Handlebars

We all have handlebars.

Sometimes they are rusty.

Sometimes they have baskets full of dreams hanging from them.

Sometimes they carry our coffee.

And sometimes we ask too much of them.

Sometimes they carry the people we love.

Let's hear it for handlebars!  After all, it isn't like we ever really think about them.

Big Box Bikes

On one of our obligatory trips to the hell that is Costco, James and I came across this lovely solution to getting there and getting stuff home.

A tandem for companionship and to share the load.

Big baskets to put all of the big shopping in.

More space to carry more stuff, because you never walk out of Costco with less than you thought you would buy.

And a cute bell to ding at the clueless parkers in the lot.

I would bet dollars to donuts that the riders of this bicycle had a more pleasant Costco trip than anyone else there.  I know.  I will do anything to not drive to Costco.  Soooooo much better, and cheaper because you can't buy as much, when you Big Box Shop on your bicycle.

More Wax, Less Cargo

So the Batcyclegentleman is sporting a new "look"

After three years together, my daily bicycle has decided to spice things up with some facial hair. I think it happened, in part, after spending a bit of time at the ballpark under the influence of the Giants.


Although he very much wants one, I have had to point out to The Bat that a beard would drag in the front wheel so he will have to stop at the mustache and be happy with that. What do you think? Am I being too conservative here? Should I let him grow a beard, as well?

Team loyalty is only one factor in my ride's choice to go hipster. The other would be the fact that I abused my front rack to such an extent that it decided to snap and become useless (the rear cassette has decided to take my rack's advice and fail from neglect, too).

I was about to put a new front rack on the Bat because I love my front basket. I have one on each of my bicycles!

Except, I have decided I like my Bat much better without my front basket! Can you hear the collective San Francisco intake of shocked breath at the statement? A San Francisco city bicycle sans basket? The scandal!! I may have to turn in my bike card.

Loaded

While we have a really wonderful cargo bicycle...OK, while we have two really wonderful cargo bicycles in our family we sometimes strip it down a bit on shopping day.

Where there is a need for silly amounts of breakfast cereal there is a way to get it home on your fixie. No excuses, go shop on your bicycle!

bike basket tgiving bounty!

last night i did some thanksgiving shopping for the veggie sides i'll be making tomorrow with my family. i give thanks for my bike basket that is able to carry around the awesome groceries! it took a minute, but there's a jacket, two bike locks, my personal bag and a bag's worth of groceries in there.

have a great tofurkey day everyone!! be sure to ride off that feast over the long weekend. i'm sure i'll be doing that if the weather cooperates. if not, well, i'll probably be riding anyway!

Experiment In A Basket

For a great while now, I have wanted a handwoven bicycle basket from David Hembrow. You may know him from his blog, A View From The Cycle Path.

I have had my Batavus for three years now, and it has taken quite awhile to get it exactly where I like it. Instead of jumping into buying things that look like they will be great, but end up not being used, I have purchased or made most of the things on my bicycle only after really thinking about it or experimenting with cheep alternates to see what is truly useful. For the last year and a half I had repurposed the removable Wald basket from my old bike by zip tying it to the front rack.

This bike was nothing but old stuff thrown together!

The rack its self was the cheapest I could find, $18, because I was not sure I would I like having a front rack on the bike. Now that it has been on for so long, I can't imagine the Bat without it. So when the one that is there now becomes too disreputable for my taste I will find a much better one knowing that it will be something well purchased.

Back to the basket. Having someone make a basket, and then ship it across the world is not something to take lightly. What if it just isn't right? My Wald basket was great because it was impervious to weather, was really cheap ($18, just like the rack) and when empty didn't cause much wind drag or collect water in the rain. The problem for me was it wasn't meeting my aesthetic requirements. Every time I looked at it, it just wasn't hitting my eye the right way. Some may find this a silly reason to replace something that works, but my front basket is something that is always in my line of sight when I ride, so if it is ugly it will always rankle. With that in mind, I had started thinking about David's beautiful baskets again. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, they are works of art that I can buy directly from the artist (I am a total sucker for that kind if thing). But again, what if I didn't like having it on the front of the bicycle?

Zip ties will tie down just about anything!

A solution presented its self to me last week in the form of a giant picnic basket being sold at a sidewalk sale. With negotiating it came out to $7 and that meant I had the correct basket for my experiment. Will having a larger basket, with greater wind resistance on a crappy fork mounted rack work for me? So far, it has been a mixed bag. Even unloaded I notice a change in the front end handling, especially in the wind which blows hard constantly these days. It isn't horrible, but I am not sure how much I like it. This basket is also not going to work in the rain as it is lined and kinda cheap, so I will not get an idea of winter riding with it (David's baskets are good even in the snow). On the other hand, it has a great lid which keeps things in and the sun out and it looks great.

