They served free coffee on opening day and if the mechanics are drinking that same strong brew, the place is going to do a lot of brisk business. Speaking of coffee, they also have adorable coffee cup bike bells. Right next to the BikeGlow.

I think the mix of old and new is probably a lot like the original Recycled Cycles, but my only experience with the other shop is 1) carrying a bored toddler around for a few minutes three years ago while Mr. Family Ride looked at bikes and decided it was his favorite shop and 2) carrying a bored preschooler and bored toddler around for a few minutes after last year’s kiddie criterium.

The bin of used saddles was particularly exciting for my two-year old. Both the blue Lemond and brown Brooks saddles were gone when we went back on Thursday (second trip was because the four-year old was sad to have missed out–he was quite fond of the saddle bin, too, and created the game of sitting on the saddles one-by-one on the floor).

There’s a wonderfully priced new 2011 18-inch Kona Ute in the shop and when I chatted with Scott, the owner, he mentioned they want to carry more cargo bikes. I wish I’d thought to suggest they should consider a Lego or train table to go with the cargo bikes. There’s certainly room for it. Or there would be if there weren’t so many bikes in every available spot.

I was impressed with the womens shoe selection, too. The Shimano mountain bike shoes weren’t bad looking and the the DZR Jetlag Urban Cycling Shoes are “the first and only SPD compatible slip on.” I should probably go back a third time and try them on.

I talked to a mechanic who likes problem solving and expressed an interest in figuring out a passenger wind/rain shield. I recently discovered this great DIT: Shade and rain covers for the PeaPod LT tutorial. My PeaPod III doesn’t have the crossbar so it wouldn’t work as easily, and ideally I’d shelter both kids. However, I already own a BOB stroller rain shield and I just happened to have it in my FreeLoader so I showed it to Joe and he may already have an idea that involves tent poles and a trip to Tacoma Screw.

Heading home I discovered what I think are new BIKES WATCH FOR TURNING TRAFFIC signs on Seattle’s most dangerous block for bikes. But they might not be so new since I’ve been turning off 45th at Burke lately.

The signs in the other direction make me a little dizzy with the sideways bike icon, but it’s nice to see so much signage to protect bikes from cars. I also realized today that as far as I know, this is the only Seattle street with sharrows in the uphill direction and bike lane in the downhill direction (usually it’s the reverse). This block’s bad reputation is paying off with a lot of extra attention.

This got me thinking about the future front rack of my old bike. My plan is to put the big kid on a pedal bike coupled behind my bike with a FollowMe Tandem and move the little kid to the Bobike maxi rear seat and carry his balance bike on a front rack (because I have a feeling he’ll want his wheels along often). Now I realize a frame-mounted rack is crucial–it will be able to carry more weight and not affect steering. I recently first read about frame-mounted racks when Hum of the city reviewed a Yuba Mundo with bread basket. I want to see if the Azor frame mounting front rack that comes on WorkCycles will fit my frame. Haulin Colin makes heavy duty frame-mounted racks locally, but I’m stuck at the idea of having to repaint my celeste green Bianchi Milano. So that’s plan B.

This afternoon the four of us had a lovely early (4pm!) Valentine’s Day dinner at Ivar’s Salmon House. We’ve never been there before so I was surprised by how fancy it is. The view was great, as was the food. The kids rode their balance bikes down and I locked them at the bike rack outside. Very bike friendly place, easily reached by runnel from the Burke-Gilman Trail (or by normal roads one block away).

I gave Mr. Family Ride the Park Tool PZT-2 Pizza Tool. Since Ride Bicycles has a Park Tool account, they just stuck it on their next order. One can also order a PZT-2 from Amazon and other places, but that’s not nearly as exciting. I’ve put the pizza cutter next to a Playmobil man and toy train for scale. It’s quite big. Big and awesome.

I was glad I brought the balance bikes today because after a preschool potluck near Green Lake, I let the boys loose at the lake. We started at the big hill (Papa Ball Hill, as we call it) by the Bathhouse Theatre where the boys cruised down over and over for a good hour. I thought that was it for balance biking, but they crossed over the bike path to explore closer to the water’s edge. Very close to water’s edge as they rode on a little pier.

Fortunately neither boy got wet, which was more of an issue when they took a biking break to toss rocks in the lake. Despite hundreds of hours of experience throwing rocks into water (second in popularity only to digging in sand), you’d think they’d be better at keeping their feet dry.

