This morning saw us riding up up up Queen Anne hill to David Rodgers Park for an off-site preschool day. I made it 2/3 of the way up the first of three 14%-grade blocks of 1st Ave West. I probably would have given up sooner, but I didn’t think I could walk the Big Dummy up such a big hill. It’s just too heavy to push!

I pushed a couple steps with the big kid walking alongside me and even that was too hard. Thank goodness the little guy wanted to walk, too.

Early in the ride, I thought about looking for a pie place on Queen Anne as a reward, but after the walking I didn’t feel deserving. I’ve been eying the Queen Anne Farmers Market poster since it went up a couple weeks ago and am tempted to find a more roundabout route up the hill. I spend so much time avoiding hills, but seem to find myself drawn to them at times.

On the way home I took the steep route–either as punishment or to hearten myself…rationale to be determined after making it or not making it up. It’s frustrating to live 2.5 blocks from the Burke-Gilman Trail, but have to climb 10 blocks on the uphill ride home to avoid walking. And the short, hard route is still 3.5 uphill blocks and starts two blocks past my street. I don’t think I can regularly make this route without walking (I don’t try very often), but with just one kid, it’s painful but doable. And I love using the bike crossing at 40th and Latona. Any special bike marking makes my day.

Afternoon preschool pickup was with the car so we could get to our last (yay! no more car days!) class in Lake City. But after that we ditched the car and grabbed Big Dummy and balance bikes for a Seattle Family Biking meetup at the Wallingford Farmers Market.

The Main Tank started a Seattle Family Biking Facebook group and this was the first get together. Today we were two Big Dummies, an Xtracycle, a Madsen bucket bike, and a mountain bike + iBert baby seat + Burley Piccolo trailer-bike. And one friend with double stroller who’s jonesing for a Madsen with e-assist. I think our crew will grow even bigger as summer blooms.

Our farmers market is small, but sweet. The wide aisles are conducive to balance biking and little kid biking through and there are several buskers to listen to while eating picnic dinner.

At night I biked solo to a preschool meeting. I took the Big Dummy because I love its bright dynamo lights for nighttime and because I’d ferried home a backpack that didn’t fit on my friend’s mountain bike–she wore the big backpack and the baby in the iBert carried a small bag, but this smaller backpack was too full for the Piccolo-riding big kid to wear home. I still remember the days of the old mamabike and I can appreciate being cargo-capacity challenged. It looked more impressive when it was just a small part of my cargo, sharing space with balance bikes, extra clothing, and picnic bag.

After the meeting, six of us went for drinks. I’m happy to say I beat five cars over from Lower Queen Anne…though they kindly switched the venue from Ballard to Fremont to make it easier for me–which I both appreciate and feel guilty about.

And one more big hill: I didn’t just take the steep route home, I made it even steeper by shaving off one of the extra blocks. Veloroutes hill grade calculator calls it 8.3%, but it feels like if one pulls on the handlebars too hard, s/he’ll tip backwards. So yeah: hills, hills, hills.

Today’s miles: 11.1
June cumulative: 134.2 miles

As expected, I woke to a fully flat rear tire on the Big Dummy. No problem, I just did the preschool run with the old mamabike. Yay for having a backup vehicle or two (road bike and double trailer) or three (car). Monday is not the best day to have a flat tire as many bike shops are closed, but we had beach plans in the afternoon and I’ve become spoiled by all my cargo room and really wanted to have things remedied by 12:30. The flat was a blessing in disguise: I’ve been meaning to meet Henry of LionTail Cycles and now I had a reason. He built my friend’s Xtracycle and sounds like an awesome guy:

LionTail Cycles is a company founded on one vision: Getting more people on bicycles. To this end, founder Henry Kellogg aims to provide affordable and practical car alternatives. LionTail is based in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. LionTail is a licensed XtraCycle vendor, and offers several different electric conversions.

I called to see if he’d fix my flat and verify I could easily walk my bike to him. Turns out he’s just around the corner! So the toddler and I each grabbed our wheels and headed over.

