Xtracycle Hackage (The Long Vehicle)
Victoria got her Xtracycle on Monday, and since today was her birthday, I thought I should get started on the conversion. We started with a simple (ha) plan to add two seats on top of the snapdeck. That turned out to be just plain impossible. The legs of the seats just wouldn’t fit over the snapdeck. Not a big deal, since attaching the seats to the snap deck was going to be a seriously daunting task anyway.
Next I looked at the option of installing the bike racks that came with the seats inside the xtracycle’s freeloader. This was a daunting task, made only slightly less daunting by the realization that I could remove the freeloader to do the work.
I installed the forward seat first, which was a pretty straight forward following of the directions type activity. Then I started looking at the rear seat, trying to figure out how the heck I was going to get it stable. The two feet had a logical resting point about 2” behind the rear axel, but there was (seemingly) nowhere to secure it up top to keep it from pivoting back and forth.
After a bit of head scratching, I realized that I was going to have a lot of extra hardware, and the bars that attached the forward seat to the bike, had the same size holes as the bike racks used for attaching the feet.
So I was back in business. I attached the forward rack to the rear rack using the supplied hardware, and got down to the business of tightening everything down. As it turns out, this was the real work. Tight quarters, and odd angles combined with sprockets and bike frame, caused me no end of bruised and bloodied knuckles. In the end though, I was victorious!!
I took the bike for a spin around the block, just to see if it was going to be stable, and noticed that it had a bit of lateral flex. This, I worried, was not good. I decided to wait until we had it loaded to make my call.
Fast forward to today…..
I came home at lunch time and we started right in on the tests. Vick took it for a spin and felt that it was weird, but probably doable. Then we loaded up Ruby in the front seat, and Vick took her for a spin. She reported the it was a little wobbly around corners but she could get used to it.
Then we loaded Anika up, and I took them for a spin. I almost dumped the bike on takeoff, and after rounding my first corner, I was pretty certain that this was suicidal. Its not that the bike couldn’t carry the weight. Vertically, the bike is incredibly strong, but laterally, with weight behind the rear axle, its pretty sketchy when anything but forward pressure is exerted.
Coming around corners and fast breaks caused the tail of the bike to bow, laterally, and then slowly come back into alignment with the front of the bike. This could be mitigated in normal riding, but if Vick needed to swerve to avoid an obstacle or, heaven forbid, swerve and brake at the same time, the bike would definitely dump, and probably break in half.
I returned to the runway, and broke the bad news to the throwers. Lucky for all of us, I wasn’t out of ideas. I took the rear seat off and removed the rack. Then I hauled out the bike trailer, and hooked it up. It fit like a charm, and my test flight yielded very positive results. The bike still doesn’t like to be leaned way over at low speed, but handles the curves and shakes with something approaching grace. Its long, oh yes it is, but its not slow, and not completely unwieldy.
I can see many trips to the park and Whole Foods on this bad ass ride. I dub it, The Long Vehicle (after a fun song by Black Cat White Cat).
Ruby Goes to Work
Ruby is joining me today at work. She’s been going through a tough transition of some sort, and having a really hard time with my leaving (both for work, and for play). I thought if she could see what my average day is like, she might have an easier time of it.
So we packed up her coloring, and her worksheets, snacks, books, and a puzzle, crossed our fingers, and headed out the door. The morning went alright. Ruby helped me make some helpdesk visits, and I worked at my desk while she did coloring, painting, and play. There were quite a few questions, but I was more productive than I had expected to be.
At 11 we had to make the popcorn, that was a welcome distraction for both of us, then at noon we ate our lunch. I had never eaten a regular lunch in the Cafe before, it was quite nice. Ruby was pretty quiet for the eating part.
When we got back to my office after lunch, she was all wound up, and not at all cooperative. It was such a dramatic shift from the morning. I was on the phone trying to help someone, and she was singing “I’m going to shake, shake, shake, my wiggles out …” at full volume. When I got off the phone I tried to tell her that that wasn’t okay at my work, but she wasn’t listening. I reached out for her arm to try to get her attention, and she let out a blood curdling scream. Luckily my door was closed.
I told her that I thought it was time to go home now, and she quickly offered an alternative, “I’ll take a nap”. I figured it was worth a try. So now she’s sleeping peacefully on the floor, on a piece of packing foam, with her head on the teddy bear.
Pictures to follow.
