The Old Joe Bike Gets New Life

UPDATE 9/12/17: After serving Community Cycles, the Joe Bike was purchased by another cycling family! We are so excited to see this bakfiets log as many miles as possible!

Today (12/6/2016) is Colorado Gives Day, so it seems fitting to post about Community Cycles, a great non-profit cycling organization in Boulder. Our old Joe Bike cargo bike is now their shop bike! They spruced it up with electric assist:

I think they're enjoying it. It looks great, too:

Non-profit never looked so money.

Happy Colorado Gives Day! Please consider donating to BicycleColorado, BikeDenver, or any of many cycling organizations participating in Colorado Gives Day!

Bike to Work Day

Mr. Rogers said that "play is really the work of childhood." So, it seemed fitting that today this guy biked to his play/work at SPREE camp like a boss.

He loves riding on those pink rumble strips! It was mercifully overcast today, making for near perfect riding conditions. We got a lot of smiles from other cyclists, and a few people encouraged or complimented him. On my ride home with his red bike in the empty box bike, I also received a comment from a stranger: "Good work, mom."

Good work.

I hope everyone had a lovely ride to work this morning. I know that our sometimes excessively long bicycle commutes help our whole family stay happy, healthy, and more productive, for which I am grateful.

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/fredrogers193081.html

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/fredrogers193081.html

Helmets

All four of us wear helmets with MIPS concussion prevention technology, as much for improved comfort and superior fit as safety. We’ve drilled our kids to wear helmets so insistently that they will sometimes call out to our fellow cyclists without helmets, “That’s not safe!” We chuckle abashedly but as far as we can tell, no one has noticed their commentary so far.

We talked to another cycling family, who regularly sees a dad out with his two kids on their longtail bicycle with no helmets among the three of them. We all thought the parent should do whatever he wants, but the kids should definitely have helmets.

Then I went to pick up my daughter from school in the box bike and forgot her helmet.

There I was, buckling her into the bike with my own helmet on, her beautiful wispy hair waving unobstructed in the wind. I was more than a little embarrassed. Fortunately she was distracted and didn’t notice that I didn’t have her helmet, or else she would’ve cried all the way home “This isn’t safe!” at a volume impossible to ignore.

The truth is, it wasn’t safest, but it wasn’t unsafe. We’ve crashed our box bike before and the kids’ heads didn’t end up anywhere near the ground. We’ve all walked away from those crashes with nary an injury.

That said, I have a vivid memory of when my son was getting the hang of his Strider balance bike. He got going a little too fast and couldn’t quite stop with his feet, the only breaking mechanism. We were on a slight hill, so he gained speed as we entered an intersection which I had already checked for cars. He swerved as he approached the other side of the street, just as I realized how fast he was going. His balance bike tipped on its side and his momentum carried him head-first into a rounded curb, shaped like a bludgeon. It was a moment I’ll never forget. He was wearing his helmet, so he hopped right up and said, “Woah! Do it again?” Meanwhile, I scraped my jaw off the ground and put on a smiling face as I imagined what I’d be doing if he hadn’t had a helmet: calling 911.

As it happens, the guy with the longtail got helmets for his kids. I think it is a good move, but I’m not going to moralize about what happened before the helmets were purchased. He got out there with his kids and nothing terrible happened. We’ll all continue to wear our comfy MIPS helmets whenever we manage to remember them, but I might talk to the kids about the scale between “unsafe” and “safest” and point out that cycling is a fun, healthy activity for everyone, regardless of which safety precautions our fellow cyclists choose or reject.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Family Biking (Part 2)

The Ecstasy

With The Beest in The Shop, our Sunday looked uncertain. The beautiful weather beckoned. But, drive somewhere? Us? Could we...?

We piled into the car with the Islabike and Strider and drove to the Trestle pump track at Barnum North Park, near 6th Avenue and Federal. I knew immediately it would be a huge hit!

This place is great for any kid who isn't using training wheels, including balance bikers like our 2 year old!

A freshly painted gazebo covers a few picnic tables. The entire pump track is visible from there.

Still aren't sold? Walk a little way on the pedestrian bridge over 6th Avenue for great views of the city.

The pump track is great for little kids, but if any of you biking families have older kids or daredevil parents, check out the huge track at the same park.

