The Fort Fun Ride

Kidical Mass Fort Collins became the Fort Fun Ride on 18 September 2010.  A few hard-core parents braved the unusually cold, rainy day in the middle of a month of record high temperatures.  We rode around some of Old Town’s quiet, wide streets, stopped at Lee Martinez for an abbreviated ‘bike rodeo’ and finished at the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair.

 

Talking strategy in Old Town Square

 

 

Intersection at Mathews and Mountain

 

 

Obstacle course

 

 

Even the Bakfiets attempts the slalom

 

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Mountain biking with children

Mark and I took the girls on an easy mountain biking excursion up Mount Margaret recently.  It absolutely blew our minds.  What fun!   The less interesting miles at the beginning of the trail were a breeze on the bikes, the kids stayed happy and we covered distance like never before on foot.  When we reached the more technical sections near the summit, the girls were excited to get off and scramble around.

Taking the road less traveled

Eva Scrambles Near The Top

By contrast, we went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park recently, and the girls hiked the first few miles of the trail.  We moved too slowly, afternoon thunderstorms caught up with us, and the kiddos bonked early.   A mountainous meltdown ensued, turning us back short of the summit.

Post-meltdown double carry. Not exactly sustainable

It is odd that, despite our love for hiking/backpacking and cycling, we have done very little mountain biking.  The dilemma is, once again, how do you incorporate the kids?  Our Long Haul Truckers accomplish this on pavement, albeit snugly, with racks and a Bobike child seat.   But I am not one that feels very comfortable riding a road bike on single track.  Especially with a kid high-centered on the back.  Very few companies are designing bikes for expedition touring to begin with… add the complication of childseats, and there are really no options for less than $1500 (for the frame only).   Unlike many expedition tourists we’ve been reading about, we don’t have the option of going ultra-light.  We were interested in Salsa’s Fargo, but realized the Bobike/racks combo would only really work on the large frame size.  Oh bother.

So for the time being, we will be mountain biking with our Big Dummies.  They are sluggish, but sturdy, and the kids seem to ride on the snap deck well enough.  If only we could find a way to transport them… but more on that later.

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Fort Collins Family Bike Fair

Having arrived in town on Tuesday, we  immediately jumped back on the bikes and started taking in Fort Collins (and distributing resumes, trying to find housing, etc.).  FC Bikes sponsored a Family Bike Fair today, which we were excited to attend.  Apparently there were supposed to be local bike shops, featuring new products in attendance.  We undoubtedly had a great time, especially chatting with Renold, founder of Yipsan Bicycles http://www.yipsanbicycles.com/ and Dave ‘DK’ Kemp the City’s Bike Coordinator.   Unfortunately we were really disappointed in the local bike shop turnout at the fair.  Where were you guys?  There were loads of kids, parents, and probably eager consumers.  I was hoping there would have been at least one bike shop that offered solutions for carrying children on a bike.  To no avail.  At least Cycletote was on the scene, displaying their trailer http://www.cycletote.com/

Hopefully next year we can offer some solutions for aspiring car-free families.  Perhaps I have the beginnings of an idea for a business…

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Been a while

A lot changes in a week.  Since my last post, we have narrowed down our ‘future plans’ and focused on Eugene.  Eugene has many attractive employment options for my cycling-obsessed husband, Bike Friday, Co-Motion Cycles, Center for Appropriate Transport, to name a few.  For myself, there is a Waldorf Teacher Education program in Eugene, where I hope to learn more about Rudolf Steiner, and gain teaching credentials.

Our time in Colorado is limited now.  In ways, a shame, as the days are getting warmer and the mountains are beckoning.  We will undoubtedly miss the support of my parents, who the kids have grown so close to.  Our friends the Burnhams, which we recently reunited with, will once again be long-distance friends.  The northwest is  a dream that Mark and I have been chasing since leaving Montana in 2008.  It is time to finally wing it.

