Last week was exhausting. I ended up driving to work more days (have I mentioned that I have a car sitting out front for the next month while my parents are away?). The 38 mile days were getting to me and the boys were both up frequently through the nights as they were both still feeling the effects of their colds. The incident with the van driver really threw me off, too. One of my readers sent me a message with some info based on the email address on the van, along with all the great online support from other bike riders, which gave me the confidence to report the guy to the police. They took my report seriously and sent an officer to my house to document the "assault." I wish I had had more information about the guy or the van but I reported what I could. Thanks, awesome community! 

Since my boys couldn't go on the Gibson Ranch Kidical Mass Overnight last weekend, I had told them that I'd take them when they could. Another of our friends couldn't make it with his son, either, so they joined us. They'd never been bike camping before. 

Our friends took the HaulaDay, which is a fantastic cargo bike for newbies because it fits everyone with its OSATA adjustments, light weight, and easy maneuverability (however, my friend did manage to drop with kids on the back on his first attempt but they were on the grass so it didn't count. Everyone drops a kid now and again). 

I took two of the kids' bikes along with much of the other gear because the Bullitt is way too easy to overpack. Now that I have the Cycle Truck Caddyrack, my cargo capacity has doubled! It's so easy to tow bikes. 

Big Brother was forced to ride on his own because I ran out of room for him on the bike and because I thought he could. The route is mostly bike trail, except for the first four miles and last 2 miles. 

Once we were on the bike trail, our friend's son got on his bike, too. This was his longest ride and he did really well! There are quite a few intersections along the Northern Bike Trail (which is probably why it's not too popular with the roadies). Both boys on solo bikes did a great job on listening to my directions and making good judgements while they were riding. 

It took us about 4 hours to get to Gibson Ranch. We were told to set up in the grass around the cabins. It was nice and grassy but a little close to the cabins and their occupants for my liking. 

The boys had a fantastic time riding around the site and the playground. After dinner we ran around in the dark until the boys passed out. I was exhausted about 4 hours before they finally were. 

In the morning, we packed up fairly quickly, as quickly as one can with children present (we finally left around 9:45am). One of those children decided he was hungry every 30 seconds and we ran out of food. 

None of the boys wanted to ride on their own and since I hadn't really planned on carrying Big Brother, I had to do some quick (relative to me) thinking to arrange everything between the two cargo bikes--three bikes, three boys, everyone's camping gear, and all the toys. 

It was a long, hot 17 miles back home but we managed to get there at about a 7mph pace--just about half our arrival time! It is great to know there is such a convenient bike overnight, especially for having the kiddos ride much of it on their own. The last .5 to Gibson Ranch is on a busy stretch of road without much shoulder. There are many "Share The Road" signs but it is still unnerving, especially for less-experienced riders. Our friend's kid was back to sitting on the HaulaDay deck by that time on our arrival while Big Brother, who has more road riding experience, rode on the street with us in traffic. On the way home, he was too tired to navigate and maneuver that same stretch of road back to the trail so I was glad he had chosen to hitch a ride. 

Another successful camping trip! During this busy time, I'm so glad to have been able to escape for a few days and get in some rejuvenating adventure. 

I'm looking forward to our next bike trip! 

We had another wonderful Kidical Mass ride, a park-to-park jaunt with about 20 of us. While I was a bit nervous that no one else would show up, suddenly, a hoard of awesome looking bikes pulled up. It was a great group of mostly regulars and a new father-son duo with an awesome Weehoo. We got to check out Melissa's new Follow-Me-Tandem and test out our Bullitt-train. Somer's son also had his zippy Isla Bike that he's been tearing up--in fact, he just learned how to skid. As we rode the 2 miles, Jarrod and his family showed up and tagged along. 

Have I mentioned too many times that this month has been flying by? I managed to squeak out my May Is Bike Month goal by hitting my (personally) modest goal of 250. The boys are nowhere near their pledges of 100, though. We're doing our best and riding when we can so that's good enough for me. 

I've been thinking lately about how lucky I am to have children who love to ride. Big Brother's biking skills have progressed so incredibly. He's scanning over his shoulder like a pro and working on using his hand signals as he rides. Today, I made the mistake of offering lemonade when we got home and he got so excited that he started to lose control. Amazingly, he was able to hop off the bike and keep it upright enough to come to a stop without biffing it. This is probably at least 75% of what we teach our 5th grade classes in the bicycle education programs (minus the attempted biffings). 

