It's my (blog's) birthday!!! February 28th, 2012, I published my first posting on my first ever blog and somehow received a whopping 42 views (although 37 of them were probably from me and the other 5 from my dad). I had no idea what we were in for or that it would lead us to the bliss of car-freedom! The support we have been receiving from the biking community, both in real life and the interwebz, has been the turning point from thinking that we were totally insane to realizing that not only is our dream doable, it's being done all over the world right now! We are not alone in our hopes for a less car-centric neighborhood/city/country/Earth. Little by little, each one of us is helping to change the world.

We've settled into a routine that doesn't revolve around a car. In fact, we haven't bought gas at all since before the New Year. Our income is more manageable because we aren't spending 1/3 of our paychecks on car related expenses. We are all getting more exercise on an everyday basis without having to take time away from anything else in our lives. I've biked more this last year than in the rest of my life combined and it has felt great. Never before have I actually stopped to think "I'm in pretty good shape!" We've been amazed at our abilities and become more aware of our limitations. We've learned to accept what we are able to do and let go of things that aren't necessary. We appreciate the journey, not just the destination. The boys are active and engaged the entire ride. 

On one hand, I can't believe this is our life. On the other hand, I can't believe that this wasn't always the way we did things. I can't wait to see where the next year takes us! 

Nicole's Bread Basket liner (take 2) arrived a few days ago and it's even more beautiful and functional than I could have imagined! The bright orangey oranges and gingham sure brighten my mood every time I see it! It is so wonderful to be able to throw anything into the basket, even small things like my phone or keys. There are two handy pockets for organizing little items and a cup holder. The Mundo has become an even better cargo carrier. Thanks, Nicole! You're amazing! 

We got behind on scheduling a Kidical Mass ride for February but tried to throw together a last-minute ride from one park to another. It turned out to be too last-minute and no one except our friend Jen showed up. It was a terribly windy day so we ended up just staying at the first park and having a great time. We both ran into a bunch of friends while we were there. It was more playtime than ride but I think everyone was pretty happy with that. 

Jen also loaned us her juicer to try out. I watched "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead," a very compelling documentary about juice cleanses. Although it's not necessarily something I would do completely, adding more veggies into our diet sounds like a great plan. This is day 3 of substituting a few of our processed meals for slimy juice (although the boys are eating their normal food). I've learned that you can't just throw anything into a juicer and expect it to taste good, in fact, my first few attempts were pretty gnarly. It also takes a lot of prep time and clean up. I've gotten better though. We're still eating food, too, but trying to make sure it's simple and healthy. So far, it's been pretty good. Today was rough because I didn't get a chance to make as much juice as I wanted so by the end of the day, I was starving. Queue the rapid binge. This isn't a diet so I'm not worried. I just want to try to clean up our meals and focus on a more plant-based life. Considering I've probably never eaten this many varied veggies and so few sugars and processed grains, I feel we're doing pretty darn well. 

Finally, don't forget that we have some awesome events coming up! March 3rd is Practical Cycle's third birthday! We're going to have cake and sparkling cider to celebrate at 3pm (of course). Elly Blue and crew are coming to Practical Cycle for Bikes and Dinner on March 13th from 7pm-10pm. A yummy vegan dinner buffet, Aftermass showing, and Elly's radness--all for just $20! Our family camping trip is March 23rd-24th--riding about 30 miles to the group site at Negro Bar for a fun biking overnight ($25 per family). Please contact me if you are interested in any of these fun bikey activities. 

After a quiet weekend and lots of rest, our family is feeling much better. Thank you all for your kind words of support and love. It is wonderful to know that we are a part of such a caring community. 

I didn't feel like biking today but I happened upon some of my old YouTube videos from last year and they made me smile. A walk down memory lane! Truthfully, I had forgotten that I even had a channel but found them as I was cleaning out my inbox. 

Enjoy! 

It's been a rough week. Last month we were excitedly surprised when we learned that I was pregnant. Unfortunately this week I was unhappily surprised with the news that the pregnancy had ended. Immediately, I started thinking about our recent bike trip and all those thoughts of "I shouldn't have..." and "if only I had..." flooded my brain. My only condolence was that it seems like the pregnancy had ended awhile ago, my body just hadn't caught up until now. It wasn't the biking and there was nothing we could have done to prevent it. It still hurts but it's getting easier. I am exhausted and heart-broken but healing. Biking has been one of my escapes, one of the few times that I don't have to think of anything except pedaling. They say that exercise is one of the best ways to fight depression and it's definitely helping. I went back and forth about whether or not to post about this but I've found that it's easier to open up about the pain and receive love in return than hold it all inside and pretend that nothing is wrong. The support I've received already has been wonderful. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. 

