The drawbacks of bicycling with kids: No 1: the backtrack

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

The Eugene blogger known as Mamafiets — who writes nicely about life as an essentially car-free mom of two young children — has started a series of posts entitled:

“25 Things I Love About Family Bicycling”

She has written about such things as splashing in puddles and the joys of keeping your beloved little ones warm. I like her blog very much.

But being the cynical bastard that I am — and lest you get the wrong idea about “family bicycling” — I will take this opportunity to begin pointing out:

“25 Things About Family Bicycling That Will Make You Want to Slam Your Forehead Into Your Handlebars.”

No. 1:

“Da-Da. I only have one boot on.”

This announcement comes — it goes without saying if you are the parent of a toddler — some considerable time after the boot actually fell off. Five or six blocks, at least.

So we backtrack.

Even when she manages to keep track of both boots, she usually has them on the wrong feet.

“Mama, my hands are cold”

And, as Kurt Vonnegut used to say, so it goes …

(Thanks to Emily “Mamafiets” for the inspiration.)

Posted in cycling lifestyle | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Let’s go for a ride

Posted on January 22, 2012 by

Remember back in October, I suggested it might be fun for me to get together for a ride with those of you who follow this blog and contribute to the little community that has grown around it. Well, we are going to do it:

  • When: next Sunday, Jan. 29, at 3 p.m.
  • Where: meet at the EWEB plaza, by the fountain along the river trail.
  • What: a slow, easy ride of an hour or 90 minutes on a yet-to-be-determined route. We’re going to make it family friendly, too, as Sharrow is planning be there with kids on her bike.
  • Why: no real reason, except to meet a few of you and get some fresh air.

We will end at the Ninkasi tasting room around 4:30 p.m. (where I’m told kids are welcome until 8 p.m.).  You should know that Ninkasi has offered to give us half-price pints — so if going for a ride with me is not your idea of good time, maybe half-price beers will entice you.

Milk crates are not required, nor will they be turned away. All sort of bikes are welcome, the weirder the better. I’m bringing my camera, of course.

If you have a suggestions for a route, leave it in the comments.

Posted in Real news/events | 13 Comments

Gleich’s California driving record: Nothing on it

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

James Gleich’s drivers record from the time he apparently lived in California turns up clean. But it’s too old to know for sure if there was ever anything on it.

Geich was the driver who police say struck bicyclist Mingo Pelkey on River Road in Eugene this past August. Pelkey died shortly after the collision. (See a list of earlier posts for all the background.)

It took a while to get the printout from the California DMV, but as for violations or accidents: “None to report.”

Of course, it has been more than four years since Gleich was issued an Oregon I.D. card (in October 2007). Assuming that’s when he moved here, any number of things that might have been on his California record would have been removed by now. So we can’t say there was never anything here — but, of course, we can’t say that there was, either.

In California, most moving violations, accidents and license suspensions are cleared off a driver’s record after either three or four years.

A few convictions stay longer, such as driving while suspended and driving while intoxicated. A DUI in California stays on a drivers record for 10 years. So it would seem he had neither of those, anyway.

As for the status of his license in Oregon, the DMV in Salem says the open-ended suspension we reported on earlier, which took effect Sept. 22, is still in effect.

As for the status of the police investigation into the fatal River Road crash, I’m checking with the D.A. and with the police. I don’t expect them to have much to say, and I’m assuming the case is still open. But I’ll keep you posted if I learn anything else.

* * *

For a list of all posts about the Mingo Pelkey case, go here.

Posted in Real news/events, the mingo pelkey case | Leave a comment

News links: Learn bike repair; the plan for 24th Avenue

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

Couple items of note:

  • The city is working on a plan to add bike lanes to the stretch of West 24th Avenue from Friendly to Chambers. But the Friendly Area Neighbors executive board has sent a letter to the city opposing the idea. There’s a good recap of the situation on the GEARs blog. If you’d like to have bike lanes there, advocates want you to speak up and let the city know.
  • Want to learn to be your own bike mechanic? The University of Oregon Bike Program is offering a bike repair class, one night per week for six weeks — starting this Tuesday (today) and Wednesday. There are two sessions, one running on Tuesday evenings and one on Wednesday evenings. It’s $65 for students, but it’s open to anyone if you join the UO Outdoor Program first — which is an additional $15, so $80 total. It sounds pretty thorough: “The format is hands on; you will disassemble and reassemble nearly every major ‘system’ on the bike, learning how and why it works and how to keep it working well,” says UO Bike Program coordinator Ted Sweeney. For details or to sign up: 541-346-4365 or bikes@uoregon.edu.
Posted in Links/aggregation, Real news/events | 1 Comment

Improvised cargo device of the year

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

January is a time for reflection — looking back on the year just passed. So I could offer you a list of my favorite posts of 2011, like some bloggers do. But I’m not going to do that. In my relationship with you, dear reader, we will not rest on any past laurels but will move forward with relentless fury.

But we will stop to recognize our outstanding 2011 nominees for …

Best Improvised Bicycle Cargo Device of the Year

We had to pause a minute and cock our head sideways like a dog as we considered this one …

Image of a bicycle using an old dish-drying rack as a basketAnd then we realized: My god, it’s an old dish-drying rack! Brilliant. Simple. Frugal. And you could load your wedding china in there and ride around the block on a sunny day to dry it faster.

Our second nominee, by contrast, looks to have required considerable work, basic carpentry skills and at least one hair-raising trip down Willamette Street to patronize True Value Hardware:

The sign on the back says “The Sorcerer’s Scone Bakery — Taste The Magic”:

So, it’s either full of scones, or Voldemort is locked up in there.

By the way, the first time I noticed the Sorcerer’s Scone Bakery Plywood-Box Trike, I was on the sidewalk chatting with someone. Over the shoulder of the person I was pretending to listen to, I noticed this thing sail past.

It was all I could do to stay focused on my companion, not grab for my camera and take off running after the trike. But “Emily Post’s Etiquette for Bloggers” suggests that we let not our passions compromise respectful human intercourse. No, not real intercourse. I mean talking intercourse.

And then, sure enough, a week or two later I happened upon the Plywood-Box Trike again, on the sidewalk outside Perugino. Fortunately, it’s a small town, Eugene.

Nominee No. 3 is an unorthodox bucket pannier, offering full waterproof lockdown:

I thought it was remarkable in that it was “for sale.” Yet there appeared to be no phone number or contact information. So you’ll just have to ride around until you find it.

Don’t worry. Eugene’s a small town.

Posted in noted bicycles | Leave a comment