tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763814479762477192024-03-05T19:28:47.608-08:00A Long Walk to GreenThe journal of a modern day family moving toward responsible sustainable living.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-90720382897087059702019-01-08T05:19:00.001-08:002019-01-08T05:20:51.860-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A New Family Adventure</h2>
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A hay cradle for storing the hay we cut with a sythe!</div>
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Straw bales going up for the new well house.</div>
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Cochin bantam rooster protecting his ladies.</div>
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Anthony is setting the down rod for the new well.</div>
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Naomi is inspecting the black turtle beans for weeds.</div>
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The kids gathered a bouquet for Shabbat dinner.</div>
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Miriam and I in our first year on the homestead.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The last five years feel much like a renaissance. There really isn't much that hasn't changed in that time. We moved to the country and began what felt to me like a grand experiment. A quest began to find what matters in life, what brings meaning and significance and what is superfluous noise? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We didn't just move to the country. We moved onto an empty field, much like the homesteaders. There was no trace of human influence. It was a blank slate. There was no electricity, no water, just grass that was literally taller than the pick-up truck that brought us here. Wading through the sea of grass, searching for truth I discovered a lot about life, about growing up and about meaning. All of which will not fit on one small page. I wish I'd been able to write about our adventures as we experienced them. Living off the land doesn't permit much free time and it will have to be with the lens of completion through which I gaze upon the past. I hope to record that journey here. </span>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-32760162683839458062010-07-26T10:34:00.000-07:002010-07-26T10:58:27.039-07:00Teaching Children to Commute<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx6IMWdFijkckROO6OWHp3lTfPtafWeB2IizDe8-4bTDz5rn-YHVgM6H_tC9DEG5xqgRbLj60O6X5gMYAb-glwQyQowCQfvBMzJ5IS23wfiESMUtSe-R6F_h69Ur9ZCVbJYnQfsQnkBrs/s1600/SamuelRiding2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx6IMWdFijkckROO6OWHp3lTfPtafWeB2IizDe8-4bTDz5rn-YHVgM6H_tC9DEG5xqgRbLj60O6X5gMYAb-glwQyQowCQfvBMzJ5IS23wfiESMUtSe-R6F_h69Ur9ZCVbJYnQfsQnkBrs/s400/SamuelRiding2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498275725066020962" /></a><br />Samuel learned to ride his bike about a year ago! He was not even 4 yrs old. We were so proud! It was sooo cute watching a tiny little kid on a tiny little bike ride around with no training wheels or anything. Samuel loved the independence and the feeling of being "big". <br /><br />Now we are slowly working on teaching him road safety. This idea alone was so frightening to me as a mom. However, the reality of my experience commuting with kids is quite the opposite. I think my main block was imagining a little boy riding down the road with traffic... terrifying. The reality is that we go very very slow. First we learned to ride in a strait line. Then we road a couple blocks in our neighborhood to the park. We practice listening to mom, stopping when I say to stop, looking for traffic signs, looking for driveways, stopping when we get to a street. We turn riding into a game and see who can find all the driveways we pass. I ride or walk behind with his little brother in a stroller so I can see what he is doing and give instruction. This makes me slower than Samuel and that gives him a chance to stop and wait for me and to listen carefully. <br /><br />This practice is producing wonderful fruit! He is becoming much more aware than I ever imagined possible for a little boy. It also helps him to co-regulate an activity with me and helps with concentration and social skills. Ok, this is a far cry from kids riding with traffic like I imagined! We only go in our neighborhood to the library or the park. We treat it with the same respect and caution that I would on a regular road and I am confident that as his readiness increases and he rides with me more and more he will be a very safe and competent commuter.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-47283063092293661452010-07-26T10:28:00.000-07:002010-07-26T11:20:57.346-07:00Garden Follow Up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-xvRnzWs_06s5IefKThmqy6Ph9IyltxL2_J1tCpSSNBVZKdqfSdQs_3i4XOexp_PCYiRw-6B9JVX20v1wRHxvOEg7RrxO5v70vvy2CUJXeT5pFhQy3f6t0GcyzwRdTxQGzOHptPeM5Q/s1600/WholeGarden2010.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-xvRnzWs_06s5IefKThmqy6Ph9IyltxL2_J1tCpSSNBVZKdqfSdQs_3i4XOexp_PCYiRw-6B9JVX20v1wRHxvOEg7RrxO5v70vvy2CUJXeT5pFhQy3f6t0GcyzwRdTxQGzOHptPeM5Q/s320/WholeGarden2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498281574608672994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-686kivjIb7Nwy9H5C4zuhcYz77ZO97kspib3kdPtuZUbeCU3ybCAOk-x4SSfYFrYXFtYgAhpOEE8lLdfy3vLbfucQVK2XoxaKbMZpZgO9P_ZNTFim_dAaWSjAjVTJq0klKIEIuOwQE/s1600/veggies7_2010.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-686kivjIb7Nwy9H5C4zuhcYz77ZO97kspib3kdPtuZUbeCU3ybCAOk-x4SSfYFrYXFtYgAhpOEE8lLdfy3vLbfucQVK2XoxaKbMZpZgO9P_ZNTFim_dAaWSjAjVTJq0klKIEIuOwQE/s320/veggies7_2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498280631428213538" /></a><br />Learned something new on winter gardening. The winter garden over-wintered well. However, in the spring, everything got big and went to seed. I spoke with Anthony's dad who was a beet farmer for many years. Turns out that the things I grew were biennials which means that they seed in their second year. The cold winter triggered them to go to seed. So everything I planted August 15th began to grow but didn't finish maturing before the cold set in. In the spring it didn't finish growing, it went to seed. Lesson learned: winter gardening is basically in-ground storage. The growing must be complete and ready for harvest before the cold sets in. I think I will have to plant things by July 15 to accomplish this. <br /><br />In light of that I planted carrots July 8 and spinach July 15. Not getting very consistent germination despite watering gently 2x day. Any tips on this?The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-84761782010535645922010-02-22T12:47:00.001-08:002010-02-22T13:31:07.212-08:00Winter Garden Follow up PostAs of February 22, here are our winter gardening findings so far. The tunnel did indeed do better at sloughing off snow, but it added a lot of air mass for the water to warm and I think it was quite a bit colder than the make shift cold frame was. This along with the colder temps in December and January resulted in the cessation of growth in all plants. However, all plants survived the coldest months of the winter: the end of December and the beginning of January. <br /><br />As expected, the Miner's lettuce was the most cold tolerant. It lost no leaves and indeed showed no evidence of damage! It was also very delicious and is still making great salads! I anticipate if I planted enough of this we could have fresh garden salads all winter. The chard lost it's biggest, outer leaves when the temperatures reached about -17. The inner leaves however, are doing quite well and I expect them to grow and provide an early season harvest as soon as things warm up in the next couple months. The beets were a touch more cold hardy than the chard. They didn't loose their large, outer leaves, but they have stopped growing. I assume they will be ready for a spring harvest as well. <br /><br />I planted some early, frost hardy peas in mid-January as the soil was still workable and warm in all but one small corner of the cloche. The soil seems to be staying warm, but the air gets very cold when a cold front comes through. We will see how they do.<br /><br />I have also figured out what happened to my spinach. The slugs!!!! They eat it as soon as it sprouts! I've set out traps, but they don't seem to be enough. Though I catch quite a few, one slug can eat an entire spinach seedling in no time. I may make more traps, or start the spinach inside, though the seeds say "not recommended to start indoors. It's my hope that starting them indoors will give them a jump on the slugs so they will survive a slug attack, rather than being eaten in a single night. <br /><br />After this winter's experiments, here are the changes I am planning on for next year:<br />1. Re-orient garden beds so the long side faces south. In addition I plan on putting the winter garden in the southern most beds. Their current location is shaded by the house during a good part of the day. I didn't anticipate this because they are not shaded much in the summer, but the angle of the sun changed in the winter. <br />2. Create new insulated cold frames (perhaps wood lined with foam so we don't have to use the bulky straw, and so that the top "glass" can get a better seal than with straw.) Insulate the north east and west sides. The south side will be glass, plexi or polycarbonate. <br />3. Modify the shape of the cold frame so the "glass" is at an angle to slough off snow, but avoid the hoop or a tall cold frame so there is not too much air space for the thermal mass to heat. <br />4. Maintain a ratio of water (thermal mass) to glass of 1.7 gallons per 1 sq ft glass. (or something like this, Anthony knows the ratio better than I do.)<br />5. Reduce the surface area of the "glass" or plastic so all glass is facing south and the rest of the coldframe is insulated and lined with thermal mass. <br />6. Plant our winter garden sooner. The books I read said to plant the winter veggies in "late summer". To me, that means late August. That didn't work so well. The garden center here said that "late summer" for Colorado is mid-July. So I will plant sooner next year. The veggies keep well over winter but as Elliot Coleman explained so beautifully in the "Four Season Harvest", we are trying to extend the harvest time, not the growing season. When it gets cold outside, your plants need to be of an edible size because they will not continue to grow much over the winter. <br /><br />We had no trouble with over-heating, even on very sunny days here in Colorado. The water did an excellent job of moderating temperature. This was one of our greatest concerns as people constantly told us that a winter garden was impossible here due to the temperature swings. However, the thermal mass was sufficient to counter act this problem. I am glad we were not deterred by those opinions, but rather took them into account and worked them into our plan. <br /><br />Over-all I am very pleased with our experiment. I think we will be much better equipped next winter. :)<br /><br />Thanks for reading, God be with you on your journey!