03 March 2009

A Weekend of Bicycling

I've been out on two wheels quite a bit, and thought I'd wrap it all up neatly for your consumption.

Friday:
Sarah had the girls, so Kyler and I took the Xtracycle to Puget Park. We stopped at the library and a bakery on the way home. It was a little chilly once we reached cruising speed, but the little guy loves going for bike rides. Xtracycle's Kick Back (double-leg kickstand) was worth the wait and the money. I have no worries about loading, unloading, or "idling" kids in the bobike seat while it is engaged.

Saturday:
I loaded up the basket on the Cross Check and left early for a chilly ride through Point Defiance Park. I dressed in wool and took a thermos of tea, a pbh sandwich, camera, extra layers. The basket was full, but not very heavy, and managed the load well. I stopped for a snack and a warm drink at the Narrows lookout point, only to find that the memory card was not in my camera. Doh! After the 15 mile ride, I decided that my Xtracycle is better suited longer tours like the Courage Classic ride that I'm planning to do again this summer. Although, I may swap my sprung VO saddle to the Cross Check and give it one more try.
From Cross Check


Sunday:
Cross Check milk run. I needed one gallon of whole milk and one quart of soy milk. However...

1 gal milk = $2.99 ea
2 gal milk = $1.99 ea (must buy two)

Who comes up with these rediculous sales? Not being one to turn down a deal, and knowing we'd drink it, I picked up two. The soy milk was also cheaper buy the half gallon. Plenty of deals, but I only had my basket and front rack. (I think the rack limit is 15 pounds.) With my 20 pounds of liquid cargo and the U-lock tucked under the cargo net, I slowly meandered the 1.5 miles home. The handling was poor, which is what I expected, but manageable. I now know the upper limit of this setup.

Monday:
Sarah and I ran errands in the van today. Too far to practically bike, but that's why we have the van. We stacked the destinations and didn't do any backtracking, at least.

Tuesday:
We ran out of powdered sugar and baking cocoa, so Kyler and I again took to two wheels. We stopped to admire the fire trucks in Proctor, as there was some sort of multi-station meeting going on (must have been six engines in front of the station.) We also slowed to check out the large back-hoes and grading equipment tearing up Union Ave. Kyler also spotted a garbage truck during this stop. He's got an eye for garbage trucks.

From Xtracycle

4 comments:

melanie said...

I got really pissed yesterday when I was at a grocery store where whole milk was not cheaper than the other stuff... even though I was technically getting more milk. Yeesh. Further proof that Utah has ruined me: I was annoyed that it wasn't 1.89 a gallon like my regular grocer (where a gallon and a half gallon cost the same).

Ky looks so cute of the bike-- love the sunglasses!

Something I've found with the basket: thoughtfully balancing out the load makes a huge difference in the ride.

Anonymous said...

That little guy is too cute on the back of the bike with his sun glasses on. He is truly the lucky one. nice that you boys get some guy time away from the girls.

Un--Urban said...

Matt, stumbled across your blog when looking for biking information on tacoma. Good read! I work for Metro Parks, we are currently programming a trial bike competition on July 18th. This event would also have a general bike community information section. Would love to sit down and chat about what you know about the Tacoma biking scene. Shoot me an email at: joelc@tacomaparks.com if you have a chance! Would love to see you down there, cheers - Joel Chang

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