It's hot! The first week of unbearable heat is always the hardest. It's when people hide in their air conditioned boxes (whatever they may be) and try not to exert too much energy. Believe me, I want to do the same! However, we don't have a/c at home and no car to duck into and drive to the coast. I had actually forgotten what air conditioning felt like until I popped into a Target yesterday. Then there's the random parking garage with it's obscenely cold air cooling the street around. I hate to admit it but I love it (although I also hate it and believe that maybe it'd be a good thing to stop doing for energy conservation, expenses, and global climate change...). We also like to make detours to ride through sprinklers for a little on-the-go pick-me-up. 

We do leave the house as little as possible on these kinds of days. The air quality is always especially grimy, too. If we don't have to leave, we don't. If we can, we do our errands in the early morning or once the Delta breezes pick up. 

When we do have to leave, it's nice to have the cargo bikes so the boys aren't working, they're just getting the cool air. Biking is never too hot when you're moving, it's when you stop that it becomes suffocating. I try to stop in the shade, finding a tiny patch at stoplights. 

I've been enjoying wearing skirts with shorts under while I pedal. A light top is helpful to minimize the sweating (which tends to pick up about 5 minutes after I stop riding so watch out!). 

Some of my thoughts on riding in summer (and please add your own in the comments below!): 

• Wear summer-appropriate clothes. For me, that's skirts (you men could rock an awesome Utili-kilt!), light tops-usually wicking material or quick drying something. I like shorts under my skirts (there are many great sites dedicated to finding the right skirt and how to wear one on a bike). 
• If you need to bring an extra set of clothes, allow extra time to change so you cool down. Baby wipes or a wet towel can help speed that up. 
• Make sure to cover your exposed skin with sunblock. I like having the kids under the weather-protectors, although I'm still working on putting that together on my bikes. 
• Lots and lots and lots of water. And ice cream. I have about a 4:1 water to ice cream ratio. Our ice cream budget is through the roof. It's worth it. Good thing we're not paying a car payment. 
• Choose when to ride, avoiding the worst of the heat. 
• Remember that driving isn't fun either. It's easy to talk yourself out of riding if you have a car beckoning. Keep in mind that getting into a sizzling car is terrible. What if your a/c cuts out? What if you get stuck in traffic? What if you have to park a mile away and still have to walk to the store? Remember that driving is bad for the Earth and adding extra pollution to an already-highly polluted day is worse (driving in polluted air is just as bad as biking in it). 
• If you do need to drive, do it. I choose the BionX Breezer for hot days when I can. It's great not to work very hard to ride somewhere but it's better than driving around in 2,000 extra pounds, spouting emissions everywhere. It's a great supplemental vehicle for those trips that we would resort to driving to. 
• More ice cream. 
  

Now, what do you have to add to the list? 

What's your cut-off point for biking in Summer? 

It's a good thing the Delta breeze has finally picked up or else the post I'm about to write might have been a bit more grumpy sounding. 

June is my final month before all crazy breaks loose with my exchange student program. Amazingly, this is the first year that we are done BEFORE our deadline! Our incredible Sacramento team kicked butt and pulled it together beautifully! I am so impressed! To celebrate, I decided to flit off on my June overnight (barely squeezing one in at all...). Something close was the necessary criteria and I realized that I haven't done Beal's Point this year (yes, we went to Negro Bar which is close but it's not the same). Since I decided Beal's would be too easy of an overnight, I decided to add a little challenge--two little challenges, in fact! 

Monster #1 and #2 joined me! It was just the three of us. We left around 2 pm on Thursday--a nice midweek getaway and I was still able to run around and get a bunch of work squared away . You'll see by the above photo that Little Brother didn't make it very far before the already long day got to him. 

We packed our Hubba Hubba 2-person tent, two sleeping bags, two sleeping mats, some extra blankets because these guys won't tolerate being zipped into a bag, a spare set of clothes for the boys, warm sleeping clothes, socks and a new shirt for me, tooth brushes, sunblock, hippy bug spray, a couple toys and a couple books, Big Brother's baseball gear, three bottles of water, and some food. 

