biking with kids - Justin Foell

Milk crates were surely one of the first accessories ever strapped to a bicycle. It’s the simplest way to add significant carrying capacity to any bike. One of the first things I did when I got my bike was add a rack and a milk crate – but I wasn’t quite smart about it.

I wanted the crate to be removable, so rather than securing it with zip ties, I recycled some old tire tubes and inter-wove them with the rack and the holes in the crate. It seemed pretty solid, so I thought I’d make a trip to the liquor store. The problem with the tubes is they’re made of rubber, so they stretch. They stretch a little too much for a beer-laden milk crate.

When I got out of the saddle, rocking the bike ever so slightly was enough to stretch the tubes, and send my beers flying. I burst some Surly’s halfway home. Lesson learned.
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Touring a city by bicycle is the best way to get to know it. You can move quickly from place to place, and stop easily along the way. You’re never too isolated from your surroundings to enjoy any sights or smells along the way.

I’ve made it a point to book a bicycle tour in new cities I’ve visited, and you’d probably be surprised which ones were the best. That is not to say I’ve ever had a bad bicycle tour experience, but some are just better than others.
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1. Brussels, Belgium

This bike tour is my favorite for a number of reasons. I was able to share the experience with my then 10-month old son Jules. Even though he doesn’t remember it, he was a great passenger. We were also able to eat what I can only describe as life changing french fries during the tour.

Our tour guide spoke perfect english – because she was from Ohio. She was none-the-less very knowledgable about Brussels and its amenities. We stopped by several landmarks including the European Committee of the Regions (where the European Union meets), mannequin pis, and several monuments.

But the best stop was at a market in Leopold Park that had a permanent french fry stand called Maison Antonie. The fries were cooked in lard which was so clear it simply looked like boiling water. They had at least 20 different sauces – ketchups, mustards, hot sauces, barbecue and several variations or each.

2. Toronto

The Toronto bike tour was great because of the diverse neighborhoods. Each of them seemed to have a specialty cuisine whether it was a bagel shop or a sushi shop. Our tour guide was very knowledgable, and she offered her favorites for each neighborhood.

3. Portland

I put Portland last on the list not because it wasn’t great. It was a very good tour. But perhaps with Portland being the cycling mecca of the United States, I had set expectations too high.

It was a good tour, and I’d easily recommend it to anyone visiting. Our tour-guide was very knowledgeable and knew the city inside and out. They even gave us maps with a few of their favorite spots highlighted.

I wished we had made a quick stop along the tour for a beer or some french fries. Maybe in Portland’s case it should have been a donut instead – our guide suggested Blue Star Donuts over the more touristy Voodoo Donuts. It’s all probably my mistake because I didn’t instead sign up for the beer or foodie tour.

But maybe it is just Portland itself. Fun, but predictable. Even being naughty here is legal. Kind of homogeneous. Maybe it’s just me.

Still, it’s the best way to get a feel for the city.

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I’m glad to see our bike tour, now dubbed the “Annual Fridley Bike & Hike” grow every year. This year we had more volunteers, more activities, and more promotion. While the weather didn’t cooperate entirely, everyone who attended had a great time.

Making it Great

As in years past, the city has had no budget for the event, but a volunteer group associated with the Fridley Environmental and Energy Commission stepped up to help coordinate this event.

Since we normally try to have our event coincide with “National Trails Day,” this year we were able to use the American Hiking Society’s fantastic website and resources to help promote our event. We also promoted it through local online resources on Facebook and Nextdoor.
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If you live nearby and you’re not part of the Fridley Families Facebook group, you should be! Also, you should be on Nextdoor.com – Fridley police use it diligently. Plus, it’s a great way to get to know your actual neighbors besides on the once-a-year National Night Out.

Also we made promotional flyers and got them out to elementary schools, the library, and some local businesses to help spread the word. One of the key local businesses that we sought out this year was Grandpa’s Ice Cream. We invited them to bring their ice cream trailer down to the Fridley Farmers Market, our final bike ride destination from Riverfront Regional Park on the Mississippi River Trail. Who doesn’t like some ice cream after a bike ride? Personally, it’s the reason that I ride.