We'll be investing in some elbow pads and knee pads soon. Despite the scraped knees and elbows, the kids had a blast and got a LOT more comfortable on their bikes! It was so much fun, it was... ecstasy.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Family Biking (Part 1)

The Agony

We finally had our Murphy's Law ride on Saturday morning. We embarked on a 10 mile ride (one way) to a friend's house for brunch. I was feeling wiped out already, and considered driving while Kevin rode with the kids. "Go on, it's sunny! Exercise will do you good," offered an encouraging, angelic voice in my psyche. So I dragged myself out to the garage and hoisted myself onto my regular bike.

A spoke broke on the rear wheel of the box bike (aka The Beest) about halfway though our ride. We couldn't really single out a traumatic event that caused it, so we chalked it up to possible prior damage from our cafe lock. However, the wheel was visibly out of true, making The Beest wobble like crazy for approximately four miles (not fun for Kevin).

Within a mile of our destination, the rear wheel just shredded; ultimately a total of 5 spokes broke. We were a 15 minute walk from our friends' house, so we disembarked and started walking. Fortunately the kids were fairly well rested for the walk, having ridden in the box bike for quite a while. I texted another friend attending the brunch who was just leaving home. She split up with her husband so they could bring an extra car for us in case we needed a ride home (it is a good thing that they did).

A couple of months ago, we joined AAA because they offer a ride for you and your bike: free for the first 7 miles and a nominal fee for further distances. Kevin called AAA, explained that we had a cargo bike in need of transportation, and walked The Beest to our friend's house so it would be ready to load when AAA arrived.

I'm not sure what the dispacher thought "cargo bike" meant, but they certainly were not prepared for The Beest.

There goes plan B.

The AAA driver exclaimed at least 50 times that he had never seen anything like this in his life.

We determined that The Beest could fit in our friends' SUV while I went with the AAA driver and shredded rear wheel (with my own regular bike on the standard bike rack) to our cycle repair shop, Campus Cycles. We love a lot of bike shops in the area but Campus Cycles has a spoke cutter, which allows them to repair our non-standard wheel quickly. It is an easy ride home from Campus Cycles, so I could get the car and drive back to brunch to retrieve the kids. Kevin went home with our friend in the vehicle carrying The Beest.

Bottom line: we all got home and no one died of exposure... thanks to our vehicle-driving friends, lots of delicious food and beverage* at our destination, and AAA. Next time, we will be sure to emphasize to the AAA dispatcher that a cargo bike cannot fit on a standard bike rack, nor in the back of a van. We'll measure the full length and offer that for clarity, and mention that the thing weighs about 100 lbs. Hopefully, the wheel will be rebuilt superbly and there won't be a next time.

*We always pack lots of food and water for long rides. Juice boxes were key in getting the kids to walk to our destination. Still, it helped immensely to have a comfortable, cool place to rest and eat while we waited for AAA.

Thank you, Denver Parks & Rec, for Pasquinel's Landing!

On our family's many cycling trips to Costco, we've had to detour around some major construction. On February, 28, however, we beheld the fruits of those labors:

Pasquinel's Landing!

Jay Henke of Denver Parks and Recreation spearheaded renovation of this beautiful public open space. Thank you, Jay, for the hours I will now spend awake at 2 AM planning family picnics and yard games to enjoy within a short bike ride from home (click here for a map). Oooooh, I can't WAIT for a hot sunny day to watch the kids splash around in that little creek diverted from the South Platte! We'll spread our towels out on the grass and blow bubbles or fly kites. Perhaps the kids will ride in loops on that silky smooth path while I paint my toenails. We may never make it to Costco again.

Box Painting Complete! (For Now)

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to paint the box of our new CETMA. With the gorgeous black and yellow color combo, the first thing that came to mind was a bee or yellow jacket and ideas poured forth from that starting point. I knew it would be nearly impossible to match the yellow of the frame exactly, so I picked out a pale yellow from the mistints at our local Guiry's for $2.

A photo taken in front of the beautiful Newman Center at the University of Denver.

Not bad, right? Then I got to thinking about a two-layered hexagonal pattern. I wanted a black honeycomb grid which I could overlay with reflective yellow hexagons. We found a stencil which would allow black hexagons to be applied easily, but that looked too much like tire tread. Painting black and then yellow again did not yield the desired results. So I threw out that idea and decided to go with a more street-art style involving spray paint and hand drawn bees.

First, I settled on a bee motif that I thought would scale nicely. Then I cut out around it so that I could use the teardrop shape as a mask for where I wanted the bees to go. I cut out a few that were the same size and shape.

Next, I applied the teardrops to the box where I wanted the bees to be. The mask would allow the bees to stand out against a pale yellow backdrop even if it interfered with the spray painted background I had planned. I also loosely masked the back of the box with a drop cloth.

