If you've been reading lately, you'll know how excited I've been about our custom Carsick Designs panniers for the Mundo. I've been struggling with the Yuba bags for quite awhile because the Peanut Shell on the back keeps us from using the Go-Getters and the Baguettes have never quite fit for us, either (plus we had to warranty the first set due to problems with the seams, buckles, and pockets). My new set have been sitting in the shed since I got them because I didn't want to break them again. 

I first saw Carsick Designs' work years ago at a bike swap and have ever since drooled over their bags but never made the leap into customer-dom. Once I finally got to know Brian and Monica as people, I wanted the bags even more because they're so awesome. To top it all off, my friend Jen has had a beautiful set of hot pink panniers that she got from her hubby for Mother's Day over a year ago and every time we ride together, she has to rub them in my face (totally kidding because she's super nice and would never do that but really, you can't miss those suckers, they're bright!). 

My frustration with the Mundo's actual cargo caring ability finally reached a head when I was trying to figure out how we would go touring on the Mundo without a good way to carry gear AND the kiddos. I emailed Brian and Monica to ask about making a Freeloader-style sling bag set. 

We met up at a local coffee shop a few days later, Monica took notes of what I was looking for and Brian mapped it all out using a piece of yellow plastic fabric. I picked my fabric color--safety orange, of course!

Just a few days later, I got a message saying that they'd finished a prototype and wanted to see how it fit. We met back up at the coffee shop. Brian got the prototype on, made a few markings and notes here and there, it was already almost perfect! 

Then, they had to torture me a little more by posting photos of the whole process online. 

However, about a week later (yesterday), I got the final message: "They're ready, when can you get them?"

I wrote back: Tomorrow! 

So without further ado, here they are! 

Seriously, I could not be any happier! The bags are well made, incredibly sturdy. The buckles and straps are strong. The long pocket inside has a high-quality, smooth zipper with an overhang of fabric to keep water out of it. Brian also made sure that the zipper started on the side closest to the seatpost so that the Peanut Shell's legs don't get in the way. I would have never thought of that little detail but it shows how much these guys know what they're doing. The bags attach to the deck really well, I loosened the deck a little to slide some of the straps underneath and that will help hold the bags on even better. The side panels are strong mesh with a bungee tie so things don't fall out the sides. There are two grommets in the bottom so water can drain, especially good because I opted to not get any sort of cover (which wouldn't have fit anyway because of the kid seat. The straps can be criss-crossed to hold down really large items (or lap blankets as Stacy does). To top it all off, there is a huge panel of Iluminite fabric (in orange!) to increase our visibility even more. 

I am in love with these Mondo Slings! 

By the way, I also got a couple of Carsick Designs's Goodie Bags to keep me fed on our rides (Yeah right, those boys of mine always eat all my food). The only problem is that Jose wants one and I don't want to share. 

The Mondo Slings cost about $175 for the set and are made by two super nice people here in Sacramento. You can customize the color and fabric, add pockets, and really make them exactly what you're looking for. You can find Brian and Monica by clicking here or on Facebook. 

I'll keep you posted on all the fun things I can shove in them--like camping gear, shopping bags, small animals, etc. 

With our new Sac Kidical Mass board members cranking out the awesome ideas and helping with all the crazy organizing, I knew this ride was going to be a blast! What I wasn't prepared for was the sheer volume of riders who showed up! 

Going back a few weeks, we called another awesome KM meeting in which we had about 8 folks show up. There were some great thoughts going around and people volunteered to take over different aspects of the ride. The theme, of course, was a Halloween-y evening ride around Curtis Park. Many emails went back and forth between our board members as the route was perfected, goodies gathered and made, and the beautiful flyer was spread far and wide.  

Fifteen people RSVP'd for the ride via Facebook events. I knew some folks wouldn't make it and some extra folks would show up so we planned on having about 20 goodie bags for kids. 

Although I had planned to decorate both bikes, my procrastinating led to only one bike dressing up. The Bullitt was supposed to be a pirate ship. 

