Bike Camping In the City

Metroparks Tacoma started a new program last summer that allows folks to camp overnight at a few city parks on select summer nights. We couldn't make it last year, but this year I made sure to register early for a tent spot at Owen Beach in Point Defiance Park.

The park is only about five miles from our house, so we made this a bike camping trip: I hauled the gear on our cargobike and the girls (6 and 8) rode their own bikes.

With room for one more in the tent, we decided to bring a friend along (8). He rode his own bike, too.

The evening of our campout turned out to be one if the hottest we'll see all year with temps near 90F as I loaded up the EdgeRunner. Our saving grace was a small spray bottle hanging from my handlebars so I could mist the kids with water as we pedaled.

About halfway to the park, I decided to make an impromptu stop at the Sherman Elementary pocket library where my oldest crashed hard into a curb and pinch flatted. Doh!

Luckily the EdgeRunner has a 20" rear wheel, because I hadn't thought to pack any extra tubes for kid bikes. It only took 10 minutes to change the tube and kids rummaged through the library cabinet to find a few books to read later. Onward!

Stopping to see a deer bedded down in someone's yard

Homestretch: the waterfront trail between the Point Defiance marina and Owen Beach

Everyone pitched in to pitch the tent

Room with a view of Vashon Island and the ferry

The kids had a fun time playing along the beach and on the hillside bluffs rising from the shoreline. The park was busy on this hot afternoon and many day-trippers stayed until the park closed at dusk to take full advantage of the complete shade along the waterfront.

We packed some treats, but Metroparks also provided campers with a few individually packaged snacks. There were also board games to borrow. The kids were completely spent by 10pm so we missed the storyteller that presumably started after we were fast asleep.

Supermoon rising over Port of Tacoma.

We rose at 7am the next morning for a light breakfast provided by Metroparks (coffee, juice, milk, fruit, oatmeal.) My oldest said she counted 16 tents. 

 Beachcombing: the first sanddollar I've ever seen at Owen Beach

Reload!

With another scorcher in the forecast, we set off for home around 8:30am to beat the heat. The ride home is nearly all uphill to some degree and I knew my little riders were only going to get more tired as the day progressed.

Watching the Vashon Island ferry never gets old.

Stopping to watch a raccoon

Our pack mule: Fully loaded Xtracycle EdgeRunner 

We stopped at a playground to stretch our riding legs after the steepest part of the ride home. I had promised the kids a donut stop, but at this point they were already saying that it was too hot for donuts. They wanted something cold for second breakfast.

So we stopped at the grocery store and the three kids split a 6-pack of ice cream sandwiches. This ridiculous pile of bottled water made an excellent make-shift picnic bench. As bicycle guru Kent Peterson says: cyclists are not nutritional role models. After nearly 10 miles of riding in the heat, these kids had earned it.

This was a great opportunity for us to try bike camping and make some memories without ever leaving the city. All of us had a blast. However my oldest pointed out that the camping would not have been as fun if we had driven to the park. There are still two more opportunities for you to Campout with Metroparks this summer. Consider making these bike camping opportunities as well.

Accessorizing EdgeRunner

Just a quick follow-up to my previous EdgeRunner build post. I had a few issues accessorizing the bike and wanted to show-off my work-arounds for anyone also building up a frameset at home.

The main problem was that my previous Xtracycle frame used a 27.2mm seatpost, which was small enough that a standard 1-1/8" stem could be attached to mount the stoker bars for my passengers. Like this:

The EdgeRunner frame specs said to use a 30.9mm seatpost, which I did, though I didn't think about how I would mount the stoker bars to that larger diameter. By looking at their site, I can see that Xtracycle has avoided this issue with their complete EdgeRunner bikes by using the smaller diameter seatpost and a shim. They obviously thought further ahead than me.

