A ride to Doughbot Doughnuts is the best way to start a weekend, always. A bike ride to Doughbot with 24 other fun folks is even better! 

This was the first ride of our new riding schedule. Sacramento Kidical Mass now has a "board" of involved individuals and we are working on getting a real website up. We now ride each 4th Saturday of the month with varying times and routes. Our goal is to make Sac Kidical Mass a regular part of Sacramento's biking experience. It's hard for families to juggle additional activities already but by ensuring a fun ride each month, we are able to attract more people to the event and families don't have to worry if they can't come because there is always next month's ride. 

A couple of the new "official" Kidical Mass plans are to include a waiver for parents at the start of the ride (which helps collect rider information to count participants, emergency phone number for the ride, and email address to keep them updated for future events. We also had the top 10 guidelines for rider safety and enjoyment. 

1. Make individual decisions and be responsible for your family’s safety.
2. Obey all traffic signals and signs. 
3. Use hand signals. Wave hello to people, too. 
4. Follow right-of-way rules with all users of the roads.  
5. Share the road, avoid the door-zone, use appropriate lane positioning for optimal safety.
6. Ride single-file in bike lanes. 
7. Keep at least a “ghost bike” of space between you and the rider in front. 
8. No one passes the leader. No one gets left behind. 
9. Have fun!
10. Make new friends! 

This is going to be especially helpful for new riders to understand that this is a family-friendly, law-abiding street ride. There will be no corking of intersections or lane blocking (unless necessary for rider safety). 

Our September ride started at Grant Park. It's a great place to hang out while riders assemble. It was pretty awesome to watch the cargo bikes start filling up the park! We had three Yuba Mundos, one homemade bakfiets,  one Workcycle bakfiets, and our Bullitt (that makes three bakfietsen for those counting and using proper Dutch terminology), one Fr8 bike from Workcycles, four kiddos riding their own bikes (!), an adult trike, and three other "regular" bikes. 

Our ride was about three miles long, mostly down 24th street which had more stop signs but fewer car drivers than the main drag 19th street. We stayed together and followed traffic laws. Big Brother stayed with me as my co-leader. I was so impressed at his riding ability and how quickly he is improving--at each stop, he'd get his "power pedal" ready for a strong push-off! Seth, one of our awesome KM "board" members, played sweeper and kept everyone together. 

At Doughbot, we piled into the shop where we were greeted with an entire tray of doughnut flowers! We made ourselves comfortable and devoured the entire platter. A HUGE thank you to Dannah and Bryan for making delicious doughnuts and coffees AND for allowing us to take over their shop! 

After we had imbibed enough sugar, we all peeled off in different directions. A few of us headed around the corner to Southside Park to let the kids run around. Coincidentally, that was also where the Tweed Riders were gathering but we had other plans and couldn't join this time. It was great meeting up with old friends whom we hadn't seen for awhile and meeting new friends who will hopefully become Kidical Mass regulars! I'm already looking forward to October's ride--a Halloweeny ride around East Portal Park full of fun dress up and silliness! Be sure to save the date--October 26th, more details to follow.  

I finally got around to popping back into Practical Cycle today. I've missed the place and those guys! Little Brother and I dropped Big Brother off at school. BB rode his Fire Bike again today but it had been having problems with chain slippage and the grips had basically melted off. Also, the Mundo's rear brake had stopped working. I bundled it all up and rode down to Old Sac. 

Little Brother and I got to hang out with Tim and Cassidy while Tim took a few minutes to tighten our bikes back up and get them in good shape again. Big Brother's bike got spiffy new grips and the wheel was adjusted to take up the slack of the chain. Tim even pumped up the Fire Bike's tires as they had gotten a bit low...

I also got a chance to check out the new Monkey Bars for the Yuba Mundo. They look really nice and it seems you can adjust the seat to lower it down enough for the shorter riders. It didn't look like I'd have a problem, though. To be honest, I really think that they're a better design than the Hooptie from Xtracycle. I like the cleaner lines and it felt less wobbly than the Xtracycle that was a few bikes over. Now, I'm totally drooling over them. I think it'd be great for our upcoming summer vacation ride--the Tour De Whine and Chocolate (don't try to google it, I'm making it up as I go). 

