Crunch by Leslie Connor: A Review

My second grader has moved up to the Juvenile Lit section of the library, which is where I found Crunch by Leslie Connor. At 330 pages, this chapter book looked daunting to my daughter, but I needed to know the story behind the bikey dust jacket.

Within a few quick chapters I was hooked into the plot. Fueled by a nation-wide fuel shortage, or crunch, the five Marriss kids are forced to run the family homestead and bicycle repair business during the summer while their parents are stranded out of town indefinitely. These are troubled times filled with shortages of everything. A plentiful garden, along with goat milk and chicken eggs from their family farm, provide a key food supply for the children and their neighbors. The children also quickly take advantage of the nearby highway as it transforms into a giant multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians.

The cause of the oil shortage is masked behind the veil of politics, but themes of overconsumption, oil dependence, and self-reliance are clearly presented. There are hints at the fact that bicycles and shoes are not the simple savior to our car culture problem. During a family dinner of homemade clam chowder shared with friends and strangers, the narrator notes, "We were consumed with consuming."  Even the bike industry is plagued by the oil shortage, as deliveries of parts are delayed and costs begin to skyrocket. This car-less future is still a world complicated by the necessity of at least some oil.

The importance of art, neighborliness, sharing, creativity, and hard work all play important roles in the story, providing sound advice on how we all should live together. However, with fourteen year-old Dewey as the narrator, questions about the order of the past and the unknown chaos of the future are literally left open-ended on the page for both him and the reader to answer.

For parents like me who carry their children around town by bicycle, Crunch reads like a childrens text book focused on explaining why we ride.  The plot is driven by children learning to take on the responsibilities of adults while still making childlike mistakes. These kids are learning about cultural change while actively taking part in the shifting paradigm (pun very much intended.) Crunch is a child's view on one possible future for America: a future without oil. It's a future that readers of any age will enjoy exploring and pondering.

You can find Crunch, by Leslie Connor, in both hardcover and eBook versions at the Tacoma Public Library.

DIY Madsen Bucket Covers Revisited

I am constantly amazed that most of the TBR web traffic is directed to our posts about DIY Rain Covers for our Madsen Cycles Bucket Bike (which we sold over a year ago.)

There was version 1.0 that we used for our bike:

Then we made version 2.0 for some friends in Seattle:

There is apparently a HUGE demand for these things. Maybe not huge, but folks want 'em.  While we made ours to keep out the rain and cold, others are simply trying to keep out the sun. This brilliant shade cover photo was sent to us from Ryan in Sacramento:

Here's another great shade cover by @conanlow: 

(photo used with permission)

Meanwhile, Madsen Cycles is finally testing what appears to be a more finalized prototype of their bucket cover.

Is your bucket covered?  We'll continue to add a few more pics and links here. Leave a link in the comments or email matt (dot) newport (at) gmail.

DIY Bike Art

I wear things out: clothes, shoes, tools, bike parts. I usually fix or replace these things before they fail completely, but this was not the case for my VO saddle. The lower rail broke right at the clamp, which simply made the whole thing even springier than before and lilting to one side. It wasn't dramatic or dangerous and VO is already shipping me a replacement. (Fastest customer service ever.)

Meanwhile, I rummaged through my parts bin and pieced together my own attempt at Pablo Picasso's "Bull's Head" from 1942. It's a work-in-progress, but I'm happy with it so far.

Cargotrikes: For Kids!

After our own 4th of July bike parade fun, I saw that other friends had similar experiences. Specifically, transportland.org posted about Longtail Kids in a neighborhood parade with this awesome video.

You can imagine my surprise when later that week a kids cargotrike showed up on Seattle Craigslist. After a day of discussion amongst friends and family on twitter, we decided to bring it down to the Ranch. We met the seller near JRA Bike Shop, which we also visited because they carry Yuba Mundo and Sun Atlas Cargo bikes. (Testride!) We also met up with fellow family bike blogger Family Ride in her hood for more bike geekery and some downtime at the playground. I try to make the most out of every car trip to Seattle and this one was no exception.

Backstory: this Diamondback Lil'One (16" wheels!) was brought up from Mexico by a family moving to the Northwest.  They sold it to our CL seller at a garage sale, who has been holding on to it for nearly a year in an attempt to find it a good home. It was in great shape and even came with a clown horn, but I added a plywood base and some pink coroplast wheel guards before letting the kids ride in the front.

You know - for kids! 

There is a slight learning curve to tadpole trikes, but our oldest picked it up quickly. Basically, don't ride faster than a grownup can walk and give yourself plenty of room to turn. 

Hauling used razor scooters from a garage sale.

Hauling a brother.

Hauling a sister and a friend.

Losing a race.

My turn!

Apparently these little trikes would be used by children to help families sell items at a market or to run errands. I certainly plan on making my kids haul their share of the load in the future! Unfortunately I can't find any other photos or information about this trike's former life south of the border. Any one have any clues?

I did find is this cuter-than-cute flickr set of Kinderbakfiets from De Fietsfabriek. Leave it to the Dutch to make 495€ cargotrikes for their kids (that's ~$600 US). Adorable.

Independence: Best Celebrated Together

A mom from my daughter's class invited us to an Independence Day bike parade in our neighborhood. My daughters decorated their bikes and I crafted a bigger and better flag pole for my Xtracycle.

We met at her house around 9am, along with many other neighbors and friends. We paraded our bikes, scooters, and dogs around the block a few times. Some folks knew we'd be coming and were waiting in their lawn chairs for the parade to pass.

We returned for a potluck breakfast on the lawn and were treated to part of the Freedom Fair airshow. An F-22 Raptor maneuvered loudly over the treetops above Commencement Bay as we chatted about schools, bicycles, houses, and pets. The kids played in the street and climbed trees.

I can't think of a better way to spend this national holiday.