Speaking of bicycle education programs, this is the result of the hard work and dedication that the NNTMA has put into their Ride Smart programs and May Is Bike Month encouragement. More bicycles and trailers showed up at the end of the day as parents came to pick up their children. Put some money into an alternative transportation management association and look at all the rewards a community gets! I love teaching the bicycle and pedestrian classes!  

And then speaking of teaching, last week, I made a major decision to pull back away from working part-time at Practical Cycle and invest my time and energy in the classroom and on the bike. Although I love being apart of the wonderful team at PC, I wanted to be on a more flexible schedule that allows me to be doing what I feel I'm best at: riding a bike and teaching others to do the same. 

And I get to spend more time with this awesome kiddo, too. 

I feel like I alternate between minimalism and gimmie! gimmie! when it comes to my relationship with stuff. Our home isn't fancy, the boys have a couple of Ikea buckets worth of toys, and there's not a lot of clutter choking up our lives. However, when it comes to gear, that's a whole other story. In the past week or so, my gear collection has grown and I'm thoroughly enjoying each piece. 

Wind Blox: the lovely folks at Wind Blox have been interested in expanding to create a set that works for children's helmets as well and I've been complaining that it's difficult to hear the kiddos because of the wind. 

The three of us each have a set now (and I was so grateful that the divvying up went so easily). So far, I've realized that it's a pretty subtle difference because there is still wind, however, I can hear the surrounding noises clearer--birds, child chatter, vehicles, the rockin' tunes, etc. I feel like we haven't been screaming "What?" back and forth to each other as often. One of my other issues has been that my ears get really sore from the constant wind and that hasn't been bothering me lately. Anytime I'm unsure if they're doing anything, I just pull them away a bit to double check and the wind blast comes right back. I want to try them out with a road-bike style helmet to see if that changes anything because as you can see in the photo above, the angle of the Nutcase straps leaves an extra gap. 

Touring gear: I had a couple of gift cards to use up, one for REI, and it just happened that their anniversary sale popped up. I snagged some awesome stuff at REI and Campmor for less than $20 (after the cards). 

I'm hoping that the Thermarest is enough for the boys. I'm going to cut it in half for easier packing and the flexibility to move the boys around while sleeping. They're light enough to not need a thick pad to sleep on so this should give them enough support and insulation (and tough enough for them not to destroy it quickly). It was the irregular so it was even cheaper. The titanium cook set was on sale at REI, it's super light and comes with two pots and two frying pans/lids, all nestable in the mesh bag provided. It's a pretty tiny set, now that I've seen it in person, but I think it should be fine for the three of us for touring. I'll invest in something bigger (or thrift shop) for our group rides. The boys also scored some swim gear that's UV resistant so I think it will work double duty as bike wear, too. I'm still waiting on my Hydroflask to get here. Seriously, it's like it's Christmas around here--but better because I got to choose it all. 

Piccolo: 

BAM! And you thought the Bullitt couldn't get any more intimidating! Our friend, Melissa, found this on Craigslist and spread the word via Sac Kidical Mass's Facebook page. It's an 8+ year old Burley Piccolo that I got for a super good deal (by the way, these things really hold their value but you have to make sure it wasn't part of the recall that happened a couple years ago). It would have been a piece of cake to install, even with the disc brakes because I already had an adapter from the last rack. Unfortunately, once I tightened it all down, I realized I needed a couple extra washers on one side and had stripped out a couple of the bolts and the whole rack was on too tight to get it all to fit back together properly. Fifteen extra painful minutes and a handful of swearing later, it was finally back on as it should be (and will never come off again because the bolts are all stripped now). 

We all took it for a spin this afternoon and we are all loving it! It's so much more stable than the Afterburner that we tried out. Big Brother loves that he can change the gears and work at different levels (although the gears need adjusting, maybe a new cable). I can really feel the help, especially as he gets to the higher gears. I'm hoping to get a couple extra racks so we can swap the Piccolo back and forth between a few of our bikes, maybe even my dad's. 

Finally, something even better than stuff, EXPERIENCES! Join us tomorrow at Tahoe Park at 4:30pm for our next Kidical Mass ride! We have another ride scheduled for the 31st to complete our crazy Month O'Kidical Masses

We finally made it out to the famous Breakfast Club rides that meet every few weeks over at Edible Pedal. This Sunday, they had arranged to ride over to a local farm, Hanks Hens & All Things Good in Rio Linda. It was about a 13 mile ride from the shop and it started around 8am. This morning, it was especially rough getting out of the house. There were missing shoes, sleepy children, a sick Jose. We finally got rolling at 7:55am and Jose had to turn back a few blocks in because he realized he couldn't make it. As we pulled up, sure that we had missed all the fun, we were greeted by John of Edible Pedal who kindly told us the rest of the group was just next door lounging around in Old Soul. 