Henry is as cool as he sounds in pixels. He’s passionate about cargo bikes and electric assist and was happy to fix my flat while we balance biked around the block and tromped through his garden. Last night Mr. Family Ride found the piece of glass that caused my flat and in examining my tire, Henry found another just waiting to puncture me again. Yes, that’s on my list of things to start doing: regularly check tires for embedded pieces of glass. The tire itself was fine, thank goodness.

Unfortunately, I noticed my tire was a little low as I prepared to leave for preschool pickup. I’d somehow knocked off my valve cap and bent the valve in the course of the early afternoon, but I’m nothing if stubborn and impractical so I left the bike loaded with beach gear, pumped up the tire, and figured I’d come up with a flat-tire-backup-plan during the ride. My first thought was to have Mr. Family Ride pick up the kids from the beach if it flatted and I’d walk the bike to a bike shop, leave it there, and then catch the bus home. But then I had the much more reasonable idea to ride by Dutch Bike Co for a new tube.

Good thing, too, because it got low again during the two-mile ride to preshcool. Lucky for me, The Main Tank was joining us for the beach and carries a bike pump. What a great idea! I should do that! She pumped me up and stopped with us for a snack break at Dutch Bike Co while I got my new innertube.

I like the dolly the used for fixing my flat. It’s probably necessary for a bakfiets–I can’t imagine one of those on a bike stand!

The beach was good, the tire held. And even with the delay of fixing the flat, we still had time to stop and sit in the big wooden chair on our way home…although I can’t wait for the day the Missing Link is fixed and a trip to the beach won’t take us by the chair.

Today’s miles: 19.9
June cumulative: 108 miles

This afternoon we hit Waterfront Whimsea Family Fun Day. We missed the Bubbleman, but caught the The Not-Its! and Seattle Seafair Clowns. We also got our first look at the gondola cars on the new waterfront ferris wheel.

The festival was packed so it was nice to have arrived by bike and park front and center. I don’t know how most families get to the waterfront, but I think many drive and use strollers to get to their destination from somewhat-far-away parking spots they’ve had to pay lots of money for. Despite all the activities (magic show, face painting, carnival games, photo booth, dancing), most of our time was spent climbing the Waterfront Whimsea sculpture.

After the last musical act finished up, we migrated along the waterfront. Since we had such fun playing in the Olympic Sculpture Park with Davey Oil and Little Oil a week ago we decided to go back before our long ride home. I discovered it’s a great spot to shoot a picture of the Space Needle sitting on one’s FlightDeck. Stay tuned for upcoming “All your cargo are belong to us” meme in the coming weeks!

And the boys rolled down the steep grassy slope–which ends with a drop-off next to the bike path, so not suitable for all littles–over and over and over again.

You may have noticed the balloons on the kid helmets. We started the day at a costume party and the boys wore balloons clipped to their hair for puppy ears and tied to their belt loops for tails. When we arrived home they noticed a hissing noise which I hoped hoped hoped was one of their six balloons, but it was my rear tire. Arg! My six months streak of no flats is up–none on the Big Dummy until now and one on the city bike in December. I’ll deal with it in the morning.

Today’s miles: 17
June cumulative: 88.1 miles

Six months after my first shopping trip with the Big Dummy hasn’t seen me get much more efficient at loading the bike. I’ve gotten more adept at threading my hand under the Yepp seat’s generous wheel guards to get to my middle buckle, but it’s still awkward and slightly diminishes my carrying capacity. I mentioned this to Edward a couple weeks ago and he offered to drill holes (“Nice-looking, beveled squares”) for me. Here he is fine-tuning the hole with a knife. It’s sure nice when one’s bike mechanic is also an artist.

This is just the first step. I also need a couple Xtracycle Utility Belts to move the buckles down to where I can reach them, but when those come in, things will be awesome! And in case you’re wondering, the Xtracycle Utility Belt is also a belt. Like for your pants.

I hope to eventually own six utility belts and haul enormous loads with them, but I’m going to start with just the two.

Today’s miles: 3.9
June cumulative: 71.1 miles

My friend became the proud owner of a Big Dummy two weeks ago and now she’s got an awesome new blog, The Main Tank: A vegan, feminist, AP mama doing family biking in Seattle. We get to ride together a lot to and from preschool, but we often hit other destinations, too, like the flagship REI store today. The kids loved the indoor bike rack, but note: the rack is not bolted to the floor so bike rack acrobatics are somewhat limited.