My sweet boys have been darling, as always, and I am even more grateful to have two of the most perfect children already. They are kind and generous and caring and I love every second I have with them, even the ones when I want to pull out my hair in frustration. 

I've also been really lucky this week with lots of extra love hanging around. The wonderful Bekah happened to fly into town for a night and I got to have a slumber party at her hotel with plenty of chocolate cake. My parents have been an amazing help, taking the boys to the Cal Academy and the zoo. My fantastic sister-in-law, Katie, just happened to be visiting for a few days and hasn't gotten sick of my kiddos yet so I'm fully taking advantage of her. I have so much to be thankful for. Although it may take me some time to adjust back to normal, things are still pretty darn perfect just the way they are. 

Last night was full of pizza (um....Jose just pointed out that we had Don Luis's Mexican food and it was awesome. Whoops!), quite the effort to find ice cream, and an extra playground session where we watched bats come out at dusk. We woke up this morning after a cozy night's sleep at the Ione Hotel. Little Brother was up before 5 am, which was a bit rough after a late night to bed and the constant noise from the bar below. Turns out Ione is a pretty happening place! A quick coffee at Clark's cafe after packing up and we were ready to go! 

We made it back today for a grand total of 94 miles over the last two days. I carried Big Brother on the Mundo for the ride home. Jose sped off like he was free from an extra 40 lb weight. I, on the other hand, seemed bogged down by an extra cement bag. Whew! It was rough! The sweet chattering was a nice distraction but it didn't help the hill climbing. 

Once again, Central California Cycling's website led us in the right direction. We followed that route the whole way home and avoided that scary section from yesterday. It might have been a mile or two longer but well worth it. 

The boys held up well. Little Brother got a good nap in but Big Brother definitely showed signs of exhaustion towards the end of the ride, especially when we passed Hagan Park (our favorite American River Parkway playground) and it was fenced off from the trail for construction. Jose's spirits had picked up today and he rocked the ride. I, on the other hand, struggled a bit more. I was exhausted by the end of it and very happy that we hadn't gone the entire way yesterday, although I am still disappointed that we didn't get to meet our warmshowers hosts or visit Indian Grinding Rock. I plan to rest tonight so I can be ready for a hard day of work tomorrow. 

Jarrod may say that I was his inspiration to get his matching blue Mundo but he has taken my initial thought and created a machine finely tuned to his family's needs. I am blown away every time I see it!  

Check out his custom windshield for his little guy who sits up front in the Yepp Mini (not pictured). It's an office store clear case. Jarrod picked up the Wingman frame bag from a local shop at a screaming deal. Yep, that's a tiny first aid kit mounted to the rack. 

Since there wasn't room for a Bread Basket with the Yepp Mini, he just installed his own rear basket, no problem. 

That's the safety flag mount, of course. 

No Peanut Shell cup holders? He just drilled them in. Awesome! 

While we were chatting, at least two people came up to ask about our bikes. Jarrod just pulled out Practical Cycle's card from his handy card holder attached to his windshield. This bike is nothing short of amazing! He has everything covered. He is my inspiration for Mundo customization! 

I don't have many of my own Mundo hacks but I'll leave you with a photo of my shopping haul. I can't wait to get my new Bread Basket liner from Nicole. She whipped up another in no time, double wrapped, and taped that sucker up. I might not even be able to get it out of the envelope. Fingers crossed!!! 

Our plan was to ride about 65 miles today to Indian Grinding Rock, then meet up with our warmshowers hosts. They had fun plans of pizza and a night in their teepee with s'mores at the fire pit all planned.

We managed to get out of the house early enough and were making great time. Our route took us along the American River Parkway, the Folsom South Canal, Then Jackson Highway. We had one close call on Mather Field road at a freeway diversion. The bike lane suddenly disappeared, the traffic was going way too fast and NO ONE was slowing down or letting us into the lane. One car saw us at the last minute and slammed on the brakes, swerving, and tires smoking. He wasn't even very close to us but his reaction was terrifying. The drivers' disregard for bikers on the road and the terrible road design (the bike lane resumes immediately after the onramp) makes for a potentially deadly situation.

