It’s called a cargo bike for a reason

Dec15

I wish someone had reminded me I own a cargo bike today. Rather than utilize it, I bused from Wallingford to Lower Queen Anne to Phinney to retrieve Mr. Family Ride’s beach cruiser. I’d lent it to a friend’s visiting brother months ago and the time came to bring it back home.

A bit after noon, the little one and I took the 31 from Wallingford to Lower Queen Anne to retrieve the big kid from preschool. The three of us caught the 26 south a bit down Dexter and walked up a flight of stairs to Aurora to grab the 5 back north to Phinney. We take the bus occasionally, but Thanksgiving was the first time we’d transferred from bus to bus (to get to West Seattle–and just one way, since Mr. Family Ride met us out and drove us all home) so today was pretty big.

We hung out and played for a couple hours and then hit the long road home. OK, OK, it’s just 3 miles by bike, but it felt long given we were two-thirds into our adventure. I had hoped to wear the little kid on my back and perch the big kid on the handlebars for the two-block uphill walk to the bus stop, but the big kid wanted to walk and I didn’t have the patience for an extra half hour (at least!) tacked onto our trip. I finally talked him into a seat on the top tube once my friend wrapped it in bubble wrap. It wasn’t too comfortable for either of us, but I didn’t relish the walk uphill–or two more buses–so we headed downhill to see how much of a pain it’d be to walk all the way home. Turns out it was a really big pain so we bagged the plan after two miles and caught the 44 at the edge of Wallingford for the final mile home.

It wasn’t until this evening that I realized what I should have done is tow the cruiser home with the Big Dummy. Duh! There’s even a Flikr gallery of Xtracycle Bikes in Tow. No photo of an Xtracycle with kiddie seat in the rear position towing a bike, but I think with a couple bungee cords, it’d work OK. I should probably practice so I’m prepared for next time, though I feel like I wasted my one opportunity for a one-way, all-downhill bike tow.

Detour discovery

Dec14

After a couple days ignoring the detour by the Stoneway Village construction site (wait, now it’s called Prescott Wallingford), I heeded the sign at 38th and turned right up the hill.

It was a little confusing since after the first two signs, everything was oriented for southbound Interlake traffic. I guess that makes sense for pedestrians and bikes coming from the neighborhood, but since the southbound Stone bike lane is unaffected by the construction, I think many detour users are northbound bikes and it may have been a mistake. From looking back over my shoulder to see the signs, I think we were supposed to rejoin Stone Avenue at 40th, but even though that would have allowed us to see a little bit of the exciting construction site (the best part of the ride up Stone), I didn’t want to lose the extra altitude I’d gained. The next block was even steeper, but I was committed…and only had the little kid on board so it wasn’t too bad.

I’m glad I stuck with it because we discovered the turtle street mural at 41st and Interlake.

Later in the day, with both kids on board, we checked out the new bike lane on 45th. I agree with the Seattle bike blog article commenters that it’s not enough to make this block safe, but any additional markings can’t be bad. I hope it’s a move towards more separated bike lanes, even if it’s just paint separating the lanes for now. We don’t ride on Dexter a lot (because it’s a hill we can avoid on Westlake, plus we’d miss the Lake Union seaplanes and boats), but I like its new bike lane.

And one last ride for the day: I went out solo in the dark to attend the monthly preschool parents meeting. I had trouble deciding which bike to take since there are so many choices! I took the road bike last month so I could ride fast, but tonight I was too lazy to lace up my clipless shoes and didn’t want to deal with putting lights on my beach cruiser so I took the new bike. Wow, those dynamo lights (Alfine Dynamo hub with Lumotec IQ Cyo R N Plus lights) are bright! I don’t think I’ll be content to ride any other bike at night now.

First shopping with the Big Dummy

Dec10

I took the new bike grocery shopping for the first time this morning. It didn’t really count, though, since the kids didn’t want to come along. It took me forever to get the bags loaded into the Xtracycle FreeLoaders, but I imagine I’ll get quick at it in time. The main problem was that even with the seat adapter raising the kid seat, the middle FreeLoader buckle was buried under the Yepp’s foot rests. I probably should have removed the seat (easy to do if I bothered to keep the key to it handy), but I wanted to practice with full kid gear in place.

While I was struggling with the bike, a woman easily loading groceries into her car chatted with me. Turns out she had heard of my bike from Ride Bicycles, where she’d bought her city bike. She also has a Kona Ute longtail, which I’d heard about from Ride Bicycles, too. Small town, Seattle, sometimes. I lamented not bringing a bungee cord along so she offered me a scarf from her trunk, but I did OK just perching the last bag in the front basket.

