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30DoB day 5: Blender bike

Sep5

Bumbershoot was so fun yesterday that the boys and I went back today and bought a ticket at the door. I rode the blender bike in the VIB booth in case I didn’t get a chance to ride for real later, but now I feel bad for having given myself that out…because I didn’t ride my bike later. The blender bike was really hard! A passerby told me Baby Rijder looked like he was having a blast on my back, but it doesn’t really show in the picture she took.

We also spent a lot of time at the Cyclecide stuff and saw their performance this time. It was pretty crazy and every time someone crashed they all froze and yelled, “Is the bike OK?” No bikes were hurt in the performance, fortunately. I spoke cargo bikes with one of the performers and she told me about her Yuba which sounds just as cool as Xtracycle. I think I have a couple years to procrastinate on it before I upgrade to one or the other.

30DoB day 4: Cyclecide

Sep4

Back to the Seattle Center today for Bumbershoot. I thought we wouldn’t have to worry about rain today, but it started drizzling as soon as we stepped out the door so we quickly shoved rain gear in with all our other junk. Thankfully the rain stopped after a few minutes and I’m glad I got my first [partial] rain ride under my belt this month. And thank goodness for the free bike gear storage provided by Clif Bar. We completely overpacked (extra kid outfits, swim suits, rain gear, toys, snacks, water, stroller, extra Ergo) knowing we could leave our crap safely behind and get to it if needed.

The VIB (Very Important Biker) section was great. Cyclists received free coffee, water, water bottles, cookies, Clif Bars, and could make smoothies with the blender bike. Our other favorite area was the Cyclecide heavy pedal bike rodeo stuff. Turns out the kids love tall bikes. And anyone could take a spin (“Fun first, safety third”) on the show bikes. I wasn’t about to try a tall bike, but I test drove the broom bike. It had a little propane tank attached to the frame so I think it might even shoot flames or sparks during the show.

We took Dexter home again. Dan thought the grade towards downtown was easier than Stone Way, my old nemesis. I’m not so sure about that, but I can always give it a try and turn back if it doesn’t work out. Speaking of Stone, that hill just gets harder every time. Granted, I had all that extra gear in the trailer today. By the time I finally reached the top Dan turned to me and said, “Does that thing have a triple crank on it? Oh, you do have a granny. Hmm. Well, I was thinking of getting you one if you didn’t already have it.” Harrumph. I knew we should have filled his messenger bag with bricks to slow him down a bit.

30DoB day 3: Space Needle

Sep3

We normally take the bus to the Seattle Center, but it seemed like a good day to see what the bike ride is like. It’s not easy. The first 80% was familiar from our trip to the Center for Wooden Boats two months ago, but getting from the boats to the Space Needle was pretty sucky. Per Google Maps’ suggestion, we took Broad Street, but I wouldn’t call it a bike-friendly street and we stuck to the sidewalk to tunnel under Aurora.

At Bumbershoot Will Call a woman told me she thought taking Denny would be better. It’s great living in such a bikey city where one can turn to her neighbor in line and get bike advice. However, Denny Way wasn’t any better, but it did lead us to Dexter Avenue on which we noticed several commuting cyclists. It was a bit of a climb, but totally worth it. I think the hill might be a bit of a pain in the other direction, but it’s great for the way home. We’ll ride to Bumbershoot tomorrow, but otherwise I think we’ll stick to the bus for Space Needle visits outside 30 Days of Biking months.

30DoB day 2: Missed opportunity

Sep2

Last night I wondered if I could make minimal use of the car during this month of extra cycling. I didn’t last long; I drove to the supermarket this morning. Leaving the store I saw a mom and daughter locking up a bike attached to our exact same double trailer (Bell Copilot Model A). That got me thinking that maybe it isn’t impossible to bike from Green Lake to the Greenwood Fred Meyer. I looked for a more bike-friendly route on the way home and happily noticed the cyclist “Green Lake this way” road sign on 83rd. Still not sure how to ferry to bulky stuff home.

Today’s bike ride was a 7-mile trip to the beach at Golden Gardens. We swung by the newly moved Dutch Bike Co on the way, but the boys didn’t want to go in, eager to get to the beach. It looks very nice from the outside so we’ll put it on the agenda for next week. I didn’t really want to show up there with my boring ol’ road bike and trailer anyway. I said hi to Fritz who didn’t recognize me which is proof that I should only roll in with the Bobikes.

