Today is a gift

You know, sometimes we need a reminder.  Maybe we need a reminder that being kind creates a wealth we can not measure.  Sometimes we need a reminder of the cruelty of the world.  Today I was reminded that we are given droplets of time that are gifts like gleaming emeralds in the rain.  School has been hard for my son the last bit.  Mama going to work has been hard for him too.  He's been hitting some big growth spurts and it seems like now he's in the middle of a big emotional/intellectual one.  His emotions are close to the surface and they consume him at a moments notice.  Sometime without any notice.  He and I have been working through the school drop off transition with lots of tears and hugs.  I know he'll come through it just like his sister did at this age.  It's still hard.  Probably harder for me since I remember going through the same thing and his fear is contagious.  Today we played a lot before leaving and I talked about what we were going to do.  "We'll get on the bike after we swing a bit", "We'll ride the bike up to the busy street and then up the hill".  Dialogue like that.  It's more background chatter but those in the know always say that kids like to know what's coming.  Makes sense to me.  Today  when I mentioned the bike he perked up.  "Can I ride my bike?".....um.....  I didn't have a good answer.  He's only been riding a pedal bike for a month or so.  The street is kind of busy.  There are four way stops.  As I ran through all this in my head I realized he could really use a confidence boost.  He's never ridden his bike to school.  He rode his scoot bike to the farmer's market once but I walked with him on the sidewalk.  This was kind of a big moment for both of us.  He was actively taking an interest in how we got somewhere.  My idea was that we could tow his bike off the back of the xtracycle until we got past the busy areas.  I wish I had a picture of it.  It was brilliant.  After we unhooked his bike and I was watching him ride the path along the community gardens I realized what a gift this was to me and to him.  I said "Hey, you're bike commuting".  To which he replied "What's commuting?". Silly papa, kids don't care about that kind of stuff.  That's OK.  I care enough for both of us.

Summer and Recovery

I realized that it has been months since I posted.  It isn't like there has been a ton going on and I have been too busy to do anything.  Quite the contrary actually!  What with three months of recovery from a collar bone that became disassociated from itself multiple times (i.e. broken to bits and dislocated on one end) and a nice family vacation on the beach there hasn't been much riding going on from my end.  I never imagined it would take so long to get back to things from a broken collar bone but injuries have that way of forcing you to reinvent yourself.  I took the bus a lot.  I wore a fanny pack instead of a backpack.   I walked my daughter to school.  My son and I took the bus to school.  Took a bit longer but we played and talked more.  It was a golden tinged silver lining.  Frustrating at times but a rather wonderful time.  I kind of got out of the habit of riding or maybe I should say I got out of the habit of thinking of riding for everything I can.  It was a strange switch.  I found myself walking or jumping on the bus before getting the bike after I was back on two wheels.  Habits are funny things.  So is a shoulder full of screws and plates.

Now that we're all back riding and summer is full upon us we, as a family, have learned some things.  First and foremost we've learned to hate the tag-a-long and the trailer.  The tag isn't much fun to ride really (from the perspective of the pilot) and the trailer is bouncy (from the passenger's view) and antisocial (from the pilot's view).  The long tail has been more of a revelation that we realized.  So much so that we really "need" a second one.  I'm convinced of this to the extent that I'm willing to sell all but my road bike to get one with the understanding that it will be my daily bike.  Yes, I really just said "sell everything".  It would be rather refreshing actually to just have a long tail and a road bike.  What with the kids having bikes now and my wife riding the xtra or her townie we have a fairly full stable.  replacing a buggy, trailer and tag with a single bike would save some space (which we don't have much of really).  The long tail bike has allowed to feel freer to just jump on and go somewhere and we can talk while we ride.  The communication part is pretty big.  It allows us to share what we see and for the kids to feel like they are a part of the ride and not just baggage.

The other thing we learned is that family vacations are invaluable.  Our two week trip to the beach showed how close our kids are to each other and how resilient we all can be if we want to.  We drove..... for three days....with two kids under 6.  We also did it without movies, video games or computers.  We played games, sang songs and listened to books on tape or read books aloud.  Some would say it was a retro road trip.  I'd take credit if I could but we don't have any of those things in our daily life anyway so it wasn't that hard.  It's more of a reminder that kids don't need all that stuff and neither do adults.  The drive was kind of like while my collar bone was busted up.  We reinvented ourselves.  We compromised.   It's kind of like being a bike-centric family.  It is all a balance with a goal in mind.  For our drive the goal was dipping our toes in the Pacific (or getting home coming the other direction).  For our daily life on the bike the goal is different but it still motivates us and inspires us.

Happy March

In our neck of the woods March came in like a lamb.  More like a summer lamb to be specific.  The crocus are  in full bloom and the trees are budding.  Yesterday was a short sleeve sunny respite from winter.  My wife rode the xtra for the first time with first one kids (morning drop off) and then both kids (afternoon pickup).  My daughter wore a short sleeve dress.  I was working at home all day while we had some tile work done and watched happily as they zoomed down the street all smiles.  My daughter picked out short tights last night to wear.  Spring feels like it is here.