We will really miss Old Town Fort Collins

A fun fish in Old Town

At a recent play date with the Burnhams

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The Burnhams

Our best buds, the Burnhams, recently relocated to Fort Collins.  They are one of those soul-mate families you meet once in a lifetime, and fortunately for us, our paths keep crossing.  We first became acquainted in Livingston, Montana when Mark and Jim Burnham worked in the Bindery at Printing for Less.com.  Marlene is a mama that I have often emulated, she is courageous, innovative and extremely resourceful.  The Burnhams push the envelope, and are often viewed by the boomers as a bit crazy.   They have moved all over the country, often with no more than a couple hundred dollars to their name.  “Those kids need more stability!” some will claim.  I don’t agree.  They have stability of family, and the wealth of time together.   Fortunately, they found a living situation in Fort Collins where they can enjoy both.  Below are a few photos of a recent girlie play date.  I am far from the most feminine of girls, so how is it that I am raising these two?  🙂

After 3 years of long distance, we live within 3 miles of each other

Eliana donning the new playsilks my mother bought in India

Aletheia and Eva dress for the ball

Purses too!

It was quite the performance

Notice, high heels. Hilarious.

Clara, hat's off

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Bicycle play date with Sawyer Gray

I discovered these photos on my camera today.  They were from a few weeks ago, when we met up with a high school friend of mine Chris Gray and his son Sawyer for a bicycle ride around Fort Collins.  We met at an older park on the corner of Lemay and Horsetooth, cycled north to New Belgium Brewing for some ‘samples’, and met up with our friends the Burnhams on the Mason Trail en route.  For the kids, the ‘play’ part of the date was at the park, and unfortunately the only place where I pulled out the camera.  We played later, after tasting a few delicious seasonal brews.

Clara

Eva showing off for Sawyer

Close up, Clara

Chasing after Sawyer, trying to get a photo

He couldn't escape the action shot while sliding

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What to do with the Dukester?

Hayduke is our first-born dog.  A member of the family.  Our first responsibility as a couple, now a sibling for the girls.  He has been the topic of much conversation as of late, because many of our plans cannot

Yep, he's the best dog ever

include our George Washington Hayduke.  Moving overseas, a bicycle tour.  Family and friends have generously offered to take him, but we wonder how that will affect the girls.

Perhaps we can pull Hayduke on a tour?

Or the girls could devise a clever disguise to get Dukey on the plane?

Dukester looking forlorn in my folk's garage

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Drifthisers

Since arriving in Fort Collins after leaving my job in San Diego, Mark and I have schemed.   Fort Collins is a homey resting spot.   A place to rest, enjoy home cooked meals, warm beds, toys for the kids, and plenty of miles of bike trails to circumnavigate the city while making the next big plan.  But where to next?  We appreciate Fort Collins for all of its wonderful attributes, but it is the place of my birth, and the place where wanderlust takes hold the quickest.  Since I left for University in 1999, I have often stopped back in the Fort for short periods to recover, and plan my next move.  Now that I have a husband, and two children, you’d think I’d have grown up.  Or at least have a grown up plan.  Not the case.  We’ve had so many hair-brained schemes since departing the land of endless summer that our SoCal friends have begun referring to as the ‘Drifthisers’.  Funny.  They never visited the Wandering Cyclehisers Blog.

Anyway, for the curious, here are a few of the ideas we’ve considered/are pursuing.

– Erica goes back to school for an agricultural PhD program, somewhere overseas or in the Northwest

– Mark gets a bicycle-related job in Missoula, Montana, Eugene or Corvallis, Oregon

– Stay in FoCo and develop Mark’s Handyman on a Bike business in Fort Collins

Mark and I have each applied for positions in organizations that we are waiting to hear back from.  We are keeping our fingers crossed, as each will offer unique new experiences, thriving local food systems and plenty of miles of country roads to tour on bikes.  If the above-mentioned plans fall through, the major contingency plan is this:

– Move what is left of our belongings to a storage unit in Bozeman, Montana and begin the Last Chance America (LCA) tour from Bozeman, and south down the Adventure Cycling Association’s new ‘Sierra-Cascades’ route

What will it be?

SierraCascadesMap

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Wet-on-wet watercolor

Another skiff of snow last night, so we decided to forgo park plans and stay inside.  The girls spent the morning painting with their new Stockmar watercolors.  It is remarkable to watch the colors feather, blend, and evolve before your eyes.  Below are some photos of their brushstrokes.

Red and Blue

Experience Purple

Quick Paint

Notice that the girls only had red and blue paint to work with, but they both experienced purple and how it is created.  The theory is that they experience this through their painting and ‘learn’ it in a real and meaningful way, not by someone teaching them.

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Spring training, up the hogback

Photos from our first training ride up the hogback near Horsetooth reservoir.

The whole fam

Clara was out for most of the ride

Hold up

Clara really enjoyed the view

Eva, on the other hand, loved riding in the 'mountains'

Uncle Kev 'Tagged' Along

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