<br />NickieThe Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-9660786338473513612009-11-15T18:19:00.000-08:002009-11-15T20:54:48.350-08:00Two Successful Experiments, Two Planned Experiments<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3yKCheJO4N_mO4UzKkXAJm1mt9H-wuTYHe90eWgBmd5dBxwlTmP3TQ1qPKEZf1upB6MGVPV9NfSVcrkQvb4leyrfLtKQcgGo3qMv2cL_RzmNy0I-n5PhQ_z10lERfsOYE7xpOmPWqXkE/s1600/IMG_0100.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3yKCheJO4N_mO4UzKkXAJm1mt9H-wuTYHe90eWgBmd5dBxwlTmP3TQ1qPKEZf1upB6MGVPV9NfSVcrkQvb4leyrfLtKQcgGo3qMv2cL_RzmNy0I-n5PhQ_z10lERfsOYE7xpOmPWqXkE/s400/IMG_0100.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404555654607744322" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufVaGFvU0FxkwcK5WczA56Yl22uQRMMdmx2lOh80mHm1ee-Y6YXatRdytPPyrfN9Jz_NddnIa3kYvTqSGiOIOUnCTfaV6BGsHXbn_0CtPR1bjNAO_8bd27PXANiRACslxQlTeX2tk_mQ/s1600/IMG_0099.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufVaGFvU0FxkwcK5WczA56Yl22uQRMMdmx2lOh80mHm1ee-Y6YXatRdytPPyrfN9Jz_NddnIa3kYvTqSGiOIOUnCTfaV6BGsHXbn_0CtPR1bjNAO_8bd27PXANiRACslxQlTeX2tk_mQ/s400/IMG_0099.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404555650846103730" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9aqlvVnbLqPk5WIhoRL91VFQuCtpHqLRwdI6OQ3D3g7DQ_F52GwlvBSfu_eX8lfIDzavRifISBcPJjwYuZ5OjWjNWmwdebA4tobHFSQPWa5nlCx9awQDOK2CJXIRvX45XpJalBWzpV0/s1600/IMG_0097.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9aqlvVnbLqPk5WIhoRL91VFQuCtpHqLRwdI6OQ3D3g7DQ_F52GwlvBSfu_eX8lfIDzavRifISBcPJjwYuZ5OjWjNWmwdebA4tobHFSQPWa5nlCx9awQDOK2CJXIRvX45XpJalBWzpV0/s400/IMG_0097.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404555644514078818" /></a><br />Ok, so we've been slowing chipping away at sustainability. At first we thought we'd have to save up and buy a Prius or something, then we discovered bikes do the job nicely. Now that the bike thing is somewhat under control we've been moving towards food sustainability. We found a local CSA-it's a local farm where you can purchase a share in the farm's productivity for the year. In addition we began a home garden to supplement the food from the CSA. <br /><br />The garden turned out surprisingly well. I began researching gardening (because I knew that I would totally *fail* otherwise) and found quite a lot of good info online concerning permaculture. I bought a book called "Gaia's Garden" Toby Hemenway and "The Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Colleman. Gaia's garden laid out a very clear plan for "sheet mulching". I heard mention of sheet mulching a lot on permaculture sites, but hadn't actually been able to find instructions for implementing it without the book. Essentially you loosen but not turn the soil with a fork, then put a layer of nitrogen rich material down. Blood-meal or cut weeds work well. Then you put a weed barrier than composts such as cardboard down. Then pile on 8-12 inches of compostables watching your balance of nitrogen to carbon components to maintain a 50/50 mixture. At this point I added a bacterial-composter which was not in the book, but seemed to work well for me. Then apply 2" of compost and 2" of mulch. Water the whole thing as you are mixing it up to the consistancy of a damp sponge. Then water it regularly. In the warm weather of May and June, I had 8" of nice black soil teeming with soil life in about 5-6 weeks! Amazing! The garden took off and we are still eating ripe tomatoes in November! The best part, I found was that I had no digging, no heavy garden work and almost no weeds. <br /><br />We moved into our house in May and the plants were ready because I'd started them inside in March but the garden beds weren't ready. Starting in May, we didn't have much time for our sheet-mulch to decompose. So I modified the "recipe" by making the compost/planting layer deeper. I used one big bale of peat-moss and 4 bags of mushroom compost per 3' x 10' bed to make the planting layer about 6" deep. Then by the time the seedlings were growing deeper than 6", the compost underneath would be rotted down. This was a bit of a gamble, as I didn't know if the mushroom compost would be too hot and burn the roots, but it seems the peat moss diluted it enough so as not to hurt the plants. The garden was quite a success. We planted chard, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, basil, broccoli, spaghetti squash, butternut squash and bell peppers. All of the plants yielded well. The tomatoes got in the ground a little late for our area and consequently about 1/4 of them ripened on the bush and the rest I put in boxes in the pantry, layered 1-2 deep. They are just about all ripened now and we have been enjoying fresh tomatoes all fall! I may plant tomato bushes late in the season again just so I can enjoy them next fall. <br /><br />I mentioned Elliot Coleman's book earlier, the "Four Season Harvest". I got very excited reading this book, thinking that winter gardening could provide fresh veggies for the family in the winter. So I headed over to our local gardening center to pick up some cold-season seeds, only to be informed by the gardener on duty at the time that Coleman's book, written in the Northeast (Maine) would not translate to our climate--at least not without modification for climate. He told me that the challenge here in Colorado for a cold-frame is that we have very low humidity which means that we have very broad swings in temperature. Seriously, for those of you who have never been here, it can be 70 during the day in December and then 20 at night or the next day. The problem this creates for plants is that their leaves don't get adjusted to the cold and then they get killed by the frost. This problem is exacerbated by a cold-frame. As it stores heat when the sun in shinning and it's already hot, so temps can get as hot as 140 very quickly and then the glass and wood doesn't insulate well enough to keep the plants from freezing at night. Well, I bought my seeds (I can't believe they even had all those winter seeds, Botanical Interests rocks!). Then I went home to brain-storm with Anthony. We decided to try insulating with straw-bales for the walls of the cold frame and then providing thermal mass with water. To do a good job of it, we'd really need a lot of water, but for starters, we did about 40 milk jugs filled with water lining the inside of the straw bales. Then to keep the cost of our experiment down, we just threw plastic supported by stakes over the top of the bales of straw. I planted seeds Aug 15 and covered the plants in early October. <br /><br />It worked! I was totally shocked. The plants inside the "cold frame" not only survived, but thrived. Their leaves grew right up to the top of the cold frame and were pushing on the plastic. The ones outside the cold frame survived, but didn't grow much, (probably too cold). So, since it worked and the plants grew I built a tunnel arching over the top. This should take care of the snow crushing the plants problem I had with a flat top to the cold frame. And here, we have a new experiment. Will the water still be enough thermal mass to keep the plants going? Probably not without adding more jugs, because the mass of air just increased many times without the water mass increasing, so I anticipate I will need to add more water. Another experiment, I just planted some spinach and some kohlrabi. If stuff is growing, I may be able to plant more and have it grow this time of year, who knows! This will be my 3rd attempt to plant spinach. For some reason my spinach seeds have not been germinating. I am not sure of the cause. It could be slugs, squirrels which love to dig in my gardens, maybe I didn't keep the soil moist enough because I planted them next to mature plants which didn't need as much watering last time, maybe the soil is too acidic with all that peat in there. I'm not sure. If these don't germinate, I may try a different pack of seeds-maybe something happened to the seeds. I guess we'll see. <br /><br />And this leads me to my next experiment, can we produce enough food on our .25 acre lot to mostly or entirely feed our family from our gardens? Maybe... if I garden three-dimensionally and try a forest garden. I'm currently looking into replacing our 100' long hedge row of an ornamental shrub with a hedge of hazelnuts. There are a couple nurseries out there supplying cold-hardy varieties. The extension out here said that hazelnuts aren't that productive here because of "the climate", but I will have to have more specific information than that before I give up on the idea.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-22647282484929101312009-11-02T12:11:00.001-08:002009-11-02T13:18:03.912-08:00Nuvinci Longterm Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr57H2FtCsbm-z2C5oXIKq-BcpxKf2_7pdskUC1AWVey55uOCRocRWgHNCOtiNiHZL0yEJir7nluz6kCsUBCrdOvx40uKEfYoWbKTB6MfUTxAbTSHvlSLJE_La9qrLEGZ0o5pEI422hA/s1600-h/nuvinci.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 326px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr57H2FtCsbm-z2C5oXIKq-BcpxKf2_7pdskUC1AWVey55uOCRocRWgHNCOtiNiHZL0yEJir7nluz6kCsUBCrdOvx40uKEfYoWbKTB6MfUTxAbTSHvlSLJE_La9qrLEGZ0o5pEI422hA/s400/nuvinci.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399618591593494930" /></a><br /><br /><br />Since we seem to get almost as many questions about the hub as we do the bikes we ride, I figured it was time to do a full fledged follow up instead of my abbreviated comments here and there.<br /><br />At present we've got roughly 5-6k miles and 1.5 years of use on our Nuvinci hub, all of which has been with a rather full load (rider, 2 kids, assorted kid-related stuff), and all of that with a gearing lower than the mfg. reccomended minimum of 2:1. We have it geared closer to 1.78 : 1.<br /><br />We've used it in single digit temps (F) and used it to tote 160lbs of kids and gear up over mountain passes a number of times.<br /><br />This is all to say that the following comments come from pretty extensive and tough usage of the hub.<br /><br />First let me say unabashedly that my wife and I both LOVE the hub. We would in no way change the decision we made to purchase this hub. In fact at this point even if given the chance to have a Rohloff at the same price as the nuvinci my wife and I both would choose the Nuvinci. It has earned our respect on a number of levels.