A few days off

Today I got back on the bike after 3 days off. The weekend was busy with preparing for a family birthday party for Peter (turning 5) and some excursions around the metro area that were just too far to go by bike.

On Friday we took the new cat to the vet. The vet is very close, and I'm hoping to test out carrying her on the bike one of these days. Once I get the wide loaders, I may try strapping the kennel onto them. Also thought of carrying her in one of those front pack carriers (think baby carrier). We'll see. Anyway I didn't think the first vet trip was the time to try it.

I have to admit that I took the car for a very short trip to buy ice on Saturday. We were rushing around trying to get ready for the party, and I just didn't think I could take the extra 10 minutes it would have taken to have gone by bike. I'm still sort of regretting it. However, thinking back, I truly didn't have 10 minutes to spare. I was still getting ready as guests were arriving, so perhaps it's a good thing I wasn't 10 minutes later than I already was.

Generally speaking, I think it might be challenging to adjust our lives to allow extra time for biking every time I'd like to.

Bike miles today: 4

No bike racks at Michaels's Crossroads

Did a few errands with the kids today. The bike rack situation at the Michael's store at Crossroads is atrocious. No rack anywhere in sight, no railings, nothing. After circling the store I decided to lock my bike to a stop sign near the front of the store. I don't know if that's legal or not, but I figured I'd only be in there a short time. Plus it's not a stop sign on a city street, it's a mall parking lot stop sign. I made sure to ask the clerk to give a message to her manager that they need a bike rack.

Bike miles today: 5

Cooler for the bike

Yesterday at Trader Joe's I stumbled upon a great accessory for my xtracycle. Near the reusable shopping bags that they sell, they had a soft-sided, long, narrow cooler bag, just the right size to fit in the xtracycle saddlebags. The best part? It was only $6.99. Compare that to the hard-sided cooler that xtracycle sells for $39.

Experimenting

Experimented with the kids' riding configuration today. We rode to Trader Joe's with Megan on the snapdeck for the very first time, and Peter riding his own bike. Megan LOVED riding on the deck. On the way home, Peter decided he wanted to ride on my bike, so we towed his bike behind and put both kids on snapdeck, also for the first time.

To tow Peter's 16" bike, I put the front wheel into the left-side saddlebag and the back wheel trailed behind. Seemed to work just fine.

Bike miles today: 2.5

Why aren't we going on the bike?

Today I found myself smiling about a question my 2.5 year old asked the other day. We were going somewhere that was too far to bike to in a reasonable amount of time. As we were loading the kids into the car, Megan said, "Mommy, why aren't we going on the bike?" Yay! I think it's sinking in already that we go by bike whenever possible. :)

Bike miles today: none. Spent most of afternoon at animal shelter getting new cat.

More errands / more admirers for the bike

I woke up today really wanting to find another reason to ride today. I decided that I'd take the kids on some errands after work. We set off around 4:00 to head to Crossroads. Stopped at Sports Authority to get the kids' first soccer cleats, shinguards, etc, in preparation for soccer starting soon. They were so excited!

Then we went back to Petco for more supplies for the new cat (coming tomorrow). As we were browsing the toy section, a man who had seen us ride up made a special point of coming over to say how impressed he was with how I handled the bike and was able to bring both kids along when riding it. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

When checking out, the clerk took one look at our helmets and all that we had in our cart (30lb bucket of kitty litter, soft-sided pet carrier, misc toys, small bed, bowls) plus the bag we had from Sport Authority, plus the 2 kids, and said "are you really going to fit all this on your bike??" "Oh yes!" I said. "I have an xtraycle!"

Clerk: "Where is it? Can I see it?"

Me: "Well, it's parked way over there (me pointing) because you don't have a rack in front of your store. By the way, can you please suggest to your manager that you get one?"

Clerk: "Sure. Will you ride it over here, by the window, when you're leaving, so I can see it?"

Me: "Sure!"

The kids were so excited to get all the stuff loaded on and show off the bike. It was actually a bit tricky to bungee-cord the heavy kitty litter bucket onto the snap deck because the bungee cords kept slipping off. (Note to self: order wide loaders and cam straps from xtracycle web site tomorrow.)

We got all loaded up and rode over to the store window. The clerk was waiting in the window, smiling and waving as we approached. The kids were all smiles as we showed off the bike. With a few cheery "dings" on the bike bell, we were on our way.

We rode home with a pretty heavy load, but made it easily and got more smiles and waves along the way. The kids decided they should say "Boo!" to everyone we passed, which drew alot of smiles, too.