We rode over to the park. I should have tested the Mundo Harley earlier as it was super uncomfortable to ride--ape hangers next time! The one difficulty of the park was that the gate was pretty narrow to get big bikes through and we ended up with a LOT of bike bikes showing up! More and more people trickled over and filled the playground! Stephen and his family brought goodie bags with stickers, bubbles, and other kid-friendly treats. Melissa brought over delicious homemade yummies like apple muffins and bars, pumpkin candies with white chocolate, and chocolate bike-pops as well as some fun reflective stickers and swag. 

Kids ran around, people decorated their bikes, talked to each other, and ate! More riders kept showing up! Some of the costumes were incredible! 

Melissa as the Snow Queen! 

We gathered up our riders around 5:30pm. One part I wish I had focused more on was being a bit more strict on following our guidelines. With a group this size, about triple what we've been used to, it was difficult at times to make sure everyone was keeping themselves safe. There was at least one rider who was consistently on the wrong side of the road and a few others who would get a bit squirrely every so often. It was easy for folks to get comfortable and ride in a more relaxed fashion than I would prefer. I think we turned a bit into a Critical Mass, although very friendly with lots of waves and cute kids. We had a few clueless drivers try to cruise through our group on the long straight-aways, but overall, it was a safe and fun ride. 

I counted 75 people, although I probably missed a few! We had one little rider do the whole 3 mile loop on a balance bike! He was the winner of one of the Ikea reflective vests that Jarrod donated to the ride. 

The sun went down as we rode. It was cool to see all the great lights turn on. 

Unfortunately, this was the only photo I got of my costume. Please excuse the creepy reflector-eyes! 

This was such a fun ride! It's incredible what can happen when we have a great team of dedicated people working together to create such a wonderful event! This is just the early stages of what we hope will become an established part of Sacramento biking life. Now I can't wait for next month's food bank ride! 

This weekend, while Big Brother and I were rolling around on the Bullitt, Jose and Little Brother were galavanting on the Mundo elsewhere. I missed the nine phone calls and text messages because it turned out that about four miles from home, the Mundo had a total blowout. Jose pushed the bike home with Little Brother on the back (I will note that they were across the street from a bike shop when the flat happened but Jose doesn't like it so he continued on). 

They both got home safely but the Mundo's rear wheel was covered in blue slime (thanks, self-sealing tubes...). 

Today, feeling emboldened by my success at replacing the Linus's newly respoked rear wheel (thanks, Tim!) and connecting the Nexus hub, I was ready to take on the Mundo's mondo wheel. 

First challenge, taking off the Peanut Shell to flip over the bike and get at the wheel. Our children have totally decimated our entire socket wrench set so I was stuck using an adjustable wrench. I got the two bolts off of one side and was able to slide it off the deck without too much trouble.

Next, again with the adjustable wrench to get at the giant nuts for the Mundo's giant hub. Sadly, when I tried to take the wheel off a few days ago, I realized that my Antload Yuba tool was made for the Mundo's "standard" 18mm hex nut, mine was one of those rare ones with a 19mm. Luckily Mike Cobb is going to cobble a new one together for me as soon as he can (which unfortunately is not very soon but he's still pretty awesome). 

The wheel skirts also got in the way of taking the wheel out but eventually I got it off. It does make it easier to shift down to the lowest gear first. 

Next, the fun part. Goo. 

The ENTIRE tire looked like this. It required a hose down. It was gross. 

A quick blast of air made the hole super easy to find. The valve stem had torn about 3/4 of the way off. That explains the explosion of slime. I still did a thorough check of the tube to see if there were any other holes, checked the inside and outside of the tire, and cleaned everything up. Nothing else noticeable. 

I got out a new tube (heavy-duty, super thick, and self-sealing, again), got the tire back on the rim (it took me about 10 minutes to figure out which direction it was supposed to go and I still had it wrong when I put the wheel back), pumped the tube up slightly to shove it back into the tire, replaced the tire liner, and eased the tire bead back into place. One more massage around the tire to make sure the tube wasn't pinched or twisted anywhere then I pumped it back up to 60psi. Before I put the wheel back, I decided to clean out the cassette a bit, too. It was gross. I can now see why Cassidy recommends wearing gloves while attempting to do this on your way to work or some other "fancy" location. 