<br /><br />This hub is the closest I think you can come to the simplicity of riding a singlespeed while still having a full range of gearing at your fingertips. Its range of roughly 350% is really quite broad. A couple friends of ours who live essentially car free with 3 kids just got one for their Yuba on our recommendation and were initially planning to run it with a triple chainring up front, but after testing it out are now rethinking that plan and going for the low maint. singlespeed driveline as the range has so far proved more than adequate. There are gearing calculators out that to give you more precise numbers, but for some real world perspective, we can with the same gearing cruise along going 24mph without spinning like a track cyclist, and at the same time tote the kids and gear up a steepish mountain climb going 3.5-4mph.<br /><br />Riding it is experientially really is a lot like riding a singlespeed in that it is so quiet, so smooth, and efficient as well, yet you still retain the ability to shift, but even that is a very different experience since there is no clicking or any other indication of a shifter other than a shift in cadence. <br /><br />While I'm mentioning efficiency and shifting, I'll elaborate on two aspects of the nuvinci often talked about. I have not stuck this hub on any kind of testing bench and so cannot give hard numbers, but what I can say is that each person that has ridden ours, and Nickie and I as well find it perfectly comparable to riding a derailler based drive train. Here's an example. Shortly after I first built up the big dummy using the nuvinci 1.5 years ago, I commuted to work on it for a couple weeks. I'd been doing that same commute for several years, so was quite familiar with timeframes, and exertion levels. My commute was at the time 12 miles over slightly rolling terrain. The bike I typically rode has about the same body position, with rack and panniers and similar tires. The Big Dummy equipped with nuvinci probably weighed around 10 lbs more. Over the course of those couple weeks, I did not see any perceptable difference in commute times. In fact if anything my commute time was a minute to two faster on the big dummy. I keep my drivetrains in top condition and use the same lube on both. So as for efficiency, whether its because its really that good or because you are always in exactly the gear you want to be. It is certainly efficient enough to not be a detriment in any way.<br /><br />As for the shifting experience, this is worth expanding on as well. This may sound like an obvious statement, but more than you might imagine, but... the nuvinci does not shift like anything else you've ridden. They say this in the literature, and it is certainly true, this bike will not shift at a standstill IF (thats a big if) you are putting any load on the pedals. The reason for this is obvious if you think about the design of the hub. It uses a traction fluid between the drive spheres and the output discs. When you apply load you are applying load to the traction fluid between the input and output and you are fighting against the hubs' means of transmitting torque. It simply will not budge. Now if you take your foot off the pedal you can spin the shifter through the whole range like its not even hooked up to anything. This understanding becomes important as you think about how it shifts on the go. A common question pertaining to gear hubs is "Can it shift under load". The short answer is definitely yes. <br /><br />The long answer is this. Since, when you are applying torque to the hub it cannot shift without movement of the spheres you must think of shifting in a different way than you would on a bike with stepped gears. The word "shifting" really is quite appropriate. With a drivetrain that is infinitely variable, you tend to be subtly shifting your gearing much of the time as terrain changes ever so slightly. With this hub you walk it in whatever direction you need it to go as conditions dictate. As you apply steady gentle pressure to the shifter in whatever direction you need it to go, your hub will walk there during the lighter parts of your stroke at a perfectly ample rate to handle all but the most abrupt of changes. This may sound complicated and a large annoyance but in reality its much more intuitive after just a couple rides then any of our stepped drivetrains could ever be. On the occasion that you do hit a very abrupt change in slope and suddenly need to be in a different gearing, you just let off the load for a millisecond and give the shifter a good quick twist and you are immediately in that different gearing then dial in precisely as you begin pedaling. <br /><br />It only takes so long to explain it because it is such a different experience to other gear hubs or derailleurs. After just a couple rides you'll find it to be more intuitive, quicker and easier to use than a derailleur can ever be.<br /><br />Lastly let me comment on durability and service. In the time we've had this hub we have not had a single problem with it, NONE. And regarding service I've not had to do anything to it. One beautiful thing about this hub is that it is sealed for life. At first that is scary for someone who likes to be able to fix and service just about anything, but in thinking about how overbuilt the internals are and the fact that you don't have metal on metal transmitting torque through the hub, sealed for life starts to make a lot of sense and really begin to shine. It is as efficient today as it was out of the box, just as smooth and just as wonderful to use. I have replaced the cables since we first set it up, but I would call that general service on a bike, not a function of the hub itself, and I'm really considering using gore ride on cables to minimize that portion.<br /><br />Are there any drawbacks? Sure, its heavy, but in this case on a cargo bike that is mission critical kid transport, I'll take overbuilt and heavy any day. Also Installation is a little tricky the first time you do it and there are a couple potential gotcha's. It is imperative that you do not kink the shifter cables. Since it is a little bit like a push pull with the dual cable setup a kink will really make shifting suffer and likely result in a cable failure. Also when you clip the excess cable at the pulleys you must clip it short enough that it does not scrape the inside of the shifter box. This will also cause poor draggy shifting. You will also need to keep a close eye on cable stretch for a time using the barrel adjusters to take out any slack so that you're not actually pushing one cable through the housing when shifting. <br /><br />To sum up, it is a great low maint (no maint?) drivetrain option for the transportational cyclist. It has a very usable range, it is certainly efficient enough to not draw any negative attention to itself. It is a delight to use in its infinite adjustability, and I sincerely hope that they continue to manufacture and refine this hub for future generations.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-43191475450997155752009-08-13T13:42:00.000-07:002009-08-13T14:36:14.531-07:00Car Free Pregnant and With an Infant<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSYQ2H6w8RzHTI964U4fArL3EiGdBbnSh4sPh0hs_UWSdtbRWtiNs47Brxl4r4Dj1KDvKEIkG6TKOv7ga1RxUh2mN_P6ajvBtlXZuxM6csiUk0BiM_upRDcQXHsJZWdkXKC6x4locGrU/s1600-h/SoccerMom.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSYQ2H6w8RzHTI964U4fArL3EiGdBbnSh4sPh0hs_UWSdtbRWtiNs47Brxl4r4Dj1KDvKEIkG6TKOv7ga1RxUh2mN_P6ajvBtlXZuxM6csiUk0BiM_upRDcQXHsJZWdkXKC6x4locGrU/s400/SoccerMom.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369565400381772850" /></a><br /><br />Since our two year anniversary of car-freedom, a lot of folks have asked me about riding pregnant or with an infant. They hear "two years" and look at our youngest child and the question inevitably pops up, especially from other families who might want to give it a try! I am more than happy to share our experiences because that's exactly how we are figuring this out too. It's exciting to see so many other families on the same path and to benefit from and contribute to this new wealth of information. So here goes. <br /><P><br />We sold our last car when I was seven months pregnant with Anders. When I was pregnant with Samuel, I was only able to ride until 7.5 months. The reason was that I had a race bike and my belly crowded out my knees at that point. So there was one consideration, pedal room. Another obstacle was breathing room. My belly quickly crowded out my lungs and I needed a more "open" body position to breath. My doctor gave me the ok to ride with 2 restrictions. 1) I had to stop when my balance got "iffy" and 2) I couldn't pedal so hard that I couldn't carry on a conversation. With these things in mind, we chose to buy a recumbent tadpole trike. A recumbent gave me room to breath and pedal and the trike portion made it so that I couldn't tip over as my center of gravity and balance got less reliable. <br /><br /><P><br />Common wisdom says you can't carry an infant by bike. But what if you're car-free? There has to be a way. We did find some mom's putting the infant car-seat in the bucket of a bakfietz. Good idea, but at 3000 it was a bit costly for us. The dutch also had a rack that attaches an infant car-seat to the back of a bike with a suspension system. Also a good idea, but we didn't find any available in the USA. As it turned out, the trike also worked we for carrying an infant by bike, especially in the winter, as Anders was born in mid October. I put him in a moby-wrap on my chest and leaned back in the trike. I adjusted the seat angle to be comfortable for him. The moby-wrap was nice because it was not bulky on my back. The baby-bijorn active was good too, because although it has a back pad, the pad doesn't have any lumps or buckles so it's comfortable to lean against. Keeping Anders the perfect temperature was supper easy this way! I just put one of Anthony's coats over the two of us. I left the top un-zipped and put a warm hat on his head. For my exposed neck, I put on a thick wool scarf. This way he could have fresh air. I could feel his temperature easily as he was against my body. When his feet got longer, we added leather booties and wool socks for him. We traveled this way at about 25F for an hour and a half and he was still toasty warm. I think the coldest temps we ever reached were about 7F (but for a shorter time) and he was still warm and cosy!