Stable Shift

Recently, I've been contemplating a change in the bicycle line-up. For one, I've realized that I really prefer the feel of a 26" wheel on a bicycle. I'm a short guy and it just feels better underneath me. Another factor is the fact that, as my kids have grown and are riding their own bikes, I use the Xtracycle much less than I used to.

So I think that I've made the decision to get rid of the single speed Cross check and the Xtracycle frame. If I were to do that, I would use the cash to buy a Disc Trucker frame. Also, the Xtracycle would relent to me an internally geared hub on a 26" wheel. Thus allowing me to put an internally geared system on the old Long Haul Trucker while moving the current LHT component line-up to the Disc Trucker.

Here's what the whole garage would look like:
Disc Trucker: 3x9 setup for commuting, camping and touring. Probably my go-to bike for recreational rides and catting around town.

Long Haul Trucker: 9 speed internally geared hub with chubbier tires and cruiser bars. Used for rainy and snowy weather riding and secondary loaner mountain bike.

Troll: Same ol' trusty mountain bike. Nothing new.

Cross Check: 2x9 road bike used for when I want to go fast... er... faster. I never go fast.

The single speed Cross Check, Xtracycle and the Klunker 1x6 Trek would all disappear. I'd lose three bikes but actually gain capacity in the riding that I do most often. The big miss will be the Xtracycle. But I'm a firm believer in getting rid of something that you don't use. I haven't touched it in probably a year... which means I don't really need it.

And so the Craigslist posting begins...

Get out there.

Overnighter

Had a great opportunity to spend the evening camping with some guys last night. Four of us pedaled our way through Lexington, out the Legacy Trail to the Kentucky Horse Park.

We dog legged our way through downtown after work, taking one short cut through and over some rail road. Justin and I left from work, swung by Jason's house and then met Brian at Cricket Press. After a quick stop at Indi's for some wings to go, we were on our way to the campground.

The Horse Park has some pretty basic primitive sites. Basic, as in, it's just a field with trees. It's great for a trip like this when some guys are in tents, some are in hammocks or some are just sleeping on the ground.

Buffalo wings by Indi's. There's nothing like sinking your teeth into some warm, spicy wings after a cargo slog on a loaded bike.

Brian (of Cricket Press fame) was on his Big Dummy. Tim (of that-nice-guy-Tim-fame) drove out that evening to enjoy some fire time and bike talk. Tim and I have crossed paths a couple times through bike stuff over the years. But Brian and I had never met face to face. We'd only seen each other on the internets. The internet is funny that way. But the bond of riding bikes held strong enough to keep the conversation going all night. 

Jason was on his commuter Giant with the BOB trailer behind. The trailer served us well to wrap our wings in a sleeping pad to keep them warm and cozy.

Here's my rig. Panniers in the back, sleeping bag and pad up front in the basket. Bag was in a backpack with some other odds and ends, too. As expected, the LHT does this job really well. Somehow I missed getting a photo of Justin's Kona Dew. I love the Dew. Great all-around bike.

We talked bikes, camping and more bikes well into the evening. The full moon was like a giant floodlight on the campground. Headlamps were used minimally.

Temps got into the twenties. I slept in the hammock but never got cold. I just snuggled deep into my bag and fell into a buffalo sauce induced stupor. When I emerged from the bag in the morning, the world was covered in frost.

Morning brought coffee. Coffee brings warmth. Everything was right in the world. 

We slowly packed up and made our way back. The ride is about 20 miles from work each way. So it was fun to get in some loaded miles to and from. Gotta love it.

Get out there.

More Than Pedaling

We had our first all-family ride of 2013 this weekend. With the big kids riding their own bikes now, it's an all new setup. I'm still riding the Xtra with a three-year-old on back while pulling a trailer with the baby in it. But the big ones are powering their own wheels.