There ended up being about 20-30 others on the ride, most of whom I had seen on other rides or knew of through mutual bikey friends. They were very welcoming of our crazy Bullitt-mobile and kidlets. Our ride was mainly along the Sacramento Northern bike trail and was kept at a nice, casual pace--not slow but not overwhelming to keep up with, even with our loaded bike. We had a great time chatting with the gang and enjoying the peaceful morning. 

We turned off the trail and were suddenly at a little farm, just a few blocks away. There were chickens running around and mama sheep with their lambs checking us out. This was where the real fun began. Our hosts were extremely welcoming and had set out tables and chairs, chatting and showing us around as everyone settled in. Food was pulled out of panniers and began to adorn the tables. A few of the riders fired up their stoves and within minutes, yummy things were sizzling--bacon, chimichurri rice, eggs, poached eggs in salsa, veggies with steak--it was a feast! The boys were thrilled to be running around, free from the bike for a little while. 

After everyone was sufficiently stuffed, our hosts took us on a tour of the farm. They have a great greenhouse with veggies sprouting up everywhere and seven little lambs, all less than a month old. The boys even got to bottle-feed one of the triplets! 

Just as the kids were starting to lose their marbles, the group was ready to head back. The wind had picked up and, of course, it was a headwind the whole way back--except for the times it was blustering from the side. Because we had the cover, the boys were nice and warm but we were struggling to cut through the gusts. 

Besides the wind, we got some heavy misty showers but since the boys were warm and I was sweating, it didn't matter. Little Brother started fussing on the way home but fell asleep shortly after their fight over the water bottles. 

We had a wonderful 30 mile day today that ended peacefully--it helps to eat well on a long day. I'm already looking forward to our next Breakfast Club ride and starting to think of ways I can step up my cooking skills and show up with something better than baguettes. 

We're fine! The crash did no lasting damage and I wasn't even very sore the next day. I haven't replaced the cover on the Bullitt, yet, but it's been 70 degrees this week and there's been no need. I still get a knot in my stomach each time I ride next to a parallel crack but I'm hoping that will dissipate over time. 

Since nothing else of note happened this week, here are some photos to catch you up. 

Big Brother's transitional kindergarten class has tricycles. I hate tricycles almost as much as I hate training wheels, especially for five-year-olds. Little Brother has found the joys of pedaling and has been trying to master the giant, horrible trikes though. 

However, he has also figured out a much more appropriate use for these things. We call it "triking." (Not really, I just thought of that right now)

In other news, last time I changed the Mundo's rear flat, I learned that that Mundo multi-tool, made by Mike Cobb of Antload, was the wrong size. I contacted Mike who immediately got back to me and confirmed that I wasn't crazy, there have been some v.4 Mundos that have a 19mm rear axel nut instead of the standard 18mm. Mine happened to be one of those. Unfortunately, Mike had been away from his shop and wouldn't be back until January. It's January and guess what's on it's way! He's also sending one to our friend, Lamaia, who rocks an orange Mundo in town--she had had the same recent discovery. 

Finally, in my preparation for our Whine & Chocolate Epic Bike Adventure, I've been gathering up our gear. I picked up a couple of the few things we need to add to our collection from Campmor at a heavy discount--a new Thermarest for me and a cookset. After much searching, I found this GSI "cook system." I had read the specifications as saying you could cook in the mugs. When it showed up, it was obvious that you can't, they're plastic. It's a really great set: large pot with straining lid, two insulated mugs with sippy lids, two bowls, two foldable sporks, and a carry-all bag that doubles as a sink. I am hoping to get a set that has at least one pot and frying pan. Since Campmor doesn't have free returns, I'm hoping to sell it. If you're interested, let me know. It's brand new with the box, super light and compact. 

On to a three-day weekend with few plans! 

Today was our first real crash on a cargo bike that was moving. I've dropped both bikes a few times when getting on/off or while walking with it. They've always been slow and controlled falls, no damage to anyone or the bikes. The last time I was hurt on a bike was the incident last year with Zorro, although Jose took down the Bullitt on his first attempt out (no kids, thankfully) and that damaged the box a bit.

I've always told people that if you're going to go down, it's most likely going to be in one of the scenarios that we've experienced already. Those falls aren't so scary once you've gone through one or two. However, today, we were moving fairly quickly and I went down pretty hard but, as crashes go, it still wasn't that bad.

