I was going to write about the progress I am making on my green sweater, but someone rolled onto it as I was taking pictures.
Instead, here is a picture of a sweater my grandma made for me when I was twelve.
Film: Met live in HD; L’Elisir d’Amore
There seems to be an emerging pattern of me knitting socks in October. I had no intention of knitting more of them, but Halloween is coming up and my costume demands a particular kind of look.
Because I don’t have much time, and we were going to spend a few weekends driving, I picked the simplest pattern (all stockinette stitch), did the fancy parts like starting or turning the heel the night before the trip and spent the time in the car knitting, knitting, knitting.
I just have to do the ribbing and the rest of my costume. Should be done by Saturday, no?
Vermont and me
I suppose it has been true for a few years now, and I have come to accept it; I am in love with Vermont. That’s all.
One bike, four hearts, two minds
About a month ago I went to get my bike fit done at Bike2Body in Westboro. My visit was not particularly timely since I’ve had this bike for almost a decade, and I finally got an answer to what is wrong with my position. It turns out that my bike is too small for me.
Mary the physiotherapist filmed me biking and corrected my position as much as possible given the bike size. We also ordered a longer handlebar stem which should help matters once it is installed. I already noticed improvements as my average speed has increased by 5km/h and this is not even with the optimal position!
One of the reasons why I finally got the bike fit done is that I have to decide how to get all three kids on the bike. As you might know I have been thinking about this for a while and I have narrowed my choices down somewhat. After some experiments and experience of owning a city bike I have come to accept the fact that I live in the suburbs. There is not much point in going anywhere without the car but if I insist on biking I better make it fast and call it exercise. This excludes things like upright positions, regular clothes and no helmets. As sad as I am to concede, I will not be getting a bakefiet.
This leaves us with long-tails. I have originally dismissed long-tails due to crossbars and logistics of getting three wiggly boys on the bike without knocking it over. I have since accepted crossbars as a fact of cycling life (see paragraph above) and found a kickstand that will turn a long-tail bike into a jungle gym. With this in mind, two obvious options are open to me; I can turn my trusty old bike into a long-tail by installing a Xtracycle bike trunk or I can buy a heavy duty cargo bike, called Big Dummy, that uses the Xtracycle specs so all the equipment (kickstand, child seat, etc…) that I would get for the Xtracycle can be used here. As usual, I present my conflicting thoughts in a table format:
| Bike | Xtracycle on the old bike | Surly Big Dummy |
|---|---|---|
| The cost is about as much as a… | nice hybrind | racy road bike |
| Load handling | Xtracycle should be fine but I am not sure the hybrid can handle that much extra weight. I need to investigate further. | It is rated for much more that I intend to carry.This is marketed as a mountain touring bike; you can live on it. |
| How does it ride? | It’s the devil I know. | I will probably not get a chance to test ride it as very few stores carry Surly and none of them have Big Dummy in stock. |
| What else do I ride? | Converting my hybrid will mean that I no longer have a fastish bike. I will own two cargo bikes and nothing else. | I will have at least one bike for all occasions. |
| What happens in 6 or so years when I no longer need (or can) carry the kids? | I will only keep one of my cargo bikes, which, I don’t know. Hybrid will get use either way. | I can always use the Big Dummy for bike camping or other adventures we might want to go on with our pre teen and teen boys. Grocery shopping is always a possibility but there is always a chance that I will not use the bike often and have to sell it. |
So there. Which, if any, will I pick? I don’t know!
We are legal!
Starting today our whole family can bike together. Happy!
Steel wheels
About a month ago I saw a blue Peug mixte at the used rack of my local bike shop and bought it. I would not call it an impulse purchase since I have been interested in this kind of bike for a while now. About a year ago I test drove a Kona Roundabout (a modern reincarnation of this Peug) after falling in love with its geometry. I could not justify buying another Kona then so I returned it back to the store but kept my eye out on the bike racks in both Ottawa and Croatia looking for similar bikes.
When I saw this blue cutie at the price point 10% of what the Kona would have cost me, I decided to not to dilly dally and get it right away. It was cheap enough that, even if I end up getting rid of it without getting any use out of it, it would not be a big deal. Chris was in England so I was neither able to test ride it nor could he talk me out of the purchase. The tune up was included in the price and I was glad to see that the bike is rideable when I picked it up. It is in fair shape and it is evident that it has been well used despite the fact that all standard factory equipment is still on it. And what equipment it is; a pump (people keep asking me what it is), simplex down tube shifters, fenders and rear rack, front and back lights powered by the dynamo hub, funky brake levers, checkered decals…).
When I finally got to ride it, it turned out to be too small for me. It is a road bike, a style of bike that I have never ridden but have been getting interested in trying. Now that I tried I was done with the bike. My plan was to ride it a bit more here and there and then flip it. I was talking to Chris about it and we though it might be fun for him to try riding it.
It fit Chris perfectly! He has looked up more information about it and we think it is an ’83. He will probably be able to ride it for a little while without making any upgrades. It is now his bike and he is happy with it.