It's an interesting thing to ride with children on their own bikes. We've got a lot to teach them. They get easily distracted and weave in and out of the group quite a bit. It was a lot of drama trying to get them to focus and stay straight the whole time. I remembered similar issues when we've done larger Bike Lexington events where they close down the streets. Kids ride bikes erratically, with nothing in mind but fun (which I love). But in a group, they can become a little dangerous. Angie and I had to really keep an eye on them and our hands on our own brakes for every minute.

Our child-hauling cargo options still work for ventures outside the neighborhood. We'll just put two kids on the Xtracycle, one in the trailer and one on a trail-a-bike with Angie. But I'd love to teach them some rules of the road while cruising around on safer streets.

Anyone got any tips for teaching kids bike riding etiquette? There's about a half mile stretch of road that we have to ride to get anywhere outside of our neighborhood. The speed limit is 35mph with plenty of shoulder, but I wouldn't risk it... not after this weekend's demonstration. They'd be all over the place.

Some rules we talked about:

• stay behind dad but in front of mom
• stay as far right as possible
• watch the person in front of you and be ready to brake if they stop
• don't stop for no reason
• drive straight, no swerving for fun (even though it is fun)
• if you have to stop, pull off to the right

All of that stuff kept coming up... which is a lot for a six year old boy's brain to think about (especially when you're distracted by the awesomeness of riding a bike. I'd also not that the girl did way better than the boy! He was too interested on the fun side of things).

We'll keep working at it until things get a little better. But they may be bike passengers instead of pilots for another season or two if we're leaving the neighborhood.

Get out there.

Loaded Up and Runnin'

This morning's commute was a loaded Xtracycle run. It's been a while since I've used the Xtra to haul a big load. I'm always blown away at how it does it so well. Even though it's been sitting in the garage gathering dust, I can still hop on it and pedal an extra 75 pounds and it feels just like my other bikes.

I'm helping a buddy build his very own Surly Long Haul Trucker during lunch breaks over the next couple days. So the bike was loaded down with work stand, tool box and backpack full of clothes and laptop.

Though the work stand hung out the back a good ways, the load wasn't too wide. I noticed that when I was riding in traffic, people weren't giving me an extra 20' like they sometimes do when I'm on the Xtra. I guess it was because, from behind, it didn't look much different than a normal bike.

It's so awesome that I can accomplish jobs like this with a bike. Without the Xtra, today would have had to have been a car day. Not so with a bike like this. I love it.

Get out there.

Bikes in the Stand

I had four of my five bikes in the work stand last night. It just got to be one of those seasons (it happens a couple times a year) when I've run nearly all of my bikes into the ground without giving them the attention they need. One night of greasy hands and it can all be taken care of. But for whatever reason, it's easy to neglect.

The Long Haul Trucker was only running seven of available twenty four gears and the rear brake was nearly useless. Twenty minutes in the stand and we're all good.

The Xtracycle had hit a bump (and by bump, I mean deep chasm) that knocked both fenders out of place and they were rubbing the tires. Fenders seem like a peripheral in bike maintenance. But they're difficult to get centered for maximum coverage and visual appeal. It also knocked the quill stem loose. But a mere twenty minutes in the stand was enough to get it back to 100%.

The single speed Cross Check had a mysterious tear in the tire sidewall a couple months back. To my chagrin, my only remaining sets of 700c tires were two sets of cyclocross tires. I took the least aggressive of the two sets and put them on the Cross Check. But when you go from a 25mm width to a 36mm width, you are going to get some rub on the fenders. So, there was one more bike I was neglecting. This one took some finagling to get it to work. The old fenders really didn't want to cooperate with the more plump rubber. Eventually, nearly thirty minutes or so, everything was spinning again.

Lastly, I needed to replace the front shifter cable on the Troll. I took a tumble into a tree on my last mountain bike camping trip and it rendered the cable useless. It's been stuck on the small chainring for a month. It worked, which made it harder to motivate myself to fix it. But, hey, if I've got the goods to run a 3x9, let's do it. A quick cable replacement (less than ten minutes) and the Troll was shifting beautifully again.

It's funny to wait so long. But when you've got multiple bikes in the garage, it's easy to just grab a different one if another isn't in tip-top shape. The only problem is when they all begin to falter. After last night, though, I'll be in good shape for a while.