We packed up the Fire Bike again and rode back to pick up Big Brother. Little Brother squeezed in a nap along the way. It was so nice to have working brakes again! Big Brother immediately noticed the change in his bike and was thrilled! I almost couldn't keep up with him on the way home. I may have to deflate his tires just a bit...

There's something about ditching our car that makes me feel very self-sufficient. I always ride around thinking how well prepared we'll be for the upcoming zombie apocalypse or fuel shortage, whichever comes first. Moving around town on our own power is so freeing. Lugging around a couple kids is a great workout. I'd like to see those roadies try and haul a 5 gallon water cooler on their carbon bike (ala Emily Finch). However, I digress, I wanted a post that wasn't about biking. Instead, it's about canning. 

I've had a pressure canner sitting in my closet for about three years now. It scared me. I've done water bath canning for jams and jellies but the thought of deadly botulism and explosions has kept me from giving more exciting recipes a try. Thankfully, I've got an amazing friend who also had an unused canner and was willing to hold my hand through the process (I love puns) of learning how to can together. 

Although we were up until about 3 am waiting for the pressure to drop and the jars to cool, this was an incredible feat for us! I feel like a new world of preserving food (and becoming even more self sufficient) has opened up for us. We had already quickly bathed local nectarines from the Farmer's Market in honey syrup earlier in the day (and they are delicious!)--that was easy peasy. This, however, was real veggie soup (meat was daunting for our first attempt) that will feed our family in the coming winter. It's a new way to save fresh foods for a nutritionally dense life. Next, we plan on trying chili and black beans. 

I had an errand to run this morning that required me to drive because I had to pick up my uncle. I don't have a lot of time between dropping Big Brother off at school and picking him up as pre-k is only 3 hours long. As a stroke of genius, I decided I would drive him to school and continue on to get my uncle directly afterward.

Wow. I couldn't have been more wrong.

We left at about the same time we do when we bike. The school is about a mile away, maybe a hair less. After herding the kids into the car and strapping them down until they were immobile, we headed down the road.

The less I'm in a car, the more I realize how uncomfortable I am while driving. The biggest change is how claustrophobic I've become. I feel like I'm suffocating and need all the windows down so I can breath properly.

As we get close to school, I see that the parking lot is totally full. Big Brother is too young for me to just pull into the drop-off zone so I continue past to loop around and find parking.

That's when the screaming starts. We usually roll right into school and park in the grass directly in front of his class. He doesn't understand why we've passed his school and is incredibly upset. Crying is much more grating when you're trapped in a car. I often encourage screaming for fun on the bike. We use our loud voices. In the car, it just adds to the headache that is growing.

On our second go around, I think I see a spot so I pull in. It was a handicapped spot. I move forward to where I see parents going to their cars. Two drivers leave but they were both illegally parked. I see a third driver getting into her car so I wait.

I look over just in time to see a GM Suburban about a foot away from backing into my passenger side door. I have enough time to honk but not move away. Thankfully, she stops.

All I can think of is "what if it had been a child behind her?"

I get out of the giant SUV's way. She had been packed in another handicapped spot (no placard to be seen) so I continue to wait. Finally, a car leaves. I'm not 100% sure it's a spot but I'm taking it.

By the time we get to class, I could have biked to school and back twice. And I wouldn't have been so shaken up when we arrived.

Many parents do this twice a day, five days a week without a second thought. We even have a relatively small school with only 300 students. I can't imagine what it would be with ten times that many students!

I guess that if you don't think you have any other options, you justify this madness as being life. I'm glad I know there is a better way to do things!

Luckily, after more driving and having to remember what it's like to drive down 4-lane arterial roads marked at 45mph but with people going well above that, we accomplished what we needed. I was able to get home in time to park the car and throw away the keys (at least I wanted to).

Little Brother and I took the Bullitt, loved the fresh air and calm streets, and parked right out in front, as usual.