The rest of the ride was great. Only 2 miles or so lacked a wide shoulder which made us have to take the lane (and get honked at by an irate truck driver). The other roads were lightly traveled and beautiful.

We made it 47 miles to Ione where we stopped for a play break. The next 10 miles were straight uphill, gaining 1200", followed by another 10 miles to our hosts'.

The boys were thrilled to be running around. I asked some roadies (who were loading their bikes onto their cars) where we could get more water. Clark's, a little local cafe, would do it free so I brought our 4 empty bottles and bought Jose a latte and cookies. He was having a hard time since getting off the bike. The ride and the trailer had really taken it out of him. To top it off, he had been feeling like he was getting a cold.

It certainly didn't help when one of the roadies, an older woman, came over to tell us how worried she was about our plans. She made sure to tell us that it was too steep, we had too much stuff, and it was too late already (at 2pm). We only had about 18 more miles to go but there was a ton of climbing left.

I couldn't talk Jose into it.

We called the Ione Hotel and booked a room. Luckily, it was only a couple blocks away or we might have had to camp in the park!

It was a horrible hassle to get all the gear off the bike and into the trailer then lug it all upstairs in this charmingly old timey hotel.

The boys are a wild mess but we've for them watching Chicken Little in Spanish. We'll get some more fresh air when we go out or pizza and ice cream tonight. It's a more expensive bike overnight than I had anticipated but it's still quite an adventure!

I have now had the Bread Basket for a few weeks, having it so thoughtfully given to me by the amazing Kate, another Mundo Mama in the area. It took a few rides to get used to the extended turning radius as the basket bolts onto the frame and doesn't turn with the fork. It also made me a bit dizzy the first few times out, although it didn't take long to get used to it and truly appreciate it's load-carrying ability. 

The Bread Basket is incredibly indestructible. It's rated to carry 80 pounds and I believe it! The solid construction and strong mounting make it the perfect counterbalance to the Mundo's (or Boda Boda's) giant rear rack carrying capacity. Having Little Brother in the Peanut Shell in the back cuts the cargo load in half, negating the use of the enormous Go-Getter bags. Using the Baguettes is fair option but they can filled pretty quickly with the kid's gear alone. On our trip to Chico, we had the bike fully packed. Camping wouldn't have been an option as there was no room for sleeping bags or a tent. I wanted Big Brother to be able to move freely between the two deck seats as he needed and adding more gear would have prevented that. The Bread Basket would have been the perfect solution. 

There is one major flaw that I see in the Bread Basket's design and that is the lack of a solid or mostly solid base. I have had many shopping trips lately where I wanted to carry something up front but couldn't because it would have fallen though the huge holes in the bottom. To make it fully functional, many people have come up with a simple base rigged out of anything from mesh to reused campaign signs zip-tied to the Bread Basket frame. It's not a difficult solution but one that I don't think should have to be done after market. So far, I have only been able to really carry things up front when they are in large boxes or a large package. 

My solution was asking an online Mundo/Boda Boda friend, Nicole, if she could make one of her incredible Bread Basket liners like she had done for her family's bikes and for Stacy's Mundo and their DIY tutorial. We communicated through Twitter, picked out colors, and within a couple of days, she had finished! It was beautiful! 

Nicole's liner design even had pockets for keys and coffee mugs! The blue and orange scheme matched my bike perfectly. I was so excited! 

The package arrived yesterday. Empty. Someone had cut open the envelope and stolen my Bread Basket liner. Some horrible, soul-less USPS employee decided that my mail was theirs for the taking. Even worse, they probably realized it wasn't anything of "value" to them and discarded it. 

So, my Bread Basket is, sadly, without flare and style and, unfortunately, less useful than it should be. It will still work well for our upcoming biking overnight where we will be bringing our sleeping bags to stay warm in our warmshower's hosts' teepee. I just wish it was finally up to it's full potential and gorgeous as it was going to be. Now I have to beg Nicole to make another for us, and this time, we'll pay for shipping insurance. 

