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...

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...

Today was Big Brother's first day of Transitional Kindergarten. I can't believe how lucky we got when we found his school. It's a Spanish immersion program charter school that is less than a mile away from our house. The kindergarten lottery kept getting larger and larger, without increasing their enrollment. We found out they were starting a transitional kindergarten for 4-5 year olds and since Big Brother wasn't ready for kindergarten yet, I jumped at the chance. He was automatically accepted into the school and, therefore, is set for the next 9 years (so is Little Brother, too!). I am thrilled. 

In perfect Bustamante fashion, we loaded up our bikes this morning: myself on the BionX, Jose and Little Brother on the Bullitt, and Big Brother on his Fire Bike (a Specialized Hot Rod, 16" bike I got at a garage sale for $10--score!!). 

Before I get into how awesome Big Brother's school is and how much he learned today (in the 3.5 hours he was there), I'm going to rant about kids' bike options. 

You may recall that Big Brother had been rocking the Cupcake Bike previously. That was a 12" Performance bike that we were borrowing from a friend because the Fire Bike was too big for him. It was the perfect bike for him to learn on because it was small enough for him to control. It was awesome to see him move from the Strider to a pedal bike so quickly. Now that he's been growing a bit and getting more comfortable with riding, we wanted to test him out on the Fire Bike. Big Brother was a bit nervous at first because he could only put the tips of his toes on the ground but after a few rides, he was fine with it and very excited to be on his "big boy bike." 

However, now that I've been watching him ride, I'm noticing that this bike doesn't fit him any better. In fact, I think the Cupcake Bike might still be a better fit (even though it's about 15 lbs heavier and smaller). The Fire Bike may have bigger wheels but the frame geometry is ridiculous. The handlebars come up really high so they're either pinned against his chest or they're like ape-hangers. There is no way to adjust the handlebars so that he has secure control of his bike. The other big issue is that the crankarms for his Fire Bike are the exact same as the Cupcake Bike. This means that even though he is on tiptoe when he's stopped, he still can't get a full leg extension when he's riding. His knees are just as cramped as ever. 

Of course, none of this bothers Big Brother. He just cares that his bike is awesome and he's riding it like Mark Cavendish. I know that he's going to grow through bikes like crazy and it's a toss-up between getting something that's functional and not breaking the bank every year or two. I would be happy to invest in a light, easy to control kids' bike that he'll feel comfortable riding. Looking into Isla Bikes just might be the perfect answer. They have a wide array of sizes and some great looking bikes. Even their balance bike has a hand brake! I think I'm in love. 

As per Isla Bikes website:

Definitely something I'm going to be looking into. Look at these faces, how could I not want the best for them? Also, I hear that Isla Bikes also has a trade-up program. These guys know their market--us--serious biking families who can see quality as value! 

After dropping the big guy off at school, I rode to Practical Cycle for work while the remaining boy stayed home with Jose because he had a cough. I was so glad to have had the BionX today as riding home in this hot, muggy weather was no fun. Although, coming home to hear Big Brother recite Oso, Oso, Que Ves Ahi was the best ending to the day. He's been really hesitant about embracing Spanish and after one half-day at school, he's beaming and showing off his new language skills! (BTW, did you know that kids who walk or ride to school perform better?) 

I was disappointed to end July without having accomplished a bike overnight. I had been planning on doing one each month for the year but knew that July was going to be tricky. This is my busiest month with the exchange student program. I had been hoping I could still squeeze in a very short ride but never got to it. The exchange students are wonderful and although it's a crazy time with little downtime, I love it all the same. While I wanted to reach my goal, I'm not about to sacrifice the small amount of sanity I'm retaining. August will put me right back on track. 

Instead of dwelling on the lost month, I decided to recap what we've done so far this year.

• January: Big Brother and I rode to Chico (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4)! 
• February: Sacramento to Ione (day 1 and day 2)! 
• March: Our group camping trip to Negro Bar! 
• April: Riding to the local KOA with my mama! 
• May:  Anniversary trip to the Ryde Hotel (day 1 and day 2) and backyard camping! 
• June: Boys and I rode to Beal's Point! 

