1. Make sure husband has left for work. He doesn’t understand your obsession with the next ingredient.
2. Open the jar of Nutella. So you can smell it while you do the next step.
3. Pour a cup of hot coffee.
4. Spoon out about a tablespoon of Nutella.
5. Sink the spoon down into the hot coffee.
6. Swirl that spoon until most of the Nutella has melted off.
7. Lick spoon clean while getting out the milk.
8. Add milk to your liking.
9. Imbibe.
I am riding for my 61st day. I’ve got about 20% of my miles under my belt for my May goal of 130 miles. I rode into work today, even though it was lightly drizzling outside (and looks like that grey weather is going to persist). And so with all of these goals in mind… it makes me think about my push for a two car driveway.
It was my one big dream feature on our future house… a driveway big enough for two cars. I didn’t care if it was side-by-side or tandem. I just wanted both of our vehicles off the street. So when we settled on our house – the dream home, the one that made us both feel like we were home from the moment we stepped inside during the first open house – I re-prioritized the double car driveway. (mostly this is because a 4 bedroom, 2 bath next to a great school would trump pretty much everything on the list.) Not shortly after we moved in, there was a huge tree removal on the city’s part and we were given the opportunity to make a two car driveway. Despite the heart break at the tree’s absence, it certainly is nice to have both cars up off the street.
That was until I made it to Trader Joe’s and back on my bike with my kid. Until I took a 11 mile round-trip joy ride on the American River Trail. I had been thinking about it before, but now I really am questioning if we need to be a two car family. We loaded our bikes into the truck to head to the ART. It saved us about 4 miles and 30 minutes. Once in the truck, I realized that I hadn’t ridden in it for about 6 months. Even when my husband got into the truck, he noted that it has been a long time since he had driven it. I imagine as time goes on, we will realize that the truck sits more and more often. If we can make it through harvest this fall without it getting much use, perhaps we can become a one car (and multi-bike) family.
Yeah yeah yeah. I know. There are people who ride centuries in one go. But 100 miles is a 100 miles to me. And I have NEVER rode 100 miles in a month. Well, let me rephrase. I have never kept track to see if I rode 100 miles a month. I must have when I lived in Davis. I was riding 8 miles a day, just to get to class. That doesn’t count errands and such…
But! The point is! That I totally did it. And I am going to do it again next month and then some.
The trip that helped push me over the edge was the ride to Trader Joe’s with Little E while the hubs moved the lawn. It was about 3 miles, round trip. I had just gotten the front rack for the bike, which theoretically makes it possible for me to carry my kid on the back and my groceries up front. Prior to the front rack, riding with little E on the back had only a little impact on how I rode. The added weight wasn’t nerve-wracking. Starting and stopping weren’t drastically affected. I could get him on and off the bike by myself quite easily. But – there was no running errands. I couldn’t even carry a diaper bag with me. With the front rack? That is an entirely different story. I can carry stuff, but the whole ride felt like one quick move away from being unstable. Even before the basket was full I had a hard time getting Little E into his seat. The front wheel was heavy and swinging to the side, which made the bike feel like it was going to tip. I managed to get him in and out twice over the course of the ride, but it wasn’t easy.
Once I had the basket loaded (with a gallon of milk, eggs, tuna, and bread), the tires on my bike were squished. I should have super-pumped them for this ride. At TJs, the bike rack is up on a curb (Dumbest. Bikerack. Ever.), so getting my loaded bike down off the curb was a very slow and dangerous process. The next time I will either move my bike up to the cart return before I load up so I can take advantage of the handicap break in the curb – or I will have to load my bike up in the driveway. (which seems infinitely times dangerous. Thanks for the lack of options TJs!)
The front end of the bike was wobbly the whole way home. I had to work hard to keep straight in my lane. I am just damn glad that the streets weren’t busy at the time. There were no complaints from the little one though and everything made it home in tact.
My second trip with the front rack was to Compton’s to get ice. This is just a one mile round trip deal. I went alone. The front wheel was awkward the whole way. Why did an unloaded front rack make such a difference? I put the “cargo” (i.e. a 7 pound bag of ice) on the front rack for the ride home. Still tough.
I am sure that it will just take some time to get used to. I will never be able to do the grocery shopping on this bike. I think I was pushing it with the bounty I had picked up at TJs. At least I can carry a diaper bag with me though… or my work bag.
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