I rummaged through my spare parts and found a short stem that is also for 1-1/8" headsets, but clamps on a handlebar that is 31.8mm. So I flipped it around, mounted the handlebar end of the stem to the seatpost, and shimmed the stoker handlebar with bits of aluminum cans to get a snug fit. Like this:

My other issue was with the KickBack centerstand. The stand has a hard plastic plate that mates nicely with the round tubing of the FreeRadical when not in use, but the EdgeRunner has an oval shaped bottom tube which doesn't mate nicely with that same plastic plate. I bought one of the first KickBacks available and don't recall it coming with extra bits, but now I can see that Xtracycle provides the stand with plates for both tube shapes. I now have a oval shaped plate on order, but in the meantime I just wrapped the stand with an old inner tube to protect the EdgeRunner frame. Like this:

Lastly, the frame has a handy piece welded on specifically for mounting a fender on the small 20" rear wheel. The braze-ons use a slightly larger bolt than I have on-hand, so I just used cable ties and coroplast. Make sure it's not too wide on the drive side as the chain will rub when using the largest inner cogs. Like this:

With all of my nagging accessory issues out of the way, I get to just enjoy riding the bike.

Are you building up an EdgeRunner? Share a note or a link in the comments.

Upgrading to EdgeRunner

My new EdgeRunner is finished! For those of you, like me, who can't wait to see it:

It shares much of the same fit/geometry/styling as my old Karate Monkey Xtracycle. Here's how the build went down. 

When the frameset arrived at Defiance Bicycles, I immediately pedaled down to check it out. 

I hauled it home on my Xtracycle (of course.)

My friend Brian followed me home on his bike and took this photo. Note the 29er wheels and all of that ground clearance!

Brian then loaned me a copy of Gerd Schraner's book The Art of Wheelbuilding, which I read cover to cover. The next day, with the help of a few friends and a case of beer, I built the rear  wheel using the Schraner Method. If you are thinking about building a wheel for the first time, I recommend using those three things: the method, the friends, and the beer.

My first wheel: an XT disc hub (salvaged from my broken wheel) laced to a 20" Rhyno Lite rim with 36 spokes. 

This may be a good time to point out that the EdgeRunner has 138mm O.L.D. spacing in the rear to accommodate electric-assist hubs. (My frame actually measured 138.9mm.) There is just enough axle on this 135mm quick-release hub to catch in the dropouts, but we did add a 1.5mm spacer to each side to help center it and take up the gap (per Xtracycle's build spec). The EdgeRunner frame doesn't have the same amount of flex that you might expect from a regular steel rear triangle. This build option seems to be working fine.

Starting on a weekend morning, with no where to haul the kids and while the LBS was still open, I started building the EdgeRunner. This was a bittersweet event because many of the parts were coming directly off of my Xtracycle. There would be no turning back.

[There's a crazy story here in the middle of the build here that involves me needing a tool, realizing one of my bikes had been stolen, finding the thief riding my bike, and me recovering it. While that wholly unbelievable part of the build took only four minutes, it will require it's own lengthy post. More on that later.]

My FreeLoader bags and V-racks are still in good shape. Five years of use and they are showing their age, but it's nothing a few iron-on patches can't fix. I may even toss them in the washing machine someday.

At the end of Build Day One, the EdgeRunner looked pretty good and the old Xtracycle looked like this:

I took a break to go on The Dead Winter Mob Ride around town. We stopped on the Murray Morgan bridge to take in the scenery and marvel at the fresh pavement. It was glorious.

The next morning I meant to finish the EdgeRunner, but became rather distracted by the fact that my Karate Monkey frame was finally available for mountain bike duty after these many years of cargo and kid hauling. It's going to be RAD.

Mountain bike day-dreams aside, Build Day Two was frustrating. I struggled to remove the adjustable legs from the KickBack centerstand. They were rather stuck with lots of rusty muck. Also, the taco plate in the middle was shaped for the round FreeRadical tubing and not the wide oval-shaped tubing of the EdgeRunner. At first I tried to widen the taco plate with a bench grinder, then a friend stopped by and pointed out that the plate should just be replaced with something flat.

In the end, I removed the taco plate and wrapped it with a strip of old innertube. The legs finally came out with some T9 Boeshield and a bench vise. I had to chop about 2" off of the legs (cut at the "0" mark) to get the kickstand properly setup for the small 20" rear wheel.

Overall, the build wasn't too bad. I still need to figure out how to mount my passenger handlebars. The EdgeRunner seatpost is a bigger diameter than the stoker stem I was using. I also wasn't sure I wanted a front derrailer, but the one I intended to try won't fit on the frame due to the position of the shift cable stop. Oh well. Gearing is 38x12-32 if you're wondering.