Activities!

Turnout at Riverfront Regional Park was better than it has been in the past. Props go out to our commission liaison Kay who invited a naturalist from the Wargo Nature Center. The naturalist brought a snake, which was a big hit with kids and non-ophidiophobic adults 🙂 Kay also gave out spruce saplings that were supposed to be delivered for Arbor Day, but strangely arrived a month late.

Also props to my fellow commissioner Mark and his wife for organizing two great kids activities – clay wildflower seed starters and pine cone bird feeders. The kids had a great time with these hands-on activities.

Bike Ride

Despite a little bit of rain, a hearty few of us were still determined to ride. We rode north on the Mississippi River Trail up to Stevenson Elementary. From there we crossed the train tracks by using the Northstar station tunnel. It takes a while for people and bikes to queue up and use the elevators (lighter bikes can just be carried down the stairs), but I like to show people that the tunnel is well-lit and safe for anyone and everyone to use.

From the station we continued on 61st Ave to the Farmers Market at the Fridley Community Center. We enjoyed ice cream for lunch and I purchased some baklava for dessert later on.

One of the vendors, Tübinger Bakery, actually lives in my neighborhood. The breads looked tasty and delicious and the samples I had were great. So great that I was sadly unable to buy any because they had sold everything they had by the time we arrived!

We learned a lot about what we can do ahead of time next year to better promote our event. Hope to see you out there next year!

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I have a single speed bike. I chose a single speed for it’s simplicity. I just get on it and pedal. It has suited me well for about 6 years. The only thing that has changed is kids.

These darn kids, they start at 6 or 7 pounds and eat and grow, and grow and eat and never seem to stop! I used to carry Jules on the back of my bike in a babyseat that attaches to the rear rack. Then Marlo came along and I had the opportunity to buy a Chariot trailer from my friend whose two kids were now riding on their own.

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With the added drag of the trailer, and the additional weight of two kids, I found myself doing the walk of shame up steep hills more often than not. I needed another gear, but I’m fond of my good ol’ Redline 29er.

There were a couple of options:

Nuvinci N360 (which I still might get if I save my duckets)
Sturmey Archer 2-speed hub like the S2
SRAM Automatix

I chose the SRAM Automatix because it’s inexpensive, and it’s hackable. There are a few articles out there outlining how to change the shift point on the SRAM Automatix, so I won’t go into the mechanical detail on how to do it. You can read those articles for instructions.

Regular Gear + High Gear

Most people are “unwinding” the shift spring to give the Automatix a shift point at a greater speed. This allows them to have a “normal” gear and then a “high gear” for puttin’ the spurs to it.

I actually wanted to do the opposite.

Low Gear + Regular Gear

I wanted the shift point to be lower, so that I can use the low gear under 10mph for climbing and the high (regular) gear for “normal” cruising.

Trying to get a comfortable shift-point on the Automatix can be tricky because there are a number of factors that determine which speed it shifts at. First is wheel size – the shift point is based on rotation speed, so it will shift at a much faster moving speed on a small-wheeled folding bike than on a 29er. The larger wheel will take you farther per rotation.

You also want it to jive with your cadence. On my 29er with the stock 34t crankset, it shifted at about 14mph. My cadence was ridiculously high at that point.

To get the low-speed gearing right, I switched from the stock 19 tooth to a 20 tooth gear. This gave me the stock mountain bike, low-gear ratio that my Redline came with. Great for going up hills.

I needed to “wind” the shift spring just a tiny bit to bring the shift point down. It doesn’t take much when winding, as winding the spring actually loosens the pressure it puts on the shifting mechanism. Less than 45° did it for me

That change was enough to put the shift point at about 10.5MPH on by bike, which is a good balance for slogging up hills, and just cruisin’. Now I only have to do the walk of shame on the steepest inclines.

