Christmas Gift

(Christmas Eve, I had to take a ride to get some fresh air before the big family dinner)

I did indulge the bike love this holiday season.

I decided on the Giant Halfway. We bought it on Black Friday from my dear friend and owner of Idle Times Bike Shop in Eastham. I felt good supporting Peter's business and felt good buying a more affordable bike to get around on while I figure stuff out.

One thing I realized was that I was still very much in the land of family biking and a solely-me bike was a bit of a luxury. I have a three hour time constraint on weekdays and most of my solo riding would be done at night or on weekends here and there.

I also realized that the folding bike would actually be very useful in a family biking way. I can drive Tuber to school with the halfway in the trunk and then bike to my errands in my three hour time slot and then throw bike in the trunk upon pick up. I did do this once to test it out before the holiday vacation. It worked well. My only issue was that I am still a bit clumsy in taking it out and unfolding it and so I got a bit of attention from the other mom's at drop off. " Oh you're going for a bike ride!" they said to me. I was not in the mood for spotlight attention as I was doing it for the first time, not sure if the church staff would be annoyed with my leaving my car there for three hours and I wanted to just get off and do my thing. Later at pick up, I was asked where I had gone on my ride and I had to explain I went to the store, the pharmacy and dry cleaners.

It rides well. I was nervous after riding a brompton that I would hate the Giant. It is a little bumpy sometimes, but otherwise it rides smoothly. I do not love my saddle and would like to investigate on whether or not I can get a different one. Not sure how that works as the pole etc I would gather must be just so to work with the folding of the bike.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I have good lighting and have taken it out for a few night rides with great success. When folded, it is a tad bit heavy and yes a brompton would allow me to leave it folded and rollable so I don't have to fold and unfold for short walks, Or carry/drag it. I can't say the Brompton was really that much lighter though. When I picked up the Brompton folded up it didn't feel like anything I would want to carry for long either. But I honestly hate carrying things in my arms. Which is why I have always been about backpacks and then later child backpacks and strollers and cargo bikes, so I can haul my crap without using my arms!

Anyway, I really like the bike so far. It's added a lot of flexibility to my biking. I'm putting no pressure on myself to power through the winter months right now via bike. However I've already made several trips by bike this cold and snowy winter so I think I might surprise myself.

(Also- I forgot to publish this post about winter riding with the sorte....)

Road trip to Mecca

Mecca being the Workshop of ANT bikes of course.

I dragged B and the kids out to the ANT shop in early November. I should have gone alone in order to have unfettered time riding and talking. However because I hate driving to new places, I knew I would be more relaxed if B drove. I also felt that B coming was important as I need his buy in for another big bike purchase.

It's taken me so long to write up a review/post about the visit because I'm feeling horribly ineloquent. I feel that in the almost two years I have embarked on this bicycle adventure, I haven't really learned that much about bikes. My brain is anti-technical. I cannot remember all the names of the parts or how they work or fit together. If you want me to wax profound on family dynamics and social issues of the medically ill, I could talk your ear off. But when it comes to machines and working parts, my brain freezes.

So if you are looking for a lovely written review of ANT bikes, check out Lovely Bicycle and her awesome reviews. I long to write as well as her AND to someday obtain the amount of knowledge she has about bikes.

For me, I will now commence talking like a cave man because that is what my review really sounds like. " Ugh! Me WANT. Me LIKE. Me TAKE. NOW! "

I rode the blue mixte that Lovely Bicycle writes about. I was able to take it for quick spins around the neighborhood a few times. Mike has some slight hills in his area and I tried them a few times and seemed to go up pretty quickly and easily. I would love to see how it moved in my own hilly habitat. I wish I could have taken it for a longer ride, however my kids were getting antsy ( no pun intended!) and I was stupid and forgot to load the trunk up with their bikes which would have bought me a lot more time. Luckily Mike had 3-D chalk to occupy them while I rode off.

My only issue with the bike was that it felt slightly too small and I am not clear why it felt this way. I think at 5'1" I am the same size or a bit shorter than the bike's owner.

I know you are all wondering if I got an ANT for Christmas as I did allude to a Christmas gift in a recent post, but I didn't. B was all ready to give me an ANT for Christmas actually. Each time I said the word "bike", B would say " Go for it. Get it!"

