Category Archives: Biking

Decisions, decisions

Before last Friday, I had gone almost four years since my last professional hair cut!  Over those four years, I saved a lot of money by trimming my own hair (with a pair of professional-grade hair shears).  But I was ready for a change, so, after getting some recommendations, I visited Erinn at Bouffant Daddy in Maplewood, with the intention of chin length or shorter.

After talking with Erinn, we decided to start with a chin-length bob.

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I like it, but I’m still tempted to go shorter.  In some ways, this is an awkward length — too short to really pull back, but long enough that it takes a decent while to air dry (I don’t get along too well with blow dryers).  Shorter might play nicer with bike helmets and sun hats, too.

It also doesn’t feel completely different, or “new,” since it’s similar to a cut I had at the end of high school / beginning of college (minus some excessive Sun-In highlights). On the one hand, I could live with this cut for awhile, and just go shorter in a few months.  On the other hand, I have seven days from the date of the initial hair cut to change my mind and get a different cut for no charge.  The clock on that is ticking.

Bike Seat
The clock is also ticking, somewhat, on a child bike seat color decision.  Unfortunately, the Yepp Maxi seat I bought on EBay is the ‘standard’ model, which doesn’t play nicely with the Edgerunner rack.  Instead, we need the ‘Easyfit’ model.  (Since I can’t return the EBay purchase, I’m hoping I’ll be able to resell that seat . . . . )

I am not finding any used Easyfit seats, so we’re planning to order directly from Xtracycle (apparently what I should have done in the first place!) . . . which means we have color options.

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We’ve narrowed it down to these four (orange, lime, blue, and silver), but it still feels like too many types of cereal to choose from at the grocery store.

Matthew’s leaning toward the lime, which would look like this with our blue bike . . .

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The ‘silver’ seat (which mostly looks gray to me) was not on our original list, but I found this photo of the silver seat with the blue bike, and I like the look.

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Lime or orange seem like they would have some visibility advantages, though.  Gah, decisions!

Ready for that longtail
At any rate, it will be nice to have the cargo capacity of the longtail.  My decision to buy not one, but two furnace filters at the store today (they were on sale!), seemed great until I reached my bike and realized the diagonal of my milk crate is the perfect size for ONE filter.

I managed to rig up something that worked well enough for the short ride home . . . 0224141450-00

. . . but it was not the most secure set-up, so I stuck to smaller streets than I might have otherwise.  I made it home with everything (two furnace filters, a fire extinguisher, and a half-gallon of milk) on board and intact, but it would have been much easier on a longtail!

Photo Credits
1. http://www.amazon.com/Yepp-GMG-Maxi-Easyfit-Blue/dp/B004PYEAZS
2. http://www.splendidcycles.com/-/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/EdgeRunner-003aw.jpg
3. http://www.motoredbikes.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48488&d=1367821550

Waiting on our longtail bicycle

At the end of December, we started talking with a local bike shop (LBS) about options for ordering an Xtracycle Edgerunner.  The guy we worked with did a great job helping us price the different options.  Then came decision time.

To make the comparison easier, I added some details to the “pricing” page of the standard bike specs document for the Edgerunner, so we could see options with prices all on one page (details here: EdgerunnerOptions).

We were fairly sure we wanted an internal hub, and the most affordable option was to just start with the frame & fork and build it up from there (by which I mean the bike shop will be building it up from there, with some input from us as to the components).  As for accessories, we’re getting Standard Racks, the FlightDeck, the KickBack Center Stand (a super-stable, two-legged kickstand) and the X2 bags (which are waterproof).

By the time we made all of the decisions and finalized our order, Xtracycle was sold out of the frame & fork in our chosen color (Zone Blue) until mid-March.  (A note on frame color: we quickly ruled out both the white and the orange frames, leaving light blue or black. Despite blue being my favorite color, I didn’t love that shade of blue for a bicycle, and I had some temptation toward the sleek simplicity of the black — but we went with the blue.)

So now we wait.  The fact that we’ve had so much crappy weather and so much snow and ice on the roads actually makes the wait easier — even if we had the bike already, it would mostly be sitting around, lonely and gathering dust.

UPDATE: I wrote this post on Sunday.  Yesterday, our LBS guy checked in with Xtracycle, and they’re now not expecting this shipment until early- to mid-April.  Boo, hiss!!!

I decided not to order the child seat (Yepp Maxi EasyFit) directly from Xtracycle, in the hopes of finding a used one on EBay or Craigslist.  Turns out, there aren’t many out there, at least not on EBay or my local-ish CL options (StL, Kansas City, Colombia, MO), so when I saw an auction for a “new, opened-box” blue Yepp Maxi on EBay, I decided to go for it, and I won the auction.  Once you factor in the shipping, it wasn’t a great deal, but it did save some money.