There is certainly more to follow about the EdgeRunner as we incorporate it into the daily routine. And more on that mountain bike, too!

When Stuff Breaks: Fix it

I popped my cargobike off the kickstand on Wednesday morning and quickly realized that the rear tire was flat. So instead of giving the kids a lift, they rode their own bikes to school. We made up a song about Alderaan on the way and I forgot all about the flat tire. No worries; life is good.

The next day I woke early to change the flat tire before school. The tube had been punctured on the inner side, which was how I noticed this:

The rim is severely cracked along one of the welds. A burr of metal caused the slow puncture, and I'm guessing that this happened suddenly on Tuesday during a routine ride. These are 36 hole Velocity Cliffhanger rims, one of the "bombproof" varieties that folks talk about. I was surprised and deflated that they had failed, but more importantly, I had lost my primary mode of transportation.

As I've mentioned, I'm hopefully upgrading my Xtracycle to and EdgeRunner in January when they become available, so I didn't want to throw much money at this bike right now, if any. That (now broken) 26" wheel is actually going to be a left-over part of the build since the EdgeRunner uses a 20" rear wheel.

So I borrowed a small kid trailer from a friend so I'd have a way to transport my 4y.o. and told my 7y.o. that she may have to ride on her own more often. She's getting comfortable riding in the street and is starting to enjoy the independence of being on her own bike. With temporary solutions in place, my next project was to figure out what to do with the Xtracycle until January.

My plan is to build up the donor frame on the Xtracycle as a full fledged 29er mountain bike (sans FreeRadical.) Some of the parts for that project had already been acquired...including the wheels...you see where I'm going with this.

I installed some lightly used 700x38c road tires on the 29er wheels and made sure that they would fit in the FreeRadical frame. Installation was tricky: tires deflated and skewers removed, but I got it in there. It barely fits. 

Brake rotors and the cassette from the 26" wheels were moved over to the 700c (29er) wheels and I was ready for a test ride! Except that when I took the bike off the Kickback kickstand, I found that the non-deployed Kickback rubbed on the larger wheel. I installed a spare F.A.P. onto the FreeRadical kickstand plate to keep the Kickstand from retracting all the way back up. This bought me just enough clearance. Check out the whodathunkit look on my face: the F.A.P. has been in my parts bin for over 5 years.

Test ride time. The larger wheels effect the trail (tendency for wheel flop) and also raise the center of gravity, so cornering is much different.  Less nimble at low speed, but more stable at high speed. The skinny tires don't have much cushion to speak of and I actually had an egg in the front basket crack on the way home from the grocery store last night. Also, the clearance under the Snapdeck was so tight that it began to rub once it got a little wet and dirty under there. 

Most 700c Xtracycles are going to need the Riser Plugs that they sell. Since I knew my LBS wasn't going to have them, I made my own from a piece of 7/8" O.D. PVC cut in 1/2" lengths. (The PVC was a remnant that I had saved from making my DRT flag!)

The shims fit perfectly into the FreeRadical frame and raised the V-Racks and Snapdeck enough to give me the clearance I needed for passengering. "Whoa, this is weird!" said my 4y.o. as we headed out on the school run this afternoon. Those few inches of height make a noticeable difference. 

 

I'm still looking forward to the new EdgeRunner, but I'm really happy to have my Xtracycle back on the road.

DIY Flag Pole Holder

A reader just commented in our Show Your Colors post:

"I have been contemplating whether a big American flag on the back of our bicycles would help with one of the hazards of biking my children to work in downtown Seattle: folks in big trucks, who are not used to bicycles. One fellow yelled at my husband and 2 yr old for 4 blocks once as they all rolled slowly along 5th Ave. How did you attach yours?" - Molly

I have only had positive feedback from drivers when flying Old Glory on the back of the bike. Instead of honking in frustration, they honk and wave as they pass with plenty of room and give a thumbs-up.  I met a local couple that toured the entire United States by tandem with a small American flag on their rear rack; they testified that it may have saved them from being run off the road on more than one occasion.  Bottom line: It can't hurt.

