When you get Lemons, Buy some Lemonade

No sign of the stolen bike. Sad. I liked that bike. It had been through several iterations and I remember the day I bought it. Originally a 12 speed, finally down to one. I used my first clipless pedals on that bike. Almost killed a mother and her small child the first time I fell off the bike, still in the pedals.

So long, good friend.

Behold, my sweet new ride.


The dude who sold me the bike told me this was his bike when he was a kid. I am guessing then it is a late 70's-early 80's gem. Please pay special attention to the words on the frame. Probably the best part of the whole bike.


I rode her to the Light Rail Station this morning. I need to make a few tweaks here and there, but overall, pretty great. I borrowed Laramie's "don't even think about stealing this bike, sucker" lock, so it better be there when I get back this afternoon. Otherwise, thief, meet can of whoop-ass.

Ride Report: 1-24-09 Seattle Aquarium

One thing I aspire to is to be able to go on rides with visitors. We are mostly there.

This weekend, Laramie's 2 sisters Katy and Rachel, our brother-in-law Jake and nephews Jasper and Quinn Tucker are visiting. Jake is equally obsessed with bikes and so Saturday morning we set off on a bike adventure to the Seattle Aquarium. It was cold. Very cold. We bundled up and started pedaling.



So far I have only ridden with Windham and Harper on the back of the Xtracycle. Harper weighs a mere 26lbs and little big man is right behind her at 23lbs. 50lbs is totally doable. Saturday was a new test. I rode Jasper and Harper. Jasper is probably 40+lbs and he is a wiggler. The weight wasn't bad. Harper rode in the Peapod and Jasper on the back seat I made. This will last for awhile, but I am alreay thinking about the next best set-up. The Fat Franks (tires) made the ride pretty smooth - until Jasper started wiggling. And there was the challenge. We did fine. We just had to keep reminding him to sit still. This is very difficult for a 4 year old, I understand. Jasper was a real sport. Both kids had a great time riding on the bike.




Harper loves the Aquarium. The Seattle Aquarium is small yet the perfect size for a toddler. 1-2 hours is all it takes to see and experience everything. And there is always a new discovery:
2-headed Octopus



Mermaid



and on the street, Evidence of Pirates


There were the usual Harper tears at having to get on the bike to go home. Bad mommy forgot a pacifier which calms her down when she is exhausted. Poor Jasper's cheeks were purple with cold. But by the time we hit the tunnel, Harper and Jasper were singing "Ba-rack O-bama" at the top of their lungs.

Unnecessary Toys

I believe I have mentioned this before, but I have some addictions. One of my favorite things right now is my Google Reader account. I have about one thousand bike blogs (that might be a slight exaggeration) that I read and the new posts are delivered directly into my account. I highly recommend this for anyone who sits a computer all day.

This was delivered from the EcoVelo blog this morning.

iPod Bike Speaker



Totally cool, totally unnecessary, but if it takes 2 hours to ride one way with the childrens, then maybe justifiable. It is waterproof, rests safely in your water bottle cage and has a handlebar mounted remote.