Then we woke up this morning and looked outside.  Spring is most definitely here!  With a vengeance.  30 degrees, foggy and freezing drizzle.  Ah, spring in our neck of the woods has arrived.  So, happy spring.  I'm going to go dig my rain pants back out of the bottom of the backpack before I head to the office.  Oh, and where did I put that down jacket?

As a side note.  The kids remain ecstatic about riding the xtracycle.  It has been pressed into use as much as possible since it was complete.  There are a couple of gremlins to work out still though.  First, the rear derailer  seems a bit weak.  When you back pedal the chain sags and skips off the cogs.  Gotta just go buy a new one or see if the local community bike place has something.  Second, the rear bars are not as solid as I'd like.  I used an old specialized stem I inherited from a friend.  It's this ridiculous 120 or 130mm length and it is titanium.   The metal alone is probably worth more than the stem but it ended up being long enough for a stoker setup.  I tried aluminum can strips but the needed shim size was too big for that.  I ended up cutting strips from a left over length of galvanized heat ducting that was headed to the recycling bin.  Still, three layers just barely made it.  It could use another but the metal is so springy it is hard to get it wrapped and the stem over it before the whole thing comes undone.  a proper shim would be the way to go but the seatpost/stem combo doesn't yield a premanufactured one.  Third, I mucked the headset when I put it in and of course now I'm having issues with that.  Trying to do things on the cheap.  I kind of miss the old stuff that was heavy enough to be put on with a block of wood and a mallet (yea, I know you were never supposed to do that).  Time to source another 1" threadless.

On to the next project though.....

All A Matter Of Perspective

So the xtracycle is complete.  We took it to the park over the weekend.  One of those gorgeous winter days that feels like spring.  We had a picnic.  We played without jackets on.

So here's the interesting thing.  The kids were absolutely ecstatic about riding.  Neither the trailer nor the tag-a-long have ever elicited a response like the ride to the park.  They were a chatter the entire way there pointing thing out, commenting on how well they could see around them, how nice it was to be riding...um, we ride all the time kids....a point that seems to be lost on them.  I don't know if it is the novelty of the "new" ride or the ride itself but time will tell on that suit.

I picked my daughter up from school on Monday on the xtra and zoomed to the pool.  Much nicer than the tag-a-long ever was.  A bike-geeky moment ensued.  "look daddy, she has the same bike as us" one of her class mates said as we loaded up.  Our school has a nice representation of utility bikes.  There were three lined up Monday.  In the summer I've seen 5 or 6 at a time.  A sight to warm my heart. As far as I'm concerned we should sell the trailer and tag and get another utility bike.  Weather is the only bugbear.  The trailer for all that I don't like about it does provide a dry (mostly) environment for the kids.  It's also warmer.  What is one to do?  I don't have the capacity for the thought process on that one.  I've always been of a mind to just say "it's raining".....we all know that ain't going to cut it in the long run.

Anyway, the "new" bike is well worth it.  I actually have had the whole thing for quite some time but it's been in the rebuild pile for a couple of years.  My son is still a bit young to ride alone on the back so it hasn't been an issue yet as it were.  Now he keeps asking to ride the xtra.  Maybe we should bag the trailer...

Bicycles Excepted

For all my grumbling about having to drive the car when the roads are too crummy to put the kids in the trailer/tag-a-long train I have to admit that I really don't have anything to complain about.  Despite the few days a year we have to (or choose to) use the car I bet I get to ride the kids around over 90% of the time.  Not bad really.  Today was one of those crummy road days but crummy enough that school was closed.  So was the university, the county offices and a whole host of other stuff.  The snow was brushing the tops of my gaiters when I carried my bike to to the road.  The streets were pretty much mine on the way into the office (hey, don't I get a snow day too?).  It was one of those magical snow storms that come in slowly, dump a ton of fluff and then depart rather quietly.  The temperatures have stayed right about freezing so once the roads and walks are cleared they pretty much stay that way.  It was a day of exceptions.

It is has been a good reminder that the bicycle-centric (or maybe it's better to say low impact or something like that since it's really more than the bike) nature of our life is still an exception.  Even in the bicycle heavy town we live in we're still kind of seen a freaks.  It's heartwarming to me when I drop my daughter at school to see how many other families ride for transportation but then again, when the weather gets crummy the attendance, shall we say, gets light.  There is another family that I see on a pretty regular basis and even on days when we use the car.  They have a nice Kona Ute set up with wooden seat on back and they seem to be on the same wavelength as us.  It's nice to know we're not alone.  I often think of them when I pull the bikes out in the morning.  Sometimes it serves as motivation.

Latest Project

Working on a family cargo bike.  I've had it languishing for quite some time but it's been on the stand for a couple of weeks and I've been picking at it here and there.  Down to the chain and then all the adjustments.  It's  a 1993 Bridgestone MB-3 that's been powder coated international orange.  Reminiscent of the old X0 bikes.  I've had the xtracycle parts laying around waiting for this frame.  It used to be built up on an old Trek frame that was some ridiculously small size.  Wasn't very useful that way so this should give us some more options.  I'd like a porteur rack for it eventually but for now we'll just get it on the road.  This is the older version of the free radical without any fender mounts so I'm kind of trying to figure out how to put that together without buying stuff.  Unfortunately it's sitting in front of another unfinished project.....