I consulted with Forrest Brinker over at Making Things and Teaching about my design, and he pointed out that I should be mindful of how the interior of the box looks, as well as the outside. He use a crock pot to show me how a dark border at the top was appealing in appearance and framed the contents. This was great advice, but I wasn't sure how to deal with the sloped back of the box. So I decided to do what many pop artists do when they don't know how to finish something they've started: fade out. I would make the border very black at the front and fade it toward the back. I also decided to incorporate a zig-zag pattern evocative of a bee swarm.

This is what it looked like after peeling off the teardrop masks.

Next, the nerve wracking part: hand-drawing the bees. I practiced a little bit with my new Sharpie Magnum:

I drew the bees on the box, felt fairly pleased with myself, then applied the reflective hexagons in a way I hoped was evocative of honeycomb and complimentary to what I'd already done.

Now the box is back on the bike and riding around town! Do you like it?

At least one kiddo seems to like it.

Our CETMA is here!

We ordered a CETMA Cargo bike in August when our Joe Bike started to show excessive signs of wear and tear. We received our new CETMA via UPS freight yesterday afternoon!

Kevin had a meeting with the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Council after work, so we didn't start unwrapping until just before 9 PM.

8:55 PM

I absolutely LOVE the yellow!

First we laid everything out and removed the packaging.

9:08 PM

Poor Joe Bike! We'll find a good home for you soon!

The assembly went more smoothly than I anticipated. Attaching the two halves together was the trickiest part, simply because we needed about 5 hands to align all of the holes, hold the bike in line, and tighten the nuts. Still, we did it with just the two of us!

9:41 PM

 Kevin checks email photos from Lane to make sure we've got it right.

9:57 PM, when I decided it was too cold to continue.

Our garage was well below freezing during assembly, but it went quickly and smoothly anyway. The streets are too icy for riding this cargo bike for the first time, which is fine because Kevin wants to double check all of the bolts and continue to make adjustments to ensure optimal performance once the roads are clear. I am hoping to purchase paint for the wooden portion of the box soon, and I need to figure out a warm enough place to paint. I have some ideas for the paint job which incorporate hexagonal reflective decals for added visibility.

The kids are super excited about the bike -- almost as excited as we are! Can't wait to take it out for a spin as soon as the weather warms up a bit!

Family Day at the Opera by Bicycle

Today, Denver is blanketed in snow. Yesterday, it was a beautiful sunny day with highs in the 60's, perfect for a family bike ride to Opera Colorado's Hansel and Gretel!

We started with brunch at a friend's house, whom I talked into buying a Babboe City Cargo Bike a year or two ago. In fairness, she was already leaning toward the purchase and I probably just re-enforced the decision, but I was happy to hear her husband describe the purchase as, "The best money we've ever spent," as we set out on our ride.

We weaved through the neighborhood to the Cherry Creek Path, which took us to within a few short blocks of the spectacular Ellie Caulkins Opera House. As usual, the extra time we spent getting outdoor exercise on our bikes approximated the time we would've spent looking for parking. There were plenty of empty bike racks at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

We made our way into the lobby just as the doors to the house opened. I was pleased to see extremely courteous ushers decked out in their usual tuxedos, treating the children like royalty AND distributing tickets for free concessions! We were ushered onto the stage itself for a breathtaking view of the opera house from what Klaus Frahm calls The Fourth Wall.

Families had access to a backstage bathroom, which was more than simply practical and accommodating. It gave kids and their families access to another space that is typically reserved for performers, which complemented the "Fourth Wall" perspective to blur the line between audience and performer. Seemingly small choices such as these go a long way toward encouraging audience members of all ages to be more active participants than passive consumers, an outcome highly prized by artistic organizations everywhere that thrive not only from ticket sales, but primarily on charitable contributions from engaged and enthusiastic patrons.

The set was versatile and fun, the costumes were wonderful, the young artists extremely talented, and the pianist remarkably adept, sensitive, and focused as she did the work of an entire orchestra non-stop for an hour.

My two year old didn't make it through the hour, so we headed back out to the lobby to get some wiggles out after 40 minutes or so. There were still tables set up with activities that we missed beforehand: coloring, crafts, and a fun photo op:

The concession stand was open, so we traded our tickets for some chips, hot cocoa, granola bars and a banana, which gave us all energy for the ride home. What a day at the opera!

This isn't even all of us! Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun afternoon!