Cargo Bike Cavalcade!

Some shots of the CARGO BIKES on display from

our November Sacramento Kidical Mass ride:

(click to enlarge)

   

Big Turnout for Nov. Kidical Mass ride

Our Sacramento Kidical Mass ride this last Saturday was quite an enjoyable success.  About 70 folks, representing all age groups and almost every kind of pedaled conveyance, converged outside of Practical Cycle in Old Sac with donations for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services in tow.

It’s a good thing that Old Sacramento doesn’t begin to fill up with revelers and tourists until around lunchtime, because we turned most of J St. into two- (and three-) wheeled parking lot!

After a nice time of kibitzing, perusing, and trying out each other’s bikes, our motley crew got into formation and slowly trickled out of Old Sac to make our way through Downtown to our final destination in Midtown.

Old Sacramento’s Wild West-themed buildings and characters (heavy on old-timey gunslingers and “ladies of the evening”) were an odd backdrop for our pedal-powered wagon train. We passed a group of Harley riders on our way toward Midtown and–while they may be far more intimidating–we had them beat in the numbers department.

Past the beautiful Sacramento River, over the freeway and into Downtown we cruised, thankful that the week’s intense winds had taken a siesta.  (Earlier in the week, it was quite possible that gale-force winds, as well as rain, would be our cycling companions).  Not only was the weather not to be contended with, but traffic was non-existent, too, which is always nice.

Longtail bikes, bucket bikes, and road bikes, OH MY!

Either the denizens of Midtown were all asleep, or our dinging bells, penchant for fluorescent orange, and intimidating average speed of 9 MPH sent them scurrying indoors.

Me and my best gal, with donation bags in tow and an industrial carafe of coffee sitting in Little Brother’s seat.

We arrived–safe and sound with our peloton intact–at Edible Pedal in Midtown.  We transferred our clothing and food donations from the bikes to the big blue barrels from SFBFS, then enjoyed some more time to swap stories, ideas and advice (I picked up a few helpful tips for winter riding and more than a few ideas for future customizing projects).

Thankfully, Edible Pedal is located in an alley with a bare minimum of car traffic, as we claimed almost every square foot of asphalt for bike parking.

These, and other barrels, fit just right on one of Edible Pedal’s Cycletrucks.

Special thanks to Elle and everyone at Sac Kidical Mass, Practical Cycle, Edible Pedal, Old Soul Co., and Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, and all the riders and helpers for a wonderful time benefiting a wonderful cause.

SFBFS Food & Clothing Donation Ride 11/23–Sac Kidical Mass

• Join our group ride for the young, old & in-between!
• Collect donations for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services to benefit those in need!
• Enjoy goodies & treats to fuel you up!
• Check out & demo our crazy array of cargo bikes!
• Make some new friends & support a good cause!
• Lions, Tigers, & Bears, oh my! (not really)

For this month’s Sacramento Kidical Mass, we’re riding to collect donations for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services Sat, Nov. 23rd. We will be gathering at Practical Cycle in Old Sacramento around 10am where we’ll have cargo bike demos and treats to start the ride. Around 11am, we’ll set off towards Edible Pedal, picking up donations along the way from special designated locations. Total ride distance will be approximately 3 miles.

Please bring a donation of food or warm clothing for the food bank.
All children under 18 need to wear a helmet and adults are greatly encouraged to wear one as well. We will be following the rules of the road as we ride.

A year of DIY projects with our Yuba Mundo

Here’s a timeline of most of my Mundo projects and tinkerings…

Spring-time capacity? 2 child seats, 1 daddy saddle, 1 toddler seat, 1 large basket

4 on the road.  There’s an umbrella stroller bungeed to the long left running board (It’s hard to see, but Baby Boy is riding shotgun, enjoying The Avett Brothers on the sound system.)

2 “Peanut Shell” seats, with 5-point harnesses, footrests, & padding sit just right on the Yuba’s rear bamboo deck (our tall girls fit perfectly well in them!)

The MUNDO is easily customized–I made this large rear basket attachment with vertical rack and large hooks quite easily with heavy-duty zip-ties, all the better for holding backpacks, helmets, and full grocery bags.

If you’re looking for a good baby/infant/toddler seat, the Yepp mini is pretty fantastic.  It has a durable but soft ventilated shell,  5-point padded harness, head protector and pillow, adjustable foot holders with straps, it can be quickly disengaged with one adult hand, and is easily locked and unlocked with the included key.

The side-view of the MUNDO when we’ve loaded it four-people-deep.  This pic was the inspiration for the name of our site.

This was the first shade-heavy configuration I tinkered with…You don’t need to be a mechanic or a tool whiz to customize your bike, trust me.  I am of little use when it comes to fixing complex things around the house, but a little creativity and willingness to experiment are well-rewarded with this bike.  You can accessorize it quite easily as seasons change, kids grow, your needs evolve, you name it.

Front view with the all-weather umbrella, tin-can-cupholder and toddler windshield (total outlay–about $15 after a quick trip to a hardware store.)

Here, I switched out the blue umbrella for a higher-visibility orange one, matching (coincidentally) the umbrella-stroller canopy shade I attached up front for Little Guy.  It’s swiveling joints made it useful as a both a shade canopy and windscreen for my little navigator up front.

Panniers attached to a front wheel rack and a collapsible basket attached to the rear deck make for extra backpack/grocery/whatever-needs-holding capacity

As the heat cranked up this summer, it was necessary to beef up the infant seat shade situation.  This may not be a pretty finished product, but it was effective.  A black mesh UV stroller shade up front and, up top, a flexible shade extension made from vinyl glued to a dog conical collar made the small orange shade clipped to the handlebars much larger without making it too bulky or inflexible.

Our latest configuration, with all three kids on the back!

The “Monkey Bars,” debuted by Yuba this year, are awesome.  This sturdy and light frame comes with adjustable/removable inner bars.  They can span the whole length of the rear deck or–as above–half the length of the deck.  On our bike, the back half of the deck holds one of the peanut shells for our little guy, complete with clip-on umbrella-stroller canopy for a windshield and UV stroller shade to battle the sun.  While Yuba makes a nice cushion for about $30, I used two $3 chair cushions, and they work great!

There’s always stuff that needs holding.  Two $2 IKEA plastic bag holders carry an umbrella and random clothes and small groceries in the rear while front panniers and black wire shelf frame pieces make a large and lightweight holder for tall backpacks and other items.

EMERGENCIES HAPPEN!  While I have bike repair supplies on hand, there are other–kid-related–emergencies that come our way, too.  The picture on the left is of a diaper-change kit (housed in an econo-sized Band-Aid plastic box) mounted with the brazons for a water bottle cage.  The one on the right is of a small travel bandage/first aid kit attatched with the brazons just behind the crankset.

Much like our four-wheeled vehicles, bicycles now have cupholders out the wazoo (well, ours do, at least!).  Two cages mounted just below the top tube hold water bottles/sippee cups and one cage on the handlebar holds a snack cup while a coffee cup holder I made from a mostly used-up packing tape roll screwed to a C-clamp keeps the java close at hand but nice and level to avoid spills.

The bike is lighter and easier to maneuver now than it was a year ago, which is a good thing considering that my kids keep getting bigger while I keep getting older.