The beach was big fun, but the amount of charred wood from bonfires mixed in with the sand made for a very dirty baby. The weather was excellent when we arrived so I convinced Dan to drive over and meet us after work. It started getting cold as soon as I hung up so we didn’t stay too much longer by the time he joined us. He drove the kids home and I rode with an empty trailer. Wow, what a difference! Hipsters and triathletes still blew by me on the Burke Gilman, but I was faster than normal and wonder if I might be able to hold my own by the time I ditch the trailer.

30 Days of Biking

Sep1

Today marks the first day of 30 Days of Biking round two, an event in which [mostly Minnesotans] pledge to ride their bikes every day of the month. I’m excited to give it a go, though a camping trip and a possible San Diego excursion might prove challenging.

We decided to start small and just rode a mile and a half around Green Lake to PCC Natural Market to score a free piece of fruit for each kid and pick up the Live at KEXP CD. I ended up buying a few extra items and Brandt didn’t want to carry the grocery sack–he was too busy with his free banana in one hand and leafy branch in the other. The straps on my canvas bag weren’t long enough to hang over the windshield (not pretty, but it’s worked in the past) so I resorted to wearing the bag like a baby in my ring sling. I leave it slung over my shoulder while riding anyway so I figured I didn’t look much funnier than normal.

Blog entries are no fun without photographic evidence so I asked a stranger to please take a picture of us on the way home. Not excited about the prospect of approaching strangers every day, but I could stand being a bit more outgoing. Back on the path, I fielded a phone call from my friend in Florida–who was calling me from her beach cruiser. A bike-to-bike phone call! I pulled over to talk so people wouldn’t look at me funny. She was riding to her son’s preschool to pick him up quickly by bike rather than wait an hour and a half in the minivan pickup line. I’m seeing this school pickup solution more and more…and by “seeing this” I mean reading about it in friends’ Facebook statuses.

After a nap we headed back out for Brandt’s 30 Days of Balance Biking ride. We had noticed some awesome tree roots on the south side of the lake on our way home this morning and I promised Brandt we’d check them out. Warmed up on the roots, we crossed the street to the skatepark in Woodland Park to see if Brandt could handle any of the adjacent dirt bike jumps. He was able to make it up and down the smaller hills, but quickly lost interest in favor of making snow angels in a large pile of sand. Baby Rijder had a blast watching the skaters and eating rocks.

Fiets of Parenthood

Aug15

We rode to the Fiets of Parenthood Family Bike Games in lower Wallingford this afternoon. I wanted to bring Brandt’s Kinderbike balance bike for the kiddie stuff so we lugged that behind us in the Burley while the boys rode in their little Bobike bike seats.

Photo by carfreedays

The festival was awesome. It was incredibly hot out, but there was plenty of shade as well as a misting station, in which the boys both got completely soaked. But our first stop was the helmet fitting station. Mini still isn’t a fan of the helmet so hopefully now that it’s perfectly adjusted he’ll stop clawing at it. Brandt’s adjusting didn’t go so well as the helmet gal buckled his chin into the clasp, giving him a couple red welts. Thank goodness for the gelato bike (a Madsen filled with tubs of ice cream). Brandt valiantly tried to eat his two ice cream cups before they turned to soup, but he ended up pretty sticky before he gave up and poured the remains out and stomped in the puddle.

After decorating his bike with pipe cleaners, sparkly stars, and beads, Brandt hit the obstacle course featuring a teeter-totter, ramp, and cone slalom. I thought I’d have to lure him away with more ice cream, but he eventually took a break so we could get back in the shade. We all participated in the adult/kid race, but I think we got the slowest time of the whole field. We lost the race before we even entered the course since at “go” the first step was to get the kids on the bike and then enter the course. Mini usually comes when I call him, but I still wear him in the sling for putting him on the bike just to keep things easy. We did fine at the stop sign, pick up the dropped toy station, joust, grocery bag pickup, ramp, and “rain storms” (kids squirting us with water guns), but at the last station (berry picking), I tipped over. I think we didn’t even reach a 45 degree angle before people ran over and helped right us, but it was pretty embarrassing.