For now, the jury is out on what my final decision will be. I really love how terribly traditional the Bat looks with the basket on, I may just end up with a Peterboro one, but the call of David's baskets is still quite strong. One thing is sure, taking time to make these decisions pays off. My bicycle is exactly right for me and riding it is always a pleasure.

Chair Delivery

Since buying La Ballena, you may think that I reserve it for all of my cargo hauling needs. Not so, not so! I can find a way to get almost anything on my Bat.

Huge purse in the front. A dozen chicken eggs, a dozen quail eggs, 6 avocados, a bunch of leeks, 2 lbs of lamb sausage and a jar of home preserved lemons in the left pannier. An abandoned Japanese chair in the right pannier. Had I been successful at the Apple store, I would have had a new IPad on their somewhere as well.

It isn't just me hauling chairs and other things, either.

Kid? Check. Backpack? Check. Fishing gear in backpack? Check. Folding chair? Check.

Who needs a rack when you have strong biceps?

i've got a case of the baskets

i love my basket. most people i know who have them do as well. here's some i've seen over town the past couple of months.

milk crates TOTES count as baskets. this one was on her way to work.

friday night lights

owner of this basket really likes the theater enough to leave bike outside while watching an awesome play unfold inside. (it seriously was one of the best plays i've seen, if it comes your way, please go and catch a performance.)

these baskets work 9 to 5. tryin' hard to make a livin'

these two little things somehow found each other

and finally, sometimes basket owners are drawn to each other and produce smiles while sharing the bike cozy love

aww. how happy has your basket made you today?

Too Freaking Cute!

While we bang on about it, the kids just get it and go.

Get a hold of me

When it comes to carrying and strapping things, there is no doubt that us as a cycling bunch, are extremely creative by nature. What has been the latest repurpose or holding-down method you have tried? When I was in college, my biggest challenges were carrying tubes, rulers (think 60+in.) and odd objects art students are known to get creative with. On wheels. I didn't have a basket in the beast I used to ride while in school many years ago, but I did have a little rear rack for a short time that came super handy. Bungee cords did the trick. Somehow I made it work.

Ade the other day showed us how she makes the most use of those belts.
I don't recall if she had blogged this photo yet or not, but here it is. That belt is quite handsome.

The other day, trolling around Etsy I found this beautiful corset-like bottle holder [link]

Last year I invested in a little velcro-attached cage (the one holding the white water bottle) for my road bike, which I hardly ride. When I take my road bike I miss my basket tremendously, but it is nice to just carry the minumum. Coffee still needs to be with me, so here this photo (below). This is in Marin near Pt. Reyes shows the velcro-attached cage which is used for water, the other is for my insulated coffee kanteen. Prioritize.

Meanwhile, on Frenchie, the basket accomodates to all kinds of cargo. I keep bungee cords in my bag or sometimes around the basket, making sure they are on TIGHT. Those bungee cords could get lose, and when you least know it, could be a pretty bad situation in your wheels. Eeek. They also come in handy when holding down bigger grocery bags or other larger things when running errands. I bought an unexpensive pack of about 8 of them in various lengths and color/sizes or so at a local mom+pop hardware store.

Our friend Patrick in Portland has extreme precious cargo here:

Grocery Panda by Patrick B.

Asides the adorable view of AnaBee reading her book while running errands, I found very clever the small details around it all. Note the old inner tube wrapped around the handlebars, working as a sunglass holder. Patrick says: "i originally wrapped this inner tube around the handlebars so I'd have a tube handy for tying things down. but i mostly use it to hold sunglasses or my gloves-- very convenient!" Super! =)

 "Steady steel steeds"

And here these beautiful bikes which belong to the local pretty ladies, our own Calitexican and LMG (orange rivendell) roaming all over the Bay, keep everything nicely kept in their baskets for any cargo, work and play.

It is known, that us city ladies here at CYLRAB are huge fans of belts, bungee cords and nets in our baskets. 
What do you use to hold your stuff around your bike? Baskets, racks, panniers, or in a backpack or messenger bag? And what has been the most DIY or creative tie-down methods. Do tell =)

feliz diez y seis

hey guys, today is the 200th anniversary of mexico's independence. have fun out there in texas. i miss those celebrations so much.

in the meantime, maybe you can see me riding around with my flag on a basket later today. say hi.

besos desde califas...

c/s,
CTX

Weekday Glide

It's a workday. You have things to do and stuff to carry. However you do it, do it by bicycle! Automatic style points for top tube gliding.

Wrap It Up!