We had taken the long way home along the bike trail and after going through Old Sac, Big Brother wanted to ride along the promenade to see the sparkly cement. I agreed because they had been so accommodating the whole ride and Little Brother was fast asleep. To get up the ramp, I had to maneuver across a set of parallel train tracks. The whole time, I was being extra cautious about crossing them with my wheel at an angle so as not to get stuck (parallel cracks/edges are one of the top causes of solo falls, and solo falls are the top cause of injury to bicycle riders). The first track was fine and I thought I had turned my front wheel enough to get over the second--I hadn't. I knew as soon as I felt the first rumble of my wheel that I was going down. I have no idea what hit the ground or anything beyond my roll off the bike.

The boys stayed in the box because we had our weather protector on but neither was buckled so they both got tossed around. Big Brother fell across Little Brother (who was awoken) but neither was hurt or even very shaken up. There were no tears, no anger, no fear and I think it was helpful that I was staying calm so they didn't freak out. It was also our luck that we weren't in traffic or had to worry about any outside danger, we could pick ourselves us slowly and asses the damage. 

I had rolled off the bike pretty gracefully, if I do say so myself (my dad might have another version since he was right behind us). My wrist is sore, I have a few weird aches and pains but no bruises that I've found, yet. I didn't hit my head. The only thing I can't explain is that the tip of my left ring finger has a numb feeling. I may find some new things tomorrow, I'm certainly feeling more sore and more grumpy now that it's been a few hours.

Our poor Bullitt shows some damage. Sadly, most of the damage has to do with our new weather protector. The snap on the side was ground down (same thing happened when Jose went down), an unused mount that was screwed into the side tore out, the foot rest is scraped, and the front attachment for the cover came out.

We finally moved back indoors because the boys took a trip to the Bay Area to visit family. Jose borrowed my parents' car because it's such a hassle to bring kids and carseats and have to depend on the train/bus schedules and routes. So this weekend, it was just Zorro and me. I stayed in bed until 11:30am to compensate for the rough nights in the tent. 

Last week, our Blaq Designs weather protector arrived from Splendid Cycles! It is even more beautiful than I had imagined! It came minimally packaged with simple instructions so it was up within 10 minutes. 

The boys were so excited when they saw it! They couldn't quite figure out how to get in at first. Little Brother climbed through the back under than handlebars and took a header into the box before I could grab him. Big Brother was more cautious and waited until I unsnapped the side before he climbed in. One side is harder to clip in so we usually load/unload on the other side. 

Sadly, there hasn't been any real rain to protect the boys from but it is nice to have in the chilly/windy mornings. I even notice a difference on my hands since they're tucked under the roof. It's the perfect width to allow for turning, even including my mirror. 

One nice bonus is that it allows for extra cargo in the box without it falling over the sides. I like not worrying about the boys dropping things in the road, too. 

Today, I was spending the day giving lots of attention to our sweet doggie so we walked the 3 miles to the dog park for him to run around. Since my parents live close by and our Bullitt was still there from Jose picking up the car, I thought I'd try getting Zorro in the bike for his first time. Zorro is a very neurotic dog. He's a border collie mix with some PTSD from his previous life. We love him but he's nuts. Last time I tried to take him for a bike ride, it didn't end very well.

It took a lot of treats and encouragement for him to be willing to get inside the box and he wasn't ready to relax enough for a ride but he stayed inside while I walked the bike down the block. Because the cover was on, he kept trying to stick his face out the back opening. A few times, I could tell he wanted to bail but I kept him in with more treats. 

After our little walk, I realized we wouldn't be able to get all the way home like this so I turned back around and went back to my folks'. We got him to be able to jump in and out of the box on command (without the cover) but he still wouldn't relax enough to lay down and for me to trust him enough to ride with him. Overall, he did amazingly well for his first attempt! A few more boxes of treats and I think we'll be ready to move! 

We just finished another successful Kidical Mass. Despite it being winter (although 60 degrees still) and a night ride, we still had 42 riders come out to join in the fun! Riders met up at Coloma Community Center, which has a great big playground for the kiddos but sadly, no access to potties after-hours. There were trail-a-bikes, trailers, Xtracycles (and Sacramento's very first and only Cargo Joe!), Mundos, a Nihola, our Bullitt, Melissas Fr8, and two solo kiddos on Isla Bikes as well! Sacramento has such an awesome family bike culture! 