Dan got back from his week away and met us at the festival, fortunately after my lackluster performance. A couple people came by and told me their own and other’s fallen bike stories, which made me feel better, but clued Dan in on my earlier mishap.

The usual suspects were all there: Madsens, Xtracycles, Bakfiets, Bullitt, tandems, trail-a-bikes, and trailgator. One new thing we saw was a very cool kiddie pre-bike ridden by Baby Totcycle: the balance-trike-into-balance-bike Wishbone Bike. I didn’t get a chance to put Baby Rijder on it because his friend Baby Zevin wouldn’t give it up. I think his parents have probably already ordered him one.

On the way home, we hit the after party barbeque for salmon burgers, beer, and chilling while the day cooled down. Brandt was a bit too small for the super-cool custom play structure, but he made do collecting garden rocks and shuttling them around in a toy truck. Baby Rijder kept trying to use a dump truck as a walker, but pushed from the wrong side and caused the bed to rise up and bop him on the forehead. It happened three times so he’ll probably have a nice bruise tomorrow. I saw a bruise in the same spot on Baby Totcycle which I’d guess was earned the same way.

Burley buddies

Aug6

Baby Rijder had a pretty good day in the double trailer to Magnuson Park and back today. He still hates his helmet, but Brandt was able to keep him from noticing it for quite a while by feeding him bites of rijstwafel (rice cracker). On the way back I saw a baby in a Burley nestled in a little taco shell. I just looked it up and it must have been the Burley Baby Snuggler, but it’s only for jogging with so there goes my almost solution for Baby Rijder.

The ride itself wasn’t bad. It was freezing at the park and a bit windy heading back. I’m just loving riding the road bike and actually passing people on the trail. Everyone passes me when I’m on the Bianchi. Stone is still hard and my timing today made it extra hard as I had to sit up and wave at four Ride the Ducks boat cars on the way up. Maybe Brandt wouldn’t notice if I didn’t wave when he’s tucked away back in the trailer, but at this point it’s second nature.

Kidical Mass + Tour de Fat

Jul31

I was able to get the kids and myself dressed, fed, and on the bike by 8:25 this morning. I was aiming for 8:15 so we rode quickly to Ballard Commons Park for Kidical Mass. I had really wanted to take the Bianchi/Bobikes, but I wanted the kiddos to have a chance to nap on the trail so it was good that I chose function over style and took the Specialized and double trailer. As always, there were lots of Xtracycles, but also a new cargo bike: the Bullitt Bluebird ’71. I also discovered a new fashion trend: shorts with long socks. Totally makes sense in cold weather. Though perhaps they were dressed up for the Tour de Fat parade. I’ll have to keep an eye out to see if it’s really a thing.

Tour de Fat wasn’t quite under way by the time we arrived at Gasworks, but I had to push on to Magnuson Park for a baby birthday party so I couldn’t stick around for the parade. Dan met us at the party with the car and I almost took the easy way out, but instead had him drive Brandt home while Baby Rijder and I went by bike. I thought we’d hit the Tour de Fat if he was still awake, but he conked out pretty quickly. It looked like quite the party from the trail so we’ll have to attend the whole thing next year. The ride was much easier towing just 20 pounds of kid in the trailer, but Baby Rijder tilted over sideways in his sleep and woke up unable to right himself and very angry. Next time I’ll have to wedge a bag next to him.

Pack mule

Jul25

I’d been thinking about removing the wind screen for the summer, but it came in handy for our trip to the wading pool today. I haven’t yet found the perfect setup, but I was able to cart a lot of stuff: picnic blanket and canvas bag of snacks hung over the wind screen, Brandt carried two big toys, backpack crammed full of swim stuff, and ring sling to toss Baby Rijder in draped over my shoulder.

Marysnore

Jul24

The FSA Grand Prix is at the velodrome this weekend. Dan’s stuck in Vegas for the weekend so he’s missing it, but I thought the boys would find it interesting. Not so. Brandt lasted about five minutes before he wanted to play on the train play structure by the track. Granted, the morning stuff was pretty boring so hopefully next year we can come at 7pm when the big races occur.

We drove over, but I’m wondering if I could manage the ride over. It’d be great to ride over on a Friday and check out the races…especially on Kiddie Kilo day. Maybe once Brandt is reliable on his balance bike he can even participate.