After all the drama last week, I looked forward to a weekend of good, old-fashioned bike fun.
Taking advantage of a dry, non-freezing day, I finally got our new trail-a-bike (a Burley Piccolo) up and running. I did it “family limo” style with the trail-a-bike attached to a trailer. I was happy that Eleni (my 4 year-old) did pretty well on a quick ride to the park and library… but I was shocked when Danica (17 mos!) insisted on giving it a try.
At first I walked with her (her little legs don’t even reach the cranks), but her broad smile and sense of confidence eventually convinced me to go ahead and ride. So there I was, a proud papa, pulling his two little girls. Bliss.
It was fun scaring the neighbors with my 17 month-old on a bike, but the day would only get better. On Saturday night Juli and I went on a rare date without the kids. After a nice dinner downtown I had my friend Casey at Rose Pedals Pedicab Service pick us up for a starlit cruise around the waterfront.
It was a beautiful night and I’m grateful to Casey for the ride (he doesn’t usually work this time of year). File away his number, (503) 421-RIDE (7433), for when you need a lift.
On Sunday, I woke up early to help Sacha White and friends at a work party. Sacha is moving his Vanilla Bicycles shop and we all helped him scrape paint, build walls, and get the new space up and running. The new place is in the same building as before (SE Alder and 34th) but now he’s got lots more room and natural light. I left early but I can’t wait to see how it looks when everything’s done.
After Sacha’s work party I met the Wintertime Palm Tree Ride at the Hawthorne Hostel. Ride leader Shawn Granton led about 20 of us on an enjoyable tour of some of Portland’s more interesting trees. The serpentine route took us through alleys and sidestreets and unveiled Chinese windmill palms, Monkey Puzzle trees, and more fun surprises.
Tom Rolf has an in-depth report on the ride, and I’ve got more photos here (if that link breaks, use this one).
I didn’t make it over to the Stairway to Hell Alleycat race, but Tom has this awesome report.
Did you get a chance to ride over the weekend? How did it go?
Thanks for reading.
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Had a great ride over the weekend. Check it out…
Winter Magic on Sauvie Island
http://portlandor.wordpress.com/
We all need relief once in a while from the trials and tribulations of urban cycling 🙂
ahhhh, good cycling news!
Wow, Sacha’s new space is huuuuuuge!
I went from my front door to Ainsworth State Park and back. Roughly 75 miles, good fun. It took a bit more out of me than I expected; I guess that’s the product of taking a couple months off! The good news is, ODOT has repaved the HCRH from Latourell Falls east, all the way to the end. Used to be some of the worst pavement around, and now its some of the best.
I had a blast at the Palm Tree Ride. I think the title sells it a bit short — we learned about eco-roofs, some Portland neighborhood history and geography, even a little bit about the politics of bike boulevards and other projects from some blogger with a camera. (Thanks, Jonathan!) Too bad we didn’t get the sun like today and Saturday, but it was fine biking weather. Wish I could have made it to the pizza — next time! Thanks, Shawn.
Oh, and besides the other rides mentioned, there were two ExchangeCycle rides Sunday as well; I’d have gone on one of those if this hadn’t been scheduled. Imagine all this organized bike stuff — in late January!
Been going a bit longer than my normal 10 mile commute when I can. Rode from St. Johns out Marine Drive, down I-205 to the Springwater Corridor, through Sellwood up the Esplanade and Interstate-Willamette Blvd back to home. Going to need something more efficient than my Specialized Street Stomper if I go any farther.
Where is Vanilla moving to? I hope it’s still in southeast!
heather,
I should have mentioned this. . he’s just moving within the existing building .. on SE Alder and 34th (or so).
I second brettoo’s cheers for Shawn and the Palm Tree Ride! How lucky are we to have folks like Shawn running rides like this? I learned a lot and also got to know the SE area a bit better – lots of fun alleyways to ride through. Pleasure to meet you, Jonathan!
Great to see another family riding ‘limo’ style! We always call it a train when we hook up that setup behind our tandem. Do you know if Burley is still making Piccolo’s now that they’ve changed hands and re-focused on making ‘trailers’ only?
It’d be a shame if they stopped making it. But maybe that would allow for someone else to pick it up in their line?
I enjoyed the weekend but last night’s commute was fabulous. Every once in a while the light, the traffic, and the weather, the sights all come together to create a magical ride. Last night was that way for me. I rode from So. waterfront along the Willamette. The river was most beautiful – flat, colorful in the sunset and running strong with snowmelt. Not too many other commuters but I passed a family with two kids on training wheel bikes and grinned at how cool it was to see this family parade. Geese honked as I passed the Morrison bridge and I swear for that moment the sound of the freeway was gone. I love birdwatching by bike so my grin got larger. After leaving the river I tried a new route home, finding a new shortcut that I’ll use again. Grin getting larger. Got home, locked up my bike, let the cat in and he curled up on my lap as soon as I sat down. The end of a perfect ride.
Howdy, Johnathan.
That must have been you in Pennisula Park last Sunday. The wife pointed out your long, long, long, long trailer to me as we walked our two boys to the library. (That was us with our double Bob stroller parked in the middle of chess mayhem in the kids book section).
Now she’s REALLY bugging me to air up the tires in our Burley double and get the lads going. Thanks for that. 😉
Our 12-month old won’t have anything to do with his helmet (thank you, Trauma Nurses for the 5-buck lid!) So it’ll have to be quiet streets for a bit, I imagine.
Anyway, I’m sure we’ll see you around the ‘hood again soon.
_DA and Family
great shots of the kids! I can’t believe Dani was charging that thing!!
-joeler