I stopped by the pet store to see what I would need to adopt a kitty or two. I bought a litter pan, a bag of litter, and a toy.

On my way out, they brought in some shelter kitties.

I walked out of the store with much more than what I had come looking for.

My wee furry ones were calm on the 1.5 mile ride home. The more outgoing one quietly mewed but both were still and laying down. My past experiences with putting cats in cars involved them tearing at the kennels, screaming, and peeing all over everything. We made it home and the kitties are in their safe room now getting used to their new digs.

I'm in a mood to complain so although everything is going well, here were some of my rougher moments this week.

This first happened while I was heading out to work last Wednesday. I was teaching a bike clinic about how to choose a bike that fits and thought that the HaulaDay would be a fun bike to show off. I hadn't tried getting it on the Light Rail before but I leave early so as long as I could get it up the stairs, I was sure there'd be enough room.

Turned out to work just fine! I was able to hoist the bike up and get it onboard. I was feeling great! However, when I got off the bike to transfer to the shuttle, I realized that the HaD seemed a bit long for the bike rack. It was the standard design but the back wheel was hanging out a bit more than I felt comfortable. It was a pain in the butt to get onto the rack, too. I had my fingers crossed as I boarded the bus and as we turned out of the parking lot. All of a sudden, I saw the back wheel bounce up and go down. I screamed out and the bus driver, calm as could be, slowly made her way to the edge of the road. I was grateful the HaD hadn't jumped off the bus to be run over but was freaked out. The bike was caught by the chain and I couldn't get it off the rack until the bus driver finally came out to help. She wasn't worried and thought I should put the bike back on the rack but I decided to ride and not risk it again.

The school was six miles away and last time I had ridden there, I had gotten stuck by a terrible stretch of really busy street without a shoulder. This time, I found the route that took me almost all the way via the Folsom south canal. It was a beautiful ride.

On my way back, I chose to ride again and found some new trails around Rancho Cordova. No damage to the bike and some great exploring, I guess I can't complain too much.

So, while the HaulaDay works on the Light Rail, using it on the bus seems to need some more practice. I could still shorten the frame another inch or so to make it shorter. Other Twitter suggestions included using a bungee cord to add support because the bus arms aren't designed to hold down a small wheel as well. I'm not giving up on getting the HaD on the bus, yet, but I'll be more prepared next time.

My most recent bike headache came at the end of a great Kidical Mass ride. We had 37 riders show up (although we had to turn away one family because they wouldn't put helmets on their kids. That's a tricky guideline to enforce). We met at Marie's Donuts for some sugary treats.

We even had a couple of middle schoolers who are part of an afterschool bike club run by my friend and fellow LCI, Arlete. The ride was about 2 miles and we had eight kids on their own bikes, including my own two monsters. There was one unfortunately horribly-behaved woman driver who didn't like us "in her way" but the trip was otherwise just fine.

Fairytale Town was great. It was a beautiful day and the kiddos ran off their donut-highs.

I should have realized that Little Brother had gotten to his limit. He had already ridden about 4 miles plus running around all day. As we rode back, there is a stretch without a bike lane but the road is still wide enough to share. I was struggling to keep Little Brother from riding too fast and getting Big Brother to keep up (seriously, that is my problem with both kids riding together). Luckily, Jarrod and his family were riding back with us. I was giving LB directions to get closer to the curb when we were overtaken by a Prius. The driver cut back earlier and closer to LB than I expected and it scared me enough to yell out for LB to pull over. He got confused and stopped in the street. I was too overwhelmed and told him he needed to get in the Bullitt because he just wasn't listening to my instructions well enough. Instead of coming over to me, he took off down the sidewalk and I couldn't catch him. He finally came back and reluctantly got in the box with his bike. Thirty seconds of crying and then he was fast asleep.

I'd forgotten the difficulties of new riders and letting them go too far (physically and mentally). Juggling both kids wih their differing speeds, attitudes, and skill-levels is really exhausting! I'm hoping they sleep well tonight so we can all recharge.

Another Traffic Skills course coming up this weekend, March 13-14. This will be the last Traffic Skills offered before the upcoming LCI seminar in Davis, April 17-19. This is a great class for anyone who wants to feel more confident while riding their bike, understand how to safely navigate various traffic situations, or become a League Cycling Instructor. New and experienced riders can both learn a lot from this class. Contact me with any questions: TinyHelmets@gmail.com. Please help spread the word.

Big Brother has been riding his new Islabike Beinn Large and loving it! He's small for their size chart but can handle the bike well. We've only had two issues so far, he can't downshift and they were out of racks for his size bike. The downshifting problem has so far been solved by him complaining, we pull over when we can and I shift his bike for him. I'm hoping his hands get stronger soon. Luckily it's pretty flat around here. The bike racks are out of stock and will be for a few months. I was bummed because I had been looking forward to getting him loaded up for his first trip carrying gear.

Out of the blue a couple days ago, I got a text from our friend Keith who said he had a rack for us. I assumed it was one of his castoffs since he's always building new cargo bikes out of random folding bikes. Turns out, our friend Melissa mentioned that we needed a rack and donated one of hers to be chopped up and refit for BB's Isla! We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends!

Keith popped over and installed it for us. The blue is where he rewelded the rack to fit the 20" wheels.

I put on BB's new Ortleib panniers (which were from a Holland order Melissa had put together). These are the City Front Rollers and fit perfectly. Then I towed his bike to school so he could test it out. The look on his face was pure joy!

His first ride was a bit nerve-wracking. In his excitement, he tried shoving his large and full backpack into one of the panniers. Because the bag stuck out of the top, it made it difficult for him to mount the bike and he almost tipped over. That made him scared to ride.

I took his backpack back out and had him ride with the empty panniers to get used to the weight and shape of the rack. He got used to them quickly, thankfully!

He still needs some more practice and will have to build up to actually carrying weight but we're getting closer to our first Big Brother trip! We can't wait! Thank you Melissa and Keith!

Some other stuff: