See this gorgeous baby above? Don't let those sweet-doe eyes fool you, this kid is pure maniacal genius. Never before have I known a child as sure of himself as Little Brother. He amazes me every day, especially with his jaw-dropping Strider bike talent. However, I'm pretty sure that every time we go out, he gives me about 20 new grey hairs. I can see why some people would hang up the towel and prefer to keep their child indoors. 

This afternoon, the boys woke up pretty crabby from their nap so I suggested that we go out for a little bike ride before papa came home. I clipped a light to Little Brother's jacket and hooked up Big Brother's to his bike. I only got one photo of our short walk because the majority of the time, I was chasing after the little one at full tilt because he so fast. Big Brother knows to stop at corners and to look out for nearby cars, Little Brother doesn't. I was especially on guard because it was just about dusk and people were coming home from work. At one point, Big Brother crashed when he slid onto the grass and got his wheel stuck in the gap next to the sidewalk. As I screamed for Little Brother to stop, I began to panic as he got farther and farther away while Big Brother was still on the ground trying to pick himself up. I almost had to make the decision whether to leave BB and run after LB or risk having LB cross the street or turn a corner. I scarcely got BB up before I had to take off at full speed to barely catch the little monster (which I say with love) who cackled the whole time. The kid had gotten almost an entire block away from me. It was terrifying. We had a good 2-year-old appropriate talk about stopping when I say stop and why he can't get too far ahead of me. Luckily, Big Brother hadn't been hurt and had ridden along with my frantic chase.

Shortly after the talk, LB somehow got in front of Big Brother and me again and as he neared a curb, he very lazily started to skid to a stop but kept getting closer and closer to the edge as a truck sped up to the cross street's stop sign. I screamed again and my heart stopped for a second. This time, I scooped up my biker boy along with his Strider (thank goodness it's a light bike!) and carried him the rest of the .5 mile home as he screamed and kicked. Trying to explain that his freedom to ride hinges on his ability to listen to directions is difficult. He understands but I don't know how to get him to follow through. I think we're going to be doing a lot of red-light, green-light practice bike rides in the near future. I would love some advice from others who have taught their free-spirited children about bike safety. Big Brother tends to follow instructions better and it probably helped that when he was a crazy 2-year-old, we only had to focus on him. Now that my attention is split between the two kids, it's a lot more nerve-wracking. 

One more bummer of the short ride, Big Brother's new Planet Bike 1-watt light was broken in the fall. Considering how minimal the fall was--a slow skid down, how short the distance that it fell was, and the fact that the mount/light didn't even hit the ground, it's pretty disappointing. The two thin strips of plastic that slide into the mount sheered right off. I've sent an email in to Planet Bike and am hopeful because they are into refurbishing and replacing worn out parts instead of creating a product that needs to be thrown away entirely. 

Continuing with our monthly Kidical Mass rides, November was our cargo bike food bank run to support Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. We got a few bins to place around the downtown area and asked participants to bring a donation. Unfortunately, the bins didn't get much attention, however, our riders certainly made up for it! 

We met up in front of Practical Cycle and took advantage of their great big grassy area across the street. Our friend, Jarrod of 8legs2wheels.com, showed up with coffee that had been donated from Old Soul. People started trickling over, meeting one another, and checking out some of the awesome rigs. 

Monica, of Carsick Designs, got some great photos of some of the individual cargo bikes and the ride that you can view here. 

Just before we headed off, I climbed up my Mundo and did our guideline rundown: 

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 road.
5. Share the road, avoid the door zone.
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!

We had walkie talkies to help keep everyone together and with 62 counted riders, it was incredibly helpful! 

Our ride was an easy 2.7 miles through downtown to Edible Pedal, where the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services' truck would come pick up the donations. We stopped a couple of times to gather everyone back up after getting spaced out between red lights, but everything went smoothly. 

We collected 3 big bins of food and warm clothing! I think this is going to become a regular event and we already have begun figuring out ways to increase and improve the ride. I realized too late that it would be good to bring a bin to our local food co-op to gather donations and hand out flyers. We would also continue the ride all the way to the food bank next time. More advertising and outreach is needed to fill the bins ahead of time, as well. 

After the ride, Little Brother hitched a ride home in Neil's Nihola and we learned that a trike with reachable wheels is not a good idea for children as curious as him. He did have a blast and only minimally terrorized his little friend. 

It was a beautiful day for a ride and so much fun to meet so many new family bikers and catch up with our friends. If anything, the huge increase in ridership from these last two rides shows that Sacramento is a prime location for family biking and these rides are both needed and wanted. As long as we can grow comfortably and in control, our Kidical Mass rides are going to be quickly established into Sacramento biking culture (which will hopefully lead to Sacramento general culture, too). 

My last post was a photo journal of the quick trip I took to Quebec. While it is an amazing place, I certainly didn't have nearly enough time to thoroughly check it out. The weather was surprisingly lovely--crisp and mostly clear, although the rain picked up on our last evening in town. I walked around a fair amount but since we only had one free day during the conference, I was pretty limited. I did manage to reach a fellow cargo biker (car-free, in fact!) through the (R)evolutions Per Minute FaceBook page but because he was farther out of town than my schedule would allow for, I wasn't able to meet up with him and his locally built bakfiets. I did manage to find the bike shop that people had recommended, Velos Roy-O, but alas, it was closed on Sundays! I had to settle for watching longingly at all the riders going by. 

Now that I'm back home and almost back to the land of the living with all the illnesses that have been raging around the family, I'm ready to get back to my bike(s)! 

Today, there was a forecast of about 70-90% chance of rain and in typical Sacramento fashion, nothing materialized except a few tiny sprinkles. The boys were waiting for rain with their raincoats that proved to be totally useless today. At least we're ready when it finally happens (hopefully...). We still don't have a rain cover for the Bullitt and I think I'm just trying to see how long we can go without it. I know that I'll be kicking myself in a month or two, though. However, last year, we did just fine with the boys on the Mundo in rain gear. 

The little guys each rode their own bikes to Big Brother's school while I jogged and walked alongside them on the sidewalk. I was so proud of Big Brother when he stopped before a driveway and waited for me because the truck parked in it was idling. Little Brother, being Little Brother and only 2.5 years old, is more of a challenge to keep in control. It's great when they ride together because Big Brother is a great teacher and really helps to set a good example. 

An update on the Tour de Whine & Chocolate: we changed cell phone carriers to Credo, a company known for progressive activism and happens to offer unlimited data for on-the-go website updates. Also, a hugely exciting development, we got two new sleeping bags for the kiddos! Deuter offers two amazing kids' sleeping bags: Little Star for Little Brother-sized children and Starlight for Big Brother-sized ones. These bags are each over a pound lighter than the adult-sized bags we've been packing for the kids and much, much smaller when rolled up. The bags both have an extra panel that extends as the children grow but for now, provides extra toe warmth. The boys are thrilled to each have their own special bag and I am really excited about giving the bags their first test run soon. Since the weather has finally shifted and although it's staying relatively warm during the day, nighttime falls to about 35-40 degrees. I'm wondering if a cabin or KOA would be a good way to go. Also necessary for winter will be a sleeping pad for extra insulation. In the warmer months, we got by with just letting the boys sleep on the ground since they're small and don't wake up stiff like us old folks. 

I need to start thinking about our next bike overnight as it's been too long since our last one. My goal is to start hitting some of the hills around town (ha!) with the bike loaded down to start getting the strength needed for longer days with real hills. Good thing we have a few days off next week! As long as we stay healthy, I think we'll be on the road. 

I have a plan! Next summer is going to be the first summer in 5 years that we didn't have anything scheduled so I've now made something up--the Tour De Whine And Chocolate. I promise that it will involved lots and lots of whining and chocolate. 

Bike touring is my passion. I haven't had much experience with it, yet, but I dream of pedaling off one day and seeing where I end up a long time later. So far, I've been able to squeeze in an overnight every so often and the longest trip I've taken was when Big Brother was just 10-months-old, 600 miles around Oregon. I decided that this summer was going to involve dragging my children along on an epic bike journey. While trying to figure out where we were going to go, I started thinking about places I've been wanting to visit and people I've been wanting to see. Since I've been doing a few little trips here and there with the kiddos, I've realized that it really helps to have lots of people to help manage them after a long day of riding. After talking (twittering) with some folks, I think we have a general route set up that involves lots of stops at places we want to hang out and meeting other folks who will hopefully join us for sections along the way. 

The plan: Jose will help us get up to the Eugene-ish area of Oregon. He only has a few days off so he'll probably just ride a little ways and take the train home. We'll head North, just as we did on our trip with Big Brother, stopping in Portland for a few days. Then, we'll be on our way to Seattle to hang out a couple of days and pick up some other mama-bikers (papas are welcome, too!) and heading North again. I'd like to reach Vancouver, just to say we biked to Canada (and also to explore the area and meet some other folks along the way). I have family in Victoria, BC that I'd love to stay with and get a chance to thoroughly indulge in their biking infrastructure. We'll take the ferry back to Seattle and catch Amtrak home. It sounds like we can fit *most* of the Mundo in an Amtrak bike box. We have about two months to do it all. 

My idea is that we'll keep the number of miles fairly low--30-50 per day so that I can still be a functional parent after we've finished riding. On the trip I did with Big Brother to Chico, we learned that it's not a good idea to push ourselves. No one has fun when we're all exhausted. I'd like the boys to have a good time, too, so playgrounds, campsites, and other great off-the-bike activities will be incorporated each day. Having other people to hang out with after riding will be a big help, as well. Our trips staying with warmshowers hosts have been fantastic experiences. 

I'm really excited about planning and training. Since I'll be lugging around two children as well as our gear, I really want to plan efficiently. We have most of the things we'll need already but I'd like to upgrade our sleeping bags for something smaller and lighter. I need to learn how to prepare wholesome meals on the bike so we don't lose steam. The hills will be the hardest, of course, so I need to start working on my strength and stamina. 

If you have any suggestions on route options or gear, please let me know. I'm glad we have quite some time to get ready! I feel that if we can accomplish an epic adventure like this, we'll be able to do anything! 

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...

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. 

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! 

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!

Today was the first day of a new routine in our lives. Two weeks ago, our daycare provider told me that she was closing on the 28th. My heart sunk as I started researching new daycares and preschools, I realized that we couldn't afford my job at Practical Cycle anymore. Turns out, we had been paying about 1/4 of what standard places charge and there was no way for us to balance out a regular job with the cost of child care. So, as of yesterday, I'm back to being a stay-at-home mom for the first time in a year. 

On top of this big transition in our lives, Big Brother's new school make for a crazy juggling schedule, Jose's new evening classes mean I'm in charge of all night-time duties four days a week, and my folks left town for the next month and a half so we've got easy access to a car (and a cat) for that time. It all makes for a whirlwind of emotions and activities. However, great change brings about new opportunities and right now, I feel like there are many out there for me. There will be more time for me to plan bike trips, more time for writing, and most importantly, more time to spend with my family. 

While I am really going to miss my Practical Cycle family, I am looking forward to being able to still be a part of the shop in different ways. I've learned so much about bikes and bike shops from these guys, I am so grateful for the experience they've given me this past year. 

I also have some contracted days with the Safe Routes To School program in one of the local school districts and Sacramento Kidical Mass is gearing up to be a regularly scheduled ride each 4th Saturday of the month. 

Finally, bike overnights are coming back into our lives! We're starting up by squeezing one into August so we don't miss another month. This next one is going to be a doozy! Wish us luck! The boys and I head out tomorrow...