Trail Lael and Gypsy Nick

It's always cool to hang out with a personal hero.

Over the weekend, our friends Nicholas Carman and Lael Wilcox paid us a visit on their way to the Colorado Trail. They had a new bike to put together, and a lot of equipment to sort out, so made use of my bike barn for a couple of days. In between, we talked and hung out a bit, hearing of their adventures and some first-hand detail about Lael's recent victory in the 2016 Trans Am Bike Race.

Nick is a great mechanic, and an inspiration to watch.

Helping Lael set up a big tubeless tire.

The big box was a big hit.

The school bike now features hand-me-down pedals and frame bag gifted from Lael.

The Adventure Cycling Association has no better spokespeople than the dynamic duo of Nick and Lael. Their knowledge is vast and enthusiasm boundless when they're talking of their passion for seeing the world on two wheels. Nick planted some seeds of thought about the feasibility of a family ride along the Great Allegheny Passage trail to the C&O Canal Towpath from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington DC. It amounts to nearly 350 miles of trail without any car traffic, and free US Forest Service camping along the way. He also told me of BikeFlights.com as an affordable way to get the bikes to the trailhead, which is a great resource for anyone traveling with a bike.

Lael and Nick have certainly been busy since the last time they stopped by. Their selection of bikes and equipment has greatly evolved, and they've put many thousands of miles under their wheels. The future looks to be just as busy. They're set to appear at Interbike in October, and to lead the inaugural mass start of the Baja Divide in January. The Baja Divide is a route that they scouted, pioneered and documented along the length of Baja California, as a gift to the bikepacking community. Happy travels, and looking forward to your next visit.

I always enjoy discovering what the bike shop pixies leave behind after a visit.

Enjoying the waning days before school starts

Around here, school inexplicably starts in mid August. Even though this has been the case for us for several years now, I still can't help but feel as though the last couple of weeks before Labor Day are wrongly annexed into the school year.

We can't do much about it but enjoy the time we have left. There's no better way than to get acquainted with some newly handed-down bikes. Lil Sis is the new rider of an Electra Hawaii that Big Sis once enjoyed. Big Sis helped me refurbish a cool old 1994 Kona Hahanna slated for school commuting duty.

It's always great to see them learn and master the nuances of new bikes, and incorporate their experiences into a library of skills they'll have forever.

Convoy

The convoy cruising through the park...

...and bombing down neighborhood streets.

It's the time of year for the annual visit by my sister-in-law Jennie and her two girls. They are usually here for a week or two during the hottest part of the year. The present heat wave has ensured that this year will be no exception. I'm not typically involved with the activities during the day as I'm at work, but every evening we have a ride followed by cocktails. However, sometimes the events of the evening do not necessarily occur in that order.

Our evening rides are usually a bit of a rolling party, with the Big Dummy hauling a pile of revelers. Tonight, in my charge were about 110 pounds worth of girls (three in total), roughly 80 pounds of bike and trailer, a 40 pound dog, and 180-ish pounds of me. Those on my vehicle who were capable of singing regaled all in the vicinity with a variety of tunes. For whatever reason, Jingle Bells was featured prominently.

Big rig carrying a pink-laden, girlish cargo.

Sisters Jennie on the Pugsley and Julie on her beloved Breezer.

We usually have some sort of destination while riding, whether it is the community garden, a park or a dirt trail. Sometimes we have snack breaks or find activities to do along the way. The heat has been oppressive as of late, so we always appreciate chancing upon a water feature.

Meredith and Scout check out the fountain.

New to swimming, Scout heavily considered taking the plunge, but the slopeless, four-foot depth spooked her.

Out of the four daughters between the two adult sisters, three are old enough to play and do so almost ceaselessly. Any four kids can make an impressive amount of noise, but I'm finding that girls seem to have a particular knack for sustained volume, interspersed with shrill spikes.

Because I'm the only male in the household, and because I'm an obvious Daddy figure, Julie and Jennie occasionally give me grief about appearing to be the head of a polygamist family when we're all out together. It is likely a bit of a spectacle to see a somewhat bedraggled, middle-aged guy with a couple of Mommy-ish women (are they his wives?) and a flock of kids in tow. The fact that all the girls are blond-haired, blue-eyed and unmistakably appear related doesn't do much to dissuade any misguided perceptions.

Girls climbing a tree.

Girls on top of a rock.

Butterfly spotted.

I'm proud to have played the role of de facto bike godfather to my nieces. I've refurbished or rebuilt several bikes of varying sizes that have been passed around between them as each girl grows in size or progresses in bicycling skill. It began about six years ago when I refurbished Chloe's first bike, a 16-inch wheeled Schwinn Trixie that she currently rides. Now at 10, over the past few days Chloe made the leap from a single-speed, coaster-brake bike to a mountain bike with front and rear derailleurs and v-brakes. The transition has gone quite smoothly and her skills are on the rise with each ride. 

The bike she's riding is one that I built up expressly for the purpose of helping big kids learn how to shift and brake on a scaled-down classic mountain bike. The bike is a circa late '90s Kona Hahanna with a small 14-inch frame, but equipped with 26 inch wheels. The frame and fork are nice examples of thoughtfully assembled 4130 chromoly steel, appropriately light in gauge for correctly sized riders, and featuring 1-inch diameter top and down tubes for a compliant ride. I assembled it with top mount thumbshifters, friction front and indexed rear, so that shifting can be learned the right way. The bike is finished off with some 26x1.6 inch knobbies with just the right amount of grip. It ends up being quite light and nimble for budding singletrackers. This will definitely be a bike that stays in the family for use by all the girls.

Chloe rides with confidence on the Kona Hahanna.

She invites you to the gun show with the Schwinn Trixie hanging in the background.

Mother and daughter are all smiles after a few circuits on the dirt track in the park.

In addition to our evening rides, I have plenty of eager assistance with dogwalking duties. Meredith is a talented animal whisperer, who has quickly and completely enchanted our ordinarily shy dog Scout.

These girls are sometimes mistaken for each other or as twins.

Walking in the late evening sun.

Most fireworks have long been illegal in Colorado, but this year, even most of the public fireworks displays in the state have been cancelled due to extreme fire danger. That's no problem for me as I've had an aversion to fireworks for years, and I can't understand what is patriotic about literally burning money in the form of litter-producing, toxic-material-dispersing, Chinese-made explosives. However, tradition is propelled by strong inertia, and kids of all ages expect certain elements in a holiday. 

I'm sure we'll figure out something festive and fun to do. After all, what could be more patriotic than expending a little American muscle power as a rider in a bike convoy?

Four people, four wheels, and four paws.