It certainly was an intense weekend! I made it back home just as the dark settled in. I did get my bike ride from Davis but decided to forego the milkshake as I had overloaded on sugar the whole weekend. The wind was stronger than I had anticipated but luckily for me, it was generally at my back. I cranked my ride out, letting all the information from the seminar settle down and blow off my disappointment for not having passed the certification completely. I still have some more work to do to polish up my presenting skills before The League feels I am solid enough to be considered an LCI. It was definitely a bummer to find out, but not something that I felt was baseless nor was I the only one who needed to brush up a bit more. 

I needed my ride more than anything after that. I love the trip from Davis; the long straight-aways, the deafening Causeway, and the contrastingly beautiful sloughs teeming with life that one can only see from atop their saddle--this is my heaven. The rhythmic up-down-up-down of the pedals is my meditation. Having a buffer between being in class and getting back to my busy home was perfect. My boys were as sweet (and crazy) as ever and my honey had a big bowl of spicy chili waiting for me. A quiet evening tonight and back to the grind in the morning. I think it'll be an early night to bed. 

Just made it back to my grandma's house after the 13-hour day of learning and practice teaching. We did very little riding, actually, but man am I ready to crash! Of course, not on my bike. Thanks to my traffic skills instruction through the League Of American Bicyclist, I have the ability to avoid 75% of my possible injury-causing accidents while riding my bike. In fact, by not riding the wrong way down the road, that alone reduces my risks by 14%! Now you, too, have no excuse to be in the most common cyclist's-fault crash. Brilliant!

I didn't end up riding to Davis yesterday. After riding 20+ miles doing errands, I was a little worried about the 20 more miles to Davis combined with the 22 mph wind gusts. Just as I started to look at Amtrak ticket, my aunt called to see if she could give me a ride to my grandma's and join us for dinner. Perfect timing! I don't let obvious solutions like that slip by me! I'll still get to have my ride home tomorrow--a wonderful opportunity to decompress and absorb all the knowledge that is rambling around my brain. Have you seen the study going around about kids who walk and bike to school having better concentration than those being driven? Seems this thing called exercise is not just great for your body but also your brain! Who'da thunk it?

I am so excited about the opportunities this training is opening up for me and the potential to spread the biking-love in a safe and conscientious way. Cycling isn't just safer by adding more riders to the roads, it takes adding more riders who understand that we have both the same legal rights to the roads as well as the same legal responsibilities that come with those rights as car-drivers. .

I apologize for the long post with too many words and no photos, since that's all anyone wants to see anyway. Here is a photo of my adorable children to tide you over (and because I miss them).

Today I was home with my little sickie who magically popped back into cheery spirits after a 4 hour nap. He was a super doll to hang out with while Big Brother was off having big boy time with my mom. 

Tomorrow is the first day of my LCI training in Davis. I decided to not bother about carpooling and instead ride in tomorrow, stay with my grandma in Davis while I commute for the next two days, and then bike home on Sunday. I've mentioned before that I love the ride to and from Davis, even though it's not a very scenic one. It does turn this weekend into more of an adventure than if I had to come home each night. It's also so much easier than having to commute all the way back to Sac each night after 9pm and get back there by 8am the next morning. And, I get to stay with my grandma! Way better than a motel (*in my original post, I mentioned that my grandma's house was better than using Warmshowers.org, however, I realized that my intention was more to state that I was excited to stay with her as opposed to tracking down a stranger through the website. I realized later that I didn't want to off-handedly hurt my previous warmshower's hosts as I have had nothing but AMAZING experiences because of them! Please do not discount using Warmshowers, ever! My grandma's pretty awesome, too, though). We won't have much time to visit but it's still better than nothing. Worst case, I can always take Amtrak or the commuter bus if I don't feel like biking the longer distance. 

I have my panniers packed with clothes for the weekend, my LCI binder, and my bike tools (this time I'm certainly including a spare tube!). I also plan on bringing my reusable cup so I can get a milkshake for the ride home on Sunday. My bike stereo has been loaded with Eye Of The Tiger, Fat Bottomed Girls, and more Katy Perry than should be legal. All I have left to do tomorrow is dump the kids, do a bit of running around town, pick up snacks for the weekend, and enjoy my ride! I'll be taking the Linus to fully enjoy my kid-free working weekend. I feel so adult! Except for the milkshake part...