It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

After dropping the kids at school I continued on to NoPo (North Portland) to get some used Xtracycle FreeLoader bags from a dad with a Big Dummy. He ended up with the Surly bags and I get to replace my just-about-dead FreeLoaders with a much younger pair! But I’ll probably wait until my old bags completely disintegrate before making the change.

Since the pink unicorn bike rack in front of Norther Cycles was on our way back, I brought Pixie and my pink bike by to see it. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

A bit after the school run (bike: Surly Big Dummy) I headed down to Sellwood to distribute Kidical Mass PDX CycloFemme flyers. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 41.01
Total April miles: 498.29

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

First up: school run. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

Fresh off our camping trip (which was freezing and we’re not going camping again any time soon) I was inspired to check out one of the local spots: Dodge Park. Kidical Mass PDX has camped here in the past and will camp here again this July and I got route advice from a local dad. I liked the route and it was much better than the route to the one other campground I checked out (Barton Park). I took my single speed and figured it’d be a good test for riding the cargo bike with all the gear and to see how the kids would like the route (their bikes have gears, but still). Bike: All-City Nature Boy Disc.

And finally: school run. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 48.65
Total April miles: 457.28

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

Home from camping I figured I’d end up doing another silly little spin. But I ended up doing a proper bike ride to keep the birthday weekend going with to-go sushi. I went to the fancy place in our neighborhood where we’ve only been once before, back on my birthday. That day I was on my Big Dummy so I locked all the bikes to it out front and didn’t even notice there’s no bike rack on that block. I didn’t want to park a block away so I shoved my bike in the bushes and locked up to the fence.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 1.97
Total April miles: 408.63

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

This was my first (only?) bike ride just for the sake of it during this round of 30 Days of Biking. Friends from Seattle drove down to come camping in Fossil, Oregon with us so I took a quick spin on my eight-year old’s little bike before we hit the road.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 0.12
Total April miles: 406.66

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

Started the morning with school run, groceries, and other groceries. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

On Fridays I fetch my younger kid right at the end of the school day. He had sore legs from Run for the Arts so I carried him home. I left his bike at school to grab later when I went back for his brother. He’s the only one in the family not to have seen the yard with the little horses so we stopped by on the way home. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

After chess club I went back to fetch the other kid. We have a big birthday weekend planned for him so to prepare we went by the hardware store to get some fossil-digging supplies. They had Venus flytraps so he got Veenie the Third. Veenie the Second traveled home in my handlebar coffee mug holder, but I held this Veenie on the way home (10 miles versus 1 mile). Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 8.62
Total April miles: 406.54

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

I dragged a zippy bike to school this morning. In Seattle I didn’t like riding my Big Dummy around unless I needed it for carrying something and always opted to take a lighter bike if I didn’t have the kids along, but the terrain is more forgiving here so I usually take the Big Dummy everywhere. Except today I wanted to maximize my time working with Kath so I left the Big Dummy at school for the day. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

Kath and I wanted to take advantage of the great weather so we met at Posie’s Bakery & Cafe in Kenton. It’s really cute up there! And we were right by the Paul Bunyan statue. The bright sun meant we couldn’t take photos of his front so we’ll have to go back on a cloudy day. Bike: All-City Nature Boy Disc.

I had just enough time to swing home to grab Pixie before the kids were done with school and figured I’d swap the single speed for my folding bike so it’d be even easier to bring two bikes home. Folding bikes nestle into longtail bags so perfectly! However, an impromptu playdate meant we walked home. It seemed like too much trouble to walk all the bikes home so I left everything locked to the rack and just walked the Brompton home. And later on I took the Brompton back to school. Bike: Brompton.

I often load my bike the way I think it will look the cutest, but I was going for easiest here, honest! The Brommie (32ish pounds) weighs more than either kid bike so I considered putting it on the side with the U-tube on the bottom and laying an Islabikes on top of my deck, but this just fit better. I used an Xtracycle Utility Belt to extend my middle straps over the top, a GearTie to hold the little red bike’s headtube firmly to the back of the Hooptie, and a Yuba Cargo Strap around the sides of the Brompton to secure it to the Hooptie’s front and back and the little blue bike’s headtube to the back of the Hooptie. Drove like a charm! Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 25.96
Total April miles: 397.92

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

Thanks to a two-hour late start at school today I got to bring the neighbor kids to school, too!

Then I bag-and-dragged their bikes back home afterwards. I hope we can ride to school together more, it was so fun! Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

Then I dropped Pixie at home and paid a visit to the grocery store. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

Then I swapped groceries for Pixie and we met Joyanna to test ride a Kidical Mass route for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. We found a winner! Bike: Surly Straggler.

And back to the Big Dummy for school pickup during which the kids (mostly the 8-year old) biked way ahead of me from halfway home onward. I really need to work on increasing this independence, I love it!

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 24.57
Total April miles: 371.96

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

The weather wasn’t horrible today, but I just couldn’t muster the energy to leave the house other than bringing the kids to school and then picking them up six hours later. I had grand plans of getting groceries, but it was cold and I stayed in. Once the kids were home the sun came out and we did a bunch of gardening, but no more biking.

My 11-year old didn’t ride his bike today and at the end of the day my 8-year old didn’t want to ride either. Bag-and-dragging a 20-inch bike blocked the a lot of leg room so they both sat side saddle. I moved my Hooptie rail to the other side of the bike so they had both a foot rail and hand rail on the side they were facing. The bike pulled to the right a bit, but uneven loads only take a bit of pedaling to get used to. And yes, I do have a tow hitch, but it’s not on the bike right now because we tend to bash our shins into it.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 3.77
Total April miles: 347.39

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

Hooray, my 11-year old (11 as of yesterday!) decided his foot doesn’t hurt anymore and he’s back on his own bike. I still took my cargo bike on the school run because I like to carry their backpacks on the way there and then take their helmets home. Bike: Surly Big Dummy.

While the kids were at school I took my laptop to a coffee shop to work. I had attached my speaker to my single speed for the Ladd’s 500 the other day and it was still on my bike. I love the John’s Irish Strap for so many things! Bike All-City Nature Boy Disc.

I was back on my cargo bike for school pickup and used my deck as a bench to sit on with my eight-year old while I gave him one of my socks after his foot got soaked in a puddle. Big: Surly Big Dummy.

I thought I was done for the day, but my printer was out of ink so I ran out to get more. And got the wrong cartridge. So then I went out again to the copy store. Bike: All-City Nature Boy Disc. All-City Nature Boy Disc.

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 17.91
Total April miles: 343.62

It’s April! That means 30 Days of Biking and biking every day and hopefully blogging about it each day.

A fun first today to mark the halfway point of #30daysofbiking! I carried both kids home from the train station and it was so much better than taking the bus.

It took 1:15 which was a lot faster than the bus last time given the 50-minute wait (we missed the previous bus by three minutes). Not to mention that taking a long, slow bus ride with two kids is a pain in the butt! There’s one big hill on the way home, but my eight-year old was happy to jog it. Thank goodness! I think I could have made it up the hill without resting on the way, but it’s certainly nicer just carrying one kid.

Then he and Pixie jogged the last seven blocks so she could get some wiggles out, too.

If only I’d gone a teeny bit faster we would have missed those few minutes of rain at the end, but we still all agree biking is the way to go…and maybe we’ll do it on three separate bikes next month!

April trips tracked on Strava
Today’s miles: 15.27
Total April miles: 325.71