haven't had anything to post

this blog is as much about me writing about cycling and sharing my love for it with my kids, but I've come to the realization that it takes a lot of effort and time to teach kids how to ride, and then finding the time to take them out.
living in the city doesn't allow for unsupervised rides around the block without a parent. perhaps I was spoiled by my childhood (but of course wouldn't of thought that when I was a kid) but I lived on a dead-end street that was full of kids riding around all day. we never thought of any potential dangers (in fact, there really weren't any. it was a time when you COULD allow your kids to go down the block and not worry about them).
but my kids for better or worse don't have that luxury. our street is a busy hill w/ frequent traffic, so our bike rides are by necessity, planned events. when it was 2 kids, we were able to put the bikes in the back of the car, go to a park or bike path and enjoy a ride. add a third kid to the mix and the dynamics are all  skewed. a bike rack for the car (or even a utility trailer!) will soon be an unavoidable purchase.
but we've made SOME progress. the little guy likes his bike seat (even falling asleep once, a sure sign of contentment), the middle one loves the trailer bike, and the oldest, well, riding is not his favorite pasttime. although he is a good bike handler, he invents fears as excuses not to want to ride (we're too close to the canal, what if i fall in, there's too many cars, etc)
hopefully we'll get out once or twice more before it gets too cold.

Railroad Bridge Over Canal

This is one of many interesting views from the Lehigh Canal path. If you like that sort of thing.

Hidden waterfall

We managed to get out as a family today on a bike ride! Not an easy task. With the hills and traffic, it's not safe for the 10 year old, who is the only one to ride by himself; the 7 year old is on a trailer bike with me, and the baby is in a child seat with mom.
So me and the 7 year old rode down to the trailhead, and Mom brought the rest in the car.
Anyway, this is a waterfall/drainage from the Lehigh Canal into the Lehigh River. There is an ill-maintained paved trail running along it and you can see all kinds of ruins left over from Easton's canal and manufacturing days. Some of the canal has been restored, and there is a canal boat ride and locktenders house.

I believe it is DONE

You can see my new Salsa stem, 90 degree 11cm deal, I played with the spacers, raised it a little higher than I thought I would, but initial impressions is it's GREAT! The bike 'feels' fast (of course, it'll feel faster then when I'm towing) and it feels right.
I took this picture today in front of my friend's city brownstone downtown, and the lens on my blackberry was clean so it came out alright.

this is our rig!

The little girl and I went for a good long ride tonight, on 'the rig'. It's really funny, these things- trailer bikes- have been around for YEARS, but most everyone has never seen one before (maybe since Wal*Mart doesn't have them?) so wherever we go, we literally stop traffic. We count how many "that's cool!" we get (tonight was more than 6).

I've had this trailerbike since my first child was about five, and now my second in 7 so it's her turn. In a few years, child #3 will have his turn, so I've really gotten my use out of it.

I'm trying to convince child #1 to follow us on his bike, but so far in his life he's only ridden on paths in the park, and it's no longer possible to pack everything up in the car to take them to the park. So he's going to have to overcome his fear of riding on the road and come with us.

Since he didn't go riding with us, he had to go for a walk with his Mom and baby brother (I think we had more fun).

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

the Surly Pacer is getting there!

I have ordered the longer Salsa stem I wanted, a 90 degree 11cm steel unit. Should put my arms out where they need to be.
I took it out for a ride last night, and it is great! No hand or palm pain, the bike handles very well, and brakes are great with those levers! Now, I know I said earlier that there was some twitchy steering issues, but I think a lot of that is/was due to the trailer bike. I'm really liking this setup and am excited again about riding.

Free Spirit Ten Speed restoration project

Free Spirit Ten Speed restoration project
Originally uploaded by mpvue

I got this bike from someone in the community we had worked with getting some things done. He had it in college and hadn't ridden it in some time; I figure it's from the early '70s, America's First Bike Boom.
Free Spirit was the line of bikes marketed by Sears; they didn't make them; rather, like most everything else at Sears, was a rebadged item from someone else. In this case, this generation of bicycle was made in Austria by Puch. Not a high end frame, but a well built, industrial style (read: not clean welds) frame with alloy Shimano brakes, Suntour gears, and a forged Sugino crank. Good stuff.
This is going to be my vehicle to tow the trailer bike. Got some new tires on it now, and a new chain. Just need cables and we are good to go!