Shopping done, I loaded the kids onto the bike for a trip to South Lake Union Park for Cookies, Crafts & Carols, a festival aboard the Virginia V (our favorite boat), the tugboat Arthur Foss, and the visiting Schooner Adventuress. I was a bit nervous about the bike being locked to itself, but I wanted it closer than the bike racks (plus I didn’t want to walk all the way from the bike racks with two cold kids). Fortunately, it was easy to keep an eye on it from various portholes.

The only bad part about Big Pink (just a temporary name, in hopes I can come up with something more creative) is that I keep trying to manipulate it like my old bike. It’s misleadingly agile on the road, but very heavy and therefore not as easy to muscle the rear of the bike over a couple inches or walk the bike in a curve. I haven’t dropped the bike yet, but I’ve had to keep it from tipping and my back is not happy about it. I keep thinking “it’s supposed to be just like a normal bike” but that’s compared to a riding a box-style cargo bike, not compared to my normal bike I’m used to.

On the way home, we swung by the Wallingford Center to say hi to the Green Carolers and Santa. This may be our only boys-in-bike-helmets-with-Santa photo of the season.

The Green Carolers sang their way over to Green Lake for the Pathway of Lights, but we opted to skip this year and meet Mr. Family Ride for pizza on the way home. He demonstrated proper locking technique while I tried hard to pay attention, but I think I need a refresher course. Somehow I’m supposed to get the U-lock around the bike rack, frame, and wheel all at once, while making sure the U side isn’t against the rack in case someone takes a pry bar to it because I wouldn’t want him/her to steal a bike with a damaged frame. Then the cable part has to thread through a million things. I think I’d need several additional locks to get it as secure on my own. So between loading groceries and locking/unlocking I’ll have tons of time to get aquainted with my new bike.

A little more Portland

Dec7

Last morning in Portland. We rode up to Waffle Window which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s on the side of Bread and Ink Cafe which sounds like a tattoo parlor/bakery, but is just a restaurant. I love walk-up windows. It’s such a luxury leaving the kids in their bike seats and not having to lock up. More drive-through windows that allow bikes would be great, too, of course.

After a dog walk and romp at a nearby playground, I crammed our luggage back into the two big blue bags. I decided I didn’t want to wear the laptop in my messenger bag again, so I shoved that in a blue bag, too. I figured the boys shouldn’t have to carry too much, either, and bungeed their little backpacks atop the blue bags. As well as the bike lock, since it no longer fit in a blue bag. My laptop is pretty big and heavy and I probably should have listened to Mr. Family Ride and left it at home, but between free Wi-Fi on the train and at Inn Beervana, I couldn’t resist bringing it. I think I may have scared Brian off from cargo and family biking, though, as I yawed left and then right as I wobbled my way upright and away from the inn. I shouted over my shoulder than I’m not usually so heavy and unsteady and he shouted back, “I sure hope not!” so I think we’re cool.

Next up was tweetup part two where we met @inkandpen, owner of the marvelous Yuba Mundo with boxes pictured below and @sarahgilbert, maker of the one less minivan bumpersticker creator and rider of the stylish Electra Townie Xtracycle. Not to belittle the awesomeness of Seattle biking families, but there are some wonderful people down in Portland! Now I see why Totcycle went down to visit so many times last year.

The train ride home was pretty much the same as the ride down, though I’ve discovered it’s easier to take long trips in the morning so the journey is more of an adventure and not a tired and tiring schlepp. So this afternoon’s 3.5-hour trip felt even longer than Monday’s morning excursion. This time we got our own set of four seats, though no table in the middle…which meant jumping back and forth! Also no toddler on a leash across the aisle this time. The couple closest to us escaped to a different train car as soon as we sat down. Probably a wise move–ours wasn’t a very quiet train car.

We arrived to Seattle at 6:30, by which time we were all exhausted and I had a headache. We’re rarely out in the dark so that was novel. The lit-up buildings led to our discovery of a model train display in the window of the downtown Macy’s. We’ll be back in light of day to check it out. Both kids fell asleep on the ride home, which took until 8pm. I moved even slower than normal and had to stop and rest on the way up Densmore twice on account of the heavy load.