Here's a behind-the-freeloader look at our DIY flag pole holder on an Xtracycle.

Drilled a row of holes to make a slot for the U-clamp. 

Zip-tied top of PVC to V-rack

Insert flagpole of smaller diameter and ride.

Thirty Days Of Biking

From time to time I've seen folks using the #30daysofbiking hash tag. And since "thirty days hath September," I figured I'd try to keep track of what I did with my bicycle for the whole month. I don't ride every day, but maybe it would work out?*

It's important to recognize that on most days bicycles are used as transportation in our household to avoid at least some trips in the car. But on those car days, we often still do something with bikes recreationally.  Here's the recap.

Day 1. Snapdeck surfing lessons at the park.

Day 2. Biked the kids to a friend's backyard BBQ. 

Day 3. My first cyclocross race. Our kids raced, too, of course.

Day 4. To the park for one last playdate before school starts.

Then to the elementary school to drop off supplies and meet the teacher.

Spotted this supercool three passenger setup.

Day 5. Biked with our oldest to the first day of school, 

then found this awesome sidewalk philosophy art while biking to the shops.

Day 6. Borrowed a neighbor's bucket bike (and their preschooler) for a day at the zoo.

Day 7. Our typical Friday ride downtown to Frost Park for some chalk drawing.

Day 8. After a long day of home improvement, I needed a ride 

to a local brewery for refreshments.

Day 9. Up early for a 15 mile ride around Point Defiance Park.

Day 10. First day of pre-K. The whole family biked to school! 

Day 11. Biked to school. Evening cyclocross practice for me and the girls at a local park. 

It was just far enough that riding there and back would have been too much for the kids 

(or too much for me to haul on the Xtracycle,) so we loaded up the bikes and drove.
It happens.

Day 12. We need more coffee! And new tools from the lumber yard. 

This marks the first fall day where a passenger blanket was needed. Brrrr!

Day 13. This may have been the day I rode to Veggies and Pint Defiance. Or maybe it was the day I biked the kids to a playdate. I know I rode everyday, but it's all sort of a blur when you're just trying to get from A to B.

Day 14. Decided to return my cross bike to dropbar mode. This required a trip to 2nd Cycle to borrow tools and get supplies. I love this place.

Day 15. Ran errands on my revised cross bike to test it out. 

Caught up with a bicycle tour of community gardens on my way home.

Day 16. More cyclocross racing and shenanigans with 

Tacoma Cyclocross at Fort Steilacoom Park.

Day 17. After biking the kids to school, Mrs. TBR and I biked to lunch at Peterson Brothers, where we ran into our pal Ben Davis. He's opening a new hangout at 11th and MLK called Broken Spoke (canned beers, wine, espresso, custom bikes and racks, made in Tacoma everything). Potentially the most RAD spot in town. Stay tuned.

Day 18. Biked to school. Then an enjoyable evening ride along Ruston on my SS with a friend before cross practice. Highlight: tackling a few of Tacoma's steepest cobbled hills.

 Day 19. Biked to school. In the evening, we adjusted the kid bikes for growth and had to upgrade Super T to her big sister's 16er. They grow up fast!

Day 20. More biking to school. More practicing afterwards on big-kid bikes. Though it may appear repetitive, this simply does not get boring.

Day 21. Toured the Park(ing) Day spots downtown with Super T.

Day 22. Errands. 4 bags of ice and bbq supplies? Xtracycled.

Day 23. Carpooled north for the race at Lake Sammammish. There was nearly as much running with the bike as there was riding on the bike. Phew.

Day 24. Coming down with a cold. Did the school run and a few short errands.

Day 25. Sick. Rode with the kids to school and was glad I didn't have to 

carry them on the Xtracycle. Exhausted. 

Day 26. Feeling better. Biked Kid #1 and her bike to a playdate in the morning.

Then biked both kids to a playdate after school. 

Day 27. Just the school run.

Day 28. Picked up the girls from school and biked to a birthday party playdate.

Day 29. Cargo Trike deliveries by day, 

Harvest Moon ride on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge by night.

Day 30. Just a quick ride to the grocery store before the dinner guests arrive.

*Hey, it happened! #30DaysOfBiking