June Recap--341 miles total

My favorite adventure this month.

I purposely decided not to keep a rigid count of my miles in June since May had made me so crazy, I thought it would be better to focus on just doing the essential amount of riding, not stress myself, and focus more on the adventures and self-challenges of biking as transportation. The Mundo was almost always my go-to choice for trips since I was almost always either carrying cargo or children or both. On the few trips that were fun, solo trips, Mr. Mobic was my zippy backup. They are such opposites that they complement each other nicely. It also seemed like whenever I was on the Mundo, Jose was on the Mobic and vice versa so they were getting fairly equal use. It's great that we're finally figuring out what bikes work best for our lifestyle, as opposed to which bikes we think we're supposed to use or that look the prettiest/fanciest/lightest. We are certainly embracing our car-freer lifestyle more and more as the months go on. 

My version of hell.

We started to get the ball rolling on cutting the car out completely these last few days. I called to get pre-approved for a loan to pay off the car so that we can sell it. Everything seemed be be going well until we went down to the dealer who then passed us back up to the bank who then told us that our buy-out was much higher than we had thought with the addition of sales tax (blah) and that our car's value was lower than we thought (if we were to go through a dealer). That left us with a bigger chunk of money due than we had anticipated and ruined our momentum for ditching the car so soon. It's probably a good thing as my exchange student program is just weeks away and the sane people are telling me that it's best to make big changes after my crazy month. That car will be toast in August, after the students. 

I can tell that it's a slippery slope for excuses to rid oneself of such a convenient crutch as a car. There will always be a "need" for a car in most people's mind--work, trips, emergencies, more work. If you don't take a stand at some point, you will always need a car. I think "okay, I'll keep the car until after my students leave." But then, I start to think "oh, but my brother's hoe-down (really) is the next month, we'll have to get to Portland," then, "I'll be out of town after that, the boys won't be able to manage without me and the car." Finally, "my students will be here next year, what would I do then..." and so it continues. I have to put my foot down sometime. Mid-August. Mid-August. Mid-August. 

Still happy!

One of the missing links for our transition has been the lack of extra cargo space. Sitting in our back room has been 15 boxes of exchange student supplies and books. No way I could carry that on my Mundo unless I made about 5 trips. Doable, I guess, but not very efficient. John of Cycle Trucks has an awesome trailer that I've been dying to try out so I finally made my way to Edible Pedal, where it's been waiting for anyone to come use it. I met up with John who hooked it to the Mundo's rack. It wasn't a great hitching location/angle but we did some test runs and he let me ride off with the trailer trailing behind. 

Hitching up the bigger rig.

"Sure this will work?"

Test ride!

I was incredibly impressed! It rode smoothly, even unloaded. Loaded up, it was even better. The weight wasn't difficult to manage, even with the kids on the bike. The front wheel helps stabilize and hold the load so the connection and bike aren't doing all the work. The wide platform held almost all my boxes. If I had packed better, I could have fit everything at once but I didn't. The only difficulty was because I didn't have a good hitch, the trailer was bolted to my bike and I didn't have an easy way to get it off. Luckily, we had the foresight to tape up the rack before so it didn't end up looking like it had fought with a weed whacker. Trying to turn this beast of a rig around was rediculous. I couldn't back up because I couldn't keep the trailer arm from getting stuck at a weird angle. I attempted to take a wide turn all the way around my yard and was surprised I didn't fail completely. My sheer determination/insanity kept me pulling the bike and loaded up trailer over every hill, ditch, and chicken coop in my yard. I think it took about 20 minutes to get ourselves pointed in the right direction to head back out the driveway. When I got to the school, I faced the same problem: a bike full of kids and a trailer full of stuff that I couldn't remove. Next time, I want a trailer that I can take off and use as a wagon to get everything where it's supposed to be. 

Loaded up.

All together now.

On Saturday, I was back at the Farmer's Market to find more host families. Unfortunately, I loaded up the canopy without balancing the other side and dumped the Mundo (no kids, thankfully). It wasn't until I started riding my bike that I realized I had damaged my brake handle and it's now bent at a funny angle. Bummer but it's a pretty easy fix and not one that has to happen anytime soon. 

Test rider #1.

Test rider #2.

Melissa and Charlie--local family bikers I met at the Market. Little One in Bobike Mini and Bigger One in Weehoo trail-a-bike. So cool!

While I was at the market, I got more questions about my bike than about the exchange student program. One man was so impressed with it that I had to let him go for a ride. He loved the idea of taking his wife and his granddaughter on the bike. A mom came up and was wondering if she could ride it as she had a neck injury which made biking nearly impossible. She was shocked to find that the upright position didn't hurt her neck but when she tried to get her wee one into the bike seat, the little girl would not have it. In times like that, I am so thankful that my kiddos are so tolerant of biking. I'm sure that some of it is just that this is what they have grown up thinking is normal but I'm still positive that my wee ones are abnormally perfect (although I say that as Little Brother refuses to go to sleep and is currently wreaking havoc but I have selective perception). 

So, month three is down. Looking forward, I have some major obstacles for my 365 day challenge. The first will be the weekend I go to Southern California with my students. I'll have to take the Mobic and ride up and down the hotel hallways if I want to keep going. The second problem will be a trip to Italy...I won't be able to pack the Mobic in carry-on luggage so I don't know how I'll be able to ride each day. Bike rental? Microbike? Cheat and pack my roller blades? I could use some suggestions! 

Elder and Eliakis Photography is awesome!

The family that bikes together...