Birthday Quotes
Dad: “Ruby, its your birthday, do you feel any different?”, Ruby: “Yes, I checked my feet and they got bigger”
“I’m going to get a HUUUUGE piece of cake ‘cuz its MY birthday, and I’m so excited about it”
“I’m 4 right?’, “Yup” says I, “and then I’ll be 5”, “mmm hmm”, “and then six?” “yes” ”.. and then I’ll be seven right?” “that’s right”, “and then… I’ll be a momma” “good grief”
Ruby Turns 4
Today is Ruby’s Birthday. I am taking the day off and joining her on her Tiny Treks, then we’re all going down to Santa Cruz to the boardwalk for some rides and possibly something sweet. Then back home for dinner and a cake.
Ruby has requested that her cake have chocolate and flour, and sugar, and “some other things”, and real flowers on top. Of course, she will be obliged.
For my part, I made her a collage.
Happy Birthday Ruby!
Ruby Gets a Haircut
Ruby joined me last night for a trip to “The Haircuts”. She was so excited, the whole way up she wondered who would go first, and whether she would get a very short haircut (‘like mamas’). This is the result.
Tour de Cure: Over
I completed the Tour de Cure today. I led the team from the sweep position again and we all finished in good time. After the ride the ADA provided a BBQ, massages, music, and kids entertainment.
I had a great time on and after the ride, and am already looking forward to the 120K next year!
The Rose Parade
Tonight was the Rose Parade in Portland. This is a huge parade (which is currently going on outside my window (at 10:10pm). We grabbed dinner at the Deschuetes Pub, and then headed over to S.W Park to catch the warm up of the parade. As the even got underway, we realized that we were about a block too far West, and decided to migrate East a bit so that we wouldn’t miss all the marching bands. The marching bands were especially important because just yesterday Ruby was telling us that she wanted one… at her birthday party. Staying up until 10pm and watching them out on the street seemed to be an acceptable consolation for her (thank goodness). Unfortunately, Miles doesn’t deal well with over stimulation and sleep deprivation, so its looking like another long bedtime for him and Vick.
Portland, OR. I Love This Town
Our first night here, and already I’m in love. We had to go to Whole Foods to get some diapers (see my last post for details). On the way back we decided to meander through the Pearl district. We ran into what looked like a street fair, except for that there was a man on a stage giving a pretty elaborate toast.
We asked some nearby standers-by what was up, and they gave us the full lowdown. It seems that this was a dedication for the smallest park in history. To the casual eye, this park looked like a sidewalk, but it did have a neat water feature.
In any case this momentous event was enough of an excuse for Portlandites to celebrate. And celebrate they did, in grand style. Free beer style. After our new friends got done explaining the why, and the what, I headed over to the free beer table to order up what turned out to be a very tasty local beer (name forthcoming).
I enjoyed that, while Ruby enjoyed holding her complementary Izzy (I didn’t want her getting all sugared up), and then we darted back to the car to move it.
Packin' the bags
We’re packing up for Portland now. We’ll be there through Monday. I’ll be attending the RailsConf and the family will be wandering around Portland looking for fun and excitement. Expected side trips (for them at least) include the Zoo, the Children’s Museum, and at least a few local coffee houses. More, I’m sure, as the trip unfolds.
A Night on the Town
Last year, around my birthday, Wes and I hatched a plan to go out for burgers and beer, and then catch a movie. It didn’t come together until Saturday night, and even then, the plan had to be modified. I left the house at 6:45 in order to meet Wes at Thirsty Bear by 7:30. Ruby had a total meltdown about my going out. I tried to remind her that she wanted to leave me for a sleepover the next night, but I don’t think her sense of empathy is developed enough to really appreciate the comparison. After what I thought was a successful negotiation with her, I was out the door.
At 3rd and Howard (half a block from Thirsty Bear) Wes called to get directions. As he was only a block away, I hung out on the corner to wait. Perhaps the highlight of the night was when I saw Wes barreling down the sidewalk on his unicycle. He had a big old grin on his face as he wound his way through the crowd.
We had an IPA (which was fantastic) and headed over to the garage to drop off the unicycle in my trunk. We made it into the theater moments before the movie started (Iron Man) and got pretty great seats. Wes pulled out two beers from his jacket, and the movie was on. I got through about the neck of my bottle before I realized that a two hour movie and two beers were not a good combination.
Iron Man was a fantastic slugfest. If you’re in the mood for a super-action movie with great [mechanical]hand to hand fighting, this is the flick for you.
We got out of the theater around 11 and I was feeling pretty tired, so we decided, in the interest of safety, to get an espresso. Bad idea! I made it home safely, but didn’t get to sleep until 4:30am. Unfortunately Ruby and Miles (who also had a late night) didn’t want to sleep in, and at 6:30 I was up and at em.
I sucked it up and dealt, since it was my bad choice, but at 9:30 when my bike ride started, I was not sure if I was going to be able to finish.
…Continued in the next article.
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