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We got Marlo a Y Glider scooter for her 2nd birthday. At 18 months, I had already seen her try to take up scootering at the community center. Also, she refused to walk until the 21 month mark, although clearly she knew how to stand up and walk. She just preferred to scoot, earning her the nickname “Scootio”

Jules enjoys riding Marlo’s scooter as well, but I told him he can only ride it until he turns 6. At that point, I’ll turn him loose on an old-school Variflex Strada scooter I’ve had in the shed for some time.
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When it comes to skateboards, Variflex is the last name you want to hear. It is the brand of skateboard you’d get at Target in the 1980s. In skateboard speak, Variflex is for posers.

A “real” 80s scooter made by Dyno or Mongoose would cost a pretty penny due to their vintage value. Side note: you can now buy Mongoose bikes at Target – they’re closer to Variflex in quality compared to their 80s offerings.

The Variflex Strada scooters can be had from garage sales or craigslist for $20 or even less since they sold so many. I got one for free.

The brakes are the absolute worst part of this scooter. With a decent brake upgrade, it will be suitable to ride.

New Rear V-Brake

I purchased a Mini (BMX) V-brake kit that came with the brake, a brake lever, and a cable.

V-Brake Posts

I just needed to get it all fixed up to the scooter. Since the old brake was a center-pull style brake, I needed to add the brake posts that v-brakes mount up to. For those, I hit up Erik at Peacock Groove.

The posts need to be welded to the frame. I had removed all of the paint from the frame to paint it a completely different color, but I could have just removed a small bit of paint around the welding area.

To figure out the spacing, I mounted up the rear wheel/tire assembly. I loosely fastened the posts & brakes (with brake pads), and positioned them generally where I thought they should be to make good contact with the wheel rim.

I marked the frame with a marker, and then measured the width of the post placement, center-to-center.

V-Brake Post Welding Jig

To hold the posts in place while welding them to the frame, I built a jig. It is made out of a couple pieces of flat aluminum from the hardware store:

I drilled 3 holes in the top aluminum piece. One for each brake post, using my previous measurement to space them out correctly. And one for a fastening bolt. On the bottom piece, I drilled only one hole in the center for the fastening bolt. I fastened the brake posts to the top aluminum piece using the hardware included in the brake kit, and then used a long bolt and nut to hold it all in place:

Brake Boss Fitament

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE – the posts shown in the photo above are backwards. The holes for the brake spring should be on the inside, towards the wheel. 😎

Once I had things lined up, I needed to contour the brake post base to sit nicely against the frame tubing. I put it in a vise with some cloth to keep it from being marred – masking tape would probably work as well. Then I used a die grinder to shape it – a dremel would probably work here as well.

I am not a good welder, in fact I’m probably the world’s worst. I acquired a welder from a friend for a song and I probably only weld something once a year. Accomplished welders probably welded something every day for a year to get where they’re at. I’m about 360 welds short of that.

Anyway, the posts are on and I don’t think they’re going anywhere, so I finished painting the frame and fastened everything up.

A note on paint

I had planned on doing a 3-coat process to paint: primer, base coat, and clear coat. The issue came when I applied the clear coat – the base coat began to crack and peel as if I were spraying on paint thinner. This may have been because I was using a gloss base color that possibly wasn’t meant to have a clear over it.

I just wanted to do it cheaply with some durability. Whatever caused the issue, you’ve been warned 😎

Happy Scootering!

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Justin Foell

Technology, Bicycling, Hobbies, Kids, Life.

Tag Archives: biking with kids

Carrying stuff by bike: milk crate

Topeak TrolleyTote

Extra Features

Go on a bike tour in a new city

1. Brussels, Belgium

2. Toronto

3. Portland

4th Annual Fridley Bike and Hike

Making it Great

Activities!

Bike Ride

SRAM Automatix on my 29er

Regular Gear + High Gear

Low Gear + Regular Gear

Adding V-Brakes to an old BMX Scooter

New Rear V-Brake

V-Brake Posts

V-Brake Post Welding Jig

Brake Boss Fitament

A note on paint