Get out there.

Long Ride on the Longtail

I did a lot of meandering on the route in this morning. I had some time and the weather was in my favor. So I slowly made my way across the landscape with out a direct route in mind. The Xtracycle was the ride of choice today. There's a guy at work (who has four kids like me) and is thinking about entering the realm of longtail riding. So I'm letting him borrow the Xtra for a day to see what he thinks.

The Cross Check is at the office. I'll just ride it home today and grab the Xtra tomorrow. Looks like rain is in the forecast for the ride home.

Get out there.

Heavy Cargo

Lots of miles of family biking this weekend. Three kids, ages 3, 5 and 7 on a cargo bike pulling a trailer is a lot of extra weight. I was slower on these rides than ever before (since my kids continue to grow). I haven't quite figured out how to utilize a better system yet. So for now, it's taking our normal routes with the three bigs ones in tow.

Saturday was a trip to the library. And while we were out we figured we'd hit up the park. Weather was so nice, we ended up staying out for nearly three hours.

On the way back, I spotted some riding gloves on the road in the middle of nowhere. Sweet find! (By the way, they're laying on the hood of my car which is reflecting the clouds. That's not a photo of them floating in the air.)

Sunday's ride took us to Lowes to swap out a propane tank. The thing about propane tanks is that they weigh less when there's no propane in there. So the return ride gave me some extra cargo weight to push up the hills. It was a beast of a load.

On the way back from Lowes we stopped at another park that was at the half way point. I didn't stop because I had bitten of more than I could chew and was about to pass out and my legs were all aquiver and it felt like 200 degrees. I stopped because I'm a good dad and wanted to let my kids play :)

There was a random dog licking faces.

And Abe carried around a big log the entire time. He said it was "pretty like mommy" so he wanted to give it to her as a gift. My wife is beautiful... much better looking than that log.

After some quality park/rest time, we made our way back home. Two days of family riding wore me out. That was quite a bit of mileage for about 140 lbs worth of kid behind me. And that full propane tank certainly pushed me over the edge of my capacity. I was pooped.

But we had a blast and didn't have to drive a car for all those good times. I love riding with the fam.

Get out there.

Family Bike Camping Trip

Last week, the boys and I took our first family bike camping trip together. We parked at the North Lexington YMCA, a trailhead for the Legacy Trail, and pedaled our way to the Kentucky Horse Park for some overnight camping action.

The Legacy Trail has some beautiful views along the way. For the most part, you're pedaling through farm land with scenic fields and trees all around.

That being said, I knew the scenery may not keep the attention of two boys, three and five years old. So we made an effort to stop often enough to run around, drink a juice box and have a snack. They did really well on the ride. I gave them the option of riding together in the Xtracycle or splitting up between Xtra and trailer. They chose to ride separately, which was probably the best choice (It's not easy to pedal that much of a load when there's a wrestling match happening on the deck of the Xtracycle).

It was in the high 90s as we pedaled our way down the path. I took the opportunity to park in the shade if they got fussy. But I was surprised at how well it all went. They were so pumped about camping (plus the amount of juice boxes I brought to keep them hydrated) that they were more patient than usual.

We set up their tent as soon as we arrived. My plan was to sleep in the hammock and let them stay in their Cars tent. But they were itchy to get into the pool, so after Lightning McQueen made his debut, we set off for the water.

Go ahead, boys. Wear yourself out so you'll sleep all night :)

Back at camp, resting in the hammock while dad makes dinner.

Food and water were my most extreme instance of overpacking. I wanted them to have energy and stay hydrated. But I brought WAY too much food and water. When it's that hot outside, the nurturing instincts kick in and you fear dehydration. But we were nowhere near running low. At least my paranoia led to lots of snack times and options for dinner.

I had my classic noodles and tuna dinner. Lots of carbs and protein with very little work.

After dinner was playground time. The Horse Park is great for kiddos. We could have bounced between pool and playground for hours. Fortunately for me, though, the darkness was setting in and the boys were getting tired. After all the pedaling and kid juggling, I was ready to rest, too.

