Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yuba Mundo madness or cabin fever?

My joyous expectation of bike rides has yet to manifest itself and as the days pass and the rain pours I'm starting to get agitated. Agitated is the polite word for the way I feel. The bike seat for Jack won't be off back order for another month and that doesn't include shipping time which could add a few more days to an already long wait time.

I purchased the trailer thinking it would be an economical and quick fix to the problem, if it enabled me to get out on the bike for the month it would be well worth the $35 I paid for it, plus I could utilize it after that as a furniture hauler or on exceptionally cold days I could bundle Jack up in it. Of course as luck would have it the trailer didn't come with the hitch, even if it had come with a hitch it would be impossible to fit the traditional way and have the hitch arm clear the side steps of the Mundo. So what do I do? Invest more money in getting a hitch fabricated and welded on my bike...money I don't have. Or do I just ride on the weekends (when my husband can care for Jack). I would go peruse the local hardware store for options, but I can't get there, because I don't have the parts I need to get there, to get the parts I need. I called my local bike shop and they don't sell the parts and gave me the phone call version of shrugged shoulders when I asked for ideas, their only advice being go to Walmart.

So my beautiful orange bicycle sits in my craft room surrounded by all my unfinished projects that I've collected over the years and it makes me cringe because I can't stand the idea of it sitting there collecting dust like so many other things started and never finished. It feels like a bad omen of sorts and I continually  remind myself of my lack of belief in such things. I keep contacting Yuba and I know for sure if there was any way for them to finagle one they would if only to shut me up, they are always so nice in their emails but I dread the idea of them secretly thinking I'm a huge pest.  My terrier dog and I share the same single minded focus in life. Tenacity is what I call it, but if you happen to find yourself on the other end of this obsession you may describe it in a more colorful way, I know that I have when Beatrix sneaks under the dining table for the 100th time during dinner.

Today on his lunch break, my husband has said he will find time to hit up a Home Depot for a few different sized U brackets, which we hope I will be able to make some sort of hitch from. I will impatiently patiently await him tonight and try to get it fitted so that tomorrow the boy and I can get out of the house a little. I know my poor husband is sick to death of hearing about bikes, only yesterday he assured me that NO we could NOT get rid of our vehicle as he occasionally drives for work and couldn't make business calls on a bike. He's right of course, if we had some sort of local ride share program it would be different but this area is light years from that idea. I think it would be safe to say that the majority of people around here still think only "poor" people use public transportation and ride bikes and I've never known a place to walk less. In the mean time I'm content with his plan to start cycling on days when he can and get a more economical car for days when he has to run all over town. I have always been a jump in head first kinda person (not that anyone reading this blog will be surprised to hear that) and K is more of a feel out the water, dip the toes in and then meander around the shallow end for a bit before taking a swim kinda guy.

Daylight is finally breaking and looking out the window I can see glimpses of grass beneath the snow, we've had two days of  warmer rainy weather since the ice storm and its only now showing progress in melting that thick layer of ice. Wouldn't it be spectacular if Jack and I got to ride that beautiful bike tomorrow? It's going to happen!

10 comments:

  1. i feel your pain. waited on a local bike shop to order me a yuba. day after day, week after week, and eventually month after month i hounded them. "getting any in yet" was always m'question. "we are getting them in soon" was always the response. to this day, they still have not had a yuba in their shop. i could not wait any longer, and they did not seem to interested in the $1100-$1300 i wanted desperately to hurl at them in exchange for a life changing bicycle. they seemed to always have other avenues to head down, so i had to decide to do the same. to this day, a part of me still wants that yuba, although i love the bike, a Vimana CargoFiets, that i ended up having built for me. i hope that the hardware store adventure brought with it the possibility for you and yours to go enjoy your new bike. as Mr. Petty once said, "the waiting is the hardest part." EnJoy the Ride!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey- why is it so many stores are like that? how do they stay in business? It just blows my mind. We have two LBS's and one of them I entered on two different occasions and got completely ignored, despite the fact that there where no other customers and they saw me clear as day. I personally try to shop where people are polite and I feel like they at least care about my purchase. That Vimana Cargo Fiets looks really nice!
      Hardware store is happening at noon, I really hope it works!
      Lindsay
      P.S. love petty!

      Delete
  2. While I think you are absolutely right to go the route of the trailer while there is icy conditions, there is a DIY solution to your seating problem to consider. I made my seats, and they've worked well for three years. It's not a too too complicated design. In fact, Some preschool friends just got their Mundo this last week and are going to build up seats from the same design. If you're interested to learn more about it let me know. The seats don't have the foot braces either, eliminating interference of the Go-Getters.

    Good luck with the trailer hitch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Max- I would be interested to know what you made for your kiddos. I'm actually pretty crafty and have built little pieces of furniture before as we used to have a wood shop and I was raised around steel fabricating...Unfortunately I don't have or know anyone with tools but I might be able to remedy that if I call around. I'm still up in the air about foot rests, I kind of feel like he should have them in case of a side impact but then part of me thinks in Amsterdam I'm sure mums don't worry about such things lol and their kids look perfectly happy and healthy. I think I may have a solved the hitch issue...stay posted:) Thank you as always! Lindsay

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stay positive! Once you're rolling you'll soon forget the wait - you will be a new you and all the better for it. Good luck with the DIY hitch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SamChevre from Bikeforum--Here's the part you need.

    http://www.amazon.com/Coupler-Attachment-InStep-Schwinn-Trailers/dp/B0013TR66I

    All you need is somewhere to bolt it on; the bolt goes through the smaller hole--it usually attaches to the QR skewer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know how you feel. In addition to picking back up cycling last year I have owned a motorcycle for many years and the winter is always so tough. I always develop a mild depression because of being cooped up. Thankfully this winter has not been a bad one, and least where I am, but it still doesn't mean I like it!

    A little patience goes a long way and it will make the reward just that bit sweeter. =)

    Good luck getting the trailer connected to the bike, just be sure to make it 110% secure. It will be carrying irreplaceable cargo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jason- That irreplaceable cargo is the whole reason for this project so I TOTALLY agree :) Lindsay

      Delete

I'd love to hear your comments, if you would like to be updated with replies to the thread click "subscribe by email" on the bottom right hand side of the comment box.
Thanks!