My favorite part of the day was riding alongside the boys 3/4 of the way around the lake. I had so much fun when we raced around the vacant UW parking structure with Brad and kids, but I only had one kid to keep safe since my bigger balance biker kept up with the faster half of the group. Today they mostly stuck to the gravel on the side of the path and we didn’t have run-ins with other bikes, pedestrians, or dogs. It was so much easier than I could have imagined. I don’t think we’re ready for six wheels on the Burke-Gilman Trail yet, but perhaps it’s not so far off.

Two miles of flattish riding tired them out, but they still weren’t done! I thought they were ready to let me load them back on the Big Dummy, but they took one last opportunity to fly down a fairly steep grassy hill. They figured out it’s a lot easier to run the balance bikes up the hill on the side and then remount to coast down. I hope this lesson will stick and they’ll walk their bikes on the long hills near home. When Mr. Family Ride escorts the kids down to the water he often ends up carrying two bikes and one “I baby white kitty cat, can’t walk!” kid uphill to return home. It think he could probably figure out a way to carry all three items at once, but he patiently ferries things in half-block increments.

Done with the fire station, we killed a couple hours at nearby Cafe Bonjour which has a bike rack right out front, but were later surprised to discover the SAGA School has no bike racks as we arrived for the Kinderfasching costume party. We left with one painted puppy face and two balloons. The boys had the idea to stick the balloons in the holes of the Yepp seat foot straps (better picture here) and they stayed put once I fastened them down. They even made it through two unbucklings and rebucklings as we stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home (because three stops just isn’t enough when you’re on a cargo bike and full of sugar).

Our detour from the closed bridge took us to the 4th Avenue South bridge over the train tracks. Great view of the train yard, but the sidewalk is narrower than 1st Avenue South–or at least feels narrower thanks to the railing on the street side. We met a couple pedestrians on our way over and it made me thankful for my narrow longtail.

I had hoped today’s route to Georgetown would be a winner. The friends we visited live very close to Oxbow (Hat N Boots) Park so I imagine we’ll take this trip often in the summer. I decided early in the ride I didn’t like the route, having started on Eastlake. Never mind the car congestion, the hill is just too big to be worth it unless I’m going somewhere near the top of the hill, like REI. Google maps might think Eastlake is my fastest route to anywhere south, but my uphill speed must negate any advantage over taking the much more pleasant Westlake.

On the way home we took the 1st Avenue South bridge and discovered even more new construction. As I was waiting at a light on South Horton Street, wondering if the Eliot Bay Trail was really just across the street, I saw a bike go by. Thank goodness! She saw me and we waved at each other and moments later I realized it was Del Rey, local blues singer and frequent cargo bike ride participant. Had it not been so grey out, I would have recognized her sparkly gold helmet. Plus she wasn’t on her familiar Dutch bike, preferring her Brompton these days. I decided she probably hadn’t recognized me on my new bike, either, so I set to chasing her down. This is actually an Xtracycle pedaling towards us in the bike lane! What are the odds?

It is so nice to ride alongside someone familiar with the quirks of a trail. I was tempted to follow along all the way to Fremont (Hub and Bespoke to be exact), but I had promised the boys a visit to the waterfront carousel. I’m not sure what it’s like here on weekends, but it’s a great destination on weekdays. The arcade area is loud, but there’s a long quiet hallway linking the various businesses together.

We came home through the Ballard Locks. The fish ladder was deserted, but the kids didn’t want to get back on the bike after looking for salmon so for the first time ever, I was able to wheel an empty bike across the narrow walkways. Normally, this would be a great thing, but this was the Big Dummy’s inaugural visit to the locks and I wanted to see how easy it was to negotiate the sharp turns and impatient pedestrians.

Although all the photos look awfully wet, it didn’t rain on us until the last ten minutes of the ride–and then it poured. The kids weren’t jazzed about it, but at least they were in rain gear–which I’d luckily put on them for warmth.

The final tally of our day was 27.9 miles–over nine hours with two long and one short stops. Not our usual day, but it was a good one.

In the afternoon we took the Milano with the idea to get the new kickstand put on at Dutch Bike Co and then continue along to the beach. The shop was too busy (call first next time!) but the beach was great. Sunny and over 50 degrees meant flip flops for me!

It wasn’t quite flip flop weather, but it was nice not to come home with sand in my shoes like last beach day. The kids were OK in short sleeves and rolled up pant legs, but I huddled under a blanket.

By the time we left the beach it was getting dark and cold and I tucked a blanket over each kid. We stopped for dinner at the Totem House across from the locks that I just noticed has reopened (in October, apparently). It’s now owned by Red Mill, which Oprah declares “One of the 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die.”

