Bicycle Bling - Introducing the Air Horn

Yes, that's an Air Horn you see taped to my handle bar. Not for everyday use, but if I think a situation needs a little added "I'm here, don't squish me" - I will blast it! Also useful for getting rid of farm dogs who like to chase me on rural rides! Obviously for rare occasions where being deafened is preferable to the alternative, lets hope I never have to use it!

Know yourself and plan accordingly

My knees are so sore today, could my saddle height have changed without me knowing? Going to check on that. My throat hurts and my whole body aches. Poor Jack was up a lot in the night, but we slept good between 5am and 7:30am, so maybe we have a small ride in us, but 13 miles? Hmm. 13 miles is what it would take for me to reach my goal of 100 miles this month, a measly goal, which too many days off from riding might now stop me from achieving- lesson learned? Oh my YES!

Honestly I've gotten past the point of beating myself up about messing up on this month, and proceeded to the "shaking my head" in a "what the hell was I thinking" fashion. Note to self and anyone else considering a huge lifestyle change: Know yourself and plan accordingly. All the record keeping, calorie counting and mileage tracking goals actually made me feel like I had failed early in the month because I got sidetracked when Mum had surgery. If I'd have kept it simple and challenged myself to "ride everyday" I would certainly have had more miles, and felt accomplished and re-energized daily. I would no doubt be ending this month with a feeling of accomplishment like I did the one prior.

I would feel slightly depressed about all of this if it wasn't for the fact that I made some major growth this month- I cycled all the way to Walla Walla numerous times and I did so on my own, with no Kyle there to hide my social insecurities behind. I know I haven't touched on those issues much, and honestly it's because I find it such a deep subject that I'm not sure it can be spoken of here, but suffice it to say, I'm prouder of the fact that I rode that far solo, than I would be if I had ridden twice that distance with company. Just yesterday I was riding beside a very professional looking bicyclist and I wandered how we looked in comparison as we crossed the street. Then I realized I shouldn't care what people think; Jack couldn't care less if his Mum doesn't look fit, he still just rode 10 miles on the back of a Yuba Mundo, singing the alphabet song and pointing out "floweries" and that's pretty awesome.

I'm going to take a ride today, it won't be 13 miles, but I will still be proud of myself- I suggest you do the same. Next months goal- cycle every single day!

Jack's Cycling Jersey and another 10 miles on the Yuba

Today we made it just over 10 miles, to downtown Walla Walla, where we met Kyle for lunch and also visited my Mum.

Jack is sick, poor little guy, he was a real trooper as always and happily rode despite the watery eyes and runny nose. I have had a sore throat for a few days now, but I seem to be keeping it at bay and feel fine otherwise. We still have to ride about 14 miles before the end of the month- yikes! Cutting it close for sure, I didn't anticipate getting sick right now so it's thrown me for a loop.
 







Last night we got a package in the mail and look what it contained-
Jack's adorable bicycle jersey, it even has pockets for bottles on the back! He wore it today and seemed pretty comfortable all day. It's a little big for him, but he grows fast!

He is not feeling very well in these pictures, poor little guy!

We only stopped once on the way to downtown today and made it in really good time. I took plenty of little snacks; a few energy bars, a couple of apples and some almonds. It really made a difference, I didn't feel shaky or weak at any point.

The Yuba got lots of comments and about 3 couples with small children stopped to really take a look at it- hopefully they too will get the cargo bike bug! We revisited our new favorite park, I always hope we will run into other little kids as Jack is a very sociable little guy, but today he got to play on his own.

I'm a little concerned about tomorrow and how we will ride if either of us is sicker. I'm going to drink lots of tea and keep the little guy hydrated and see what happens. If he's just the same as today we will still ride because he seemed to enjoy himself, he'd be sneezing and snotty regardless of where we are and he still seems to have plenty of spunk in him!

Interview with a cyclist - Jocke Selin of Carrygo Bikes

This week's interview is with Jocke of Carrygo Bikes. Originally from Finland, Jocke now resides in Oxfordshire,he just completed building a cargo bike of his own design.

Jocke (center) riding with the pack as a child.

Tell us about your favorite bike. What do you like the most about it and why is it special to you?

What do you like the most about it and why is it special to you?  

For my 11th birthday I got a Yamaha BYZ 301, more commonly known as a BMX. Of all the bikes I've had in my life, that is probably the one that I still wish I had kept. Not only was it the first BMX in the whole town, it was also indestructible. To an 11 year old, that last bit can be quite important. I learnt a lot of bicycling skills on that bike. The jumps got higher and longer, so did the wheelies (albeit I never mastered the balance point!). It never broke - there was nothing to break (apart from that pesky brake cable). Oh, the hours I spent on that bike, in the forest, car parks, stairs, jumps. I still walk past the BMX bikes in the shops and wonder "Should I...?".

How has cycling changed your life? 

Jocke & Caz at the Nürburgring Race Track in Germany

Cycling hasn't changed my life, cycling has been my life. With the exception of getting my car license and the first 6 or so years living in UK, there's pretty much always been a bicycle in my life. I learnt to ride as a little kid, stabilisers and all. We rode around the yards, streets and forests as a little pack. From there we graduated further and further afield. All the way to going to cycling to discos way on the other side of town. I cycled to school, on my own, from the age of 8. Through sunshine, rain, sleet and snow. When I didn't have my bike, I had to walk or, even ski (I grew up in Finland). The bike was undoubtedly the favourite means of transport (well, at least until two wheeled petrol [gas] powered things came into the picture - but that's another story). I also had one of the first mountain bikes in the town in my late teens, again, reliving that freedom of playing about in the forest. 