I realized pretty quickly that I was totally insane (actually there were some warning signs earlier on...) but decided to just move slowly and patiently and see what happened. By Hagan Park, we were all pretty exhausted and it was hot. The boys got some of their yayas out and it was still fairly easy to convince them to get back on the bike. 

However, after that, the hills increased and Big Brother was telling me that he needed a nap. Unfortunately, he doesn't get a nap when he's on the Mundo (we may need the Monkey Bars for longer trips). I was trying to keep him engaged and talking but it was getting difficult for me, too. I hadn't eaten very well and I was lugging about 100 lbs of gear (including kids), 80 lbs of bike, and myself (which is more than you need to know). A couple of times I got pretty dizzy so I finally decided to make a quick stop in the shade for some food. 

It was actually pretty nerve-wracking because the area we stopped had a huge, steep cliff down to the river. Taking care of both kids on one's own is exhausting--especially when one of those kiddos is Little Brother. I got them back on the bike and was ready to roll again. 

Once I got to Folsom, I knew there were few extra turns to get over the bridge. I stopped and asked a couple of different people at each intersection to make sure I was headed in the right direction. Every one of them looked at me and said "You realize that it's ALL UPHILL?" I told them that I did realize that and thanked them for the directions (while muttering under my breath about their wimpy 20-pound bikes and chiseled calves). 

And then the uphill really started. And kept going. And going. In reality, it's about a 600' elevation gain over 3 miles. Nothing super crazy but we don't have hills in Sacramento so this is big for us. I used up every gear the Mundo had and just kept spinning and spinning and spinning. A jogger lapped us. So we stopped to pick some blackberries. 

Somehow, we just kept moving in the right direction--up. We finally had the end in sight and it was still uphill. I walked the bike the last 500' with Big Brother walking next to me and Little Brother screaming to be "buckled" (he means unbuckled). We were all done. 30 miles in just under 7 hours, that may be a record... 

Now the real work started--corralling two uncooped children. I managed to set up camp while the kids ran around. Little Brother is my bolter and managed to run down the road pretty far before I could catch him. Big Bother just kept bugging me to play baseball with him. We then walked over to the lake as a last-ditch effort in hopes that the concession stand was still open. My meal planning skills are lacking and we had run out of edible food pretty quickly (the more I ride, the more they eat). Again, it was like herding fireflies. Luckily for us, we were able to find snow cones! 

Neither one actually wanted to eat the ice so I got that job while they sucked down the red dye and corn syrup (or whatever horrible things snow cones are made with). Brilliant parenting skills! By the time we got back to our tent, I locked us all in for the night and a mere 2 hours and 5-6 pee breaks later, the boys were fast asleep. 

By 6:45 am, it was sweltering outside and we were all awake (I'd like to point out that this is "sleeping in" for us). Big Brother woke everyone up with a gleeful shout of "A bunny!!!" I didn't have any breakfast for the boys because we had eaten everything the day before. I packed up camp in about 1.5 hours (record time) and we set off for Karen's Bakery. The downhill was a beautiful way to start the day but anytime the road started back up, I could feel every muscle in my body screaming. We'd go from 20+mph down to 4 mph. What took us an hour to do last night was over in just 20 minutes or so. 

It was hard to get the boys to eat because they wanted to play so much but I packed up what was left, grateful that we now had lunch. 

Today was super hot and slow moving. Little Brother fell asleep and Big Brother eventually started complaining again. I pulled over to let him "rest" but the minute he was off the bike, he was running around. 

Then, Little Brother woke up just as I was convincing Big Brother to get back on. He had the grossest diaper I'd ever seen and ended up having to ride the rest of the way without his shorts. Since we had taken so long at our pit stop, I didn't want to make many more stops. We sped by Hagan Park while I pointed at the other direction to distract them. The boys noticed but were only minimally fussy about the skipped playground. 

When we did finally stop later down the trail, they caught the eye of a friendly Park Ranger who gave them stickers for wearing their helmets. The boys rolled in the dirt a bit more and we filled up our water bottles for the third time of the day. 