In retrospect, I don’t think I’d do anything different packing-wise other than leave the laptop behind. We didn’t run out of clothes or need to purchase anything other than food. That’s a success in my book. And odds are our next trip will be in warmer weather and require less bulky clothing. I think we’ll be back once the big kid is on a pedal bike to have Clever Cycles install a FollowMe Tandem Coupling on this bike. I’m hoping this happens before the little kid outgrows the Bobike mini front seat. He’s OK weight-wise, but at some point he’s going to start complaining of his knees hurting as his brother did. I could probably swap in different handlebars if the timing doesn’t go according to plan, but that’s not as cheap as not needing new handlebars.

Portland: Clever Cycles, Tweetup, Burgerville

Dec6

We took friend, beer writer, and innkeeper, Brian Yaeger, to Clever Cycles today. I was hoping to bully Brian into buying a bakfiets (I can see him transporting kegs, dog, and inn supplies in the box), but he opted to test ride a really nice Breezer while I was occupied at the World’s most kid-friendly bike shop‘s Lego table. He didn’t leave the shop with a new bike, but they have ten Breezers in his size on sale so he’s got a bit of time to think about it.

My one purchase was supposed to be a bell for the Bianchi, but instead the boys chose loud little horns to put on their balance bikes. They honked them merrily as we test rode the Nihola trike. The boys had so much fun riding in it with the shop’s stuffed dog last time that they insisted taking it out for another spin–this time with even more stuffed animals.

Back in the shop we checked out a very cool KidzTandem, which the boys were too small for, but certainly seems like a great way to get a slightly bigger kid helping with the pedaling.

And we saw up close the brilliant double bar ends Xtracycle FlightDeck kid handles. There’s an Xtracycle in Seattle with them in the middle of the FlightDeck that the rear kid uses to hold.

But the most intriguing product we saw was the Salsa Cycles Anything Cage being used as a beer growler holder. It’s designed to hold yoga mats and similar sized objects, but Clever Cycles discovered it perfectly fits a growler, too. Brilliant. Brian seemed quite taken with this, too, though he wouldn’t need such a cage if he had a bakfiets…

Our next stop was Seawallcrest Park to meet a bunch of local biking families. The park has the greatest corkscrew slide the likes of which you’d never see in a new park. I had the pleasure (ha) of going down the slide twice to rescue my little guy who was fine most of his trips up and down, but needed a lap to ride on a couple times.

Here’s a shot of the assembled family bikes from the top of the slide: @built‘s road bike, @KYouell‘s bakfiets, Andy’s Surly Big Dummy, my Bianchi Milano, and the amazing @1lessgmsuburban‘s bakfiets coupled to a kid bike with a FollowMe Tandem. Emily’s 10-year old rode a separate bike, but she had the other five kids (two in bakfiets, one in Bobike junior on her rear rack, one riding the kid bike attached behind her, and one on the rear rack of the kid bike) with her. So impressive! Oh, and she baked two cakes and brought a thermos of coffee for us all!

Back to more Xtracycle accessories, I got a good look at Andy’s bar end foot pegs. Perfect for climbing onto the FlightDeck and resting little feet upon.

Once it got dark and cold I followed Kath to bike-through dinner at Burgerville, where 5% of the proceeds were supporting her friend’s kid’s preschool. I was excited to visit Burgerville because they are very accommodating of bikes thanks to the work of Portland biking mama Sarah Gilbert a couple years ago.

Bike + train to Portland

Dec5

It wasn’t easy, but I crammed three days’ worth of stuff onto the bike this morning: clothes, toiletries, gifts, and snacks in the two big zippering Trader Joes bags in my rear baskets; toys and more snacks in the kids’ backpacks held on their laps; and small messenger bag, laptop, Ergo, and even more snacks in my big messenger bag. Thank goodness it was all downhill to the train station.

It was very easy getting the bike on the train. I left it fully loaded with kids and bags and walked it to the baggage car at the end of the train where I dumped everything in a big pile, folded up the baskets, and handed the bike over to an Amtrak guy who hefted it into the car and hung it from the vertical bike rack. I don’t know if this was by design, but our seats were next to the baggage car so I didn’t have to transport our stuff far and we could look at the bike through the adjoining window.

The three-and-a-half-hour trip was long, but easier than a car or airplane trip. We were seated in a cluster of four seats with a table…with a poor solo guy sharing our space. He was very patient and helped retrieved dropped toy cars and trains and somehow managed a bit of a nap. We paid a couple visits to the dining car, which was clear on the other side of the train. Also at that end of the train was the handicapped bathroom which easily accommodated the three of us, though even the normal bathrooms were more generously sized than airplane lavs.

Getting off the train was a snap, too. I loaded up all our stuff train-side as soon as I retrieved the bike so had to do very little carrying of heavy bags to do. The only casualty of the trip was one of the ears of the bunny bell.