Back to camp for fire and flashlight time. When we stayed moving, we didn't notice that it was still pretty hot outside. But soon enough, the boys would want to go to bed, only to be thwarted by the heat in their little windowless tent.

That was the only drama of the entire trip. Their tent was just too hot to sleep in. After fighting their desire to sleep in Lightning McQueen for nearly an hour, they gave up and came outside to lay on a tarp that I brought. I laid it right under my hammock so that I was just a few inches away. They laid under the stars, chatted and giggled for a while, then fell asleep. I was proud of myself for pulling it off. We had made a pedal powered journey in the heat, spent great quality time together and here we were, a dad and his sons laying under God's creation. It was good stuff.

I did, however, feel some sprinkles of rain at about 3am. Really? Come on! I got up, ran a line above my hammock and hung another tarp over myself and the boys. They never woke up. But it did rain pretty good for an hour. I was glad that I trusted my gut on bringing two tarps. I was also glad that I went ahead and hung the second tarp after just a few sprinkles. Had I not hung it up in time, the boys would have gotten wet and woke up. It would have been a tough recovery after that.

Morning brought on a sunrise soccer game that ended with an injury. After about 30 seconds of tears, he embraced his injury and was proud to bleed on his first man camping trip. And yes, those are Cheeto fingers at 7am in the woods.

We quickly packed up to try and beat the heat.

Clive, the big one, wanted to ride in the trailer the entire time. He's too big for it. It totally squishes him in. But he thought it was funny to ride in the baby trailer and who am I to argue. This trip was about living it up. And when you're five, living it up means different things than when you're 31.

From there it was the same farms from a different angle on the way home. We made it back in nearly half the time that it took us to get there the previous day. Even after having tired legs, I think the morning temps gave me the extra boost to roll along a little faster.

It was an awesome trip. I can't wait to make it again. Angie wants to go with our oldest as soon as we can leave the baby with a sitter overnight. That would be awesome.

I did learn a few things...

It's easy to overpack on any camping trip. But when you're bringing little ones along, it's a certainty. In hindsight, I would rather underpack on a trip like this and hit up the camp store if I've forgotten something that's a necessity. With the boys weighing in at nearly 100lbs, plus all of the bike, trailer and gear, my legs were pulling some major cargo weight. It didn't slow me down terribly, but it would be nice to ditch 20lbs or so.

There's a trade off between camping in the heat and having the pool available versus camping in the fall but not having the pool to occupy their time. The majority of our time was spent swimming. Our night would be a bit easier in cooler weather, but I would need to compensate with other activities during the day.

And for parking, I called the North Lexington YMCA ahead of time and they were great. They were excited that we were making the trip and welcomed us to leave the car. That's good to know. They just asked that I email my car's make, model and license number for reference. If you're ever interested in this trip, I'd do the same. And parking the car was a great option. I've done this trip a few times, now, but I've always left from home on the bike. That's too many miles and unsafe roads for a family trip, though. Parking at the Y is a great distance and makes it 100% on the bike path.

Other plans?

I'd love to set up a trip this fall and plan it using this blog. Are there other family bike riders out there that would be interested in doing this trip? The primitive sites at the Horse Park would be perfect for dozens of bikes, tents and families rocking it out for a night. Who's interested? I love to hear from any of you that would want to do a Lexington family bike camping trip. Shoot me an email or comment below. I'll start to compile a list.

Get out there.

Newfound Xtracycle Love

Yesterday's lunch ride was upon my long bike... and it was delightful.

Quite honestly, this bike has been a dark shadow in my stable. I've had so many frustrations with the internally geared hub that have led me to parking it for the majority of the last six months or so. I struggled to get it tuned up and keep it tuned up. And every time I rode it, it made me dislike it more and more. Recently, though, I did all the research and spent the necessary time getting it tuned to perfection. It's so different that the conventional derailleur set-up that I'm used to working on, that I just put off doing it right. But, alas, it is now in great working order.

