Brookwood Community Farm Pancake Breakfast and Plant Sale

 

My girls and I headed out pretty early to Brookwood Community Farm, on Saturday. It was a perfect spring day, sunny, not too cold nor too hot. The CETMA earned us a slew of beeps and waves along the way. A fellow rider even asked to snap a photo.

 

The route we chose to ride took us through the Blue Hills, which presented us with a fairly lengthy and steep climb.  This is why I installed a triple chainring with mountain gearing, folks.  We made pretty good time, as it took us just over half and hour to travel the six and a half miles to the farm.

We were able to roll right in to line for pancakes, unlike the cars which were directed to a parking lot a quarter of a mile away.  I love when that happens. Really, I do. The pancakes and cider were spectacular.  My oldest ran into four or five of her friends from pre-school and they had a ball roaming the farm together, blowing bubbles, climbing trees, digging in the dirt and playing frisbee. 

Brookwood sells organic flower and vegetable plants.  I filled up a large flat with a few varieties of tomatoes, peppers, zuchini, yellow squash, herbs, geraniums, butterfly weed, nasturtia, sun flowers, and more.  Brookwood was humming.  Everyone wore their smile.  My favorite part of riding up the Blue Hills is being able to ride back down the Blue Hills!

On our way home, we decided to stop off at Houghton's Pond. As it turned out, it happened to be National Take Your Kids to a Park Day. Score.  Mass DCR was on hand with nets and clear containers for the kids to use to scoop critters from the pond. The girls caught crayfish, tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs and snails.

Mass Audubon was on hand with live owls and turtles.  It was neat.  My youngest LOVES owls.  She kept "whooo whoooo whoooing" to the owls, expecting a conversation.

 

After hanging out on the playground for a while, we decided to head home, again, when I received a text from a friend who lives not far from where we were headed.  So, we swung by.  Fireman Dave is a new dad.  He was out in the yard planning this year's garden with his little boy.  The girls were enamored with the little guy. 

The sky started to darken and we decided we should beat it back home.  As we hit the bottom of the hill, my rear brake cable snapped.  Lucky for me, there's a brake on the front wheel, too.  As we were only half a block from Fireman Dave's house, we turned around for some aid.  FD came out with an assortment of wrenches, pliers and a third hand tool.  There was just enough of the cable left for us to fudge the rear brake connection to at least get us home. 

Today, we'll be planting some seeds, readying beds for more daylillies and installing a new cable, maybe some new brake pads on the CETMA.  I hope you're enjoying this weather, too.  Oh, and Brookwood Farm is selling plants today, too.

Team Big Orange Bike!

Hi there, Sophie, Clementine and I will be riding either 25 or 40 miles in our CETMA Largo as Team "Big Orange Bike", on June 2nd, in order to raise funds for Bikes Not Bombs. This will be Clementine's longest ride yet! This is a big bike. It has a plywood box. The kids will be my cargo. People will say we're crazy. Please, sponsor our lunacy as generously as you are able. We appreciate your support to help us each reach our fundraising minimums. Thanks!

Flower Girls

Didn't think my girls and I were going to be able to make it out to the Wake Up The Earth festival, this year. When a friend called at the last minute to see if we'd be up for loading up our Largo up with flowers to hand out to strangers, while riding in a parade, my calendar remarkably cleared up.

On our way to the parade, my youngest tried her hand at flyering for next weekend's JP Bikes Spring Roll.

The girls had a great time handing out flowers.

As did I.

Loved watching people dance on stilts!

Lemonade and a nap for the ride home.

Who doesn't love a good, random High Five?

This was very fun.  I'm looking forward to seeing this from the other angle.  I wonder how many high fives these guys gave out today? 

CETMA Largo



To the Zoo!

As the proud papa of two small children, I began to ask myself, "How can I bike with two children and more importantly how do I want to do it?"  I like my Surly LHT plus WeeHoo rig for riding with a single child, but I was unable to make it work for use with a second child.  I've been in touch with the folks at WeeHoo, regarding their new two-seater to be released in April.  I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin, but in the meantime, oh darn, looks like I need a new rig.

Things I desire in a multiple child transport bike:

• Safety
• Comfort
• Wide range of gears for big hills with big weight
• Multipurpose vehicle (freight and children capable)
• Active cycling for the kids (#1 could pedal the WeeHoo)
• Reasonably inexpensive

Things I don't desire in a multiple child transport bike:

• A double-wide trailer
• A longtail

Initially, I was leaning towards purchasing a Bike Friday Family Tandem.  It's a neat bike with 20 inch wheels, which provides for a low standover height for small kids, yet adjusts to fit adult riders, too.  I figured I'd hook up the WeeHoo to the rear and I'd be good to go.  As the time neared for me to pull the trigger, I realized my four year old still regularly fell asleep while riding.  I didn't want to worry about her falling off.  I widened my search.

I stumbled upon the Oregon Manifest, which is an annual design/build contest for "the ultimate utility bike for modern living".  Wow.  There is some awesomeness to be found there.  I spent many days burning through related urls, searching out the most innovative transport bikes available.  I began to lean towards bikes that would enable me to carry my children in the front of the bike, in order that we may better talk with one another and allow me to watch them as we rode, such as a bakfiets (box bike).  I found the geometry and gearing of many bakfiets to be limited.

Eventually, I discovered CETMA.  The CETMA Largo hit five out of my six desires for a child transport bike and it's bi-partable and made in the good ol' USA by a craftsman to boot!  Compared to the price of other bakfiets, tandems and longtails, it is a steal, in my opinion.

I received my Largo on September 17, 2012.  I love it!  It is now February and I've averaged a bit over 140 miles per month on the CETMA, or roughly a third of my monthly mileage, despite our New England winter.  It is better than I thought it would be, which is saying something. I thought I would only use it for carting my kids around on the weekend, but I find myself riding it quite a bit for my commute and on group rides. My commute is 26 miles, round trip. The group rides I've taken it on have been between 32 and 45 miles. It's a very comfortable ride. I enjoy the relaxed geometry and the way the frame soaks up all the bumps. My other main bike is a Surly Long Haul Trucker, with a dynohub/lights, racks, etc. I love it, too. The fact that I'll spin the Largo for 40+ miles (which is right in the Surly's wheelhouse) has surprised me, pleasantly.

My two year old has but a few words and one of them is "bike". She loves the Largo, as does my now five year old. It's been convenient as a discipline item, too: "If you don't start listening, then you won't be able to ride in the bike and you'll have to ride in a car..." Works like a charm.

We've pimped it out for winter and rain riding.  My wife has sewn a nice blanket with a matching seat pad for the bench and a canopy for the box from a tent fly and some remnant clear vinyl from the local fabric store. We ordered some fiberglass kite poles for the canopy structure, which I fitted to the box via a couple pieces of plywood scrap.  I've built a box bench for seating and storage and installed a couple of lap belts to keep the little ones from flying off the seat if and when I have to slam on the brakes.  Life is good.

One of the big pluses of the CETMA is that I can remove the box simply by removing two bolts.  Doing so provides me with a two foot by three foot platform with tie down hooks integrated into the frame.  It is quite useful.