Familia de tres Xtracycles

Left to right: Xtracycle Schwinn Panther (big sis), Xtracycle Breezer Villager (mom), and Surly Big Dummy (dad and lil' sis)

After an Xtracycle on long term loan was recently returned, we now have three longtail cargo bikes in the bike barn. During the time the loaned Xtracycle was absent, big sister grew enough to be able to ride it. Since about the age of three, when she first started riding as co-pilot on the Big Dummy, she's been talking about having a longtail of her own. Now she does. There are not likely too many 10 year-olds in command of a cargo bike, so it will be interesting to see what sort of adventures it inspires.

In other news, little sister is on the brink of moving up from 12" wheels to 16" wheels. Out of storage comes our 16 inch-wheeled Schwinn Trixie, an old friend that has seen a string of riders in our family. This venerable steed is a great introductory dirt bike for our local suburban singletrack, and has logged hundreds of miles and scorched thousands of skid marks. With a little tune up, it'll be ready for many more.

Blood Moon rising

It's unlikely that I'll be up at 2:17 am to see the beginning of the lunar eclipse tonight, but the girls and I got to see a terrific golden moonrise. Not a bad consolation prize.

First day of school

As incomprehensible and summer-stealingly ridiculous as it sounds, today, mathematically not quite halfway through August, is the first day of school. We made the most of it, and had a nice family ride to get there. Little sis was a bit confused, especially when we towed her big sister's bike home, due to after school activities that will preclude the possibility of riding home.

Quick and easy handlebar plug

Now all I need to do is polish off another bottle.

Evening ride with the whole pack

Like just about every evening this time of year, this evening was perfect for a ride. Even better, we had family in town for their annual visit, who were expecting some two-wheeled entertainment.

My nieces knew it wouldn't take much to cajole old Uncle Andy into rounding up an appropriate herd of bikes. After all, we've taken daily rides during their visits every summer since they were knee-high to their current selves. Shortly after dinner we were on our way. This pattern will be repeated for the duration of their stay.

Sisters and bikes.

A pair of Larrys. Human Larry lets fly a wild Minnesota yawp, while Surly Larry the tire grins from the front of my Pugsley.

Sprucing up the Big Dummy

The before photo; rear rack, deck and bags removed.

After 5 1/2 years of mostly trouble free riding, a few things on the Dummy have been hanging out on the pending maintenance list, perhaps a bit too long. Last weekend, I finally got to some of them, but not before taking a ride with the girls to enjoy the great weather with a picnic.

Current primary Big Dummy co-pilot and little sister.

Former primary Big Dummy co-pilot, occasional Big Dummy caboose rider, and big sister. Lael's old glasses undoubtedly make her faster.

After the ride, first up was to swap out some cable housing. The housing has suffered more than any other part from the weather and inattention to which the bike has been exposed as a kid hauler/utility beast over the years. Because it still shifted fine, I had been comfortable in my neglect, but the time for action had arrived. A Big Dummy is a big bike with what seems like miles of cables and housing. With a swept back handlebar that makes the housing jut forward before eventually arching rearward, not to mention the fact that it is a lanky 22" frame, the noodle-y effect seems even more exaggerated.

A crack in the housing near the junction with the head tube had been there long enough for the exposed compression cables to rust.

Another crack just past where the housing exits from the front shifter. 

Refurbishing the housing sucked up much of a roll of the derailleur housing I had on hand, which happened to be blue.

Just prior to my decision to tackle some much needed maintenance, I decided to see how a Surly Open Bar felt on the Dummy, in comparison to the Nitto Albatross bar that had lived on the bike since I first put it together in 2008. As I happened to have one around, I quickly swapped the bars just before taking the earlier ride with the girls. By the time we arrived back at home, I knew the Surly Open Bar was on the bike to stay.

A Surly Open Bar, this one with the 40 mm rise, is wider than a Nitto Albatross.

The Nitto Albatross has perhaps a bit more rise than the +40 mm Surly Open Bar.

The Nitto Albatross and Surly Open Bar are both great handlebars for enabling a comfortable upright riding position, which is especially useful for seeing and being seen in traffic around town. Both are made of high quality chromoly steel, have minimal but pleasant flex, and a nice swept back profile.

As much as I've enjoyed the position and shape of the Nitto Albatross on the Dummy, at a mere 560 mm wide, it feels far too narrow as compared to the much wider bars that I now have on some of my other bikes. The Surly Open Bar is 666 mm wide, which is a bit better, but what I'd really like is a bar of similar shape in the range of 750 mm or so wide. I've become a huge fan of the Salsa Rustler 2 bar on my Monocog, but would prefer something with much more sweep and a bit more rise if installed on the Dummy. To my knowledge, a truly wide, highly swept, good quality, modern riser bar does not exist.

Both Maxxis Larsen TT tires had developed goathead induced slow leaks that I'd been nursing for a few weeks. 

