Another Day Off

Well, today was another day off the bike. It's pics like this I have stored in my phone that make me hate days like today. The beauty of my commute is breathtaking. The freedom of riding is a lot like the image above. It's truly awesome.

But today I had an all-day media training meeting. (If you've ever wanted to interview me on camera, nows the time. It's fresh on my mind!) I had to prep early this morning for the meeting and stay late for an "after work" meeting. So riding would have meant zero time with the kiddos. And I try not to let that happen too often. Actually, it's going to happen tomorrow :(

So today I settle for looking at pics of my commute, not riding it.

Get out there.

Xtracycle WideLoaders

One of the recent additions to the Xtracycle have been the purchase of WideLoaders. The WideLoaders are the horizontal racks that shoot out to the side of the Xtracycle FreeRadical (where the weed trimmer is sitting). Their purpose is to hold a wider load and support cargo with more rigidity than the FreeRadical bags themselves.

In the original purchase of the Xtracycle, I didn't think I would really need haul anything with that much bulk. And to be honest, I didn't want to incur the extra cost. But after a few weeks of using my bike as a truck, I was realizing that this may be something I would use. I hated getting to scenarios where I could use the Xtra if I had a set of WideLoaders.

I began to hunt for junk in my garage to dump off on Craigslist. Eventually, I remembered I had an old G4 PowerBook in my closet that hadn't been powered on in over two years. Jackpot. Fast forward through about 93 spam emails for Craigslist and here we are, carrying a weed trimmer to work.

These really have been a great help with cargo. If you're considering something like the FreeRadical, I will warn you. You may be unsatisfied without the WideLoaders. The Longtail kit does wonders. It completely changes your lifestyle on a bike. But you will probably find yourself in the same spot I did. You could do more with this tool added on.

Get out there.

After the Ride

On Monday I did a 40+ mile ride with a buddy. I don't do a lot of "joy rides" on the bike. For some reason, there's something inside of me that would rather just use the bike for transportation... not exploration. I know, I know. I should explore more.

Anyway, my favorite part of the ride was walking into my air conditioned house and sitting down to a nice tall glass of Arnold Palmer. It's perfect for post-ride refreshment. Half tea, half lemonade. You can't beat it.

Get out there.

Kentucky

Sometimes I forget how beautiful Kentucky is. I clicked this picture on my iPhone really quickly on the way home. As I was looking at it I realized that's an incredibly blue sky. I realized my bike is parked right next to a beautiful open field that lines right up against a line of trees that reaches out for acres and acres. I realized that I don't give my area enough credit. It's truly beautiful here.

Get out there.

Big Scare

Last night we headed for a family outing in the van. We live out far enough from "town" that we still have to do lots of trips by car. There aren't enough safe routes by bike to get there with three kids in tow. That being said, we were gone for about three hours.

As we pulled around the corner I saw a terrifying sight.

Our garage door was open.

All my bikes, my only possessions that hold any value, had been wide open for the taking for all that time. As we pulled up I audibly counted them off... "Surly. (whew!)... Xtracycle (whew!)... Redline (whew!)... Kona (whew!)."

Angie, of course, laughed at me. "I guess you're not concerned if anyone is waiting inside our closet. As long as they didn't take your bikes."

Well, all was okay. So no worries. I did go look in the closets, though :)

Get out there.

Work Space

I've been working recently to rearrange my garage and make it a bit more usable for bike repair and storage. When we first moved in we had a pop-up camper that took up more than half of the garage. So my tools and workbench were awkwardly placed. The camper's been gone for two years... but unfortunately I just got around to making things more convenient.

This set-up is right inside the door. So access is immediate. The cabinet on the left holds gear (bags, lights, helmets, rain jacket and other accessories). It's nice to keep it all in it's own place. I started doing this last year with all the winter gear. It was nicer to have all my stuff in one place in the garage than spread out all over the house.

I also moved my workbench and peg board. Now my tools and storage are parked right next to each other. There's also a box on top of that cabinet to hold all the random crap that comes off of bikes. I'm looking for a good system of small containers to hold all of the bike hardware I have.

Next to come is hanging a couple garden hose hangers to hold spare tires and some type of way to hold the Xtracycle WideLoaders.

When things are easily accessible and quick to use, it gets me on the bike more. So this stuff makes a big difference.

Get out there.

Days Off

Last week I had two days off the bike. Normally, any day I don't ride my bike to work (the occasional day when I take the kids to school) I usually end up running an errand or doing a little family joy ride. Last Thursday, however, I ended up going to bed thinking, "Hmm. I didn't ride a bicycle today."

What slipped my mind was the fact that I was giving blood Friday morning. I like giving blood. But I hate the fact that it takes me off the bike for 24 hours. But I knew I needed to keep my appointment and do it anyway.

So there I was. Two days off the bike. From what I could remember, it was the first day off in about eight weeks. So it wasn't a big deal. It just felt odd.

I tried to get back on a bit too soon after my blood draining. I tried to take Bliss on an Xtracycle ride to Lowes for some grilling supplies and I bonked after about the first mile. We made it there and back, but I could totally tell I was a pint low. Weird.

Get out there.