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?