Next up were the tires. The Dummy has been shod in a pair of Maxxis Larsen TT 2.0" tires for about the past three years. The Larsens have been terrific tires, with low rolling resistance and just the right amount of traction whether on or off pavement. They don't excel in mud, but that's not a common surface around here. They have held up exceedingly well, and I couldn't say enough positive about them, though I'd probably prefer the 2.35" to the 2.0" version. However, time and miles had taken their toll, with the tread wearing thin and the sidewalls beginning to separate near the bead.

As I have perhaps too much tire stock on hand, instead of buying another pair of Larsens, I chose a pair of mildly used Specialized Roll-X 2.0" tires that have been in my bike barn for some time. They have more aggressive knobs than the Larsens, but are no-frills and have a less fancy casing with standard steel beads. The rims on the Dummy are Mavic X 823 UST-compatible tubeless, which I've had for several years but always run with tubes. Until now, that is.

I installed a couple of Mavic tubeless valve stems, mounted the tires, squirted in 2 ounces of Stan's and pumped 'em up with a compressor. One bead on each tire needed a little encouragement to pop into place, but after that, they were good to go. I didn't have to do any Gorilla Tape chicanery with the tubeless specific rims. Three bikes in my fleet are now tubeless, each by a slightly different method, but I can't see going back to using tubes unless absolutely necessary.

The after photo. There are still a few tasks left to do, but the Big Dummy is revitalized.

I ran out of available time before completing a few other maintenance tasks, but the Dummy already feels a lot happier. It's about due for some somewhat more intensive bearing work, and the Freeloader saddle bags need some repair work, but I have no doubt that the bike is up for just about anything. This is easily the most useful bike I've ever owned, and I look forward to many more years of harnessing its utility.

Chilly B-cycle ride this morning

The intrepid three-speeds of the Denver B-cycle system are going strong through the winter.

It's been unseasonably warm here for several days. That changed last night with dropping temperatures and several inches of fresh powder this morning. Change is good, and we need the snow.

Bike picnic at the park over the past weekend. 

Our cowgirls at the National Western Stock Show.

First solo ride on a two wheeler

First proud moments on her very first new bike.

Our little girl is growing up. This afternoon our nearly 20 month-old was hanging out with me in the bike barn. She took an interest in big sister's old Nutcase helmet, so I sized it up to her and put it on. Before I knew it, together we were assembling a brand new Strider bike that I had bought a while back to have on hand for her when she seemed ready to try a balance bike. That day was today.

I intentionally didn't want to push her into trying the bike. As it turns out, that wasn't my choice to make. When she realized the little red bike was her size and that it was meant for her, there was no holding her back. All I had to do was to help her get a leg over the seat, and she immediately started toddling the Strider down to the street.

I anticipated her interest would last only a minute or two. However, her initial excitement grew into enjoyment, even after a couple of slow-motion falls and a helmet change to her more familiar, lighter standard model. I ended up following her up and down the street for about half an hour.

Smiles and happy chatter.

The Strider is a very light weight, well-designed little bike.

It's amazing how instinctively a balance bike seems to mesh with even very young kids. She's not quite 20 months old, but instantly grasped how the bike worked, with her skills and confidence improving every minute spent on the bike. I know she is a while away from feet-up balancing and cruising. Yet, I'm certain she'll be a balance bike master by next summer, and will likely be on a pedal bike by this time next year. The only limitation will be whether I can find a pedal bike small enough for her to straddle.

Earlier in the day, we rode to the start of a local 5k. The Big Dummy and Julie's Breezer were the natural choices for transport, but we needed to bring our BOB stroller along with us, so I attached the BOB to the rear of the Dummy and pulled it as a trailer. The arrangement worked well, and drew a fair amount of attention as a pedal-powered road train.

Incidentally, today marks my 307th consecutive day of riding a bike. Most days, my rides have not been anything out of the ordinary. The vast majority of my biking days have included riding for utilitarian transportation purposes, a few have featured purely recreational rides, and nearly all have had some element of dog exercising via bike. I had stayed healthy nearly the entire duration of my streak thus far, which I credited with consistent riding. However, a bit more than a week ago I caught a cold that has yet to completely subside, so I suppose the bike/health correlation hypothesis is imperfect. Still, I don't plan to miss being on a bike every day, at least until I hit number 365.

Summer Solstice

A couple of days ago we took advantage of the longest day of the year to ride to the park in the late evening. Inevitably, a little dog piling ensued in the freshly cut grass. It would be difficult to not enjoy a place and time like this. Photos by Julie, aka Little 29er Mommy.

150 days and counting

Still have some work to do to get the shoulder harness right.

Today marks the 150th consecutive day that I've ridden a bike. Every day and every ride is a little different. It continues to be a good run.

Part 2: Home-built Xtracycle/Big Dummy seat

Seatbelt magic resides in the holes.