Finally, with a few finger-pinching and knuckle-gouging attempts, I "eased" the wheel back into place. Again, it was much harder to get the bolts tightened down without a socket wrench but I managed. So far, it's held air although the tire is still on backwards (I may bring it into Practical Cycle before the rains show up to have this fixed) and after riding the bike a bit, I noticed that the brake might be rubbing a bit. I've heard that disc brakes are supposed to be easier to adjust but I haven't had that experience.  

And I did it all in a skirt...which is now pretty filthy...but I did it! 

I was on Twitter this evening and saw an article @Cyclelicious had posted regarding a 90-year old driver who "accidentally" pushed the gas pedal instead of the brake, drove up the sidewalk and pinned two 6-year-old children, at least one of whom is in critical condition. I used the word "accidentally" in quotations, not because I think he injured the children maliciously but because I feel that when you take the wheel of a 2000-pound+ killing machine, you are fully responsible for your actions and any resulting destruction. I truly, truly hate to see any crash described with the words "driver lost control of the car" as an explanation for deaths and injuries the driver caused. There are no car accidents, this is the carnage that happens daily because we live in a car-centric culture that puts these vehicles' value over the lives of children. It disgusts me. 

Sadly, these stories are often brushed aside without a second glance. However, right after I was on Twitter, I quickly popped over to FaceBook and the very first photo I see is a friend who had driven passed the scene of the very same crime, complete with SUV still parked against the storefront. She captioned it with this: 

The hard part was the following comments to the photos. 

It just hurts my heart to know how desensitized we have become. I know that these are good people and I have nothing against them. It's just that this is exactly how our society sees car-carnage, it's just a part of our lives. Nothing to see here, move along, go get cupcakes--I hear they fix everything. This is why nothing is going to get better, we don't even see a problem. Children are killed every single day by car drivers (not the cars themselves, they don't magically run into people on their own, mind you). More children die at the hands of someone at the wheel than guns, cancer, murder, disease, and yet nothing makes the front page of the news. Nothing shocks us enough to realize that we need to get these things off the roads. Even the AAP doctor's ridiculous rant against carrying children on bikes acknowledges that a car is the MOST DANGEROUS place to have your infant (even restrained). Even this misguided woman hits right to the point with her very last word: “Get everybody to walk to school, get traffic-free streets — they’ve done that in some communities, ‘no cars on this street.’”

While I try to keep my postings fairly positive, today this hit me harder than I was expecting. The good thing is that as soon as I needed uplifting, I reread Dorie from Hum Of The City's latest post about fear. Dorie is a car-free mama as well who was run over by a driver months ago. She has been painfully and slowly recovering but explains perfectly why she is still getting around by bike. Read it, she is incredible. (You have no excuse, I've linked to it four times. And you can find it here: http://humofthecity.com/2013/10/16/the-only-thing-we-have-to-fear/). 

School and back and school and back--this seems to be our life many days. Today, I tested out my new Smart Wool leggings. Whereas the Muk Luk leggings were soft and floppy, the Smart Wool ones were snug (almost to a fault) and a bit scratchy. However, Smart Wool has a much tighter weave that seems to be more durable and the Muk Luks are waiting to be returned to REI. I might try Ice Breaker next because I hear they have a gussetted crotch, handy for bike riding. While they're not cheap, I've seen some on sale for around $35 (but usually range from $60-100). Again and again, I have to keep the term "investment" in my head. I did snag my tights today with my ring but it doesn't seem to be spreading. 

Speaking of investments, I have another couple bike expenses planned out. One is for the Linus's rear wheel. After breaking 4 spokes and getting them replaced again, I ended up with a severely wobbly wheel. It got to be so bad that if I pedaled it, the wheel became self-perpetuating and started rolling faster and faster. The poor Linus has been out of commission for months now because I was too scared to ride it. Finally, I brought it in to Tim at Practical Cycle. I debated getting a new wheel but all the Nexus hubs I could find had coaster brakes and I'm not going that route. Tim is respoking the wheel now (turns out another 2-3 spokes had broken off). I can't wait to get her riding again. 

