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Headed up to BLM land at Cronan Ranch for some riding this afternoon. We rode the Down And Up trail with some lovely downs and one horrible up. This Valley Girl needs more climbing practice!   Cars are good for a few things, like transporting cool bikes to amazing places.
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Tomorrow is the last day of our school programs and we'll celebrate by riding our bikes!  Some of the Islabike crew came out to hang at a Kidical Mass event so we could play bikes at the park.    I'm working on mastering the double-bike tow ala @Familyride.  Today, I got more dirt riding in with Neil on our commute back home from work.   And, my parents are pretty cool, too.   I'm getting to the end of my busy season and really looking forward to a bit of a break and our big adventures this summer. This week was busy and I got older. Also wrapped up the week with an exciting ride being chased by a thunderstorm.  Headwinds toward blue skies  Getting closer!  Unprepared for rain.  Found Dan along the road. Today, I got to be a part of 350 Sacramento's Eco Home Tour, a bike ride around Sacramento, stopping at different homes along the way showcasing various ways to minimize your environmental footprint.    Our kid fleet  Various transportation options Since the bikes were out and some of my Bike Friday parts had just arrived, I decided to install a few of them.  Bike Friday's updated Whoopie Deux for the HaulaDay. This mount attached directly to the deck instead of the seat post.  Took apart Bluebell's handlebars to replace them with a better setup. Unfortunately, I'm not super great at mechanics and could use a little more handholding before I take things apart next time. Next Tuesday evening is the next Kidical Mass event with Islabikes on tour! Stop by Coloma Community Center playground between 5:30pm-7pm to test out Islabikes. June 4th is our National Bike Travel Weekend: Pedal To Camp Pollock. We'll be meeting at the Capitol for a BYO picnic at 11am then riding over to camp out ($3/person). Contact me with any questions.
This morning, Neil, John, and I hung out at the Oak Park Farmers' Market fixing bikes for donations toward starting a chapter of Trips For Kids! I did more talking than fixing but it was still fun.  Neil and his Cycle Truck did most of the heavy lifting.    It was also a big day for Little Brother who just graduated to his first 20" bike, bringing the number of 20" bikes in our family up to 5--makes it easier to shop for tubes! We bought this Beinn 20 Small Islabike used from a friend and it needed a little extra love as the back spokes were about as tight as cooked spaghetti. Our friend Neil trued them up as best as possible. Little Brother loves it as he can now pedal comfortably without spinning out trying to keep up with Big Brother. It's pretty hilarious to see them on just about the same bike (BB's is a Large Beinn).   We rode a couple miles over to my aunt's house for lunch and came home with a chalkboard. Never a dull moment when playing bikes!  My weekend plans changed last minute but I am lucky enough to have some awesomely adventurous friends, the kind who don't mind rainy weather when there's an opportunity to go bikepacking. Neil let me borrow his classic Bridgestone MTB-6. He had his Surly Pugsley loaded up but Ryan won the heavyweight division with custom Carsick Designs frame bags on his Moonlander (seriously, he was carrying canned food in there!).  My rig  Neil's rig  Ryan's rig We met up with Monica and Brian of Carsick Designs who had organized the trip to Like Oroville. We parked at their friend, Gary's, house. Gary has bike trails in his backyard and rides them regularly. He led us across the dam and around the lake to our campsite, giving us our own tour and we went along.  There's finally water in there! (Photo by Ryan)  Photo by Monica   Thanks to the dam money, this trail is beautifully maintained. The campsite was empty because of the weather. We set up camp and made a lovely fire to stay warm in the rain. Brian showed up a while later but Monica was sick and had to stay home.  Home for the night  If you pack in a saw, you need to use it.  Calm before the storm It rained all night. My old tent was almost waterproof but my new survival blanket kept my sleeping bag warm and dry.  Packed back up with wet gear   Stream crossing! Photo by Ryan  My Cyclofemme crew This was the first time in four years that I wasn't able to organize a Cyclofemme ride and it was Mother's Day without my kiddos so this was an amazing substitute.  Photo by Ryan  Tent and sleeping pad  I'm winning!  My tires are too skinny. We stopped by Brian and Monica's shop where they create these amazing bags. Check them out: www.carsickdesigns.com  Monica's rig I'm totally hooked! We rode about 30 miles and even climbed some good hills. I need way more mountain biking skills but I have some great bikepacking friends, the kind who peek back to make sure I haven't fallen off a cliff and don't mind my slow, careful speed, and especially ones who don't mind camping in the rain! Can't wait for our next adventure!
May is my favorite month because it's full of my two favorite things: my birthday and bikes! Make sure that you sign up for MIBM and join our Tiny Helmets bike team. We kicked things off with the Great Scott Rd. Bike and Walk event. This time, we brought more friends! I packed up my HaulaDay with two bikes, our travel vests, all the food and water we needed and then Neil packed up his truck and trailer with four cargo bikes, five kids' bikes, a Pugsley and five of us. If that's not a truck's true purpose, I don't know what is.  Best two-bike tow I've done so far.  Four cargo bikes!  Baby S's first bike ride! Yepp Maxi latched right into HaulaDay's deck and zip-tied umbrella to keep him cool.  The hearty little riders! Starting off with Jennifer on my HaulaDay, Randy on my dad's, Neil on Randy's Mundo, me on Neil's Cycle Truck, and the four big kids on their own bikes.   Badass Mama! 20 Miles ridden without any training.  Neil and I swapped being SAG wagon, I carried his daughter on Randy's Yuba.  We ran into Kevin and his son who rode 43 miles!  Look at those biking babies' smiles!  Cycle Truck turned portable crib.  So much space to ride! After about 10 miles, the kids started getting tired and were ready for rides. It's a good thing we had so many cargo bikes to carry the monsters and tow their bikes. Big Brother crashed a couple times and took a short break but then found the energy to keep going. There aren't many photos of him because he was too fast to keep up with. At one point, he and Little Brother got caught up with some roadies and rode with them for about 10 minutes until they finally had to wait for me to catch up from about a quarter of a mile away. Where else can kids ride off at top speed without any worries? We need more spaces like this!  Kids started getting tired and were ready for a rest.  One child bailed onto the Mundo with Little Brother and me.  Freedom!!! More recent fun, running around to try to get kiddos to all their Little League practices and games. We signed up at the local league nearby but after a shooting, they've been moved to parks too far away to get to easily--difficult with a car-free life but thankfully, we've had help from friends from the team. Also got the opportunity to ride around Davis for a Traffic Skills class. It was tricky finding difficult riding situations in Davis to challenge the students because of the infrastructure and driver behavior.  Count the legs! Three squirmy monsters on the back of the HaulaDay. Photo by Neil because I stole his daughter for the ride.  Ghost riding Bluebell home 3 miles without crashing! Fun way to transport bikes without driving.
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