I guess it's good that I tried driving once. Now I know that it's not "easier" nor is it worth it for "convenience." You could not pay me to try that again. It's so easy to slip back into bad habits--like driving--when there is a car sitting out front (since my parents are away). I always tell people that I ride my bike because I'm lazy. This experience just reaffirms it. School drop-offs and pick-ups by car are probably the worst part of everyone's day. For us, they're our favorite time and it set the mood for the entire day.

I'm going to have to start figuring out a way to get some bike safety classes, bike trains, and walking school buses into our school--for everyone's sanity and the safety of our students!

These past couple of weeks, I've had the honor of working with the San Juan school district's Safe Routes To School program in Citrus Heights. It is incredibly clear that these children are in DIRE need of bicycle and pedestrian education. They live in neighborhoods that are very poorly suited for safe transportation--car drivers speed down narrow roads, bike lanes are filled with giant garbage piles, and sidewalks disappear and reappear without warning. The kids that do bike or walk often do so with little regard for legality or safety. Although the coordinator, Dan, has been working with the schools for the last few years to provide SRTS education, he is met with much difficulty and resistance due to over-crowded classes, crazy scheduling (many schools only have 1-2 PE classes/week), and dwindling funding. Although it would be wonderful to have enough time and money allow for a thorough instruction, Dan has done a fantastic job with the resources he has had to work with. 

One new part of MY own education was the introduction to pedestrian classes for the first through third grade classes. Never before had I realized the immense need for proper pedestrian classes. Although the basic lesson breaks down simply into "STOP at the edge, look left, look right, look left again," it is incredible to me how many children and adults are never taught how to cross a street. To my utter horror, in each of the classes we taught in, children would raise their hands and proceed to tell us a story of how their friend/brother/dogs/someone they knew had been hit by cars and were killed. I was floored. Dan assured me that they were, in fact, telling the truth and that he hears things like that all the time. 

Today, while we were practicing crossing at a crosswalk in front of the school, a group of second graders were watching a car that had stopped and was waiting for them to cross. The driver continued to inch forward, unsure if the kids were crossing or not (they were INSIDE the crosswalk). Because the students hesitated longer than this driver had patience for, even though it was his moving forward that made them uneasy, he sped through the crosswalk. To top it off, he felt the need to lean out the window and swear at them! Stupidly, this man was driving a company car while he did it. I caught the name and called his shop to relay the situation to the woman on the phone. 

Although working with these students and having to watch the terrible examples that the adults around them set, can be incredibly exhausting, I love this job. I love to see when our lessons suddenly click in a student's brain. I hope they go home and start critiquing their parents' behavior and point out that rolling through a stop sign is the wrong thing to do. Planting the seeds of proper transportation techniques early on will help them make better choices as they grow up. 

Teaching these students helps me realize all the lessons I need to pass on to my children. On our way home from my children's daycare, about three blocks away, we all walked together and talked about how to cross streets safely, what to look out for, and why walking somewhere is so much fun. It was a nice reminder to slow down even more and appreciate the very basic, wonderful form of transportation that is our own legs. 

Today, I got a chance to ride with 5 wonderful ladies and one cool exchange student guy (he's so cool that he brought his bike with him from Germany. That's super-duper cool in my book!). We were looking for a place to ride casually and the Davis Loop came up as a fun option. It was convenient for us since we needed to meet somewhere in the middle-ish between Sebastopol and Folsom. I'm not a big fan of driving somewhere to go for a bike ride but this was an important gathering--we also all carpooled. 

I brought three bikes because two of my friends needed to borrow them. I chose my dad's Breezer to fit my taller friend and my mom's Breezer to fit my mom's-sized friend. They both worked out perfectly! I rode the Mobic because there wasn't enough room to fit another full-sized bike in or on the car. 

After we found parking and adjusted the bikes, we set off to find the tell-tale Loop markings. This turned out to be even more fun than I could have imagined! It was like a scavenger hunt! We lost the trail a couple of times and then lost it completely at the end but since Davis is so easy to bike around anyway, we just kept riding until we eventually made our way back to the cars. 