The rest of the trip involved a lot of sweat, some screaming, and a lot of squealing laughter. It was hard to yell at them for wiggling the bike too much because at least they were happy but it was difficult to ride with Big Brother crashing into my back and the two boys taking turns leaning over to spit. Little Brother had one more breakdown just 7 miles to home. He finally agreed to eat the breakfast he had been refusing so I fed him quinoa cereal with my hands. It was gross but it helped us get home. 

Finally, just two miles from home, back on city streets, I suddenly realized that Big Brother wasn't crashing his head into me on purpose, he was falling asleep! I couldn't engage him and his poor little head just kept bobbing uncontrollably. I pulled over and walked the bike in the crosswalk to a frozen yogurt shop that just happened to be across the way. 

Back in business! We made it home with Little Brother only eating a minimal amount of styrofoam. Just 6.5 hours to get home, although breakfast took about an hour or so. 

As an added bonus to the day, Jose decided that he was unable to get Big Brother to swim practice that started 2 hours after we got home. We took a quick shower to scrape off the layers of grime then Big Brother and I hopped on the Bullitt (I wasn't going to risk him falling asleep again) and sped off. We arrived just in time (it was 9 more miles each way and I will admit that I wasn't thrilled to be doing it). I was drenched in sweat but Big Brother had a fantastic class followed by another class to make up for a session we had missed. 

Then, I did what anyone would do in my position--having ridden 39 miles, 9 more to go, Big Brother having just swum for an hour, it was 102+ outside, and dinnertime--we went to Costco! For just under $4 (because that was all the cash I had), we got a giant slice of pizza to share and a HUGE ice cream (which melted almost immediately and turned into the milkshake I had been craving this whole time). 

We got lots of great compliments about our bike and in my snarky mind, I giggled that I was probably the only one who had actually burned off the calories we were about to eat. I shut down a guy who asked how much I paid for the bike by replying with "how much did you pay for your car?" I wasn't in the mood. I had heard all the roadies who passed us today exclaim "Wow, that's quite a load you've got there!" and was tired of all the attention. 

Turns out that Big Brother was pretty tired of it, too. 

He went straight from the box to bed and has only been up once to pee. 

Every part of my body hurts when I move, my arms are sunburnt, and the Bullitt's pedal took a chunk out of my heel. Tomorrow, I demand a morning to sleep in. 

Our first trip this morning was our usual Saturday trip to coffee and the Farmer's Market. 

It was the second trip of our day that made the biggest impact. We needed to get out of the house and the best way to get kids out of the house is by offering ice cream at the end of a bike ride. This time, the boys rode on their own. 

It was 4 miles round trip. Little Brother strode along on his Strider, taking a couple breaks to hitch a ride on Jose's skateboard and once in the Bullitt until he asked to get back on his bike. Big Brother, on the other hand, rode the entire way. Most of the time, he was on the sidewalk but occasionally in the street next to me. He's getting more and more steady on the bike and it's just about time to raise the seat even higher. It's still really nerve-wracking having him in the street since he's not clear on his left and rights and it's difficult to communicate directions. Luckily, we've been riding on calm, wide streets. The sidewalk isn't really any safer since every driveway has to be treated as an intersection and drivers aren't always paying attention to people on the sidewalk, even little kiddos. It's a sad world we live in when kids aren't safe riding their bikes in their own neighborhood. 

The benefits for the boys riding are well worth my heightened heart rate. 

These boys love it and they're on the road to independence. These are skills that will last a lifetime. 

You know the best part, these boys never go to sleep easily but after a day on the bike, they never sleep better. These guys were asleep in minutes. Last night, Big Brother was up until 10pm. Biking is amazing and that shows in it's purest form through the tiny bodies of children. Kids and bikes are a natural combination and our culture has denied this wonderful pairing. Let's work together to bring them back together. Quickly! Slow the car drivers down and make them accountable for their actions, teach children to ride safely and predictably and we can all get along. 

We need more of this. Pure joy! 