Yesterday, I needed it to pick up some stuff at the bike shop and the Xtracycle is quite useful for those utilitarian type errands. I rolled it into the shop and Jason, the shop's manager, was commenting on how great the design and use of the Xtracyle is. As I rolled back to work (shifting quite nicely, I might add), I was excited about this bike once again. It really is an amazing machine. It allows me to do things by bike that I could have never done before. When I do the work of maintaining this tool to function properly, it continues to deliver on doing the work it was made to do.

I love the Xtracycle.

Get out there.

Roadside Mechanical

Today was one of "those" mornings. I didn't sleep well last night and left the house later than I should have. I realized that my commuter bike had a flat tire and my floor pump was at work. Add to that the fact that I couldn't find either of my mini-pumps (Where do these things go?... Oh, yeah. My sons pretend like they are guns and shoot one another with air. They're probably in a toy box somewhere.) So I was forced to take the Xtracycle that's been giving me a little guff inside that snazzy internally geared hub. Yes, it's that hub that supposedly gives no guff. Yet the guff had me on the side of the road several times today.

The fine tuning on these things is pretty annoying. Any little bit of cable movement causes it to come out of tune. It's got no wiggle room. And putting it on a long bike means there's lots of cable to relocate itself. And since you can't see the gears, you have to play with the barrel adjuster, ride for a bit and then play with it some more. A quarter turn of the barrel adjuster too much will throw it off. Then your pedals spin out of control and you're left with no gears at all. It takes a lot more love than a simple drivetrain system. But once it's set up, it should stay that way... in theory.

I'm happy to say that I think I got it all finished. And my boyscoutedness had me loaded with zip ties to keep those cables in place. So I think everything is going to stay put for a while. So I finished the job after stopping three times and was a bit fuming. But it didn't take long to cool off.

My final stop had me starting the ride back up next to a field of wildflowers. It was quite a nice view that you can't see from the road that I would take if I were going to work in a car.

And, oh... I forgot this pic from yesterday.

There was a dead groundhog in the middle of the MTB trail yesterday morning. Is that trail-kill? The MTB equivalent to road-kill? It has to be, right? Animals just don't die in midstride walking across a path, do they? So someone hit it with their bike? Anyway, whoever killed it just left it there. That's Jason using a stick to give it a proper burial (or at least giving it the honor of not being run over time and time again). I thought you guys would appreciate me sharing that.

I digress.

I made it to work only five minutes later than normal. So all is well and my mood has settled. Now for coffee.

Get out there.

Bike Date

The luckiest man in the world got a text yesterday from his lovely wife requesting that he take her on a bike date. What? Could any man be this lucky? Yes. Yes he can.

Last night, Angie and I had a good friend offer to watch all the kids, which allowed us to have our own fun. We rode the bikes through neighborhoods and parks. We hit up the mall area and ate dinner together, then slowly made our way back via bike.

I'm certainly blessed to have a wife who's up for dating by bike. And the fact that it was her idea is even better. We laughed and smiled the entire time. Something about the slower pace and being outside made the night rich. I love her so much.

Get out there.

Xtracycle Ladder Hauling

Once again, I sing the praises of the Xtracycle. The girls were at the grocery yesterday while I was left at home to manage the untamable energy of a two year old and five year old boy. They wanted to be outside but I had work to do.

Then the lightbulb went off.

Of the work that needed to be done, on that list was returning a ladder to my friend Aaron. His house is a couple miles away by bike and the Xtracycle is perfect for just such a job. Within minutes, we loaded up and were off. This is one of those tasks that is probably easier by bike than by car. The ladder weighs nothing and is easily lashed to the Xtra. We had fun, got in a little workout and checked off an item on our to-do list. Thanks, Xtracycle. My boys and I are grateful.

Get out there.

Year in Photos

I'm a little late getting up my year end review of my favorite photos of 2011. When the last day of the year came around, we were still in the hospital. But I love to look back and see all the fun that was had. So here you go. This was 2011...

Looks like I had a lot of fun. Now I only have to wait for more to come.

Get out there.