I remembered to bring my headlight along, but forgot to use the downtime at the beach to get it attached. So I quickly stuck it back in its old spot on the fork. Riding home I saw one bike without a light…not well, though, since my miss-aimed light only illuminated the trees far above her head.

On to the third bike…I delivered the kids home to Mr. Family Ride and took the Big Dummy back out solo for the monthly preschool parent meeting. I was feeling mopey about not being able to take the road bike out, but a passing cyclist shouted “I like your bike!” at me and cheered me up. Moments later another cyclist shielded his eyes as we passed each other. The bright dynamo lights certainly are wonderful at night.

Riding around at night is such a change–there’s a different batch of stuff to see. I discovered a house in our neighborhood with several bikes hanging in the living room. I’d love to go back with a better camera (and not accidentally set off the flash with the first shot, doh) some night.

I also used the light on my new clock for the first time. Wow, since when is 8:44pm so late? I left my flip flops on, as you can see. I brought boots and socks along, but left them in the FreeLoaders.

Another kid showed up in a helmet (though he arrived by bike) so they weren’t alone in their fashion statement for long. And they eventually got too hot and removed helmets and jackets, but not before some “dangerous” stunts on the swings.

We returned to the bike shop to bad news–the chainguard wouldn’t fit. They have a bash guard that will work, but it’s smaller than my current big ring so I’d have to swap that out for a smaller one. I left the shop thinking that was a good idea, but Mr. Family Ride later told me he thought I should leave the original ring set as-is to keep the bike running best. I wasn’t convinced, but after reading the chainguard entry in Sheldon Brown’s glossary, I’m thinking about giving up my quest for a chainguard and rather work on my whining about rolling up my pant leg:

Chainwheel discs, unlike the above styles of chainguard, are usable on bicycles with derailer gearing and multiple chainwheels. They are primarily intended to prevent soiled clothing, since the front derailer tends to keep trouser cuffs from being snagged. Unfortunately, many chainwheel discs interfere with obtaining the best possible front derailer adjustment. Should the chain become derailed on a bike with a chainwheel disc, it may become seriously wedged between the disc and the large chainring. Chainwheel discs are rarely found on high-quality bicycles.

It won’t be such a pain when the weather warms up a bit more and I don’t have to wear long pants and maybe a solution will present itself before next winter.

After shoving my pants back into my boots, we headed to Wallingford Playfield for the monthly Spokespeople ride. I’d been warned we’d check out the 41st Street runnel on the way to the rose garden and considered taking a detour to avoid the hassle, but in the end opted to stay with the group and see how bad it is with a heavy bike. The kids walked up the stairs and someone helped carry the back of my bike (as well as his own bike) while I tried to keep my front wheel on track. I think it wouldn’t be quite so hard if there were runnels on both sides of the stairs so we could walk on the left sides of our bikes as we’re used to. Either way, I won’t be back to the runnel.

There were no roses yet, but there will be soon. It was still a beautiful day to be in the garden.

Then we headed downhill to the Theo Chocolate factory where I let the boys eat so many samples they got a bit crazy. I can only imagine how fast they would have pedaled us back uphill if they were sharing the workload. Some day…

The beach was great. A bit on the cold side–somewhere above 50 degrees with a slight breeze–but very sunny. I downloaded Instagram so I can take postcard-y pictures now:

The slight breeze helped me discover that the new kickstand is not as good as the old kickstand was (before it broke in two, that is). I had to hold the bike upright after unloading one basket and even once I had everything off and thought things were steady, it tipped over. Thank goodness there are millions of trees in this city so I could prop the bike up for safe and easy reloading.

On our way to the beach we noticed a train table through the window of Snoose Junction Pizzeria so we stopped in for dinner. The place is full of bikes and trains! Unfortunately it no longer is also home to the Addams Family pinball machine which I had heard moved here from Sock Monster (where I also didn’t get around to visiting it in time).

It was dark by the time we left Snoose Junction, but Dutch Bike Co was still open so we swung by to have the kick stand taken off while it’s still in resellable shape. When I can get back in, they’ll put a super duper double kickstand on–I think this Hebie one, which comes on the WorkCycles Oma and Opa bikes.

