Sidetracked

My daughters and I rode the Bike Not Bombs Bike-a-thon in June. It was awesome! We did the 25 mile route with our CETMA. The ride to and from the start/finish was about 7 miles. 32 miles in a bakfiets is pretty good. Our route was pretty hilly and I'm glad I'd just tuned up the disc brakes, as some of the singletrack downhills were hairy! Anyway, I'd meant to post about this ride sooner. The reason I haven't is that I was hoping some pics of my bike would show up on the interwebs. The CETMA was mobbed. Everytime I looked around, someone with a fancy camera was taking a shot of it. It looked pretty sweet with 3 racing bibs taped to it. Since so many others were taking pics of it, I figured, incorrectly, that I wouldn't need to take any pics of it myself. Man, am I kicking myself. So, if any of you reading this have any pics of the Largo all decked out, please drop me a line. Thanks! I've lots of interior shots. It was a hot day with many hills, but we had a blast.

During Bay State Bike Week, I won the 1st ever Pack Mule Award. I've got to admit that I was psyched! I sent in some pics of the CETMA loaded up with fruit and kids from the JP Bikes Spring Roll. The award was sponsored by Light & Motion and Kryptonite. I got some fantastic swag!

Photo by the talented Nathaniel Fink

Oh, and the girls and I are in the AUG/SEP 2013 edition of Momentum Mag with our CETMA, which is pretty cool. Props to Nathaniel Fink of CycleStyleBoston for taking some great shots of us for the spread in Momentum and for featuring us in his blog, Cycle Style Boston!

Cousins!

The family and I made a trip out to Portland, OR over the summer, as well. We had a left coast family reunion. I was hoping to rent a bakfiets from Clever Cycles, but they were all out. I asked the interwebs where I might be able to find one for use whilst in Portland and it was then I learned of Spinlister.com. What an awesome idea! People list their bikes for rent on this site. Spinlister requires both supplier and demander to create accounts. Spinlister handles the cash and insures the bike up to $5000. I rented a bakfiets from Esther. She rocks! Her bike was well loved and used by us. If you're ever looking to rent a bak in Boston, check Spinlister for a CETMA  :)

This bakfiets was a bit more of a relaxed riding position than that of our Cetma. It definitely had a cruiser feel to it. We rode it about 10 miles to McMenimans in Troutdale. We found many wild blackberries and playgrounds along the way. We used it to tool around the town for a few days before heading back into Portland.

A bike path bridge on our way from Troutdale to Portland

We took the scenic route, about 21 miles, via the Springwater Corridor and I-205 bike trails. They were nice, scenic and wide.

Bakfiets parking at Clever Cycles

Stopped at Clever Cycles and picked up a Momentum Mag, Rain Legs and a bell for Clem.

A picnic at McMenimans

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!

JP Bikes Spring Roll Recap

Bob has the best stereo in Town.

Awesome Day!  Yes, it was a bit wet, BUT, we had a ton of families show up to bike a nearly four mile route, despite the weather!  Special thanks to our sponsors:  JP Bikes, the Boston Cyclists Union, City Feed, Whole Foods, Harvest Coop Market, Fiore's Bakery, and Ferris Wheels bike shop. Plenty of more pictures on my Flickr Set, for ya!


Picking up the grub.

Barely raining at all, right?

I'm really proud of these families!

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.

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.