On Thanksgiving while we were driving to my in laws we talked about how much we enjoyed visiting Mike's shop and how we really liked his whole ethic and workmanship. We both are excited to buy an ANT for me. I, however decided to head the advice to take my time. I just started this bike adventure. At this time I think I want to spend time putting in my biking miles, learning about biking and really figuring out my needs. I have a few thoughts in my head and I don't really have the language to articulate it, so I figured it would be best to wait, and learn.

But one day soon, you'll see me looking a lot like this. Except my kids will not be clinging to me. Hopefully they will be on their own damn bikes, or at the very least off in school!

Night riding

The last two nights I've had meetings and I rode to them. I finally got a lighting system that I like a lot.

The weather was warm 30-40's. Both nights were kind of wet and the sound of tires on wet streets make me happy.

Coming home each night chugging up the hill, my face felt cold and fresh, my body felt warm and my legs felt the burn. The night's sky was all around me and the wood smoke smelled delicious.

I arrived at my meetings and then later at home, with my heart pumping happily in my chest. So needed after a long evening with whining over hyped up children!

Cargo O' Pine

I wasn't brave enough to transport our Real 7+ foot tree by bike. But I have transported two kids bikes plus two kids so I do have some street cred.

But I finally found some time to stop by Barbours Farm on Washington street for some porch trees.

Milage saved: 2.90

Errands run: 2- coffee and bank, tree getting

Time spent door to door: 1 hour

Emotional outlook- Very happy. It's a beautiful wet balmy december day. My face feels cool and my body feels strong. I could have done the above errands by car in about 30 minutes perhaps, but my mind and body would be bored and numb.

Winter biking fun

This afternoon would not have happened without the Sorte.

I'll admit I've been a little down on the Sorte. Over the winter cold months, it's been a bear to ride. Honestly, each day, the idea of chugging up hill while balancing attire for the extreme cold weather with my ability to overheat in a second once I shift to going uphill is just too much to bear. Last week on a nice cold sunny day I did pick Tuber up and chugged home slowly. After I had crested my last hill I did take off my coat all together and finished the ride home. But even still it simply takes a lot of mental energy to set out to do it.

Today Tuber and I were home and he wanted some marshmellows for hot chocolate with snack. It's a lovely day today. About 38 degrees and sunny, so we took the Sorte to take a quick trip to Whole Foods. It was cold but perfect for biking. However because I always am over worried about how cold my kids are- it was too cold for me to want to use a kid seat. The wind alone would have made Tuber unhappy. Finally he can't sit and play with toys in a kid seat as he'd drop a playmobil sword and freak out. So with canopy up Tuber sat with shoes off ( he doesn't like to get the box muddy) playing happily while I worked up some heat.

So I am changing how I see the Sorte. Originally I had hoped the motor would give me power and a bit of speed and I planned to use the bike to go pretty much everywhere. Now I know it's my quick errand run with kids bike. We take pleasure trips with it, not harried trips everyday.

***- This post is from Dec. I had stopped mid post and never came back to edit and publish.

Fun pedicabs??

I'm still here. I'm just crazy busy with work life, kid life and holiday life. I am also behnd on writing all of the posts in my head. so far behind that now the posts are becoming a sort of home work and I keep feling overwhelmed by all the post writing I must do. One of these days I will sit down and write.

Post to come are in no particular order: My test ride of an ANT, my christmas present, Yakkay review and finally a Sorte review. Also some fun winter biking and thoughts on being car light in the suburbs. I doubt I'll ever get my thoughts down to prose so maybe I'll just tease you with the headlines and you can make the story up on your own.

In the meantime, here are some pics of some pedicabs ( right??) that I saw out in Cambridge behind some warehouses. I have no clue where I was, B took Tuber and I out to a lumber warehouse to buy some specialty wood. We ended up getting some purple heart wood to make a frame for a fabric covered cork board to go in the kitchen. (B's sanding it out in the FREEZING garage right now.) Anyway while we were driving down the service road to the lumber place I spied these cool cats out in the wet windy snow. On our way out I jumped out to snap some pictures for your pleasure.