<br /><br /><P><br />In this way, my body acted as a stabilizer for his neck and head and a shock absorber and warmer for him. I can say in riding around with him, he was more stable than being carried. We had spoken with our family doctor to find out the considerations for transporting an infant. In his opinion the biggest concern is that the baby is not jostled as the neck muscles have not yet sufficiently developed in the infant to stabilize the head and neck. He also said that once Anders showed good head control, he could transfer over to the infant sling in our chariot trailer, and that should be between 3-5 months of age. As it turned out, Anders got big fast and his favorite game was pushing off my legs and up on my chin! He would lift his head and look around as we rode around about 3 months. At around 3.5 months we tried walking with him in the trailer in the infant sling. He was very secure. We then tried riding that way with me pulling and Anthony watching him inside the trailer. There was not a wiggle. Being re-assured of his stability in the trailer with the infant sling and his neck-strength. We went ahead and switched him over to the trailer, but only on smooth sidewalks and going very slow (that's all I could do anyway!). This worked very well. It was still cold, but we put him in the primaloft snow suit we'd made for Samuel the year before. Inside the trailer, he was toasty warm! <br /><br /><P>This set-up worked very well. Anders traveled this way until he was 9 months old, and he started crawling into big brothers seat and looking hopefully at us, so we switched him at that point to the trailer with no support. Shortly after we switched to the double seat on the Big Dummy. <br /><br /><P> To some it may seem like a bit of an expense to get a trike just for the pregnancy and carrying an infant. It didn't turn out to be that bad, though. We bought it at about 1500, and sold it for 1000 18 months later after both me and another mom used it as I described. A car payment for 18 months would have been a lot more than 500. It worked out to be pretty economical! :)<br /><br /><P>In summing up, I'd say it worked out pretty well. If I were going to have another baby, I'd probably do it this way again. I was able to ride clear up to a week before Anders was born! I turned in my hospital registration with a bike helmet on--boy that gave the nurses a scare!! They thought I was coming to have the baby! LOL I was able to get on the bike again 4 days after the birth because the seat was so wide and spread the weight over my whole back and seat rather than applying pressure on child-birth-injured areas like a traditional bike seat does. The biggest challenge I'd say is having patience with myself as I would watch my athletic capabilities decrease and decrease as time went on. Doing all that riding, I expected to get stronger and stronger. But my lungs would get smaller as the baby grew and my energy level would go down and down and down as the baby's demands increased. By the end of the pregnancy, riding up the gentle 15 foot hill to our apartment was slower than walking! Riding on flats was fine, but the trike wasn't all that efficient on hills and I had very little oxygen left by the end.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-9466418530304798002009-06-25T11:22:00.000-07:002009-06-25T12:42:28.612-07:002 Years of Carfree living as a family<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2626228731_906d30557c.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 159px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2626228731_906d30557c_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Yesterday was our two year anniversary of going carfree, all of which has been tracked here on this blog. That being said, I figured it was appropriate to post some thoughts on that time, as well as some thoughts regarding this blog.<br /></p><p><br />Overall, our experience has been very good in the two years since we sold our last car. I won't pretend that there haven't been some challenging moments along the way, or a couple times when in a fit of frustration car ownership crept back in as a thought. Everything has its moments.<br /></p><p><br />When we first sold our car, it was partially to make a statement about the need for societal change towards more sustainable methods. It was also partially because we felt that in order to be a part of the solution in figuring out more sustainable ways to live in suburban America we needed to cut the cord so to speak, and go all out. We also wanted to take away people's typical excuses and we knew that owning a car even if we didn't drive it would be something of an out for people in how they viewed our lifestyle.<br /></p><p><br />I certainly don't want to give the impression that we're out to make anyone feel bad for their current lifestyle, but we do want to show unapologetically that another way is not only possible, but also profitable, and hopefully in that process encourage others to take steps of their own. We are all on this journey together, simply at different phases in the process of sustainable living.<br /></p><p><br />We started this blog back when we were learning how to apply car lite living to parenthood. I'd been car free when we got married, and Nickie and I both tended to get around largely by bike up until our first child, but felt a bit like we were starting over once kiddo #1 came onto the scene, then the next challenge was not just how to get out by bike with kids, but how to actually displace errands. This blog was and is about trying to figure this, within the greater picture of sustainable living, out collectively. Basically its about being part of an open source society, where we share our ideas and resources and try to figure this new way of living out together. Hopefully our blog has been and will continue to be an encouragement and source of info from time to time on how to make this lifestyle work.<br /></p><p><br />Below are some things we've learned in this time.<br /></p><p><br />1)Cargo bikes and electric assists can be real lifesavers with mediocre mass transit plus kids. Nickie and I have been tremendously grateful for cargo bikes currently on the market. We have two young kids too close together in age for one to be vastly further ahead regarding what he can contribute than the other which means, at this point they are both cargo, when you add long distances, diaper bag, groceries etc. Cargo bikes and electric assists become a tremendous commodity. There are also the times when one of us is sick, but still needs to cover a great distance, or when Nickie was injured last year, and I was toting her on the back of the bike plus the kids in the trailer, for 1.5 months.<br /></p><p><br />2)Living carfree in suburban America requires a pretty significant mindset change. We've blogged about this before, but your world becomes smaller and bigger at the same time. You may not stray far and wide as you do with a car, but because you see so much more and experience the world in a different way, your local world seems bigger. The other big shift along these lines is thinking differently about seasons and weather. We've become much more seasonally adaptive, keeping our thermostat at 60-62 in the winter during the daytime, and letting temps get into the high 70's to 80 in our house during the summer, and adjusting more to the seasons as we're consistently exposed to them.<br /></p><p><br />3)Living carfree is very healthy for our kids. They are much more engaged with their surroundings and as we now take steps with our older child to involve him more in the process of getting around (tag alongs, sitting on the rear rack/deck) it seems to have a very positive effect on maturity and self esteem to have more responsibility and to be able to contribute in some way to something Mom and Dad do. They are also much more in touch with their surroundings which can only be good. They see so much more, smell so much more, notice so much more than when they go someplace via car. Being able to snuggle your kids on the bus and read a book together is also so much nicer than sticking them in a car seat in the back seat of a car.<br /></p><p><br />4)Living carfree with kids in suburban USA requires a VERY flexible attitude, and A LOT of creativity. We are not advocating via this blog that all folks go carfree, but that they do endeavor to live carlite. Like most things there is a point of diminishing returns. Living 80% carfree is VERY doable, going the next 20% up to totally car free requires at least as much effort if not more than the first 80%. Does that mean we don't think its worth it, well, thats a question only the individual can answer, but as we've said, we'd rather figure it out all the way, so that most can more easily go that 80% than not. Besides we've found there are few experiences that we don't enjoy more by bike than we did by car.<br /></p><p><br />5)While it is true that biking does save money over driving a car, it takes time and initial investment before you begin to see the returns on it. Buying and/or building setups for toting kids in all condition with the ability to do errands year round with our wild climate variations, has not been what I would call cheap. It has certainly been cheapER than car ownership. Here's some perspective. My wife and I had one car as I was car free when we got married, we maintained that model up until going car free as I typically bike commuted. The one car we had was paid for, and I did most of the repairs myself, and our insurance was cheap. Back in the day when gas cost $1.80/gal we generally spent around $3,500 a year on car ownership. In the two years since going carfree we have spent around $2,500 out of pocket a year on transportation. I would say we are now getting to the point where that will settle down to about half to 1/3rd of that amount. The most complicated solutions are now paid for, and henceforth, its kids bikes and maintaining our current fleet.<br /></p><p><br />6)Carshare's a great model of car ownership for the coming generations.<br /></p><p><br />7)Relax and enjoy the journey.<br /></p><p><br />8)Know that you really don't know it all... :) </p>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-14214317253519713372009-06-13T19:27:00.000-07:002009-06-18T21:35:38.781-07:00Surly Big Dummy for saleNot to steal Nickie's thunder with that wonderful post regarding food and sustainability, but if someone's in the market for a used Big Dummy we're putting ours up for sale. The listing can be found <a href="http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/1224164014.html">here</a> and the ebay listing now <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300323160621">here</a>.