I should have bought a spare front light while I was in the shop, but I didn’t want to pour most of my store credit into something other than the new pricey kickstand. I didn’t think we’d be out past sunset and I have yet to find a way to attach my Planet Bike Blaze effectively. I’ve had it down on the fork, but it aims up in the air, blinding pedestrians. I don’t have any handlebar room thanks to the Bobike windscreen, but there’s a light cut-out in the middle of the skirt so I’ve been meaning to find a way to poke it through there. But for today, we rode home with only a rear light. I was surprised and embarrassed to be the only bike with no light–even the runner we passed sported a headlamp. We took the Burke Gilman Trail, which is well lit between Ballard and Fremont and then up Stone Way’s bike lane, which felt fine with just a rear light since the cars only saw me from the back and there’s little side street traffic. At the top of the hill I switched to the sidewalk. It was probably nicer for the pedestrians I encountered that I didn’t shine a bright light at them. There wasn’t much foot traffic on 45th for a Friday night and we cruise at close to pedestrian speed so it worked well. But lesson learned and I’ll make sure I’m all lit up before taking the Milano out again, no matter the time of day.

Much of the trail is road-based sharrows, but two intersections had nifty no-through-traffic arrows to cut down car use. Unfortunately, cars ignored the arrows and drove straight through the intersections both times.

The trail portions were great and there’s even art on the trail. There are four sets of these flip book panels, which probably look animated to the faster trail users.

A set of bridges carries bike and pedestrians safely over 155th and then Aurora.

The ice skating place was right across the street from the trail. It looks like a wide sidewalk in the photo, but this is the trail. From Google maps, I don’t think it extends too far past this before being broken up by road again, but I’d like to explore it more once the weather warms up and I’m on the lookout for more near-to-trail destinations.

I wasn’t surprised that there’s no bike rack at the ice rink so I made use of a pole right by the front door. Lack of bike racks usually means even more convenient bike parking in my book. It would have been even better if there was a curb cut to get onto the sidewalk, but it was easy enough to walk the bike over the curb once the big kid hopped off.

We left for home at five and it took about an hour. There was a bit of light for the unfamiliar part of the trip home, but there are no lights on the trail so I’m happy we didn’t leave any later. Exploring will be so much more fun when the days stretch longer and get warmer. Also, the four-year old started dozing off close to home. That’s not something I’ve had to worry about before since he’s ensconced in his Bobike maxi on the old bike. I kept him awake by pointing out phantom squirrels and asking train-related questions. I think he’d probably stay sitting up for a short nap (based on a story I heard at the first Kidical Mass we attended), but I’m not ready to test that theory.

One other bit of bikey excitement today: in the morning we went to Ride Bicycles to get my front wheel stabilizer. It’s a very strong Civia Loring Basket Fork Spring 58mm held in place with a Problem Solvers dual cable Backstop 1-1/2″ cable with slots. Apparently this isn’t the usual use for the backstop, but my tube is so big it took some investigating on Edward’s part to find something to clamp around it. So now my wheel and basket won’t automatically flop to the side every time I take my hands off the handlebars. Safer basket cargo and prettier pictures. I also got a blue Jellibell because I apparently have a bell-buying problem of late. I think this one will go on the kid handlebars and I’ll get the black time clock bell. Not sure where the kitty cat will end up. Maybe I can claim it for my beach cruiser…but only after I find it a tiny shower cap to protect it from rain.

The kickstand took matters into its own hands (legs?) and broke in half as soon as I wheeled the bike out of the garage. The remaining leg wouldn’t stay up so I zip tied it to the frame and crossed my fingers it would stay. Fitting since I learned the magic of zip ties from Dutch Bike Co. The zip tie held through preschool pick up and ride to the shop where I learned they don’t have a Pletscher two-leg kickstand in stock, but should get one soon. They removed the leftover pieces and politely accepted the fallen-off bits I’d transported in my pocket with the promise to call if it could be put back together. (I’m not expecting a call.) In the meantime, things aren’t too bad with no kickstand. Since I started out with a normal single kickstand, I’m used to leaning the bike against my hip while loading the kids. Granted, it’s not as easy and comfortable as a double kickstand, but it’s safe and effective.

I wasn’t able to leave the shop empty handed once we saw the bells. They now carry kitty cat bells! The Milano’s bells are currently a bunny bell with missing ear and kitty bell with missing kitty (it’s in the house just waiting to be glued back on) so this kitty bell will go on the Big Dummy. I also got an Origin-8 Time Clock Bell. I had assumed the time clock bell would go on my handlebars and the kitty cat on the seat post bars, but the four-year old has other plans. It’ll take me weeks to get around to installing them so hopefully he’ll have forgotten about wanting *my* bell by then.