Some brave bikes still use the outdoor bike racks and out there we saw the greatest fender. My boys decided a salmon or a dinosaur had occupied the missing spot.

I love riding with friends, but seeing my routes through others’ eyes is changing my perspective. I can’t imagine riding with a separately-biking kid downtown [South Lake Union? Cascade? I don’t know what to call REI’s neighborhood], but I don’t even like leading willing adults along some of these streets of ours. The ride over from Lower Queen Anne wasn’t bad…except we met with a construction site by Cascade Playground and had to take to the narrow sidewalk and then detour a block.

On the way home I thought Eastlake Avenue would be nice since we’d get to keep some of our altitude. Climbing north from the Burke-Gilman Trail into Wallingford and Tangletown twice every day can get tiring and tiresome. Unfortunately, I haven’t really been paying attention to how miserable Eastlake is–though I clearly remember saying several times that I’ll never take Eastlake again–because it’s awful! There’s still a hill to climb…and then descend…and then climb again. I’d conveniently forgotten all about the second two-thirds of the 2.5-mile slog along Eastlake. I’m not going to frustrate myself by checking, but I’m pretty sure there’s more of a net climb using Eastlake/11th over Westlake/Meridian. Not to mention that it’s tricky to cross to the east side of the street from REI. I opted to keep us on the sidewalk of the west side until we reached a stoplight, but that’s four long blocks to Mercer.

But back to fun bike stuff! The Main Tank’s Dummy is sporting the purple bar ends I scored at Recycled Cycles. This makes me so happy because I walked around the store with them on three separate occasions without buying them because what the heck do I need purple bar ends for? But I couldn’t resist when they suggested I take them home for a buck. It was worth the price just to Instagram them on my dining room table, but they’ve just been mocking me from a bookshelf since then. Now I get to see them in action almost every day.

TMT’s rig also gives me a chance to vicariously experience cool gear. She’s got a BioLogic iPhone Bike Mount that looks wonderful, though I’d have to be brave enough to give up my very protective Otter Box to use one, which probably isn’t a good idea given how klutzy I am.

Today’s miles: 14.1
June cumulative: 67.2 miles

I carried my road bike on the Big Dummy a week ago, but that was sans kids. Today my road bike was done getting tuned up and I accomplished my first two kids plus one adult bike carry. I put the front wheel in one FreeLoader and the front of the bike in the other, with the rear wheel dragging behind.

I have to admit I thought we’d have to stop and reconfigure things during the 1.5-mile trip home, but it held just fine. Special thanks to the toddler for distracting me from the stress of packing the bike by biting me on the butt and leaving me smarting. And then for head butting his brother the first two blocks of transport to distract me from worrying about the bike not staying put.

I think I’d like to eventually have a hitch on the back of the bike (I have a picture of Edward’s hitch in this post) to more easily tow a bike.

The Xtracycle Bikes in Tow Flickr gallery is pretty inspirational.

Today’s miles: 12.3
June cumulative: 33.9 miles

Two days ago I piled the boys on the Big Dummy to meet up with Davey Oil, Baby Oil, and their lovely Xtracycled Nishiki Mixte. I know Davey from Bike Works, but he’s a fixture in many facets of Seattle biking and now he’s got this great new blog, Riding on Roadways, which just so happens to include a lot of riding with kids stuff, along with all the other awesomeness.

We met at the waterfront carousel for a quick twirl before moving along to the Olympic Sculpture Park…but not before I had a chance to snap a picture of one of the tree planters that caused my crash two weeks ago (no, kids not on board):

The OSP was great! We’ve never taken the time to play here, having only briefly stopped when meeting up with the New Year’s Day and Easter Cargo Bike Rides. The kids walked up the stairs to the top of the park where Baby Oil was adorable while my boys filled their rain boots and pockets with gravel and squealed and barked as trains passed by.

I have to say, I was touched by how much Davey loves his bike, Wheelio. Sure, I love my bike, but this is something different. I’m assuming Davey built his bike, so maybe that’s it. Or maybe it’s because he knows how to take care of his bike. Or both. Since I’ve known of Bike Works, I’ve been planning to take Davey’s Adult Basics Class and I have a feeling it will add another layer to my love for my bike(s), too.