Bike miles today: 4

Family ride

Today Dennis tried out my xtracycle on a family shopping trip. He and Peter rode on it, and I put Megan on my back and rode Dennis' mountain bike. We rode up to Crossroads and hit Westernco Donut for a special treat. No bike racks outside, but an acceptable railing right in front of store to lock the bikes to. I bought a Kryptonite cable lock (rather than U-shaped) out of fear that I would not find adequate, convenient racks for locking my bike at the places I'll be riding to in Bellevue and Redmond. So far I am very glad that I went that route.

Then we rode over to Petco and picked up some items for the new kitty we are likely getting on Tuesday. Dennis was skeptical that the kitty litter box would fit on the bike, but the xtracycle came through. I think I will be buying the wideloader attachments soon, though, just so I have more carrying options.



The bike rack situation at Petco was abysmal. No racks and no workable posts, railings, or anything else in front of the store. We did find a rack a ways away, in front of the main mall building, that we ended up using, but I was not happy about it. I forgot to suggest to the Petco employees that they add one. Will have to remember that for next time. Not that it's likely to help...but maybe with enough mentions at enough stores, some things will change in time.


Bike miles today: 4

First shopping trip

I woke up this morning really wanting to invent a reason to ride my new xtracycle somewhere. Since Dennis was at school helping prepare the new playground, I had the kids by myself. I decided to pile them on and ride up to Crossroads to do some errands in preparation for Peter's upcoming birthday party. We needed fabric to make gift bags, plus party supplies at the party store. While we were there, Dennis called and suggested we ride over to checkout the progress on the playground, which we happily did. Since my saddlebags were pretty full at that point, and since the kids wanted to "help" at the playground, I unloaded my bags and the kids for Dennis to take home, and rode to Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping. The cart was about 2/3 - 3/4 full, and I fit it all into 3 bags plus a gallon of milk. I could have fit a few more things in. On the ride home I got a comment from a neighbor that it looked like an awesome way to shop for groceries.

Later I made a return trip to school to retrieve an item that had been left. I was pleased that it only took me 15 minutes to get there, and 20-ish to get back (due to hills).

Also, see new stoker bar and kickstand in the picture...the result of yesterday's trip to the bike shop.

Bike miles today: 10

Added some new stuff to the bike

Late this afternoon I rearranged the seats in the van yet again, and loaded the xtracycle in. The kids and I went back to Aaron's Bicycle Repair to add a few improvements to the new bike. I went with the idea of getting a stoker bar for Peter to hold onto. Ended up getting that PLUS a super-sturdy kickstand. Yesterday Peter was sitting on the deck when the bike was parked at Grandma's, and the bike tipped over. I had thought I'd probably get the new kickstand at some point, and I decided I may as well get it when I was already over in West Seattle. Loading the bike into the van and fighting traffic all the way over there is not something I want to do more than absolutely necessary.



Bike miles today: none :(

Another excuse for a ride

Today after work I wanted an excuse to take the kids for another spin on the xtracycle, so we rode over the Megan's new preschool to drop off some paperwork and then stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's house to show off the new bike. It continued to work well with Peter on the snapdeck and Megan in the Ergo on my back. I think I'll get the stoker bar for Peter soon though. He claims to feel comfortable/secure, but I'd feel better if he had real handlebars to hold onto.

Bike miles today: 4.5

Inaugural ride of the Xtracycle

Inaugural ride of the xtracycle...5yo on snapdeck, 2.5yo on my back in the ergo, and a bunch of stuff to return to Grandma in the bags...piece of cake!

Finally got my Xtracycle

Today I picked up my new Xtracycle from Aaron's Bicycle Repair in West Seattle. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

I first learned about the xtracycle a few months ago when a friend in Portland posted a link on facebook. I immediately knew I needed one...but thought it would fit in much better in our former urban lives in Portland, rather than our current lives in the suburbs of Seattle. I thought it would be hard to find safe, convenient routes here, especially for riding with the kids. Specifically, I didn't think it would be feasible to get to our son's new school, where he will start Kindergarten in September.

One day we took a little test-drive (in the car) through some low-traffic neighborhood streets that paralleled the main, busier road that we would take in the car to get to the school. We found a great route. We started riding our old bikes that way to church (same location as school) a number of times to test it out. It worked great. It started to seem feasible to use the bike for school pickups.

Then I thought about different options. At first I assumed I'd need a trailer on the xtracycle to put the kids in when it rained. I thought about various combinations of trail-a-bikes for the 5yo and trailer for the 2.5yo. Then I decided that I could keep them on the xtracycle, even in the rain, and rig up some sort of rain cover. With that in mind, I went to Aaron's and test-road the xtracyle about a month ago. Loved it!

Fast forward to today...after making space in the garage for storing the bike, I have it in hand! Can't wait to give it a try tomorrow.