<br /><p><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3621378929_730f015b8c.jpg?v=0">The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-82226400338635700372009-06-11T07:31:00.000-07:002009-06-12T18:58:15.645-07:00Sustainability and Food<embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=2750012006939737230&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed><br /><br /><P>Why don't we do more programs like this in the US? Not sure, but here is a <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2750012006939737230&ei=LkzeSd6gDJTO-gHjtrT8Aw&q=bbc+farm+for+the+future&hl=en&client=firefox-a">link</a> a to a great program put on by BBC called "The Farm of the Future". Aside from having *amazing* videography, this film does an excellent job of explaining exactly what the problem is with the way we produce food now compared with regards to sustainability. I often times have a hard time explaining to folks I come across why I believe it is worth the effort to buy local or buy organic or grow food or plant fruit trees. I can certainly see their point, it is a lot more work than it's worth from any monetary sense or time sense. It is hard to explain that the entire system from seed, to the soil it grows in, to the process of watering it, fertilizing it, harvesting it, transporting it, processing it, transporting it again, marketing it, cooking it and finally eating it are all intimate bed-fellows with petroleum. This video, however, makes it quite clear how dire the situation is and exactly why it can't go on like this. For me, this is all intimately connected to our need for peace and justice in the world as well. <br /><br /><P>The video also goes a step further to suggest some possible alternatives and provides a glimpse of what food production might look like in the next century. One thing that particularly struck me about the "alternatives" to oil-dependent agriculture is that they truly are very much in their infancy. We can't go back to horse and plow, where do we go from here? Some of the innovative ideas included permaculture and forest gardening with some great interviews of people who are doing this on a small to medium scale. They focused on working with nature to reduce the amount of work necessary to produce food. Ideas included nearly eliminating weeding by creating plant eco-systems, improving the soil starting with the "life" in the soil, the insects and micro organisms and inviting bio-diversity in the garden. <br /><P><br />The truth about oil-free agriculture is that there aren't a lot of current large scale examples of oil-free farming. This is very exciting because it is a real opportunity for innovation. Even home-scale agriculture could play a part. Back in the second world war, Americans produced about 40% of our food in "Victory Gardens" in their own yards. There is nothing more local than your own yard! This also re-defines the idea of wealth to a more sustainable model as well. Perhaps the Forest Garden or the vegetable garden may take on more status than the most pristine, dandelion-free green lawn. A fruit-tree may become more a sign of wealth than an Audi. Honestly, we need this. We really need this. If our kids and our grandchildren (and even us for that matter!) are to have a future in which they can drink the water, and eat food and breath the air and not be killed by wars over diminishing land and resources, than we need to redefine the idea of wealth. It can't be how much stuff can you buy anymore. Wealth and success have to be re-defined.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-84476868184271122952009-05-12T12:01:00.000-07:002009-05-13T07:41:55.236-07:00Longtail for the heavy user...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/3526379338/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3526379338_703073eb2a_m.jpg" /></a><br /><br />We've been using our Yuba full force now for a couple months, and figured were overdue for a follow up.<br /><br />Yuba Mundos are in a word surprising. I remember first reading about the homely Yuba Mundo. It weighed in at a portly 60lbs without any bags or accoutrements. It came with intro level componentry, and wasn't even made of cro-moly steel, just hi-tensile steel. To top this all off, its sticker price is right at $1,000 which just screams of cheap when you're expecting to pay at least that much for a decent single bike let alone a serious cargo bike.<br /><br />The frame looks reasonably well thought through regarding triangulation and seat tube angle, but really its just seemed like the Huffy of cargo bikes.<br /><br />This is precisely why I titled my initial review of the Yuba Mundo, <a href="http://longwalktogreen.blogspot.com/2009/01/yuba-mundo-wow.html">Yuba Mundo - wow...</a>.<br /><br />A couple months later, after daily use and a bike move involving thousands of pounds of stuff, it all comes back to "surprising". My friend Randy and I intentionally TRIED to induce torsional flex on these rigs, going so far as the load you see below in our attempt to do so. Even at that point, the only real squirm was coming from inadequate tire pressure for the load, not frame flex.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/3523651866/in/photostream/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3523651866_c9ba3b9cef_m.jpg"></a><br /><br />Another surprising thing about this rig in the experience of Nickie and myself as well as Randy and his SO all of whom have thousands of miles logs on xtracycles, is how smooth this thing is. That seems so contradictory considering how little that frame flexes under any load we've dared to try. After much pontification on the matter we've finally (I think) hit the nail on the head. Its like a car with good shocks vs. bad. When you hit a road irregularity with bad shocks the reverberations live on for a time after. With good shocks, you take the hit and its done. The Yuba is not unsettled by road irregularities loaded or not. So when you hit a bump, thats all there is. With our Big Dummy, you hit the bump and if you're loaded much at all, it lives on for just a few moments longer in various reverberations.<br /><br />One other nice thing about this bike and this one is a bit telling, is that it comes with horizontal dropouts. We run an IGH on it (Nuvinci), and its just nice not having to run a chain tensioner. When I said this is telling, I mean that they are able to do this at all BECAUSE this frame does not flex. adjusting chain tension absolutely is only possible because of it. It really does make for a smoother more efficient drivetrain. <br /><br />I've sung a lot of praises of this bike, and I think those are rightly deserved. Does that mean it does not come with its downfalls, of course not. I still stand by the comment about cheap componentry. At this point the only component on the bike that is stock is the seatpost. If you are picky about the parts you use, do yourself a favor and just buy the frameset and build from there.<br /><br />Also the welds seriously look like they were done with a buzz box. I don't have any concerns about them holding up, but its worth pointing out to a crowd whose used to the beautiful little tig beads prevalent on most bikes these days.<br /><br />Lastly, and this is a biggie for many, at present it is still really more for the DIY or tie down strap kinda person. Its quickly getting better in this area, but has a ways to go compared to the likes of Xtracycle who has spent over a decade now fleshing out the accessories to make their kit do A LOT of things.<br /><br />My main gripe on the accessories front is the lack of a useful centerstand. Once again I rolled my own. which you can faintly see in the photo above. It still needs a little tweaking, but its at least as good as the stand I made for the Big Dummy. I've seen little tidbits that hint at a heavy duty centerstand which is coming out this year, but at present it does not yet exist. They should not sell a bike without one in my opinion.<br /><br />Thus far my list of modifications is as follows:<br /><br />Brazed in spacers to reduce the rear dropouts from 14mm to 10mm<br />Added Nuvinci drive train after modifying dropouts<br />Swapped out front fork for Surly Instigator fork<br />Went threadless with FSA DH Pro pig headset<br />Added front disc brake (Avid BB7)<br />swapped out front wheel for disc compatible build<br />added albatross bars<br />added Velo Orange leather saddle (which btw, we both like as much or more than brooks)<br />Added Ergon Grips<br />Added Berthoud 60mm stainless fenders<br />Homemade bags<br />EDIT: forgot to list custom centerstand<br /><br />I should make a little comment about our bags. First off I'll give credit where credit is due (thank you Xtracycle!!!). We shamelessly took a few cues from your design. We love the idea of the xtracycle freeloaders, but often find they just dont go as big as we'd like. I'd rather not have to carry tie down straps unless I'm gonna carry a washer and dryer. Consequently we decided to use a very similar sling design as the freeloaders, but made the sling about 8" longer, made the straps total length about 6-7" longer, and lastly, made the two end pouches out of a solid fabric (silnylon) and made them a couple inches taller.<br /><br />They work "like a charm" We have not needed tie down straps yet.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/3522729307/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3522729307_1bf85ed5a9_m.jpg"></a>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-67628742530033485972009-05-10T20:25:00.000-07:002009-05-10T20:35:35.111-07:00Successful Bike Move, thanks to many!!!We've spent the last two weeks simultaneously remodeling the house we just bought and moving a bit everyday and capping it all off with a large group move yesterday.<br /><p><br />I owe thanks to many people all along the way and on the day of the official bike move. One that stands out is my good friend Randy Burgess, who took several days of his two week break from classes to load up our respective rigs and tote thousands of pounds of stuff between places, the most memorable load being a washer AND dryer both on one Yuba (these are intense bikes). He was also a tremendous help on move day on many levels.<br /><p><br />Its a little surreal and at the same time perfectly natural to be on the trailing end of doing this process by bike. Its strange to watch a video like the one below (courtesy of my friend Del) of our very own bike move, yet at the same it feels so perfectly natural to have done this process exactly how we do everything else, as well as very rewarding.<br /><p><br />It was a bit odd to have the local paper for our town of 80k people, show up, interview us and many others, photograph the whole shebang and post it as a front page <a href="http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=16050">story</a> on the Sunday paper. We're flattered but at the same time, wish it was a bit less newsworthy...