Next, I'm meeting with the awesome folks behind Carsick Designs, Brian and Monica, to discuss making a custom set of bags for the Mundo. My experience with the Yuba designed bags has been less than positive. I'm on my second set of Baguette bags because my original ones fell apart. I will admit that I've never had any problem getting them warrantied but it's been frustrating to replace like with like. Even though the Baguettes were designed to fit with the Peanut Shell, I haven't had much luck getting them to stay attached properly without getting in the way of everyone's feet (and there are lots of feet to get in the way!). I have a Go-Getter from when I was able to fit one behind the Peanut Shell but since the PS has been moved to the rear position, it has been useless (and it was also replaced due to tearing at the bottom). All the bags are virtually brand-new as I have been reluctant to use them. My opinion is that the bags are too fancy and the quality is lacking. The areas that need to be focused on are the buckles and hangers, instead they put money into making them insulated and included a laptop sleeve (which I have never and would never use). I emailed Yuba with my thoughts but never heard back. 

I'm looking forward to getting some Freeloader-esq bags ala Stacy and Sara. It's a simple U-shaped bag with an open top that allows you to throw anything inside and cinch them down. Going with Carsick Designs means I get to choose the color and add extra little pockets as needed and I'm supporting an awesome local business that's known for it's quality and attention to detail. Seriously, check out their gorgeous bags! 

Final news of the day, Big Brother was a huge pill on the way home from school. He was tired and hungry and I didn't feel comfortable letting him ride home. Thank goodness for the Mundo's Bread Basket (by the way, I feel that Yuba does an incredible job with their metal fabrications--cloth, not so much). 

Today's outfits:

Old shirt, old skirt, random tights (I'm so good at fashion...).

But then I found my old motorcycle gear at my parents' house. It was pretty flipping hot to ride home in (not the helmet, that was too dusty). It's giving me great Halloween ideas....

Oh, and I got to ride an EdgeRunner. More on that, soon.

Safety first!!!

Turns out that riding my bike a lot leads me to wearing out my clothes at a quicker rate than before. My usual outfit of jeans and t-shirts is losing it's steam. I'm down to one pair of jeans that hasn't worn through the crotch and knees and most of my t-shirts are black with bicycles on them. It's getting harder and harder for me to find something to wear each morning. Also, jeans and cotton t-shirts just aren't going to cut it as the weather starts to change. However, I'm also steadfast in my decision to stop buying into our disposable clothing culture. I can't justify a cute top that was made by a worker in dismal conditions who can't afford to feed their family. 

So, I'm on the hunt for sturdy, quality clothing that isn't directly linked to deadly factory conditions. Oh right, and it also has to be within our budget. We've been lucky that many of our friends have boys and have been willing to pass along boy stuff for us and we're excited to return the favor and pass down our baby clothing to the next-in-line. However, clothing for me has not been as forthcoming. Now I'm on the lookout for hand-me-downs from strangers ala thrift stores. Truthfully, I suck at thrift shopping. I'm much better at donating things because I love to get rid of anything I can. Thrift stores kind of creep me out and they take so much concentration to look through every rack to find the one gem in between all the velour jumpsuits and scratchy sweaters. However, one of my dear friends built up an entire closetful of adorable and flattering outfits as well as snagging multiple Icebreaker tops. It's time for me to try harder. My Twitter-friends who live in Portland and Seattle rave about the benefits of wool--how it keeps you warm even when it's wet, it's classy, and holds up to the rigors of biking. 

