Friday, June 24, 2011

Theo's 5th Birthday in the Park by Bike Cargo Trailer

Another big birthday to rally for - Theo's fifth.  Theo had many requests for this one - a scavenger hunt, pinata, a sperm whale cake, all at a favorite spot - the "Giggly Hills" along the Mississippi River Gorge.  Hillary's mom was in town so we had access to her rental van.  But how could we quickly carry lots of stuff, including a long table, all the way to the trail-only accessible site?  Leave it to "Tully" our bike cargo trailer.  Tully is a tough one, built to haul up to 300 pounds, and long.  Now that is a burly trailer.

Soon after we went car-free some eight years ago, we did some reading on how to do it.  Acquiring a bike cargo trailer was highly recommended.  From a friend who worked at Peace Coffee- our awesome local coffee roaster that delivers much of their coffee by bike (!) - we learned about Bikes At Work trailers.  These are serious utilitarian cargo trailers built in Iowa.  We soon purchased one with the savings that we reaped from reduced car insurance costs.  Tully has served us very well hauling groceries, bales of straw and bags of potting soil, brush (buckthorn), xmas trees, and even furniture to sell as a mobile yard sale.  But this time it was Mission 5th Birthday along the Mississippi River Gorge.


Hauling in full coolers of food and water, watermelon, scavenger hunt materials, fold-up table, blankets, rain gear,  etc. I popped off the bike trail and rode the short dirt trail in. The uphill was a bit of a challenge but I managed by walking the bike and trailer.



Add a table cloth and voila you have a perfect table for serving four pizzas and watermelon to a bunch of pre-schoolers.


Mormor chatting around the trailer table.


Pinata!


The Birthday Boy enjoying his sperm whale cake.


Packing to head home and catch a bit of a refreshing rain storm. With a bike trailer you can roll your load right up to the house for easy unloading!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"What happened, you guys came here by car!"

Yes, we did.  Tonight was the end of the season picnic for the Seward Concert Band that I play clarinet in.  This year's picnic once again coincided with Hillary's mom's visit for Theo's birthday weekend. But this year I was struck by how many people noticed our car-full arrival. Perhaps we should have parked out of view!

For a car-free family visits by friends and family with rental cars are a minor bonanza. In fact in past years, soon after each of the boys were born, these rental car-full visits by Hillary's mom racked up hundreds of miles through trips to outlying stores and visits to friends and sites in the greater Twin Cities area.  With some luck I think we'll keep the mileage down this weekend.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Open Streets-Ciclovia Minneapolis 2011

The biking joys of Minneapolis rose to a new level this weekend.  Yesterday was the grand opening of the RiverLake Greenway.  Today,  for the first time Minneapolis closed about 2 miles of a major 4 lane street (Lyndale Ave.) to motor vehicles.  For 4 hours bicyclists, walkers, strollers, runners, roller bladers, and more flocked to cruise up and down the street during Open Streets 2011.  We popped Henry in the Bobike, stuffed Theo's bike with him in the Winther Kangaroo, and headed down the Midtown Greenway to Lyndale Ave.  Within half-a-mile of Lyndale, Theo couldn't wait any longer and got out to ride his bike.  He was definitely out to break his long distance biking record today.  Little did we know he would end up biking nearly 7 miles, much of it on the new RiverLake Greenway - the first time he biked on a bike route with cars (albeit few).

Here are a few videos and pictures from the day. 


"My bike is a kite!" (above).

Biking on the RiverLake Greenway for the first time (below).  We were surprised by the extent of its  rolling hills.  Here Theo is pushing up one of the hills.  It was a little nerve-racking at times having Theo on the road, crossing intersections for the first real time.  But there was relatively little traffic, he has gotten a lot of biking practice, and was listening very well.



Minneapolis' bike share program, Nice Ride,  was at Open Streets in full force.  Here they are making "Nice Cream" while biking. Gotta try some next time.

Mayor Rybak dueling it out for the slow bike race.  Go Nice Ride!


Gorilla Yoga and a Bakfiets bike.


Decorating Theo's bike at one of many bike decorating stations.


RiverLake Greenway overpass above 35W.  Note the blue yarn bombing behind me.


The Bobike seat is great, until your kid falls asleep.  Should have gotten Henry home earlier, or at least into the Kangaroo trike where he could have slept without the head bobs.

We are looking forward to the next Open Streets event! 

Theo's first fish and other fun at Powderhorn Park

Today we loaded up the Roo trike with the boys and fishing poles and biked to Powderhorn Park for "Take A Day Off".  This was a great event to get city kids and families engaged in outdoor activities.  It was co-sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, and REI.  It was fun to see some colleagues from DNR there and spend a relaxing few hours in the park canoeing, playing frisbee, trying archery, and fishing.   After many failed past attempts, Theo caught his first fish today- a yellow bullhead.  He was very excited, as were we.  Here are a few images from a very fun mini-adventure.








Thursday, June 9, 2011

Bike Walk to Work Day 2011: DNR bike commuters unite!

A high point of Bike Walk Week is Bike Walk to Work Day.  Not only are there great restaurants and cafes offering complimentary goodies to bike commuters, but there is the chance to recognize the impressive community of bike commuters in the Twin Cities. 

But this year was even better because a coworker at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources organized a bunch of us to meet at the  Downtown Saint Paul Bike Walk to Work Day event in Rice Park.  Here is the crew.  Thanks to Kelly for bringing us together.  It was great fun to meet up and then ride as a small pack through downtown St. Paul to DNR.




Friday, June 3, 2011

Every day is different, but no fish this time

I always enjoy meeting other bike commuters along my route, especially when they are recent converts to the joys of bike commuting.  Today, I met one such person at the work bike lockers.  We were both looking at the cloudy skies and wondering if we'd get caught in a passing shower.  I commented that I hadn't checked the weather but that I had checked the Mississippi River levels  online.  I wanted to get an indication of how passable my river route home through Lilydale would be.  She then commented how much she loved bike commuting and was doing it more and more.  She noted how "every day of bike commuting is different."  So true, and my commute through Lilydale today confirmed it.

I reached the  Lilydale section of my river ride home. Good sign: the road gate was open.  The surface of the Mississippi River was rushing just below the road's level, but enough time had passed that the many inches of river sediment had been plowed from the once flooded bike path. Reassured and optimistic, I took the bike path through the floodplain forest.  Soon I reached a flooded section of trail.  Hmm...I had encountered a flooded section last year (see below) and successfully biked through with dry feet. But this was a different section and a very different flood year.



The water flooding the path was irresistible, so still, reflecting the tree canopy above.  Its surface was speckled with tufts of cottonwood seeds.  Thinking of last year's successful fording of the water, I plunged in with two wheels. The water rose as the bike descended... 1 inch, 3 inches, 6 inches, feet wet as they churned through the water.  Don't slow...9 inches, 11 inches, my panniers are now cutting through the water.  Luckily it got no deeper and I  stayed upright.  I reached dry ground, feet dripping. I emptied the water from my panniers, finding no fish.  I dried off the bottom edge of the iPad that had suffered the crossing and headed to the next crossing.

Yes, every day of bike commuting is different.