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Epic rides

6/29/2015

3 Comments

 

Kidical Mass held its first "Epic" ride yesterday: a 13 mile roundtrip from one park to another, mostly traveling along the Sacramento River Parkway. The Sacramento River Parkway is beautiful but less continuous than the ARP and it's much less intuitive because of the "private property" sections and detours. Still, it's carfree and passes along the levee with a great view of the river and going to through the park detour offers a shady route dotted with playgrounds.

Big Brother rode the entire route, plus the sections to and from our house with an added stop at Nama and Gampa's for ice cream, a 24 mile day! He was thrilled that this was the second longest day he's had so far. Little Brother happily rode on Smurfette's deck because HaD #2 is getting an oil change for the Alfine 11 hub and to replace the crankarms we stripped out. The only downside to Smurfette is that we don't have any wrap around bars for it so LB had to hold on the whole time, including a touchy time about a mile from home when he fell asleep and I had to hold him up as best as I could while still riding.

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A small group of hardy riders!
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Sneaky shot of the Beavertail version 2 by John Lucas
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Little Brother successfully testing out the Beinn Small... I don't think the CNOC is going to last as long as we had planned. The main issue with the 16" bike is the small chainwheel which causes him to spin out after reaching a reasonable pace. We'll be searching CL for an illusive Small now.
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Proud of this biking monster!
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Kiddo didn't wake up very happily but recovered quickly.

This afternoon, I decided to pick up Big Brother from his day camp with the Bike Fioday Tandem for it's first test run with a passenger. My friend Neil had fixed the broken spoke and I was able to get the wheel back on. We're still needing to get the cable splitter for the drumbrake but since Sacramento is so flat, it's not really necessary around here. The ride was a success! Even without a stoker, it still rode smoothly and comfortably. With the kiddo on back was a bit wobblier but that's mostly because we don't have crankarm shorteners to make it easier for him to reach the pedal. When he was helping, I could really feel the added speed.

We have some work still to do for the bike: new bottom bracket, drumbrake cable, bar tape, pedals (plus toe cages for the small stokers), a new saddle, and a few minor adjustments but I'm pretty excited about this new addition to our fleet.

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3 Comments

Freedom

6/16/2015

0 Comments

 
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Not many modes of transportation can make a child feel like they're flying. Bikes are magical!

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Small but mighty

6/13/2015

1 Comment

 

Today's Haul(aDay):

Three big bags of groceries

Two kitty litter bags

A gallon of milk

A free bag of charcoal (the manufacturer had over stuffed them so TJ's couldn't sell them)

Package of toilet paper

Forty-five pound grumpy kid

And there was room to spare!

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I'm on the old HaD today because the Mk3's crank arm keeps loosening up. It's a bouncier ride because the newer version has more bracing bars and I miss the internal gears that I have on my newer bike but I still love this one. Good ol' Smurfette!

1 Comment

The Century

6/8/2015

5 Comments

 
This year I had two goals: walk a half marathon and ride a century. I've walked a half marathon before but had only topped out my mileage at 95 and that was a few years ago on the trip to Modesto (although it was on the Mundo so that should add extra mileage points). Anyway, I've been feeling out of shape this year and wanted to feel strong again like I had after Little Brother was born.

This weekend was a kid-free one and I planned a long ride up to Lake Solano and back--all in one day, 100 miles exactly if I took the American River Parkway, a bit out of my way. I had the support of my sweet boyfriend, K., who had just finished his 3rd century+ of over 130 miles at an average speed of 17mph. My goal was more modest: 100 miles and be home before dark. Slow and steady, just keep moving forward, that's my bicycling mantra. I might not be very fast but I can keep going.

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K. rode the Bike Friday HaulaDay because his bikes would have been too fast for me to keep up with and they can't carry any gear. Also, he just likes riding the HaD. We stripped off the basket and extra rails to lighten the load, stretched it out to its max length with the OSATA adjustments, then loaded it up with snacks and water. He'd be the sag wagon while I would be free and unencumbered. I rode the upgraded Oscar, my old Nashbar touring frame. We planned to leave by 6am so naturally, we were rolling along by 6:30am instead.

The first exciting unexpected event happened just out of West Sac when the HaD's crankarm became loose. I'd recent lost all my bike tools and we had been riding without any tools, especially an allen key that would have fit a crankarm bolt. We checked our options and sadly, the newly opened West Sac Edible Pedal wasn't going to open for another hour so we found the right size tool at Home Depot, tightened it back down and we we're back on the road.

Because of our delay and the fact that we were feeling good, we decided to skip a Davis stop and continue on to Winters where our lunch at Steady Eddy's was planned. We looped up around past Lake So,lano first and I was starving by the time we reached it. 53 miles down and it was 11:45am, hot out already. Lunch was amazing, of course. Getting back on the bike afterward was not.

We lucked out by not having much of a headwind in either direction. It was gusty at times but nothing that wasn't manageable. We made a couple extra short stops to snack and refill our bottles. The Hydroflask bottles kept some of the water cool while the water in my bottle cage could have brewed tea by midday.

Arriving back in Sacramento put us about 10 miles short of our goal so we rode back up the American River Parkway to Sac State and back down to midtown for dinner at Burgers & Brew. Every part of my body hurt. My elbows, my hands, my legs, and especially my butt. I had worn my one pair of chamois shorts but nothing could have helped. Ouch!

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Delirious!
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I was actually thrilled at this point, I just don't look it.

I had a root beer float and a chili cheeseburger. Food is so yummy! I was terribly sad to have to get back on the bike for the final three miles home after dinner. One last stop for beer and Three Musketeer bars to end the ride.

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This morning, I woke up a little stiff but otherwise fine. I was able to function and go about my day although, by afternoon, I was exhausted so I took a wonderful nap. I'm quite proud that I was able to ride a hundred miles in a single day without any actual training or preparation. I'm very grateful to have a body that is strong and healthy and I would like to continue to stay this way for as long as possible. Biking on a regular basis has really helped me stay active because with our busy schedules, it'd be difficult to get additional exercise any other way. Without a car, I'm forced to ride to get around so exercise has become a part of my everyday routine, it's a sustainable practice that I've grown to love. My new goal is to continue to push my body to reach new limits to become stronger, both mentally and physically. I might as well enjoy being active now so that I can continue to be active longer in life--use it or lose it, they say.

5 Comments

Project Ride Smart

6/4/2015

2 Comments

 

Another fun Project Ride Smart program happening through the NNTMA, a transportation management agency funded through property taxes from homes in North Natomas.

We have four fifth grade classes learning how to "drive" their bicycles. Amazingly, the students are still focused and excited about us being there, considering next week is their last week of school. It's so much fun being able to reach out to kids to instill a love of biking and the tools they need to stay safe.

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Little Brother helped teach one day.

I got this great bottle cage for my Hydroflask growler as a birthday present. The weighty of the full growler doesn't register on my HaulaDay but the Two Fish cage is mounted with Velcro so it can be attached anywhere and easily on any bike.

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The additional water had been helpful as the temperature is raising and the long days on the blacktop have been taking a toll. I've been able to ride in the 13 miles almost each day. This morning, I saw five jackrabbits and I've been able to watch the goslings grow over the past two weeks. The only bummer is that there's a headwind for the way home and the timing cuts close to my deadline to pick the kiddos back up.

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Bike trail traffic jam!

This weekend, I'm going to attempt to ride a century, 100 miles in one day. The closest I've gotten before was 95 miles and that was a few years ago. Slow and steady is my plan. That, and lots and lots of food! Can't wait!

2 Comments

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