The seat I bought included the adapter for attaching it to a regular bicycle, which we won’t need once we have the Edgerunner.  However, since we don’t expect the Edgerunner for at least a month, I installed the seat on Matthew’s bike.

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When I first opened the box and started looking at the seat and the mounting hardware, I had a moment of panic where I wondered if we would, in fact, actually still be able to use our rear racks and panniers with the child seat.  The assumption that we would not was largely what led us to purchase a longtail in the first place.  Had we just spent all that money for nothing?

While you can’t necessarily tell from the above picture, my fears were quickly assuaged once I actually started installing the seat — no way is the rear rack useable with the seat in place.  (We noticed that Yepp UK has a rack extender accessory that would theoretically allow you to use the seat and standard panniers on a regular (i.e., non-longtail) bicycle.)

At just over 35-pounds, Sir is still under the 38-pound weight limit for the IBert front seat (though his height means his legs are a bit cramped), and I’ll enjoy getting at least a few more rides with him up front with me.  Once we get the Edgerunner, I’ll be looking for a new [long-term loan] home for the IBert (if you’re interested, and local, let me know), hopefully someone who will use and enjoy it as much as I did!

Of flame throwers and door zones

Digging out
 Last Friday, with our street still sloppy, the UPS truck finally made it down our street (two days late) to deliver my new snow boots.  With temperatures in the 40s and 50s, our ten inches of snow is almost entirely gone.  Guess I’ll have to try out the boots later.

On Sunday, we were returning from brunch at my FIL’s when I witnessed not one, but two, rather insane snow-removal methods in my ‘hood.  Method 1 involved using a garden hose to spray water on the snow-covered parts of the sidewalk.  I was still trying to wrap my head around that one, when, less than a block later, it got better.  Method 2 involved a propane tank (like you would use for a gas grill) powering what appeared to be some kind of jury-rigged flame thrower.  The inventor of said device was directing the flame at some ice near the edge of the road.

The kicker is that it was 55º F at that point, so a good old-fashioned shovel, not to mention just leaving it there to melt, would have been more effective and less-wasteful of resources.  We were in a bit of a time crunch to get Sir home for his nap, or else I would definitely have photo evidence of Method 2.

Open with care (and don’t EVER ride in the door zone)
Saturday afternoon we took Sir to the zoo.  I snagged a street parking spot and proceeded to almost take out a kid (couldn’t have been more than fourteen) on a bicycle.  Since the very dangerous practice of door zone cycling is relatively common, I do try to check before I open the car door, but this particular time, I didn’t.  Fortunately, the kid swerved out of the way — very fortunately not into the path of an overtaking vehicle.  I don’t know if I would have even been aware of the near disaster if not for his startled, “Oh, shit!” as he swerved and rode on his way.  Yikes!

I wanted to give him a CyclingSavvy card, but I didn’t react quite quickly enough to run after him.  There was, however, a suspiciously similar-looking bike locked up outside the zoo entrance, so I tucked one of the cards into the helmet.

Aldi by bike
The clear roads mean that biking is a go once again.  The amount and longevity of snow and ice so far this winter is making me rethink not needing snow tires.

Yesterday, I road my bike to my nearest Aldi grocery store.  For various reasons (I’ll save my thoughts on Aldi for another post), I had never visited this Aldi location, despite living just over a mile away for a year-and-a-half.

The trip was mostly an excuse and motivation to step away from the computer and get outside for a bit, spurred by their weekly advertisement mentioning that they now carry [some] organic produce.  I bought some citrus fruit (the main item on my list) and a couple of other items, which ended up filling the milk-crate on my bike.

Working girl
For the past week, I’ve been rather busy with paid work, which means spending a lot of time with Microsoft Office products, completing tasks that require a good deal of focus and attention to detail.  This is something I do well, but it leaves my more creative side (including the ability to write here) locked-up and whimpering in the corner, hard-pressed to produce, even if I did want to spend more time in front of the computer.

Polar vortex

Saturday afternoon, temperatures soared into the low 40s.  There was still some slush and ice on our street, but most roads were completely clear, so I headed out for what may have been my last bike ride for a decent while here.

While we didn’t technically need any groceries, we liked the idea of having more eggs and milk on hand.  My first stop was Schnucks (a Missouri grocery chain), which probably would have been a bit crazy on a Saturday afternoon anyway.  Combine that with a forecast of ten inches of snow and sub-zero temps, and you have crazy-town!

Had I driven the car, I would have wasted lots of time and gas circling the packed parking lot waiting for a space.  As it was, I biked right up to my customary cart-return bike lock-up spot.  Talk about prime parking!