We had lunch and wandered around a bit. The guy in the frozen yogurt shop decided to let us know that biking in downtown Davis was too dangerous because the bikers don't pay attention. It is true that Davis can be a scary place when the college kids show up from non-biking backgrounds and get their first bike because of Davis's reputation. I love Davis's bike infrastructure. There are tons of wide bike lanes, bike signals, and lots of bike corrals outside cafes and shops. Bikes are everywhere! Sadly, there are still way too many cars! Just riding around UC Davis you see hundreds of discarded bikes that have been left to rot after their novelty wore off. 

However, this ride turned out to be a wonderful adventure. I think I'd really enjoy making it one of my stay-cation routes or take out-of-town friends to Davis on Amtrak or the YoloBus to give it a whirl. We probably rode a comfortable 12-15 miles at a wonderfully casual pace. Truthfully, any bike ride with a great group of friends is my favorite way to spend a day! Thanks, ladies (and Matthias)! 

My mini bike commuter is awesome! In just three weeks of riding himself to school (with supervision, of course), his confidence and riding abilities have improved exponentially. He follows direction well and is understanding the instructions I shout out. Starting and stopping can still be a bit of a challenge but I think some of that is because the coaster brake doesn't allow for a strong "power pedal" position. We walk across a busy 4 lane intersection with a light because we wouldn't be able to move quickly enough for the impatient drivers or get across before the light turned red.



One thing that bugs me is that the streets in the UC Davis Med Center are marked at 30 mph. They are so wide that drivers are frequently going faster than that, too. There are very few marked bike lanes and the ones that are marked are door-zones. There is plenty of bike use throughout the campus and I don't know why they wouldn't want to create safer streets for everyone, especially my little biking monsters.

This first video was taken on Big Brother's first ride into school. The second one was today, heading home after his 4th week of classes. He rides about 3 times per week. I can certainly see the difference! 

This is how I often lock up my Mobic, especially in high-risk areas such as downtown Sacramento. with one lock, I can protect the entire bike, it's not something that would be a quick getaway, and it just looks confusing. it probably took an extra 10 seconds to partially fold the bike and then another 10 when I was unfolding it.

Now, it might not be a Brompton but my Mobic certainly holds her own!

We didn't get much riding today. A quick jaunt to drop Big Brother off at school then to Trader Jose for groceries. Poor TJs is still waiting on city approval to improve their bike rack situation. Until they do, I'll just continue parking my bike inside like I own the place.

Little Brother and I decided to walk to get the Biggun at noon. It was already heating up and the walk involved me carrying a 32 lb toddler for most of it. On the way back, Big Brother loved riding his bike on the sidewalk and did a great job stopping at driveways and intersections and not getting too far ahead. Little Brother was harder to corral and didn't want to be held. needless to say, I needed a nap this afternoon.

After a midday, 100+ degree day, I needed to get out of the house. My aunt had borrowed the Mobic for her niece and I realized that I needed it for class tomorrow. It was the perfect excuse to head out for a quick ride. Even though the sun was setting, it was still warm out. Blech. However, it was still 1000x better than driving!

One of the more ridiculous conversations today went like this: 

Me, parking the Bullitt in front of the coffee shop after shopping at the Farmers' Market. 

Them, a middle-aged couple pulling up on hybrids, also from the Farmers' Market. 

Him: "That's quite a setup you've got there."

Me: "Yes, it's our minivan."

Him: "So, you use it for shopping?"

Me: "Yes, we don't have a car." 

Him: "You must do everything locally."

Me: "Yes, that's what most people do, isn't it? We borrow or rent a car, if necessary."

Her: "It's quite a long ride to San Francisco or Tahoe."

Me: "We don't really go there that often. There are buses and trains that go, too. It's a lot more feasible when you're not paying a car payment each month." 

Him: "Wait, you don't have ANY car?" 

That was when I excused myself before I *facepalmed* myself to death. 

Here is the opposite of shopping that I did today. Donating.