Monday, June 28, 2010

What do you do when your pump will not fit?

The bicycling family, that we are, needed to go to "Stuff-Mart" to get some "Stuff". On our way home my son punctured his rear tire on some glass (broken beer bottles are a direct result of the open container law) that was on the edge of the road. We didn't have a tube for his bicycle (700x23C) so I thought i would just patch it. But when I got out the pump out to inflate the tube I realized that the cheap pump that I had would not attach to a presta valve. BUMMER! This means I need to get creative.

So I:
  • attached his front wheel, to the rear, on the non-drive side of his bike, outside the frame,
  • towed his bike with the Ute, 
  • hung his rear wheel hanging from his handlebar,
  • had my daughter ride the back of the Ute,

    and

  • had my son ride my daughters bike.
We were back moving and back home in no time at all.
Adapt, Overcome, and Execute!

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Bicycle is Getting More Mainstream!



This illustrates the fact that riding a bike is cool, and it is a step in the right direction for the bicycle to be accepted by the "macho" young crowd as a fun thing. But what does it do to get them away from there love of the car? It is still cool though!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

The Ute Becomes A Tow Bike!

Have any of you ever towed a car with another car? Most people have done that! Then has anyone towed a Bike with another bike?...
The "Tow Bike"
      Today I had to go to run the simulator at work, so that meant six hours of video railroading, and time spent indoors. Well anyway...my job is not usually predictable at all, but today was a rare occasion that I knew where I was to be at a given time. A colleague of of mine had mentioned to me that he had a bicycle that needed a good home ( read: one with a bicycle mechanic). So the Ute and I volunteered to take in the poor rejected little hybrid. Because of the predictability of todays "schedule" ( I don't get to use that word much) he was able to meet  me and deliver the bicycle.
    The Ute worked as a "Tow bike" very well; except for the wobble and jiggle from the load constantly shifting and feeling like I was dragging a boat anchor behind me. I  made it home though! It was fun!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Today Called for some Coffee

We needed to go shopping at the Boy Scout Store today to get my son ready for summer camp so as always we rode our bicycles. Today my little daughter rode her bicycle too. The Boy Scout store was near to Roots, a great coffee shop in North Richland Hills, so we had to stop for coffee. The kids had frappes and the wife and I each had a press of coffee. (in real mugs) This was a really enjoyable day.

A Wonderful time Riding

The past couple of days has seen my family riding all around Tarrant county. Yesterday my wife, two boys and I (my daughter was riding on the Ute with me) rode down from our home in the north Haltom City / Watauga area to downtown Fort Worth .
View Ride downtown in a larger map


It was about a ten mile ride to get downtown but our little peleton handled it great. We stopped at The Corner Bakery downtown picked up cinnamon rolls and bagels then went to Trinity Bicycles to see how Bernie and Bryan were doing. Also my wife wanted to rent a Kona Dr. Lisa to test ride so she would have a better idea of it would fit and handle. Then we went for over to 7th street to do some shopping at Backwoods and Target. We rode down to Panera Bread on University drive to get some lunch before heading over to the Kimbell Arts Museum to view their permanent collection. By the time we were through at the museum it was getting pretty late and the sky was threatening rain, so we headed back over to Trinity Bicycles to return the Dr. Lisa. We decided that we needed to take the TRE/short ride home due to the weather. We headed over to the Inter-modal Transportation Center and caught the next train to Richland Hills station.We rode from there to home beating the rain by about twenty minutes.
View TRE Richland Hills To Home in a larger map

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Camping was a Blast!

The Trinity Bicycles cycle-touring introduction trip was a total blast! Initially it was hot heading out to the lake, but as the day wore on some rain came in and cooled all of us down. We were wet but happy campers none-the-less. My wife and I were very excited about the trip, we took all of the kiddos, and my bride's mother even came. With such a big family peleton of our own there were some logistics involved and even a bit of group riding instruction was necessary to help the children maintain their position in the line. Most of the route was off street trails, park roads and city neighborhood streets, so it was pretty low-stress.
   After a slow three hours of riding we had arrived. We set up camp and went swimming. For dinner my bride ( who is definitely a gourmet camp cook) prepared shepherds pie for the family. The night was pleasant and good times were had by everyone. I enjoyed hanging out with fellow bike nerds talking shop about the wonders of two wheel happiness.
    If you have never been camping on your bicycle I would recommend it highly. There is something liberating about getting there under your own power and carrying all that you need. It can make you feel like you can conquer the world without the aid of all the many trappings that surround us.