Today I had a home visit to run in South Sacramento so I zipped down there after dropping the boys off at daycare. I rode my Linus because she's lovely and fun (and because I had neglected to charge the electric bike). On my way down, I realized that I had forgotten that Big Brother had swim class that evening. Jose had decided to take the day off today because he had had to "work" on Father's Day (by day off I mean finally get some peace and quiet away from the craziness of our monsters. I fully support days off for both of us). 

I got back home eventually, did a teeny weeny bit of work before I fell asleep for 30 minutes. Then, it was back in the saddle (the Bullitt's saddle to be exact) to get the boys and take them both to swim class. Big Brother is having a blast learning how to swim and has already almost mastered the whole not-breathing-under-water thing. I think we're going to have to go a few more rounds and add Little Brother into the mix. There are kids smaller than both of them swimming on their own already! It's a really good thing I can bike there or I don't know that I'd go through with it. 

I forgot our daycare's rule about taking 24-hours before coming back and scrambled in the morning to figure out what to do with Big Brother since he had had a couple of shots the day before. I decided that since he's so awesome, I'd just attempt to sneak him into work at Practical Cycle and hope Tim didn't notice. 

Of course, we just had to stop for some coffee beforehand. 

Lo and behold, we pulled up to one of our favorite shops, Old Soul Weatherstones in Midtown, and saw this spiffy looking Bullitt parked out front! I knew that we had sold one on Father's Day (best Father's Day present ever! I should know because our Bullitt was my Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary/every-gift-for-the-rest-of-my-life present and I regret NOTHING!). 

Big Brother and I got to hang out with these guys for a few minutes. The kiddos instantly bonded over being cargo bike kids and having awesome helmets. Check out the great tiara! I think my kids need tiaras. For safety. Or something like that. Our Bullitt Buddy, Paul, is a road biker. You might have been able to tell by the stark contrast between our seat:handlebar height ratios. I love that the Bullitt is really customizable in that way. His bike has the standard Bullitt kid set-up while mine has the custom box made by the folks at Splendid Cycles. My box fits two kids better side-by-side but it certainly gives it a more "homemade" look while Paul's is sleek and fancy. 

I love that we're getting to the point where cargo bikes are popping up everywhere. It seems like I can't go a day without running into another family-biker! 

After coffee and bike-chatting, my new intern and I rode to work. Tim was very nice about having an extra body in the shop and Big Brother was amazing. He sat an entertained himself for about 3.5 hours until 'Nama could come and pick him up. Except for the occasional "MOM! HEY MOM! MOM! LOOK AT THIS, MOM! MOM! MOM! MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA!!!!!!" I barely needed to keep an eye on him. Tim was incredibly tolerant. Big Brother was especially enraptured with Practical Cycles newest toys--the bicycle Playmobil sets. We didn't get the horrible "bike-crash" set though. It is really hard to find bicycle toys these days. Kids are indoctrinated into car-culture early on with their tiny motorized cars, Hot Wheels, Disney Cars movies, etc. I even saw a Disney Cars bicycle at Costco! I will admit, however, BB found the bicycle cop's tiny plastic gun immediately and focused a lot of his play with finding the bad guys and chasing them down. That gun may disappear next time I'm at work. 

Big Brother and I have been having lots of fun time together, thanks to bikes! Today was a rough day. Little Brother refused to nap and both boys were bouncing off the walls but exhausted. Luckily, Jose got home right after LB finally passed out and BB and I rode the Bullitt to swim class. Now that we know the route is fun and easy, I was comfortable taking the giant RV bike. On the way home, we decided to take the long way back (an extra 2 miles going the other direction on the ARP). Big Brother wanted to lay down so I unbuckled him while we were on the trail. As we were getting off the parkway, I hit a bump while he was leaning over the edge and he bumped his nose. It was our first Bullitt casualty (if you don't count Jose's horrible mishap on his first ride). Big Brother was fine after a little water break and a kiss but I kept him buckled for the rest of the ride home. 

One bummer was that when I was trying to put the sun shade on the bike today, I ended up stripping the set screw. I was going to have to move the mounting spots anyway because the poles hit my handlebar when I turn. Now, I'll just have to make a couple new changes as well. 