We rode up and down T st. with a few detours, covering about two miles. The sun went down as we were riding so it was imperative that all our riders were properly lit up--red in back, white up front. Many riders added extra holiday baubles, reflectivity, and glow sticks. We were quite visible! 

The ride went smoothly until towards the very end when my own child bit it big time when his bike got "too wobbly" and he went down hard. He was behind me so I just heard the thud and the subsequent wailing. I didn't see any blood or broken bones but he wasn't up for riding. I threw his bike over the Bullitt box and had him in the jump-seat. He cried most of the way back while I promised him cocoa and tried to distract him with the colorful lights. By the time we got back, passed out cocoa, and munched some sugary treats, Big Brother was fine. It was nothing a little rocket ship bandaid couldn't fix. He even biked back home on his own. 

We are very lucky that we live in such an easily bikeable climate. I was so impressed that we had another successful ride in December! Big Brother and I had a blast and are so grateful for all who came out this evening. Let's keep this Sac Kidical Mass ball rolling! 

Last year was an epic ride to chop down our own tree, our first Christmas-tree-by-bike adventure. It was 60ish miles, there was a donkey, a flat tire, and we finally got home well past dark. This year, we didn't try as hard. No one had the time or energy to have a repeat of last year so we found a lot closer--at Cal Expo, just off the bike trail! 

The only juggling that we had to do was figure out how to use both cargo bikes without Jose. We needed one bike for the kids and the other for the tree. It was obvious that I would ride the Bullitt because that's the hardest one to get used to. The Mundo rides like a regular bike and would be much easier for almost anyone to use. I got the children because they're a wibbly-wobbly mess of energy that also takes getting used to. My cousin, visiting from Canada and having just returned from biking back from San Francisco, volunteered for Christmas-tree-Mundo-duty. 

The boys were hungry so they took lunch to go. Big Brother's bike was strapped to the Mundo so he could ride after we got to the bike trail. 

It always seems to me that biking parents beget little biker kids and we are three generations of proof. 

Little Brother took a sweet little nap on the way over. He was bobbing so much that I finally unbuckled him and let him curl up on the Bullitt floor. 

The lot wasn't as beautiful as Jacob's Mini Farm and there wasn't a petting zoo but it was convenient and the trees were beautiful. We found ours in about 10 minutes and it took another five to strap it to the Mundo. 

I put the boys' blanket in the Carsick Designs Mondo Slings and used the crossing buckles to cinch it down. I added a bungee cord around the truck, just in case. It held up the rest of the way home. 

It might not have been as crazy an adventure as last year but it was just as fun. It's nice to know that we can still carry on our Christmas tree bike tradition without going to as much work. I don't think I'll miss the actual cutting down part as long as we always have wonderful company to ride with. I hope more people take advantage of this lot's easy access to the bike trail and start their own tree-by-bike tradition! 

We made it through the big cold spell without much bother. I'm pretty sure the drivers complained more about the cold than we did. I always think it's funny when people give us so much credit for riding around in the winter. After a few minutes of biking, I'm usually sweating. Drivers are the ones who have it rough--having to wait for the heater to kick on, taking off the kids' jackets to fit in the carseats, getting out of the car just as their bodies have adjusted to the warmth. Sounds like hard work to me! Riding certainly helps us keep the heat down in the house because we come in from the cold and it feels toasty warm already. 

Our California winter means that sometimes we have to dress like this: 

And sometimes like this: 

Sometimes we resort to this: 

Big Brother found a great way to keep his eyes from watering: 

We see this guy riding along our route home on the wrong side of the street and on the sidewalk. I keep wanting to ask him why he does it but I don't have the nerve. He has a nice bike, a Cannondale road bike, and he rides for at least 3 long blocks on roads with clear bike lanes. My guess is that he eventually makes a left turn and he doesn't want to do that across traffic. It's amazing to me the variation in comfort-levels people have while riding. I just want to scream at him "It's not legal and it's not safer on the sidewalk!" He's obviously not doing it to be a jerk but he's not helping the bikers-as-scofflaws perception people have.  

In other news, here's a chicken on a bike: 

And here is a toy that my children will NEVER have the joy of playing: 

Here is a crappy bike parking situation at the downtown Embassy Suites hotel (they had wanted me to park at the racks on the waterfront and I said "Heck no!": 

And finally, in case you were wondering how our bike commuting is going, here's Big Brother rocketing along on his Isla Bike. He actually hasn't been riding as often because our morning timing often puts us way behind schedule these days. Also, one day he refused to ride because I couldn't find his black gloves and only had his blue mittens. Joys of parenting.