My friend Andy, a recent Seattle transplant, met us at the train station, sporting some sweet holiday decorations on his Surly Big Dummy. Thank goodness for cargo bikes–I happily handed off my enormous messenger bag and the kids’ backpacks which easily fit in his custom cargo bags.

He led us on a tour or Portland, with our first stop Voodoo Doughnut. I noticed a “Skate Route” directional sign along the way which made me smile because nothing says flat land better than a skate route sign. We rode by several fountains we’ll have to come back to visit in the summer, admired the Portland Oregon sign, and stopped at the food cart pod on Hawthorne (which is apparently called Cartopia) for dinner. Potato Champion was unfortunately closed, but the rest were open, the heated tent was great, and they even turned on the little merry-go-round for the kids.

We headed up the Sockeye Salmon Street (you may translate SE Salmon St. as Southeast, but the boys insisted upon Sockeye) Neighborhood Greenway to Inn Beervana, my brother’s friend’s beer-themed vacation rental. Salmon was a nice quiet street and we saw a great bikey house on it–with bike wheels decorating several surfaces–but it was hardly the flat route I’d imagined. The parts of Portland we rode through weren’t hilly like Seattle, but they weren’t completely flat, either.

New longtail and frozen kids

Dec3

First day on the new bike!

It’s a Surly Big Dummy with Xtracycle Family Kit. Seattle Powder Coat painted it bubblegum pink, Haulin’ Colin installed the Rolling Jackass center stand, and Ride Bicycles put it all together, including add-on Surly Open Bar Handlebars, “grippy yet fast” Panaracer T-Serv 26 X 1.75 tires, bullhorn handlebars on the seat post, dynamo hub to power front and rear lights, and tricky install of Linus Delano Basket purchased at Dutch Bike Co. I think that’s everything. I’ll update with the make of dynamo stuff when I get around to reading the loooooong receipt. I think I may eventually add the new Xtracycle RunningBoards (narrower than wideloaders) and I’ve convinced myself I need a Brooks saddle, but I’m not allowed to make any rash purchases, plus I haven’t argued my case very well–“because everyone has ’em!” didn’t cut it.

I packed up the U-lock and kids to ride nine miles via the new ship canal trail to the waterfront to meet Santa Clam at Ivar’s Acres of Clams. I gotta say Santa Clam wasn’t really worth the big trip in 39 degree weather, but we’ve been here three years and never seen him.

The “free gift” from Santa Clam was a coupon for a free kid meal at Acres of Clams, but we opted for to-go lunch next door at Ivar’s Pier 54 Fish Bar. Eating it outside in Toyland Village seemed like a great idea at the time, but the kids were pretty cold by the time we packed up to head back north. The snow we saw on top of some box cars on our way down was unmelted when we rode back by.

I had hoped to make it to Wallingford in time for the Spokespeople ride along the soon-to-be Wallingford Neighborhood Greenways, but the kids really needed to thaw out and the riders were long gone by the time we reached the meeting point at 2:20.

The bike handled great. It’s nice having a granny ring and I used it on many of the hills, but not all of them. However, I did still need to shed my sweater and gloves for the eight-block climb up Densmore so while the new bike doesn’t feel heavy to ride, it also doesn’t negate the weight of the kids. I think one can stand and pedal uphill with kids on the back of a longtail, but I didn’t give that a try.

The kids had more of a changed ride than I. The little guy is used to having his fairing block most of the wind so he was extra chilly by the end of the ride. Next time he gets takled into the balaclava and ski goggles. The big guy is used to being ensconced in his Bobike maxi so no seat was a big change for him. He was perfectly comfortable and even kept his hands on his handlebars when we rode alongside a moving train–an event usually too loud for him, requiring ear covering. His feet aren’t long enough to reach Footsies or RunningBoards so we just tucked them in the FreeLoader panniers.

First brush with theft

Dec2

I’ve been very lucky–I haven’t used a U-lock in years, I only lock my frame to bike racks, and I often leave items unattended in the bike baskets and helmets sitting on the kid seats. I had a rude awakening today when I left a bag full of stuff in a basket and my helmet on the rear seat (the kids kept their helmets on) to make a quick trip to the Ballard Fred Meyer. When we returned to the bike the bag was gone, but my helmet was still there. I’m primarily mad at myself, but damn that thief! Our newest kid mittens and knit cap were in the bag as well as some toys. I didn’t let on to the kids how distraught I was, but I wanted to throw a tantrum that would have put any toddler to shame. Wah! We have a U-lock at home so I intend to start using that and empty everything from the bike every stop that takes me out of line of sight.