Even though I am dying for another overnight, it's been a blast running around with all these awesome kiddos. Big Brother and I just spent 4 days in Southern California with them, going to Hollywood, Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Santa Barbara. It was almost an entire week without a single bike ride! 

I'm sure we'll make up for it in August. Where shall we go next?  

I feel so American these days--rushed, busy, frantic, lazy, tired. I've been able to ride a few days during the program but I gave up a bit these last few days. We were hosting one of the students for a couple of nights and it's difficult to transport an extra person that you don't know very well. He would have actually like riding bikes, especially since he has been getting really carsick, but it was one extra thing that I just couldn't manage right now. Then, as soon as I dropped him off to his real host family, my phone was overloaded with calls about a sick student in the hospital. More driving needed to get to him quickly and deal with that situation. Then today was a driving day because I needed to run a bunch of errands on opposite sides of town. Tomorrow, I'll finally get to ditch the car for a bit but it's only temporary right now. 

Today, I realized that I'm so normal right now. I "don't have time to ride." It's an excuse I hear every where I go. "I would ride, but..." Then they go off and list a bunch of things: too far to go, not enough time, too much stuff to carry, too tired, too many people depending on me, there could be an emergency, etc. I realized that I'm ticking off every one of those excuses. Because of that realization, I made myself take the Bullitt to pick up the kids from daycare. It was only a 4 mile trip but I decided to extend our time out by bringing dinner with me to the park. Yes, dinner was only yogurt, blueberries, and graham crackers but it was the best I could do today. We all needed it. 

I did end up doing the cardinal sin of biking with children by clicking Little Brother's chin with the helmet buckle. A few too many of those and you risk losing your child's trust completely. 

This little ride gave me the perfect amount of time to slow down and remember the journey. I'm lucky to have a job where this schedule is a very small fraction of my life. I can put up with 2-3 weeks of disruption to my usual biking routines. It's not always about doing it all, sometimes it's just about doing what you can. 

I have to remind myself not to look at all the reasons I can't ride and instead look for all the excuses that I can. 

Today we ran around a ton. We started off at coffee to fuel the day and locked up at the new bike rack they installed at Old Soul 40 acres. Jose and I trucked that bike rack over from our house, about a 1/2 mile away. Since it wouldn't fit on my bike, and almost squished Little Brother in my attempt to get it on the bike, we decided to push it down the sidewalk on two skateboards, with the boys in tow...literally. It was rough. We only managed to totally mess up as we were crossing the busy street in full view of everyone in the coffee shop. Fun. I was so excited to see it up this week and even more excited that it directly benefits our family and caffeine habit. 

Both Big and Little Brothers rode their respective bikes for this ride. At home, Little Brother went down for a nap while Big Brother couldn't sleep so Jose took him out for another ride, about 4 miles round trip, to go play baseball. Mama got a nice little nap in and Little Brother was out like a light. 

Later, we made plans to have dinner at One Speed with my folks and our friends. Big Brother decided, again, to ride there. I took the Bullitt with Little Brother and Jose rode his skateboard. 

Dinner was wonderful but the place was busy and it was too slow for the boys. They melted down. It was quite a mess. We managed to get through dinner (and dessert, yum!) but we were sure that Big Brother wouldn't make the ride home. 

He proved us wrong! Out of nowhere, he found some energy to go another 2.5 miles home. Towards the end, we could tell he was starting to bonk, he couldn't hold his line anymore, but he kept calling himself Mark Cavendish and cranking down on his tiny pedals. This kid is a beast! I count 9 miles of riding for the day! At 4.5, I think that's pretty awesome! Part of the rides were on the street and part on the sidewalk, depending on the location and who was with him. He's starting to understand the rules of the road, obeying stop signs, and looking out for obstacles. I'm really curious to see how he does on a single long ride. We'll have to test it out on the bike trail one day soon. 

Here's a video of our morning ride: The boys battle it out in a ride to the death! Big on the cupcake bike and Little on his Strider. Watch until the end for a nail-biter finish! Enjoy!