Inside the store, my bike helmet doubled as a mini shopping basket.  In addition to soy milk, I grabbed some citrus fruit.  Unfortunately, my choice of transportation didn’t save me from the long check-out lines.  It was interesting to see what other people “needed” to stock up on before the storm.  An employee was going through the lines offering free cookies, in an attempt to appease the masses, I guess.

That crazy ordeal finished, I headed to my much-lower-key second stop, Local Harvest Grocery, for eggs, dairy milk, and steel cut oats.  And our local foodie magazines!  I started to get overheated and had to stop and ditch my coat on the ride home.

After Gabriel woke from his nap, we headed out to play in the last remains of snow in our north-facing front yard.

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We would have had much more snow to work with on Sunday, but we feared conditions would not be conducive to much outside play time.  Make snow-people while the sun shines, right?

Sunday morning dawned with falling snow and a little boy requesting “out.”  At that point, we still had temperatures in the 20s, so we bundled up and headed out.

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Matthew and I shoveled show and we did some front yard sledding before walking down the street to a slightly larger hill at the park.  We’d already been outside for quite awhile at that point, and Gabriel didn’t last long.

We have a children’s lift-the-flap book about winter fun that ends with the child’s mother showing up with hot cocoa, and when we reach that page and open the flap, Gabriel excitedly proclaims, “Mama!  Ha co-co!”  He needed little coaxing to head inside for his own mug.

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Hot chocolate with whipped cream — mmm, mmm good!

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We spent the rest of the day hibernating as the wind picked up and temperatures dropped.  I made a big batch of granola in the morning, and Matthew made an apple pie in the afternoon.

Almost all schools and many businesses are closed today, but Mrs. L was willing to take Gabriel, even though none of the other kids she watches were planning to venture out.  While I wouldn’t have bothered to clear the car or risk driving on these streets, bundling up for the half-block walk to her house was no big deal.

I did end up carrying Gabriel most of the way, due to the high snow drifts (I didn’t think to walk in the tire tracks on the street until I was headed back home).  Matthew bundled up and walked to the bus stop in pre-warmed mittens and boots, where he fortunately had a short wait.  With this much snow on the streets, I’m not sure when we’ll be back on the bikes, but for now, I’m thankful for a warm apartment and being walkable to [some] places.

Moving right along

The three weeks since December 12, when I wrote my “Life Goes On” post literally flew by, am I right?

I was feeling rather bah-humbug-y going into the holidays, what with trying to coordinate holiday gatherings around a toddler’s nap and early bedtime and general ennui about gift-giving.  Mid-month, I read “The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents.” The post really resonated with me, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

As Christmas drew near, I felt tremendous pressure to both give great gifts and even more so to come up my own list of what I wanted.  This is difficult because the answer is either a) nothing or b) a really specific item that I’m researching and figuring out exactly what I want, at which point, if I decide that this is indeed an item I want to spend money on, I will buy it for myself.

Needless to say, we enjoyed some nice family gatherings, and I enjoyed seeing Gabriel’s general excitement, but I’m rather glad the festivities are behind us.  I clearly would benefit from finding some way to address my feelings about gifts before next December.

Holidays aside, the past three weeks were far from dull in their own right, with action in the employment, speech therapy for Gabriel, and longtail realms.

Employment
Matthew and I both interviewed for the same position.  What’s odd to me is not that this happened, but rather that it hasn’t happened before, given that we’re both in the same field, with very similar educational backgrounds and career interests and fairly similar work histories.  Our general attitude for positions that we’ve both applied for in the past has been that, collectively, we double our chances if we both apply for a job opening, though I’m curious how employers view this.  For example, would employers see both of our applications and just avoid them altogether, in the interest of preventing [in their minds] marital strife or perceived awkwardness?  I certainly hope that would not be an issue, that our applications would be judged independently on our qualifications, but one never knows.

Speech Therapy
We’re still waiting to hear from the therapist, but, after a third evaluation, Sir finally qualified for speech and language therapy services with First Steps, a state-funded program for kids birth through three in Missouri with very affordable sliding-scale fees.  Since he’s not all that far from three, we’ll also be starting the process to see if he will qualify to transition to the age three-and-up services, which are offered through the school district.

Longtail cargo bike
We’ve more or less decided on the Edgerunner.  We’re still playing with specs and final details (gearing, accessories, etc.), but we’ve moved to the “contacting a local bike shop to get things moving” phase.  We’ve done a lot of research, but making this large of a purchase without ever seeing, much less riding, the bicycle in question is more than a little nerve wracking.  Finalizing the purchase, really making it happen, will be a bit of a leap of faith, but such is life, I suppose.