<br /><p><br />Anyway, it was a blast and would definitely do it all over again.<br /><p><br />Thanks Del for putting the video together down below.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4581162&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4581162&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/4581162">The Stout Family Bike Move</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user435231">Happy Thursday</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-8812556478596227882009-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:002009-04-16T08:55:16.412-07:00Bike Move!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.streetfilms.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/bikemove-poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 480px;" src="http://www.streetfilms.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/bikemove-poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Photo courtesy of www.streetfilms.org</a><br /><p><br />Well its looking like we're actually going to close on that house, only 2 months later than we initially planned. I guess the news was accurate in stating that the pendulum had gone the other way and that banks are slow and SUPER cautious about lending money... <br /><br />Anyway, on to the point, at this point we're leaning strongly towards a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq3oSyvXLiY">bike move</a>. I know we've got some Longmont and Boulder readership, so if any of you local folk would be interested in doing a bike move across town with us (around 5 miles) on a weekend about 3 weeks out, please either comment here or email us. <br /><br />If you don't have a bike that can carry stuff, we do have at least a couple friends with either trailers or cargo bikes that are at our disposal for this move.<br /><br />Of course yummy food will be provided, likely some kind of breakfast treats, and pizza round lunchtime.<br /><br />The good news is that most of the route we'll be taking is a very very gradual downhill, AND about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the route will be along path (st.vrain greenway).<br /><br />Thanks!!!!!<br />AnthonyThe Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-2797768569952033592009-03-28T20:05:00.000-07:002009-03-28T20:26:43.080-07:00A Chariot For All Seasons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHuv1IwmwW-v3GhpS2ppBX_l8775ujsSEBKiwgSlLZAr7LI3uoILM_vJvx31rcd-YWJiKSTpAzXyBI4m5Ov2nyVQ5PTW5nJ-t6D4bT214PzNon1E5TQe8OC1pCF9zn0nbU0t0Jr-wU9E/s1600-h/ChariotMod.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHuv1IwmwW-v3GhpS2ppBX_l8775ujsSEBKiwgSlLZAr7LI3uoILM_vJvx31rcd-YWJiKSTpAzXyBI4m5Ov2nyVQ5PTW5nJ-t6D4bT214PzNon1E5TQe8OC1pCF9zn0nbU0t0Jr-wU9E/s320/ChariotMod.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318445912415324418" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpI9_9JoKBpTPjeieJm_4STlvHeRvXqIVZ-ucnJB5NGSgnLQN0r1ktMuBj0diOV4OVzPh3sO9IC6wwQIOhowCNmi_TnV82ewaUkbgoj7hvbrWzv5SHO-FooAeIjBcOvJAd8SmHx3_Fq8Q/s1600-h/WinterChariotInside.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpI9_9JoKBpTPjeieJm_4STlvHeRvXqIVZ-ucnJB5NGSgnLQN0r1ktMuBj0diOV4OVzPh3sO9IC6wwQIOhowCNmi_TnV82ewaUkbgoj7hvbrWzv5SHO-FooAeIjBcOvJAd8SmHx3_Fq8Q/s320/WinterChariotInside.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318445915404089666" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UOdRLOjU5nM0IZmajkj91NUUNB97aUuSii3CWhWz9Nh-iTirwoGsNebZupl897Y5p7HrXQPkfWdEpDOAva5gmr7FmiS84RaztUtrlpbywBGwpC5An6cPT8wtp8sugvNoyVCA2qih4tg/s1600-h/WinterChariot.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UOdRLOjU5nM0IZmajkj91NUUNB97aUuSii3CWhWz9Nh-iTirwoGsNebZupl897Y5p7HrXQPkfWdEpDOAva5gmr7FmiS84RaztUtrlpbywBGwpC5An6cPT8wtp8sugvNoyVCA2qih4tg/s320/WinterChariot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318445907853838386" /></a><br />This post is a little overdue, but perhaps it will be of use to someone for next year... After using the Chariot kid trailer last winter, we decided it needed a little modification for winter use. The main issues we had with it were the lack on insulation for cold weather. The really cold wet rain would saturate the fabric on the bottom of the trailer and then saturate Samuel's pants, making for a very cold little boy. Also, he would kick it open and then cold air would flow right threw and we'd have to stop, velcro it closed and keep going, then repeat all over. In the snow, when there wasn't precipitation to wet the bottom of the chariot, the cold would get through the fabric and chill the kiddos. This isn't really a design flaw in the Chariot, I understand that it's not designed for the kind of use we put it through. We needed to modify. I was shocked at how inexpensive (free) it was to modify it! We had all the necessary materials laying around and even if we hadn't, the materials were not too bad. :) <br /><br />For insulating the bottom of the Chariot, we took 3 double thick strips of closed cell foam and encased them inside a double thick layer of polar fleece. Construction is simple. It's essentially a giant rectangle of fleece with the foam inside. The closed cell foam is unique in that it is really stiff and doesn't compress flat and so it makes a really good insulator. We put a nylon panel across the bottom so we could easily wipe off boot grunge. We then encased a double layer of 6 oz Primaloft in down-proof nylon to make a super warm quilt and attached this too the bottom of the insulated fleece/foam panel. this way you can flip the blanket forward, insert kiddos without dropping the blanket on the dirty floor and then flip the blanket back. We made this blanket extra wide so as to tuck in around the sides of their hips where there is no insulation. To block the draft through the netting at the back, we just stuffed a down jacket in the back pocket. Finally, we attached a hook to the velcro and tied some shock cord around the front wheel attachment place to secure the Chariot closed, so no more kicking it open. :) In reality, we only had to use this a few times until the little guy gave up. It's nice to have that secure closure as an option though, in case there is cold weather and a child gets into a "kick the door open" mood. <br /><br />We've used this set-up all winter in Colorado. The coldest rides were about 4 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods of time (1.5 hrs +) and the kids are so warm, they are taking off their mittens! Yay! One nice thing about the trailer in the winter is that it can't fall over if I do. This makes me more relaxed in the ice, even though it's highly unlikely that I'll fall with all the studs on the tires and the slow speeds I carry. The down-side is that it can be very slow in deep snow. With the motor working again I don't worry about it as much though! <br /><br />Happy modifying! <br /><br />NickieThe Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-22115111429646991862009-01-26T14:08:00.000-08:002009-01-27T19:29:57.471-08:00Yuba Mundo - wow...<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2362/2274501841_193c18598e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2362/2274501841_193c18598e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><p>Nickie and I swung over by a friend's place this last weekend who's starting up a local Yuba distribution channel. He's another avid bike lifestyle advocate with kids and all.<br /><br />He's been using an xtracycle for awhile now as his primary car replacement, but was considering a big dummy to upgrade the capacity and handling characteristics, but not long after he decided not only to go for a Yuba Mundo instead, but also to give it a go at starting up a side business to help folks get over the car habit by selling relatively inexpensive car replacement cargo bikes and an e-assist as an option.<br /><br />Hence his new <a href="http://www.ilikebikeonline.com/">business</a>. He got his first Yuba in last week and consequently we stopped by to check it out. All my wife and I could both say was "wow...". First I took it for a real brief spin around the block and was thoroughly impressed with how smooth and efficient the ride was. I was actually say it was better than the Big Dummy. Then I had my friend hop on the back and took another spin. Absolutely no flex at all. I stopped back by his driveway and asked my wife to hop on as well. Even at this point there was no flex at all!!! As soon as I was above 5 mph they might as well not have been there. We love our Big Dummy and are truly grateful for how it has facilitated this lifestyle, but I must say after that test ride and me riding passenger for my wife to get a sense, plus a couple hours looking over the bike, this thing is in a whole nother league when it comes to carrying consistantly larger loads.<br /><br />Our base weight with the llama is around 85-90lbs when you include the two kids, kid seat and diaper bag. with that load, the big dummy is certainly better than the xtracycle kits I've ridden, but its not hard at all to induce flex on the frame. With the Yuba, I had over 300lbs of payload and there was still no perceptable flex. Despite this bomber rigidity, the real suprise was just how smooth it is to ride. I was truly the silkiest ride I've ever felt on a bike, yet not slow at all for a cargo bike.<br /><br />This may come as shock to many, but we are now plotting our move to a Yuba from the Big Dummy. The way that it handles the heavier weight, plus the larger cargo area in the rear, thoroughly won us over. I must admit that I also love that it comes with a proper seat tube angle for a cargo bike right out of the box. <br /><br />Cheers,<br />AnthonyThe Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-47338310872944871972009-01-01T18:24:00.000-08:002009-01-01T18:38:07.802-08:00Whole Wheat No Knead Bread<div>I was looking for an easy way to make bread and came across <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2">this</a> article and <a href="http://video.nytimes.com/video/2006/11/07/dining/1194817104184/no-knead-bread.html">this</a> video from the NY Times. It's easy, but didn't work well with whole wheat flour. After a little research and tinkering (thanks Anthony) we've come up with a recipe that works for whole wheat flour. I now use this as our primary bread. It's good for sandwiches and takes very little time.