The Fair Is a Veritable Smorgasbord

I don't know if that's actually the song title, but it's the thought shared by Templeton the Rat in the musical version of Charlotte's Web from my youth. So, why this song? Well, I rode to a neighborhood fair with  my family last Saturday night. Since I stated that my purpose in this blog was originally to share the experiences of getting my wife and family riding, this seemed my most appropriate post in weeks.

I suggested the ride only a few minutes before we left. In retrospect, I probably should have given a few hours. However, I know that I can get my family on our bikes in a few minutes now. I got the tires filled up and the trailer attached to my bike. 

Then Nicole brought out the pie we were taking for the pie-eating contest. That went into the trailer with Beth. Off we went on a 2 km ride to the church parking lot. When we arrived, we locked the bikes up to a fence, and walked over to the fair. We were parked closer to the action than most of the cars. The ride there was fun and easy in the lovely late-summer weather. We stuck to back-roads as much as possible to make sure there was room for the trailer.

The trip back provided some challenges. Nicole's front tire was flat. Now, that was probably my fault since I vaguely remember that tire going flat after our last ride together and I hadn't fixed it. I thought it would hold air for the evening with just being filled. Oops. And, it was getting dark. I did remember to attach a red flasher to the trailer, but forgot the front lights on the bikes. Nicole was able to limp home on the flat front tire without too much difficulty. And I believe that drivers were able to see the trailer's flasher. So, all-in-all not a bad ride.

I do still need to get some padding/spacers for the trailer seat so that Beth's head isn't pushed forward by her helmet pushing off the back. And I should probably remember to wear light colors when cycling in the evening instead of the black shirt I had chosen for the day. I also need to get a CO2 cartridge on Nicole's bike for flats. A few helpful lessons.

I was very impressed by Nicole on this ride. She cruised right up the hills, even using the gears to her advantage. She rode the flat tire home without complaint. In fact we rode home in about the same time as our neighbors drove home. I'm thinking more and more that neighborhood trips are possibly easier than driving with the right setup. I'm thinking that a utility trailer would be useful for shopping trips to load up groceries that wouldn't fit in the trailer with Beth, but for now we'll focus on the small stuff like library trips and trips to the neighborhood fair. I also have to figure out how to deal with the Redwood Road pseudo-freeway on a bike, since almost all shopping involves touching that street for a little while.

Oh, and due to the long hiatus from riding, my legs hurt worse after this little 5 km jaunt than they did after the ULCER a few weeks back. I think I have to ride more.