This afternoon, the boys and Mr. Family Ride drove me to Ride Bicycles to pick up the new bike. It was hard to be sufficiently excited about it while I was still wallowing in “I don’t deserve nice things, I’ll just break them or lose them!” but this bike will only be locked by U-lock with no enticing bags left in the panniers. So more on the bike tomorrow once I’m not feeling so whiney.

Cyclist of the month

Dec1

I hardly feel worthy, but I’m Cascade Bicycle Club Cyclist of the Month!

I’m hoping to make an impact and encourage more want-to-be bikers to get out there at least once this month. If you need even more kick in the butt than my smiling face, consider taking The Winter B-icicle Challenge:

Take The Winter B-icicle Challenge!
As winter settles in across all Northern Hemisphere nations, and the cold wind blows, it’s tempting to put your bike away for hibernation. But as of December 1, we’re asking you to keep on pedaling through all three winter months.

Why are we doing it?

To see if we can put our money where our mouth is in regards to living a greener life, and not just when weather permits

A good time to reflect about those people without homes during winter

We love riding our bikes and don’t want to go three months without it

We hate traffic jams!

Rules. We will ride to work or school everyday unless:

The road is so icy we’ll most probably break our necks

We have a meeting or activity that is more than an hour bike ride away

We’re so sick with the flu we can’t even be bothered to watch The Wire

Sign up on Facebook or through The Winter B-icicle Challenge website. It’ll be fun! Even more fun if you do it sporting helmuffs, like me. Thanks to Stacy of A Simple Six ofr inviting me to the event!

In less exciting news, I got my first flat-tire-on-the-go in over ten years today. It was my once-every-three-weeks work day at preschool so I was just with the four-year old and most things are easier with one kid in tow than two. I’d like to say that I know how to change a flat, but I’ve long forgotten. I was so proficient in college. I biked all over Santa Barbara with a patch kit and two spoons I’d borrowed from the UCSB dining commons. But hey, this is just an example of how even an inept bike maintainer can tackle a daily commute with kids. I’ve been fond of telling people “If I were to get a flat, I’d probably sit on the curb and cry until someone came along to help me” but I remained calm…and called home. I knew I was very close to FreeRange Cycles so my husband gave them a call to make sure they were open (FreeRange Cycle’s hours are right there on their website, FYI) and let them know I’d be there in a few minutes.

Kathleen and her mechanics were all very nice and fixed my bike on the spot. There was a small stash of little toys for kids, free Momentum Magazines for adults, and lots of great bikes and accessories. In fact, a guy came in while we were waiting/playing/browsing and exclaimed that everything he’s ever wanted was in the shop. It was so sweet, but I was distracted by my preschooler ringing bike bells so I didn’t get to hear if he was visiting from out of town or a local. OK, so I almost laughed when the mechanic paused in his tire resurrection to ask me what pressure I like to keep my tire at, but it was nice of him to pretend I’m not as clueless as I appear.

Helmuffs

Nov30

My ears will stay toasty all winter with my new Helmuffs from Heidi’s Hand Knits. If you want to see her selection in person, check out the free Urban Craft Uprising Winter Show at the Seattle Center this weekend. See, no need to be sad that you’re not down in Portland for BikeCraft.

You may recognize the pillar behind us from the I-5 Colonnade. I love this place, but haven’t yet made it back with my mountain bike.

Our ride home from Capitol Hill was via the colonnade, but we took a new route on the way there, using Lakeview Boulevard East to cross over the freeway.

I almost didn’t follow the suggested route because Lakeview looked like a freeway onramp from down on Eastlake. I knew it wasn’t an onramp, but I wasn’t keen to ride on something that looked like an onramp, either. I stopped to consider things for a couple minutes and saw several bikers come down the ramp. I was loathe to lose any of the elevation I’d already gained so I crossed to the opposite sidewalk and braved the ramp. Once over there I could see the bike lane so I popped down the curb (possible with just the front kid) and rode up and over the freeway comfortably. I think the ramp would have been doable with the weight of both kids on the bike, but a block on either side were killer.

In more not-locking-the-bike news, fresh off our unlocked bike in the train station stint yesterday, I considered leaving the bike loose by the U-District Super Supplements door, but considering the state of the bike at the nearby bike rack, I came to my senses. Like train stations, university-adjacent neighborhoods are probably high on the list of places to secure one’s bike.