<br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Whole wheat flour, as I discovered, absorbs more water than white flour because of the bran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So if you use the online recipes for white flour, the dough doesn't rise properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The yeast needs room in the dough to move around, so if the bran absorbs all the water, the yeast doesn't propagate well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So the biggest difference between my recipe and the white bread ones is an increase in water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I also don't let this dough rise as long as the white flour recipe as it yields a more fermented taste which I don't think fits the sweetness of the whole wheat too well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I'll include the recipe and the link for the method.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You'll need a cast iron pot with a lid (Dutch oven).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mine measures 9" wide by 3.5" deep.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">470 grams whole wheat flour, the one I like is quite fine but not as fine as pastry flour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The fineness of the flour will effect the amount of water needed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">585 grams water (about 2 2/3 cups) at about room temp.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">1/4 tsp yeast<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">1/2 tsp salt</p><p class="MsoNormal">1 T honey or sweetener of choice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(I've used molasses successfully too). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I dissolve this in the water.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lots of flour for folding the dough.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Ground flax or cornmeal for dusting.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Combine all ingredients in a bowl and cover except the folding and dusting flours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The consistency of the dough should be like wet cement.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You just stir it all up with a spoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Stir it really well. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 7-12 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When the dough fills the bowl, spread a thick layer (about 1/4 inch) of flour on a clean surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You'll want to start your oven preheating to 450 F with the Dutch oven in the oven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pour the dough out onto the flour. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sprinkle the dough with flour and spread it out into a circle about 12-14" wide and about 1.5" thick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You'll now have dough that is long and skinny.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Fold the long ends in toward the middle so that you have a square or round ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Lift the ball into a bowl that is lined with a clean cloth napkin or dishtowel that has been heavily dusted with cornmeal or ground flax seed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The dough will be super super soft and wet and you'll have to move it really fast or it will slip through your fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At this point you can either bake it right away or wait an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I think it's better if you wait, but you don't have to if you're in a hurry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Lift the napkin out of the bowl and gently roll the dough into the pot. Put the lid back on and set the timer for 40 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Take it out and let it cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It needs to cool before bagging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The bread doesn't cut too well when it's hot, although who can resist a taste?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I refrigerate my loaf to slice it and then leave it out in a bag on the counter.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It stays good for about 3-4 days.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If I'm waiting longer than that I'll refrigerate it until we're ready to eat it or it will get a fermented taste.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Dutch oven creates a humid atmosphere while baking that creates a superb crust and nice texture to the loaf.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> Happy baking!</span><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-55358813099179883822008-12-29T19:32:00.000-08:002008-12-29T19:37:09.106-08:00More Yurt Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTkA_e9UNgrAsm51sZPjTOp9AwdiZaqbyg5GDoO9kREp-Ai7jrNG83pWS52pIBafgDrl66a-f7V9mlv4b5ahEVfWnnyPMQjhdQI9EymP2VLfWIZE8vxjHSDycRmLCl-T0CP_lM-7krJ0/s1600-h/YurtatNight.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTkA_e9UNgrAsm51sZPjTOp9AwdiZaqbyg5GDoO9kREp-Ai7jrNG83pWS52pIBafgDrl66a-f7V9mlv4b5ahEVfWnnyPMQjhdQI9EymP2VLfWIZE8vxjHSDycRmLCl-T0CP_lM-7krJ0/s320/YurtatNight.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285421965096456706" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3yGNCkHk4Ge1lIQuAChztidn9igg31WR2fS6HtR4TX1SAiUY0wy189mJYegSrgDFeDVrIc8BXctynp3REeY7P_UwGORvAgkbWhi1KUEOLLF_95baSiZd3SWJ7e8Sg3w7kMh7g5fLWdc/s1600-h/YurtNight2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3yGNCkHk4Ge1lIQuAChztidn9igg31WR2fS6HtR4TX1SAiUY0wy189mJYegSrgDFeDVrIc8BXctynp3REeY7P_UwGORvAgkbWhi1KUEOLLF_95baSiZd3SWJ7e8Sg3w7kMh7g5fLWdc/s320/YurtNight2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285421968736452098" /></a><br />Here's two pictures, one from the front and one from the back of the completed bike yurt. Thanks to everyone who's checked it out :) Happy Holidays. <div><br /></div><div>The things on the bars are poggies. Anthony was sewing them late into the night for a surprise Christmas gift for me! I call them "hot chocolate" because they keep my hands so warm, it's like holding a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold night! More on the poggies latter. </div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-43962575658437485032008-12-29T15:30:00.000-08:002008-12-29T16:35:42.427-08:00A Bicycle Yurt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijde5jjrAWzylIrS63QiijoZI6TOQCopRfcj03diM3Mukeuoo2PPlTHNxLVHi6EOQDWFfWSKtWV6knkkjf7BI1N3bYQTP0wIxNWkx77wCtZgs21SkC32qVnXjx_KRNwCJuxPYkIc3LVf0/s1600-h/YurtConstruction.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijde5jjrAWzylIrS63QiijoZI6TOQCopRfcj03diM3Mukeuoo2PPlTHNxLVHi6EOQDWFfWSKtWV6knkkjf7BI1N3bYQTP0wIxNWkx77wCtZgs21SkC32qVnXjx_KRNwCJuxPYkIc3LVf0/s320/YurtConstruction.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285366832028189794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02LCX41-zidRtJum0ao8cu20rIO-QvAqZnIV3KcrZZy342AE-UmQCGJKKE3JaAOFTdnQPPGe7Enmz7kUKcU2B7KVUCjqljUT9nJYVJQuTwUFnc8RnXaubMhMaOiadlbGK2e3fnNSw-r4/s1600-h/Yurt2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02LCX41-zidRtJum0ao8cu20rIO-QvAqZnIV3KcrZZy342AE-UmQCGJKKE3JaAOFTdnQPPGe7Enmz7kUKcU2B7KVUCjqljUT9nJYVJQuTwUFnc8RnXaubMhMaOiadlbGK2e3fnNSw-r4/s320/Yurt2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285366827402635314" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAvYTnDQYHNOKiz2mLCJ7Bq9sJ2W4lU8lmL4SSApqhgLXBRqP_INvwStmp2MzdFSgUBpg8SX7vesPdVXQiyfg9LxPFhhRP1nz8mRtf1C9LY0kEWp9P0nltDFYjFn5aS5NFZDfWxymrIU/s1600-h/YurthandSewing.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAvYTnDQYHNOKiz2mLCJ7Bq9sJ2W4lU8lmL4SSApqhgLXBRqP_INvwStmp2MzdFSgUBpg8SX7vesPdVXQiyfg9LxPFhhRP1nz8mRtf1C9LY0kEWp9P0nltDFYjFn5aS5NFZDfWxymrIU/s320/YurthandSewing.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285366823942929138" /></a><br />Stepping away from the dinning room table covered with conspicuous amounts of white fuzz (primaloft), I emerge a "gear elf" triumphant. To say that the bike yurt is by far the most difficult thing I have ever made is quite the understatement. The only thing I've made that took longer and more work were my children! But three weeks of late night sewing vigils has now paid off. The bike yurt is done. <div><br /></div><div>I based the pattern off of our rain cover pattern and added 8 inches to the bottom so that it goes clear down to the wide loaders. There is a liner and a shell with insulation inbetween. So the shell pattern had to be widened by 3.5 inches across the top to allow for the lofting of the insulation. I also shrunk the windows to keep the warmth in. I just cut about 5 inches off the bottom of the window pattern. The yurt is constructed of Event, a waterproof breathable fabric which takes breathability to new levels. Most breathables have to let the moisture condense on the inside before evaporating it to the outside. This one allows vapor to pass directly out of the garment (or yurt for this matter). It has 2.5 inches of primaloft insulation all around. This places it at approximately R7 for insulation. The windows are double paned thick vinyl with an 1.5 inches of dead air insulating between them. It's warm, really warm. This weekend only dished out weather in the 20 degree range, but the kids were warm and toasty. Anthony had to ride the Big Dummy with the kids on it, as my shoulder is still not strong enough to handle the bike with the kids and the gear and the dog on it. He said it handled quite well and the ability to have the kids on the Llama means that we can bring the dog in the trailer and get to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas without one of those stinky, dangerous, expensive, ugly things with 4 wheels! ;) We also added some 3M Scotchlite to the sides, so it is very very visible.