Woke up with a tweaked muscle in my back :( I spent the bulk of the day sulking and entertaining the rugrats at home while the weather got progressively worse. I really need to get out for a quick ride while the day is dry. We finally got out the door at 4pm, but only because I knew Top Chef Maria Hines was doing a cooking demo at the Wallingford farmers market. I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded given the weather, but was surprised to only see two people watching. Granted, she was only chopping vegetables at 4:15 so maybe people were waiting for the exciting stuff later on.

Anyhow, the highlight of the trip is that I discovered a covered bike rack across the street at the QFC. It’s so nice to get back to a bike with the seats still dry. I hadn’t been upstairs QFC since the remodel and the Starbucks has a lot of nice seating. Not sure how long the kids would hang out there happily, but it seems like a good rainy day stop.

We drove down to the fair in Puyallup this morning and stayed all day long. Worried that I’d be too busy feeding and bedtiming munchkins upon returning home, I tried to bribe a clown to let me ride her bike. Unfortunately, she was a law-abiding clown and said her clown insurance wouldn’t allow for it. Instead I traded scone money to a parking lot guy who let me tool around on his mountain bike. He was very sweet and said I made his day, which is funny because he made my day!

I made my first attempt to reach Phinney Ridge today. I went a mile out of the way in hopes of finding a flat enough route, but I still had to walk half a block. I rode up 83rd, which would be my same route to Greenwood. I’m hoping I can explore a bit and find an even flatter way.

I’m loving the baskets even more today! I discovered I can safely fit my messenger bag (who am I kidding? It’s a diaper bag pretending to be cool by calling itself an “urban sling”) sideways on one side and fill the other side with toys, snacks, ring sling, and bike lock. I saw an Xtracycle parked at the Greenwood library as I huffed and puffed my way by. I have a feeling they were there by choice and not just on two wheels for the sake of 30 Days of Biking like myself. Those Xtracycle riders are pretty badass.

The boys and I rode down to Gasworks Park for Lullaby Moon this evening. I forgot that “arriving early” for something in this city means an hour early, not just 20 minutes early. So by the time we go there, the place was packed. The entire face of kite hill was carpeted in people so we didn’t get the best spot, but it allowed for more running around room. Thank goodness we biked because Dan tried to meet us on his way home from work and couldn’t find parking anywhere nearby and had to give up.

I took the road bike and double trailer in case either or both kids wanted to fall asleep on the way home, but it turned out to be a mistake as Baby Rijder has decided he doesn’t like the trailer right now. Brandt tried to distract him with toys, snacks, and singing, but nothing did the trick. I think I’ll give him a whole month off and then try again.

Nothing too exciting today. Did the family ride thing this afternoon and rode to QFC to get coffee. Baby Rijder got Dan a huge order of Senseo pods two Father’s Days ago and they’re finally all gone. Brandt was cool about carrying our grocery bag on the way home so I didn’t have to find a way to stow it on the bike–yay.

In the evening I rode to Uber Tavern to meet a friend for an hour. Such a foreign feeling, riding to a bar plus being the only human on my bike. I felt like me five years ago. Throw in the cold weather and I felt like me five years ago in the Netherlands.

Bike definitely trumps car when it comes to the ATM. This city has no drive-through ATMs (that I’ve seen, anyway). I’ve seen people leave their babies in the car at the ATM, but these guys would never go for that. This may prove to be my favorite moment of 30 Days of Biking. A friend happened to walk by during my withdrawal so I didn’t even have to ask a stranger to take my photo.

Money in hand, we checked out Sock Monster in Wallingford, which unfortunately no longer has the Addams Family pinball game. I knew I should have visited sooner! But the gal said rumor has it it’s been moved to Snooze Junction. For $20 I got three pairs of awesome knee high socks so I can bike warmly without having to wear long pants. I also scoped out the railings around the Wallingford Center and saw a couple places to park a bike and keep it dry in the rain. Finding dry parking spots is going to be my new hobby and will probably dictate where we go on grey days.

I had the bright idea to attach a backpack to the back of the Bobike Maxi so I could return library books and do some grocery shopping by bike. It got the job done, but it wasn’t pretty and it made the bike hard to manipulate while locking up. I might try attaching a smaller and cuter bag and see how it handles lighter loads.

While Dan and Brandt were at REI looking for big person bike rain gear (but didn’t make it past the play area), Baby Rijder and I took a spin around the lake. It was wet out, but we didn’t get rained on. It felt weird just riding for the sake of riding. I’m more of a transportation cyclist than a pleasure cyclist or exercise cyclist, I guess. I like riding, but I have to admit my main reason is so I don’t have to deal with looking for a parking spot and dealing with buckling kids into car seats.

Baby Rijder had fun on our little ride, but he was mostly in it to scope out the neighborhood dogs. He signed dog (patted his thigh) and barked at each one we saw. He chirped at a few ducks, too, and screeched when a bus drove by. So it was a quickie, but not a quiet-ie.