Shall we remember Jose's infamous inaugural ride? Yes. 

Makes me laugh every time! 

Like many others, my dad was the one who taught me to ride a bike. It was so long ago that I actually don't remember learning. I'm pretty sure I was riding on two wheels by 5. I do remember riding my tricycle to a nearby parking lot with my dad and brother and riding around and around and around for hours (it felt like). I can still hear the squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak of the pedals. Biking has always been second nature to me. It's in my blood. Both my parents were avid bikers--my mom crossed the country when she was 20. Later, she and my dad moved from Santa Cruz to Davis with only what was strapped to their bikes. They travelled extensively by bike and train until my brother and I came along. When we moved to Stockton, our biking options were seriously limited. Stockton lacked and still lacks a decent biking infrastructure. The only way we could bike farther than our little neighborhood was by driving our bikes somewhere. My dad, however, is pretty fearless and he still used his free time to explore the levee roads or ride out into the country. As soon as we all left Stockton, we all picked up biking regularly again. My dad barely drives because he commutes everywhere by bike and then rides 40-60 miles on the weekend for fun. It's pretty easy to figure out where I picked up my biking-bug. 

Also, luckily for me, I married a wonderful guy who turned into a great dad who supports and encourages my crazy biking ideas. 

I'm so grateful to have these two wonderful dads in my life. I know that with their awesome influence, we're going to have two incredible boys riding on their own adventures very soon. 

Yesterday, we got the chance to ride our Bullitt with the shade canopy. It wasn't great, truthfully. The mirror hits the pole and makes it difficult to maneuver the bike. It's fine while riding but I'm back to doing 10-point-turns when trying to turn around in tight places. I also have to take it off when riding in the dark because it blocks my headlamp. It wasn't very useful in the morning since there's no side support. However, riding home at noon, it was a great help. There's more tinkering to be done but it's better than it was. 

After the zoo, we rode home and refused to take any naps so we were all grumpy. We didn't have the option of driving to swim class so we didn't have any excuses. Melissa had pointed us in a better direction than Google suggested. It was about 2 miles longer, 9.5 miles total and we had already ridden 8 ish. I wasn't really excited about the ride but it started along the American River Parkway so I knew it couldn't be too bad. As turned out, it wasn't bad at all! Thanks, Melissa! I feel like a whole new part of Sacramento has opened up to us. After the ARP, we rode through an industrial area with very low traffic.

They had told me that there was a bike rack but when I got there, the bike rack already had been occupied by a giant plant. 

When I went inside to complain (actually, I just asked nicely to see if the plant could be moved). I was told that it wouldn't be moved since no one EVER, EVER, EVER parked there. He let me pull the bike inside and unload. Not a great way to make biking seem viable but it really, really, really is! Again, thanks, Melissa! She made the impossible possible! 

And it's a good thing 'Nama's house is on the way home because we, of course, stopped for popsicles. 

'Nama invited us out to dinner and we accepted! Little Brother insisted on sitting on the deck with Big Brother. We lasted about 5 blocks before I realized I couldn't handle the stress every time he took his hands off the bars to ring the bell, hug me, or tickle his big brother. He's certainly not ready for the deck. I'm considering getting the Monkey Bars from Yuba but am not sure yet if it's even needed. Maybe a set of ape hanger handlebars would be more affordable and just as effective. 

Today, we had a ton of fun! We began the day by meeting up with a few other cargo bikers and talked to the Good Day Sacramento news crew. They were great sports, getting rides and great footage of our different bikes. The segments only lasted a couple minutes and they mainly focused on the saving money part but it was still great to get out to make cargo biking mainstream. There's so much more that I wanted to say but it was a start. You can see our live segment and the edited version on their website. The kids were so patient considering how long it took to film. The funniest part for me was when I took the camera guy for a spin in the Bullitt's box. He was close to double my size and the bike bowed and flexed under his weight. AFter a cople pedals, I had the bike under control, almost. We made it around a little path circle and only came close to falling when he leaned over to set his campera down. We nearly crushed his camera but I caught the bike in time. 