It's time for a change! My dear friend was nice enough to distract my monsters WHILE pulling a few skirts off a rack for me. I ended up with two cute skirts! One is going to be perfect for biking in all weather--quick dry for rain and airy for the summertime. The second skirt was wool and I decided to take the advice of my rainforest-living bike friends. It's a pencil skirt, very classy but "dry clean only." For the first time in my life, I brought something to the dry cleaners (feeling horrible about taking the plastic cover because he didn't want to take it off when I picked it up. I'll know better next time). ALSO for the first time in my life, I had something tailored! They sewed an 8.5" slit up the side of my skirt, just enough to make it bike-able. For less than $20, I now have a lovely, functional skirt. I'm so proud of myself--such adult things to do! 

Most recently, I did buy some rubber boots and wool or wool-like tights. One was from Smartwool and the other two were Muk Luks, they were all on sale from REI. Unfortunately, I worm the Muk Luks today and the pattern was already unravelling. They'll be going back soon. However, overall, I was pretty excited about my new look. 

As soon as we're on the road with our groceries, I see Little Brother sneaking out our food.

It was nice to be able to see what he was up to and not be worried about him choking on the wrapper. Plus one for bike-parenting!

Right?

I turn around for one second and this is what happens! 

Someone is certainly comfortable with the Bullitt! Also goes to show how stable the kickstand is (on flat, level ground). Silly kid! (and yes, he bucked his helmet before we rode off)

Today, I got a message from my friend Dan who owns Headwaters Kayak in Lodi. He was home with the kiddos today and was wondering if we wanted to go for a ride. Since my only other plans involved chauffeuring Big Brother to and from school and possibly finally getting around to vacuuming, I jumped at the chance! As soon as BB with done with school, I scooped him up and we met Dan and his munchkins at East Portal Park to make our way up the American River Parkway to Hagan Park. Any good parent knows that every bike ride should begin and end with a playground, right? 

Dan had brought up his Cycle Truck--one of John Lucas's newest designs with a bi-partible frame and fancy laser-cut name plates. Dan helped build it up with fancy components and big, squishy tires to ensure a smooth ride for Munchkin #2. 

Dan's Munchkin #1 sits perched next to his sister who sleeps peacefully while strapped into the car-seat that's been Thule strapped down. Amazingly, Munchkin #1 stays calm enough and can follow directions well so there's not much worry about him sliding around. My fear with the Cycle Trucks for my kiddos was that they wouldn't sit still without being bungeed to the floor (*ahem* Little Brother *ahem*). Dan hasn't found that to be an issue at all. 

With about 90% of the ride being along the American River Parkway, it was a really relaxing trip. I wanted to make sure I could keep up with Dan's crew so I pushed myself to go faster that I might normally go on a casual afternoon ride. It felt awesome! 

Off the bike, the boys had a blast running around the playground and the wee Munchkin was an adorable squishy bundle of sweetness. 

Not one person complained about getting back in the bikes, especially when we decided to put all the boys in one Bullitt basket so they could continue their playtime. 

The boys were so incredibly entertaining. It was especially nice to be able to give them the freedom to play but still be able to keep an eye on their shenanigans. 

It was also great training for our upcoming Summer 2014 Tour De Whine & Chocolate! Whew! My legs were screaming by the end of the ride. 

Of course, at the other end of the ride, we needed more playground time so we hung out at EPP for a bit longer until Dan had to go home to make his lovely wife some homemade spaghetti sauce. Seriously. After 20 miles of kid-hauling, I was ready for a nap. Turns out that I wasn't the only one...

As a final note, even though the 20-mile ride was pretty tiring and I was certainly not in the mood to do anything this evening, since I'm nearing the end of working out to Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, I finally forced myself to get up and move. About a 1/3 of the way through the 20 minute workout, I was dripping with sweat and realized how happy I was that I hadn't let myself be a slug this evening. I often have people tell me how awesome it is that I ride my bike and how I must not ever have to workout. However, I've found out that I do need to continue to push myself. I don't ride my bike like a racer, it's just transportation. With my summer trip coming up, I want to make sure that I'm strong enough to carry the kids longer distances each day on my own and with gear. Using biking as my sole form of exercise had not been enough and I'm glad that I caught it before my fitness level had slipped more than it already has. Jillian bugs me like none other but with my tunes cranked up it's not so bad. I have to admit that I am getting stronger.