Sun, June 6: Hosting another RIVERCATS ride for KIDICAL MASS–Join us!

Join us for an beautiful ride over the river and through the quiet city streets to our great Triple-A baseball park to see the ‘Cats.  It’s a steal at just $9!

Sunday, June 6 is coming up fast!

Email me at sackm@boun.cr for tickets!

May Is Bike Month 2015–About to Kickoff!

Ahhhh, May, the loveliest month of the cycling year…

Our friends at SACOG are once again pulling out all the stops for Bike Month to promote and encourage cycling as a part of everyday life.  One of the things I appreciate most about Bike Month is how accessible it is and how it celebrates the hard-core thousand-milers just as much as the new cyclists, making it easier for everyone to log their miles, keep their goals in check, and receive the little rewards we all need at times for just that little extra bit of motivation.  The results can be as little as a having a bit more fun or as grand as the formation of life-changing habits.

I’m a huge believer in–and beneficiary of–the power of example, and I can attest that seeing what people CAN do on two wheels makes it a lot easier to take whatever next steps are necessary to rely less on using four wheels.

To that end, the Bike Month folks will be setting up tents (“Energizer Stations”) throughout the region with snacks and fuel, bike pumps, buttons, tchotchkes, and more to make your commute or rec ride just a bit more glamorous and fun.

I even scored this nice pant leg strap (and buttons and pencils for the kiddos) this morning at a Pre-Bike Month Energizer Station in front of Old Soul, run ably by our dear friend Jose Luis and our friend Tara.

So here are my 2014 Bike Month stats:

Miles I rode TOTAL: 367

Miles with kid(s) in tow: 309

Miles Little Mister rode behind me: 269

Miles the Little Ladies rode behind me (combined): 266

Miles the Little Ladies rode on their own!: 14

Overall Rank: 1513 of 9914 (top 15%–way better than last year!)

No-Car Days (in-county): 28 out of 31

This year, I’m aiming for 500 miles and 31 out of 31 car-free days!

For all of the information on Bike Month events, prizes and more, including details on the Fri, May 1st Kickoff Party, click HERE.

Cargo Bikes Haul 420lbs of Food & Clothing Donations!

Sacramento Kidical Mass Annual Food & Clothing Drive Recap

Our November Food & Clothing Donation Drive & Ride was a success, even with Mother Nature throwing some inclement weather our way.

We had about 20 riders and delivered 420lbs of food and warm clothing to Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (some of which was donated during the month at the three Sacramento Old Soul Co. coffee cafes, some of which was brought the day of the ride by our intrepid cyclists).  We gathered at Grant Park in upper Midtown, meandered down the (mostly) quiet streets to pick up donation barrels at the Old Soul locations, then cruised over to Oak Park for the final pick-up and drop off.

I’m guessing there were more than a few passersby and motorists who didn’t quite know what to make of us.  I’ll say it again: when we parade down the road, we just may be the world’s least intimidating biker gang.

I’m proud of everyone who participated, and we’re looking forward to doing it again next year!

We had 6 large blue donation barrels hoisted upon and delivered via cargo bikes. Who says you need a truck or SUV to haul a big load?

Our multi-generational crew in front of the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, after unloading the goods

The little ones especially enjoyed getting to go inside the warehouse (and, yes, they all showed restraint–as did their parents–in refraining from climbing up on the forklift and attempting to take it for a spin).

Pretty cute, huh? She, of course, wanted to travel this way for the rest of the ride. Mom said no.

Elle’s sweet Bullitt, gettin’ the job done.

My Yuba Mundo: like if Evel Knievel’s Rocket Bike was painted by a Smurf.

Russ’s nice Orange Mundo and my Blue Mundo make quite a pair…albeit one that would take up a whole municipal bike rack.

Ellle making the Haul-A-Day adjustable cargo bike even MORE adaptable

 

 

My Mundo Re-Design 4.0 – Slimmer Storage w/ Insulated Cargo Bags, Costco-trip-certified!

 

Well, it’s been about 6 months since I overhauled the storage systems on our Yuba Mundo cargo bike, so–whether it’s a sign of my creativity or a symptom of my inability to leave well enough alone (probably the latter)–I have redone our blue beast, making it lighter and slimmer and (hopefully) just as useful.

The white IKEA plastic bag holders that used to be in back are now up front where a basket would be on a normal bike.  If this is your first time seeing these odd contraptions on a bicycle, then I will exhort you to get a pair of them, post haste.  They continue to be quite useful, no matter where they’re placed, especially with the children riding with me.  Sweatshirts, hats, snack cups, water bottles, bananas, Clif Bars, you name it–if you need quick access to something that’s not huge or heavy, then these long beauties are for you.  Plus, at $1.99, they’re the accessory that gives you the most bang for the buck.

The large pannier buckets I mounted at the rear of the running boards, under the peanut shell child seat (and–before that–up front under the handlebars where the top tube and downtube meet) are now gone.  I took them off when I took part in a 40-mile rac–with my girls co-piloting from the rear deck–a couple weeks ago (a post retelling the tale is forthcoming, as soon as I get some more photos).  I just wasn’t in the mood to put them back on after getting used to riding around without banging into things, especially the basement door frame.  By the way, look how casual my little guy is, taking in the view at Target…the crossed legs crack me up.

Here’s an average haul at Trader Joe’s for us, and it takes up about one of the new bags which, again, are INSULATED!

I realized that I sort of wanted a pair of slings, like the awesome Carsick Designs MONDO SLING (made here in Sacramento!), or something like Yuba’s own GO-GETTER saddle bags…but I’ve heard conflicting amounts of praise for the Go-Getters, and–even though I plan on one day investing in a pair of Mondo Slings–I’m not ready to put two slings on the bike while I still have the three kiddos climbing on and off so much.

