DIY Kid Bike Fenders

After an 81-day stretch of dry weather, it finally rained this morning. For people who enjoy walking and biking, it has been a long and blissful summer. With the inevitable dampness of fall on the horizon, I took some time last night to fender my second-grader's bike.

The fenders are made from coroplast, a corrugated plastic used for making campaign signs. I picked up the idea from Kent's Blog and a local elected official was happy to give me a stash of signs after his election. 

[Note: Around here campaigns are required to collect their signs from public spaces post-election. It is very illegal for private individuals to take them during election season. However, if you find a forgotten sign in a ditch post-election, it's your civic duty to pick up litter, right?] 

At her request, I had already customized the bike by covering the entire frame with fancy duct tape. We continued the look on the fenders; she digs the skulls. You can buy fenders for 16" and 20" wheels, but most shops will have to special order them. Inexpensive kid bikes like this one also don't have the usual eyelets for mounting manufactured fenders with screws, so zip ties and coroplast are an excellent alternative.

The best part: she thinks it looks cool and wants to ride, even on the rainy days.

UPDATE:

Here are some more detailed photos of the 20" kid fenders.

Pre-assembly: Using a razor knife on a concrete floor, cut two strips from a 2' long campaign sign. Make your cuts in parallel with the channels in the coroplast. The wider piece to cover the tire is 2 3/8" wide and the strut piece is 1 1/2" wide. (If you need a front and rear fender, repeat this step.)

Most campaign signs don't look that cool when chopped up, so wipe them clean and cover them with duct tape. It looks cool and helps keep the coroplast from buckling. 

Center the strut at one end of the fender and punch small holes for the cable ties. Join the two pieces so the sharp fastener of the cable tie is on the outside. 

This way there are no sharp edges near the tire. Pre-fold the struts around the edge of the fender piece, creasing the coroplast. This will help with mounting.

Rear fender: Notch the fender as needed to mount the front end near the kickstand plate. This bike had a screw hole, so I rummaged an old screw that fit. Otherwise, use cable ties.

One cable tie was all I needed to attach the struts near the axle.

You may need to make your fenders wider. This bike required the struts go around the outside of the huge fork blades.

And get creative with the cable ties! It may take more than one!

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

Broken Spoke: Coming Soon to Tacoma's Hilltop

[UPDATE: EJ's article in the Tacoma Weekly says that Broken Spoke will open for business this Friday, October 5. I've also heard some top notch baristas will be slinging the espresso this weekend, so go check it out! My preview post is below. - Matt]

While having lunch in Tacoma's Hilltop last week, I crossed paths with Ben Davis. I met Ben several years ago on the first ever Mob Ride and competed against him in the Bone Collector Alley Cat Race. Ben, a 20 year Tacoma resident, has worked at many of our city's bike shops over the years. He has also run his own shop in town and builds some sick custom frames. (Many of the trick cruiser and bmx bikes hanging in Metro Coffee are his creations.)

Ben has a new spot opening up at 11th and MLK in Tacoma called Broken Spoke. The space will function as both a bike themed hang-out and studio space. The hand-crafted bar will serve canned beer and wine by the glass, as well as espresso and snacks. An open work shop in the back will give you a first hand look at Ben in his element: filing lugs or setting jigs for a custom bike frame, constructing custom racks, or possibly even repairing or modifying that frame you've cherished since college.

This isn't a bike shop so much as it is a workshop...with plenty of beer and coffee to fuel the creative process.  You can bring in food from any local eatery (Le Le, Peterson Brothers, Pho King, Quickie Too just to name a few) and enjoy a cold barley pop while you watch Ben build the bike of your dreams.

It sounds cool because it is. I've read about places like Minneapolis's On One Bicycle Studio and wondered why we don't have anything like this out west. And now we will. And it will be in the middle of Tacoma.

Ben says his initial focus will be on custom racks and a few frame projects. I like the idea that I can have a rack or a part or a frame fabricated or modified by a local craftsman, instead of driving to Seattle or Portland. This shop could easily be located in a big city, but Ben wants Broken Spoke to be an integral part of Tacoma's bicycle community and in the community itself. To be a place for him to hone his craft and where people can congregate and hang-out.

Look for Broken Spoke to open in the next few weeks.

Excited for EdgeRunner

As someone who happily rides an Xtracycle everyday AND who also happily owned a Madsen bucket bike for a few years, you better believe that I was floored when I saw the new Xtracycle bike, the EdgeRunner.

It's a one-piece longtail frame with a 26" front wheel and a 20" rear wheel that is compatible with all of the cool Xtracycle racks and doodads. You can even run it with an electric-assist hub motor.  It's as if my baby blue Madsen and my Xtracycle Monkey Bus went off behind the shade tree and, several design revisions later, popped out the most perfect cargobike for me ever. I am officially on the waiting list for a frameset and plan on being one of the first to tell you all about it in "6-8 weeks."

Until then, watch these happy Bay Area urbanites blissfully enjoying their EdgeRunners and pretend they're really riding around beautiful Tacoma, Washington.

Where are we going?

As I was riding home the other day, I saw a bunch of folks on bikes up ahead. I sped up to see where they were going.

"Excuse me, but, where are we going?" I asked the lady in the flowered helmet.

"To the garden," she replied. "It's a community garden bicycle tour."

So I followed them there. And we talked about the garden, and the neighborhood, and history, and Tacoma. And it made me glad that I'd asked.

"Where are we going?"