We left off last time with a more-or-less finished deck seat assembly. I used the seat as it appeared in that last post for over four years without an integrated seatbelt system. Instead, I used a length of one-inch wide utility webbing and an adjustable buckle purchased from REI; something very similar to, but not quite exactly like this. I ran the webbing under both v-racks (over the rear fender), with each end of the webbing coming up behind each side panel of the seat deck assembly, then over her lap with the buckle in the middle of her lap. My eldest daughter was three years old when she started riding in the seat, and this configuration worked fine for her at that age. Yet, I always thought there was room for improvement.

A piqued interest of my youngest daughter in riding the Big Dummy recently hastened seatbelt improvements. She is now about 15 months old, and although she has enjoyed riding in our old Burley trailer, she wants to do what the big people are doing and has very recently become very energized about riding on the Dummy. She did a few rides with the old seatbelt system, but it seemed that a five-point harness was in order.

I didn't want for screw heads or other hardware protrusions to stick out of the areas where her body would be in contact, so I devised the following system using easy-to-source webbing and Fastex-type fasteners. There is perhaps some detail missing below, but this is a new development and still in the process of being honed. As I get it dialed in, I'll post more photos.

Here we go. I used a one-inch diameter drill bit to make holes through which I inserted 3/4-inch webbing. Note that I would have preferred to use one-inch webbing, but 3/4 was what I had on hand. depending on how things work out, I may reconfigure the webbing, which shouldn't be a big deal. In any case, the procedure follows.

Pilot holes first. For the shoulder straps, I drilled two holes six inches apart on center, centered across the backrest. Each hole is 2 1/2 inches down from the top of the backrest. 

After drilling the pilot holes, I drilled with the 1" bit part of the way through the back...

...and the rest of the way through the front so as not to rip up either the front or back face of the wood upon exit.

For the seat belt, I located the hole center about 2 1/2 inches above the deck surface, centered laterally on the side panel. Same drilling procedure as above. 

After the holes were drilled, I sanded and smoothed their edges to reduce the potential for wear on the straps. Next came installation of the straps. I used some 3/4-inch nylon webbing that conveniently already had buckles installed, with one side adjustable and the other side fixed. Three sets of webbing and buckles are needed, as are 2 Fastex-type three-bar sliders, 1 D-ring, and 1 snaphook. First the seatbelt.

Sorry for the photo that doesn't quite focus on the seatbelt, but hopefully the threading pattern is clear. The goal is a snug fit at the passenger's hips, just below the iliac crest; not at the waist. A webbing/buckle combo is shown in the foreground. 

This is just a reference photo, showing a three-bar slider. These are used to attach the webbing with the fixed side of the buckle to the shoulder strap holes. I made sure to configure any non-smooth or hardware side of the strapping system away from body contact with the passenger.

The anchor strap for connecting the shoulder harness to the deck passes between the legs of the passenger. It's necessary for it to be quite secure. I could have opted to use a hole-based system as with the other straps, but instead I used a bolt. Based on some measurements and test fittings, I drilled a hole 6 1/2 inches back from the nose of the deck. I fastened stainless steel hardware, in this order from the top down: bolt, flat washer, webbing (two ends of a simple loop doubled over with the d-ring at the apex of the loop, and with holes pre-drilled for the bolt), wooden deck, flat washer, lock washer, nut. This will make more sense with the following photos.

Drilling the anchor bolt hole. Anchor bolt is in the foreground.

Anchor strap installed. Note the position of the d-ring. It's easiest to drill the webbing when it is sandwiched between two scrap pieces of wood. Making the anchor strap adjustable might have been nice, but is not entirely necessary.

Underside of the anchor bolt.

I measured and cut a slit in the foam pad through which to work the anchor strap.

Everything in place, but yet to be adjusted. The Fastex snaphook clips to the d-ring, and has a length of webbing running through it. Each end of this piece of webbing has the adjustable side of each of the the two shoulder strap buckles. The two three-bar sliders are at the top of the backrest, holding the shoulder straps to the backrest. 

A view from the back. Note the back of the seatbelt runs behind the seat, and the shoulder straps loop through the backrest. The goal of no hardware protruding into the passenger space has been met.

The first ride with the new strap system. It apparently gets a thumbs up. Note that I left the straps long for adjustment. Once they're dialed, I'll trim them. The handlebar holds a bell and a bottle cage; both well appreciated by diminutive co-pilots.

Hopefully, this presentation has made some sense and is not too difficult to follow. I can affirm that there will be at least one more installment of this series, with some more detail and updates regarding the strap system, among other things.

If this all seems like a lot of effort, well, it is to a degree. However, I personally consider the ability to safely carry passengers the defining element of my Big Dummy experience. Carrying kids and cargo has radically reshaped my biking life and made for some of the best times I've had on two wheels.