Wicker bike! I want a wicker bike! When this gentleman pulled up next to me ( I think his name was Eric, but if not, and you know him, let me know and I will correct it) I was instantly covetous of his fine ride.

I was completely enthralled by just how thoroughly wickered his bicycle was. Everything was meticulously wrapped. Even the rack, which he said was his favorite part.

Look at how perfectly it is wrapped!

I particularly liked the seat. It can't be easy to get all of the contours right. I didn't think to ask him if it was comfortable.

Val thinks they may come from Viet Nam. I'll buy that. I wonder if David Hembrow would make one of these with an Old Dutch? Either way, I have declared this to be the Bike to Work Day bike of 2010!

Just think, if it breaks down you could turn it into a rocking chair!

basket decorations

today is cinco de mayo. whatever your thoughts on that day are, please just be careful tonight as you ride around about your business. will possibly be lots of drunk people out there milling about masquerading as drivers, bikers and pedestrians...

anyway, this is a scene from this past weekend. flags make nice basket decorations i think.

have a good one!

♥ my bike

I found this writing to be very peculiar and special. I found it very pure in its own personal way, and I'd like to thank our flickr pool user ♥negrisima♥ for letting me share this with you all.
It is beautiful :D

Photo and text below uploaded by ♥negrisima♥

♥ my bike
♥ these days...

Today i got back my bike, and it was awsome.
I missed it. I missed the wind in my face. I missed the streets. I missed finding out that there was this amazing park or public bench that i've neever seen before. I just reaaly missed my bike.

Maybe it's because I used to complain about not having time for myself, to lisent to my music, to hear my thoughts... and when i'm riding my bike, listening to the Amelie soundtrack or LadyGaga I feel like i'm in my own little movie where i'm this person who loves to ride a bike and enjoy the days that bring you meaning.-

scenes from the bikey lane: monday march madness edition.

hey y'all. can you believe it's march already?! wow, 2010 is speeding by like a certain famous bikey dude riding his cargo bike down the wiggle the other day. vroom vroom.

ok then, let's get to it:

1. light grey skies, dark gray asphalt outlined with yellow stripes next to dewy and fresh smelling green grass. nice change of scenery.

2. sausage fest throughout said above route.

3. 3 women, 1 male at page and octavia.

4. 5 women, 0 males at 7th and market.

5. 6 women, 2 men at 5th and market.

6. red mixte seen inside bank: 1

7. baskets seen: 4. two were on the same bike.

8. mixtes spotted: 2. upright handlebars on those bikes: 2.

9. cords worn: 1 pair. (brand unknown. not pink)

see anything fun or different on your commute this morning?

On The Road Again

S.A.M. is back on the road. He does not look that much different, but he is!

I was going to do the work, but it ended up with Hubby the Bike Man doing just about everything (we have a different work style involved primarily with me liking to have a cup of tea at 10:30 PM and James liking to go work in the garage until midnight).

S.A.M. has a new bottom bracket (sealed), new pedals (MKS), new chain rings (Hubby knew I needed different gearing although I was oblivious), new wheel bearings and a repacked head tube.

All of the recycled parts required overnight soaking in orange oil prior to being scraped clean. That is some serious, long standing, baked on grime. It was worth it, though. James was able to salvage the derailleurs.

The paint is still shot. The paint that is left is strong and a really pretty soft metallic blue, but so much has been scraped off. I was worried the new V.O. fenders and the Axiom rack would really make the paint look baaaaad.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the new shiny bits do not make the paint look worse. S.A.M. has an air of shabby chic now that was not there before. The addition of the Peterboro baskets to the back end are perfect.

Today, I got to take him for a nice, quiet ride to the Farmer's Market. It has become obvious that the freewheel needs to be replaced, but other than that, everything rides so much better! Nothing grinds anymore. Everything is quiet and smooth. The fact that it is well tuned and 25 lbs lighter than the Bat, 65 lbs lighter if you factor in the weight of Declan, means that I don't end up as tired at the end of the ride. It makes me happy.

It is not easy to put an old bike back together. There is a lot of trial and error involved. I am lucky to have a husband who enjoys building bicycles (I hate to think how much it would have cost to have a professional do it). If you have the interest in this kind of thing, you should do it. Having a bicycle with history and character is wonderful. Being able to make it exactly what you want it to be makes riding so much better.

Go fix a bike! You will like it!

End Of The Ride

Holiday Lights Bike Ride by Dan

This accompanies the holiday spirit that we had this past Sunday for the Xmas Night bike ride.
— to go well with Calitexi's post above.
The turnout doubled from last year :D
Made by Dan - Super awesomeness!

♥With San Francisco, with Love - Merry happy holidaysssss!!

Paper Or Plastic?

After today we all need to stop saying we could carry more stuff if only we just had a cargo bike.