I felt so incognito riding the BionX Breezer this evening for a home visit. It was a beautiful 15 mile evening ride but I was so normal...

Another fun Bullitt addition--shade! I have been checking out a trike canopy that has been in the shop for about a month and finally got up the nerve to play around with it. I realized pretty quickly that this could be exactly what I've been looking for for the Bullitt. With Tim's help and a few screws, we attached it pretty securely to the wooden box. It was surprisingly easy and only required some extra screws and snipping off a length of the front poles. The box finally had enough dings in it to not feel badly about drilling into it. Most of the hardware actually came with the canopy and just needed a little rearranging. We added longer screws to go through the wood and that was it. There are set screws to hold the poles in place, which I would have to remove if I took a larger person...say, maybe my mom...

It was a little odd while riding home. On very sharp turns, my handlebars bump into the back rails but it's flexible enough to not cause any problems. It felt a bit harder to ride in the wind but that might have just been my imagination and the fact that I was hyper-aware of it being there. I was also trying to gauge the cover's shading--at 5pm with the sun at my back, it didn't seem to be making a big difference inside. 

However, the real test is when the boys are in it. It is going to be perfect for the noon-time heat and hopefully for keeping the seat cool when we are parked. I have plans (ideas) to add some sort of side cover, maybe mesh, for added protection. 

It's a start and it was really reasonable priced. So far, it feels stable enough. I can't wait to test it out tomorrow with my wee guinea pigs! 

They say that women are the indicator species of the planet. Women are more cautious and less apt to do silly things that would put themselves in danger.

I'm going to take it a step further and declare that my mother is THE indicator species. She is the most cautious person I know. If you see her doing something, you know it's safe to follow.

Therefore, as of this morning, I am declaring cargo biking to be a safe activity. My mom, on her own willing accord, happily climbed into the Bullitt's box and rode with me to the coffee shop--helmet-free, nonetheless! .

This was one of the best rides I've had. We chatted and turned heads along the way. It is really good that she's been doing yoga because it was quite a squeeze to get all her limbs inside. However, she was cheerful and relaxed and hopped back out with ease (and a giant smile).

Thanks, mom! You're the best!!!

Driving, driving, driving! I knew that my car trips would increase as my exchange student program drew near but it still doesn't make it easier. Now, a busy all-over-the-place schedule plus a nasty summer cold, I'm feeling less inspiration to ride to all the things I need to do. It's been two to three car trips each week and it's exhausting!

I chose the wrong swim class for Big Brother. We had passes left over from his parent-tot days (4 years ago!) and I thought it would be good to use them up. Turns out the route is nearly impossible to bike. The last 1.5 miles is gutter "bike lane" and speedy traffic, sometimes no bike lane and narrow streets. It's very inconsistent. Although I might be willing to bike it on my own, I'm very leery about biking it with my precious cargo. I may do a test run, if I can find some time..., just to feel it out or else I'm stuck driving twice a week for four weeks.

I've also been battling a cold that has style in my lungs and the air quality is reaching yuckier levels with the raising temperatures. Again, that decreases my desire for distance (heartbreaking!) and puts me in the car more often, too.

I'm curious, what is your radius of "bikeable" distance? I realized that starting out with the 2-mile challenge was great for me and more often than not, anything less than 5 miles is never a driving situation. Usually 10 miles is where I decide to use the electric bike--if it's a work trip where I need I end up presentable. I have to bike at least three miles to pick up my mom's car anyway so there's always a lot of planning before I come to driving as my final option.

Today, again, has ended up being a driving day. My alternative was 30 miles of biking for work trips and juggling kids. I just don't have the energy.

If you find yourself low-energy but still want to bike, don't forget to stop by Practical Cycle on Sunday between 12-6pm for the BionX elMundo launch Party! Seriously, this bike could change your life! Two of my favorite things--the Mundo and the BionX! You'll cut down the excuses for driving to almost null! Stop in and say hi :)

I promise to not cough on you.