One last freight train barreled by when time-to-leave arrived so Davey and Baby Oil circled the Father and Son fountain while I snapped pictures–and then charged straight up Broad Street. He told me he wouldn’t necessarily make it all the way up the hill, but I don’t believe him–he eats bigger hills for breakfast…although I am tempted to give it a try again, since I’ve only tried once or twice on the old mamabike.

Yesterday Davey started a Passenger Pandas Group on Flickr. I got a great one on the ride home (via the waterfront and ship canal, not via Broad Street and Westlake). If only you could hear the howling.

And in end-of-the-month news, I rode a ton of miles during Bike Month and meant to do a midday tally on Thursday, but didn’t get a chance and ended up three blocks shy of an even 400. This month is off to a slow start with no miles ridden yesterday and today on account of a car camping trip. Judging by the amount of stuff we brought, I don’t know if bike camping is in our future. I started out thinking the only items we wouldn’t bring on a bike camping trip were the kids’ balance bikes and our little dog, but we could probably also bring less than quadruple the amount of food we need (and fewer or no perishable items), no pillows, and no queen-sized inflatable camping mattress. And here I thought we were already roughing it.

Friday’s miles: 21.6
June cumulative: 21.6 miles
May cumulative: 399.7 miles

I had written off Lake City as too hilly and too dangerous to get to by bike, but I proved myself wrong today. Wednesday is usually our car day because we have twenty minutes to get from Lower Queen Anne to Lake City, but the five-year old stayed home from preschool so I took advantage of our extra open time and set out for a ten-mile adventure. Last year I biked to Wedgwood during the Burke-Gilman Trail closure so part of the trip was familiar…but not familiar enough for me to catch the left toward NE 94th St. I realized my mistake when we reached Matthews Beach. Here’s what the turn-off looks like for future reference:

The steepest climb is up 94th away from the trail. I had to get out of the saddle, but I don’t remember having to walk it last time on the city bike so I declare it bikeable by all. There’s more climbing, too. The 35th Ave NE portion is a particularly unpleasant slog uphill. I think the best part is cresting the hill of NE 120th St and seeing the big green Vision Quest [Fitness Club] sign. I felt like Matthew Modine jogging into eighties-America’s heart.

We went out early to have time to visit Kaffeeklatsch coffeehouse. I thought their custom bike rack would have been moved to the street by now, but it was still on the sidewalk. The barista said it’s getting bolted down next week, but she didn’t know if it’s permanent spot will be on the sidewalk or street. My bike’s too long for its current location so I hope it moves into street corral position.

Then it was a quick–and flat!–ride to Olympic Hills Elementary for class…after some bike rack aerobics. I’ve put both bike rack pictures on Hum of the City’s new Kids on Bike Racks Flickr group. Add yours, too!

Our route home was slightly different and included this little gem of a cut-through:

I think that was Hiram Place NE cutting through 26th Avenue NE. We also discovered Virgil Flaim Park for next time. It’s tiny, but it’s a playground at the top of all the hills. Sometimes a park halfway up the hill is good, but I think this trek requires a park at the top of the hill. Also, despite the address given on the City’s site, it’s really at NE 123rd Street and Hiram Place NE. Since we were headed downhill we stopped to explore a bit farther along, at Meadowbrook Pond. Such a beautiful spot! We’d cut through just the edge of the park on our way north, but we rode into the center and walked around the raised walkways and trails on our way home.

Again, the steepest hill of the route was in getting back to the Burke-Gilman Trail, this time climbing 45th Avenue NE over Thornton Creek.

As we rounded the last curve, I saw a helicopter looming over Roosevelt so I opted not to go directly home. A friend texted me about today’s shootings while we were at Kaffeeklatsch so I followed the news at our various stops, but so far hadn’t read of a resolution. I’ve always meant to bike the two gravel paths from the Burke-Gilman Trail to Drumheller Fountain so that’s just what we did.

As usual, I had several days worth of snacks packed so we were able to have a picnic and hang out until I read the streets were safe.

Today’s miles: 20.9
May cumulative: 392 miles