So, in the back of my mind, I’ve been half-heartedly keeping an eye out for some large sturdy bags I can plop on and off of the running boards to see how I really like riding with my cargo in those spots, as opposed to up front or way back.

Then, when I had to run into a Whole Foods off the freeway in hopes of avoiding a potty-related accident with our little guy, I spied their large INSULATED MESSENGER BAG, and was sold.  It has a really sturdy strap, puffy insulated lining, and front and rear pockets good for water bottles, snacks and tchotchkes.  The big selling point, though?  They’re $7.49 each.  Yep…I got a pair for under $16.  If I got a pair of Go-Getter bags (and, granted, they have more features and are nice in their own right) I’d be out about $260.  So, I figure I can try these for the cost of 7 cups of coffee and avoid experimenting with something a dozen times the cost.

 

Since I took the big buckets off, I was riding at quite a cargo-carrying deficit for a week, which felt quite strange.  More than strange, though, I realized quickly that I needed to get that capacity back, because there’s just as much stuff to haul as ever with less room than before (as the kids continue to grow like very, very cute weeds).  I had gotten used to riding a bulkier bike (which was totally fine), but I was ready for a lighter riding experience and wanted to be able to just take my cargo and go straight inside the house without repacking things from the buckets or taking a couple armful loads back and forth from bike to home.  As much as I don’t miss driving my car into the garage every day, the simplicity of just going inside as quickly as possible with my bags and three small kids (especially in the cold or rain) was something I lamented a bit.

I took some wire shelving I had laying around the basement, bent it into an L shape and easily fastened it to the Mundo’s running boards with 2 nuts, bolts and washers.  This wire rack keeps the bag from sliding or falling off the running boards with minimal weight and drag.  I added a caribener to each rack as an extra little measure to keep each bag in place.  So far, zero problems with the bag moving.

 

Just in time for us to FINALLY get some rain, (long may it last!), it is nice to pop into the house quickly with my haul.  Also, it’s nice to bring one or both of the bags into a store with me, as needed, without having to repack out at the bike rack.

The first major test of the redesign has been passed: a run to COSTCO.  The other blue bag is, indeed, on the left side of the bike, but you can’t see it with the IKEA plastic bag holders and my tin can music amplifier hogging that side of the shot.  The bags held up great holding a decent-sized Costco load (although, having most of the rear deck free for a big box of stuff helped, too), especially since I had 3 large bags of organic frozen blueberries in there.

And even though (as the above photo can attest) gas is–for now–under $3 for the first time in a long time, I still prefer the $0.00 per gallon cost of riding my Mundo.

 

 

A Sweet, Wistful Milestone

My three lovely ladies…

I feel like our family crossed a nearly invisible line this weekend…my daughters, specifically.

While most of their bicycling takes place on the back of our Yuba Mundo, our girls still take little trips in our neighborhood aboard their own bikes (which, committed blog readers will recall, have been sans-training-wheels for under a year).  These small rides have been on familiar roads in our little corner of the world, and haven’t involved crossing major thoroughfares or traveling further than half a mile.

Those thresholds have been rolled over, now.  As is the case with many revolutions, this one started with something small: a pair of unplanned, spur-of-the-moment trips that would have been previously undertaken by Mundo or by car.  This weekend, though, the girls asked if they could ride their bikes, instead, and my wife and I (probably looking like puppies that are confused by something new and shiny) looked at each other and found ourselves saying, “Sure, why not?”

The first trip was to our friends’ house for dinner, before dusk (the bikes were driven home later by our kind hosts in their spacious minivan–I’m not yet bold enough to have them attempt night riding).  It was just me and my daughters, and–much like when they first had their training wheels removed and I was running behind them–they held up better than I did.  I reminded them of a few instructions, which they followed (and had already retained), and we made a little three-bike train of sorts into the neighboring community.

I kept twisting around, and talking to them, and they were just smiling and pedaling and smiling some more.  They stopped when they were supposed to, listened to my voice, and provided some sweet commentary as we rolled along (“Daddy, look! That tree is pretty!”).  The contented and proud looks on their faces made my eyes well up.  I was happy, wistful, a bit scared, and trying to not run into anything,  It seems so obvious and melodramatic, but–truly–parenting is filled with rides on emotional roller coasters that you had no advanced warning you were taking.

This trek was both momentous and liberating for them, and–at the same time–just the normal next step in their journeys.  In a year filled with large and small milestones in their growth, this one was particularly profound for me.  Their beaming faces in the fading light made them age a good couple years, in my mind.

The next day, my wife and the girls were excited to take our new-to-us breadmaker for a spin (a metaphorical spin in the kitchen, not an actual spin on a bike–that would be weird, unless you’re a baker who is really averse to driving).  Realizing she needed supplies from the Co-Op, my wife was going to ride there alone before baking began.  But she asked our daughters if they wanted to come along, and they jumped up and down at the prospect.  This ride was daunting, in my mind, because it involved a busier area in which they’d never remotely ridden (although they had taken it many times aboard the Mundo).  But Mommy is more cautious than Daddy when it comes to biking, so I deferred to her judgement (and rightly so).

About 45 minutes later, they bounded up the stairs and told me all about the flour they bought and how they “rode like big girls” to the Co-Op and (you can’t leave this part out) “We got a blueberry bagel!”  Just an aside–I wish I could get that excited over a bagel.  (To be fair, they do have good bagels at the Co-Op).

My wife said that the girls did a great job, and I found myself not being surprised in the least.  They are wonderful girls, smart and capable.  I am often guilty of not trusting them enough, and I hope that I’m not slowing their progression through childhood.  Hopefully I will remember this weekend’s two little seismic shifts and do a better job, going forward, in letting them go forward, too.

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.