gears, but they’ll have a bigger range so I’m hopeful I’ll be able to make it up the steep hills between the bike trail and home. And yes, that’s a six-pack of Hoegaarden in the front baby seat.

Daily distance: 3.8 [ineligible] miles
Bike Month cumulative: 72 miles

Let me start by saying, the Spokespeople are no wimps! I thought I would learn a better (flatter) route around Lake Union this afternoon, but we took the same route I discovered on Monday, complete with half-block walk up Hamlin. At least this time I knew to build up enough momentum to make it over the crest at the top of Yale Terrace at Roanoke.

The ride was fun and everyone was super nice. It was family-friendly, save for the possible prostitute we biked by on Eastlake. But the biggest hit was the banana bike–or Velomobile–on the ride. It cornered surprisingly well for its size, but the rider had to stop and renegotiate tight turns a couple times. It even had little turn signals on the front. We rode behind it so the kids could keep an eye on it. That was a good plan for the first bit, but eventually they got hungry for bananas and mad when I couldn’t deliver.

Daily distance: 8.2 miles
Bike Month cumulative: 58.4 miles

We took our second trip over the University Bridge this morning, this time to traverse downtown and catch the water taxi. I stayed up on Eastlake so it wasn’t as scenic, but we didn’t get stuck walking up any unexpected hills…though Google Maps convinced me to take Eastlake all the way to Stewart and the last couple Eastlake blocks were more hill than I care for. We left home at 8:08 so we saw a lot of bike commuters out–I almost felt like a real commuter. We weren’t dressed as adequately as the real commuters, though. It was dry when we left the house, but rained most of the day. Here’s our exciting first leg:

The third time was indeed the charm and we arrived right on time for the West Seattle water taxi. Then we caught the free shuttle to avoid biking (er, walking) uphill. It was easier loading the bike this time. Maybe the DART shuttle is lower than a full-sized Metro bus, or maybe it’s just less intimidating since it’s so little. It probably also helped that Mr. Familyride came down to the garage with me and showed me the best way to lift my beast up.

We were too early to hit the bike shop so we took the shuttle to West Seattle Junction and hung out at the super-kid-friendly Sugar Rush Baking Co. There we met up with my good friend 2wheels6feet for our first group ride, or as I like to call it 4wheels12feet. We cruised downhill to Aaron’s Bicycle Repair where the kids set to the Lego table and played with the shop cats (Presta and Schrader), 2f6w had her front basket installed, and I ogled the Xtracycles and accessories.

I rode home along the coast and saw the water taxi pulling away as we neared Seacrest Park. I knew my luck couldn’t hold, but it worked out OK because the boys were hungry so we waited in Alki Crab & Fish Co.

The rain picked up as we arrived to Seattle so I wasn’t looking forward to the long trip through Ballard, but even less wanted to deal with the steep hills for the direct route. As we biked along the waterfront, I noticed a guy on a bike get on the elevator by the pier 66 cruise ship terminal. He wasn’t cheating; he took the sky bridge west to catch a boat, but we headed into the parking structure and out onto Elliott Ave for a nice gradual climb to Western until we got to Pike Street and then came home via Westlake. So a little out of the way and congested enough that we had to stick to the sidewalks much of the way, but worth it!

Daily distance: 19.6 miles
Bike Month cumulative: 49 miles

We biked to school today. We were ready early so we stopped by Makeda Coffee on the way, which is quite bikey, I realized today. Half the paintings on display (and for sale) are of bikes and everyone else in the cafe was talking about bikes.

Whittier Elementary is really on the Bike to School Month bandwagon. The bike racks were overflowing like crazy. I just parked my bike in front of the building since we were only there for 30 minutes.

After class we biked to a friend’s house in Greenwood. Not the lower Greenwood I used to ride through on my forty-blocks-out-of-the-way flat-enough Green-Lake-to-Phinney rotue, but deep into Greenwood: 4th and Holman territory. On the way home I promised to swing by the old house so we swung around Green Lake for some good extra mileage. I was happy for the detour because otherwise I would have headed straight south to the Burke Gilman Trail for our return trip and have to deal with walking a block. And lately it has been walking a whole block. It used to be just half a block. Seems I need to toughen back up a bit.

We took a second trip in the late afternoon to Wallingford Playfield. It was my first time riding on 43rd west-bound. It’s steep! I need to get better at paying attention how hilly things are when I’m travelling in the easy direction.

Daily distance: 11.5 miles
Bike Month cumulative: 29.4 miles