The lack of cycling on the other hand, that has changed my life. Living without a bicycle, with perfect hindsight, lulled me into some sort of apathy. The car was used more and more, the weight came creeping, the bills kept increasing. Before you know it, you need to pay bills for the car that you never thought you had to deal with. You're staring at your beer gut and wonder where it came from and how you're supposed to get rid of it. 

Wheelies at the Nürburgring Race Track in Germany

Today I try to avoid the car. It's a practical shelter for really bad weather, or when traveling more than one, or for long distances. The rest of the time, I try to walk or cycle. This idea was obviously taken so far that I've built my own cargo bike - all in the name of leaving the car standing.

I do most of my bicycle maintenance in my kitchen (with my limited skills), where's the oddest place you've ever done bicycle maintenance or mechanics?

An odd question that makes me look like a normal guy; I don't think I've been doing any bike maintenance in any odd places. Garages, basements, back yards, even roadside repairs, they all seem natural to me. I have to confess repairing a motorcycle engine in a my bedroom though.

Testing the chopper before painting

I rely heavily on the advice of more experienced riders, what would be your first piece of advice for someone hoping to start cycling?

I wouldn't say I'm an "experienced cyclist", but one thing keeps coming back to me when I spread my cycling propaganda; People seem to think it's hard, but these are the people who judge cycling from afar. Anyone who gets on a bike, and cycles doesn't seem to be having the same sort of issues with its (perceived) hardship. So my advice would have to be not knock it before you've tried it. Some parts may be hard, but there are other benefits that can't easily be described.

Do you have any cycling goals or aspirations for the coming year?

I just want to cycle more, be outdoors more. It feels like we've forgotten how wonderful it is to be out in nature, how it is to be close to it. Sitting in an office, or locked in a car is just miserable in the end. More cargo bike journeys, and more mountain biking would be awesome. Naturally I'd like to spread the cycling evangelism and perhaps convert someone else to cycling.

Taking the motorbike out in the snow

Where can we hear more about your journey?

You can follow my cargo bike related rants and raves on Twitter under the moniker @CarrygoBikes, and the website http://www.carrygo.co.uk.

 

Diaper Run on the Yuba

Jack and I took a trip on a new route today, we headed NE from our house, to a local big box store to pick up diapers. The side walks and roads are relatively new in that area, they are super wide, clean and unused. I felt like I had an entire bicycle highway to myself. We picked up what we needed and then took a little joy ride around some of the surrounding area, before heading home. We logged just under 6.5 miles and will no doubt be taking another ride later, because I feel pretty good today. I took some snacks with me and felt the benefits for sure.

I've logged 76.91 miles this month, which means I need to log 23.09 miles before Friday. I think I'm easily up to that challenge, and can see myself logging more miles than this next month as I'm dedicated to riding daily.

We've made plans to visit Portland in August for the S.E. Portland Sunday Parkways, we're hoping to rent some bikes from Joe Bike if we can't haul our own. I think it's really neat that you can rent Mundo's in Portland, something I would like to have done before buying if I'd known about it. I also just noticed that Joe put up a picture of Jack and the Mundo on his web site, go check it out!

The 2nd group ride...

Saturday came and with family staying with us it was quite a rush to get out the door for our 2nd organized ride event. I'm obviously not very good at organizing these rides because this time, despite the fact that 10 people said they were coming and another 13 said they may come; not one person showed up, not even one! I'd sent out reminder notes 5 days prior and then also the day before too. I think the answer is just to keep "hosting" them and hope that eventually people will respond. Kyle, Jack and I had a nice little ride anyway and then headed home.

When we got home my brother, Carl, took my niece Amelia and Jack for ride. Carl rides a Kona Ute at home in Portland, so Amelia is a professional long-tail rider!

I would like to have taken out both the kids but wouldn't have wanted Amelia sitting so far on the back, and I was too lazy to move the Peanut Shell to the back so she could sit behind me.

I didn't get many rides in this weekend which means, the pressure is on this week to get some miles in. I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of getting out and pushing off into next month with an assertive start. I have decided to commit to cycling everyday in June, I just find it works better for me if I don't take days off. I can always take short rides on days with foul weather, and I shall probably have to start getting my rides in early in the day or late at night with summer's wickedly hot temperatures just round the corner.

Getting Groceries on the Yuba

Grocery hauling, balanced well, it was an easy ride home despite the strong wind gusts.

Today I made a trip for groceries, it was a lot warmer, but the wind was gusty and it was pretty exhausting. We made it up that silly little hill that always leaves me breathless and this time I just kept cycling at the top, very slowly, gasping for air and wobbling all over the place. I recovered and kept pushing forward, but arrived at the grocery store feeling light headed and nauseous. According to Endomondo, I burnt over 1000 calories today on my ride, 1400 on yesterday's ride and 997 the day before, I don't think I know how to fuel myself properly for these type of excursions. This weekend I intend to do a little research and get myself more organized with healthy fuels.

Jack beaming and full of energy and spunk!

Jack had a great time however, and managed to stay awake the entire ride. We hauled home just under 50lb of groceries (yes, I weighed them lol), plus Jack (38lb) and his seat (about 14lb), plus diapers, bags, bottles of water, and of course me- Let's just say the Mundo hauled over 400lb today- and so did my legs! I feel pretty good now that I've had some lunch and surprisingly I think I have enough energy to clean my house before the weekend.

He's obviously exhausted from the ride home...oh wait that's me!

My Brother and his family are joining us this weekend, we can't wait to see them! Also, tomorrow we're hosting our 2nd family ride here in College Place. The following weekend I'm taking part in a Cargo Bike Round-Up in Walla Walla, I love having all these bikey things in the forecast!

Nothing budged on the way home.