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The hardest part of the construction? Sewing the lining between the double paned windows. There is no room for the machine to get in between the two windows, so I had to hand-stitch between the two windows on the second window to be sewn into place. There were so many thick heavy layers of fabric that my fingers were raw, even with a thimble. The second hardest part: fabric management. Oh my goodness, that is on big heavy piece of fabric as it starts to come together. It was too heavy for the machine to feed it through, so I had to do that by hand. The third hardest part: the zipper. There were 6 layers on one side of the zipper and 8 on the other. Not all of them had to be sewn together at once, but I had to figure out what order to sew them in so as not to sew myself into a "corner". But it is done and I am now vacuuming up all the last bits of Primaloft before the little one decides to eat them! It worked! Praise the Lord! Whew... </div><div><br /></div><div>Next post... Poggies</div><div><br /></div><div>Peace to all</div><div>Nickie</div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-69676857263564154342008-11-14T07:16:00.000-08:002008-11-14T08:00:19.168-08:00The Rolling Yurt/Baby Bike ShelterWe are working on developing an insulated rain cover for the Llama. Using some yummy fabrics! Mmmm, makes me drool! eVent and prima loft. :) We managed to get our hands on some lovely slate blue gray eVent. eVent, if you don't know is a highly breathable waterproof/breathable fabric. One of the comparisons we found put it at about as breathable as Schoeller, another one of our favorites. So basically eVent is as breathable as a soft shell, but it's a hard shell. Primaloft has a similar weight to warmth ratio as down, but it does not absorb water. Should be perfect for cold mornings. <div><br /></div><div>Anthony and I were talking about our needs for this winter. I take the older one to preschool early in the morning and some of the mornings have already been about 20 degrees. If I don't want to have to take 20 minutes to bundle the kids, we need to have a bike-mounted warming system. We are trying to design this one so I can just put a coat and a hat on the boys and them be fine in cold morning and snowy weather. That way, when I get somewhere I don't have to unbundle them to go inside. Nor do I have to bundle them up to go outside of the bike shelter. That scenario is possible if we made the yurt/bike shelter too warm for jackets even and then had to bundle them up to walk to the door. </div><div><br /></div><div>We are working on designing double paned vinyl windows to prevent cold spots and condensation. We are also considering how the shelter will interface with a load vs an empty bike. Currently, the rain shelter just rides up over a load, which is fine as long as most air is sealed out. Another consideration is making sure the sides don't flap in the wind, transferring cold air in and warm air out. This should be an exciting project! We'll post pictures when the project is completed! :)</div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-53704642096653775672008-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:002008-11-08T14:42:12.592-08:00Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty....By Nickie<div><br /></div><div>...had a great fall!<div><div><br /></div><div>That's right. I crashed. Complete with 60 pounds of gear for a weekend stay with the grandparents, the two kids and the dog in the trailer. First of all, I'll state that the kids are fine. One scratch on Samuel's wrist is the only injury between them. However not so with me. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was riding down the hill on Arapahoe Road with the new hub motor finally running, I was able to really get going! The road there is quite old. I am not sure if I hit a patch of uneven ground, but the front wheel began to shake. Anthony gives this the more accurate term "head shake", but I am assured by my brother that the more dramatic "death wobble" is the appropriate terminology. I think I am inclined to go with "death wobble". The wobble got worse and worse as I tried to slow down and regain control. When I realized I was in for a crash, I steered off the road into the grass and leaves and laid the bike down. Went down going between 15-20 mph. I landed on my shoulder and broke the "humeral head". That's the ball at the top of the arm bone. Drat! </div><div><br /></div><div>The good news: kids are okay. The wood of the seats protected them. You can see where the corner of the seats was getting ground down, but the kids where safe though scared. Also good is that I don't need surgery. </div><div><br /></div><div>The bad news: I can't ride for at least a month leaving me and the kids without transportation. </div><div><br /></div><div>We ordered one of <a href="http://www.hopey.org/">these.</a> It's a steering damper made by Hopey that will prevent this from ever happening again. Who knows why this happened? So weird we've ridden thousands of miles will heavy loads and Anthony's been riding this bike all week with no mishap. We read up on it a bit, sounds like it must just be the perfect set of circumstances producing a bad harmonic. In any case, with the steering damper, this should never happen again. </div><div> </div></div></div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-80344918735723750552008-10-30T19:09:00.000-07:002008-10-30T22:09:24.450-07:00Breathe, Pray, Eat: The Continental Divide<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqOqWYZWQseMyUwQtqOW_1i1KhrSydb0B9LGj9dugLi6z4pzji1BOYiTcNf5fMGsU_TGKPfN6ANzsWuJ4RAPZ6DpG6lQ36jYJEsVq9bV1x3Y2DvzuTLiVnBCclMpmJCUuTx2Y-dZKseM/s1600-h/_DSC7731.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqOqWYZWQseMyUwQtqOW_1i1KhrSydb0B9LGj9dugLi6z4pzji1BOYiTcNf5fMGsU_TGKPfN6ANzsWuJ4RAPZ6DpG6lQ36jYJEsVq9bV1x3Y2DvzuTLiVnBCclMpmJCUuTx2Y-dZKseM/s320/_DSC7731.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263156069349128434" /></a><br />by Nickie<br /><br />I've been long wanting to post about my favorite and most challenging day on our trip. It's interesting that the two coincide. I suppose that is the way it goes.<br /><br />We stayed at Aspen Glen campground in RMNP the night before our continental divide attempt and woke early (5 ish) to the beep of our cell phone alarms. Fortunately, the baby between us and the toddler next to us did not rise. This was the first challenge of the day, getting the camp (and tent and bags) packed up while keeping two little ones asleep. We dressed silently in the dark and packed everything onto the bikes except the kids in the tent with their bags. We then made a mad *but quiet* dash to load the kids and pack the tent before they woke too much so we could get them back to sleep on the bike! Success!!! We rolled out of the sleeping campground around 6 am with two kids asleep! This was really important, because we needed to get as much of a start on the day uninterrupted as we could.<br /><br />There's something quite magical about RMNP early in the morning, in the dark, watching ribbons of pink and orange rip across the sky as if they are physically pulling back the curtain of night. The quiet. The coolness of the morning. The rhythmic crunching of gravel under your tire. The atmosphere that is not quite night and not quite day... there is a certain energy in it. One that you can't really hold onto... a fragrance, a kiss, fleeting and precious. We rode up out of the campground, and on the main road began to approach a large valley on our left with more than a few elk in it. Just as we began to circle around the valley, the sun rose! The view of the valley was amazing, circled in rocky peaks with pink light flooding the park. On the other side was the edge of the valley, flanked with an aspen forest and above, rugged peaks of dizzying heights. On one of the peaks, you could see where an old dam had broken leaving piles of rubble across the face of the mountain. I truly got a sense of the power of this place and my own lack of might.<br /><br />We began the climb toward Trail Ridge Road and slowly clicked into the rhythm we would keep for the next 16 miles. We had trained for this all summer, and were well aware of what it would take to have a chance at success. We had to maintain a consistent even spin to the top. We had alloted 2.5 hrs to stop for the kids and 4.5 hrs of riding time to the top. Even as I'm writing this, I cannot believe we did it. I also cannot believe how beautiful it was. Cascading waterfalls. The kind that sing. And no one in the cars even saw them, all surrounded by aspens and flowers. Deer, elk, forests of pine and aspen. Rocks of every color, covered in thick orange, green and red lichen. That is the stuff of the lower altitudes on the east side of the divide. We stopped by one such waterfall to feed the kids breakfast. Samuel had fun climbing the rocks and seemed to sense he was really taking part in the adventure. Anders was definitely happy and having fun.<br /><br />We continued our steady climb watching the valley fall farther and farther down, and the peaks that were once so high steadily drop downward. The rock that was above us in our campground sank beneath us as we began to climb higher and we reached the fork to go back down into the park or up to Trail Ridge. Turning right toward Trail ridge, we caught a beautiful view of Longs Peak before riding into the pines and leaving behind the passing cars which had gotten steadily more frequent as the day went on. The day before, we'd watched the sparkling glass from the windshields of cars hitting the sun as they went around a high rock outcropping. From the map, we knew that that particular spot marked the beginning of the alpine climbing. As we climbed higher and higher, I watched that spot draw closer, nervous about the level of exposure on the outcropping. And knowing that we needed to hit that spot by about 11 so we could get down safely. We carefully watched the time with the kids. Stopping when they needed breaks, food and a diaper or potty break and going steadily while they napped. One of the challenges we found was getting water and food while they were sleeping. If we stopped, they'd wake and we might have to stop and then get caught in a storm at the top. So when our water bottles emptied, Anthony circled the bike on a scenic overlook while I feverishly refilled the water bottles from the larger canteens in my panniers. I kept the food in my basket and handed him handfuls as we road. As we approached 10,000 ft, we began traversing the side of a ridge that went between two peaks. The wind cropped up and we went in and out of the shade with huge changes in temperature. We stopped to put jackets on the boys, our wool sweaters on and put the wind/rain cover over the bike seats. This proved to be a better move than we could have ever imagined. The rugged outcropping drew closer and closer and the wild flowers got smaller and more fragile. Tiny streams penciled their way down the mountainside, and I knew we were getting up into the tundra. We soon reached the outcropping and saw that there was plenty of room! In fact there was a parking lot and a bathroom! No danger of being pushed off the mountainside. In fact, the drivers in cars had been so incredibly considerate. The slowed *way* down and gave us a whole lane the entire way! Very considerate folks. We stopped only long enough for Samuel to use the bathroom. Clouds had begun to gather. It was only 11. The rangers had said storms that week hadn't been coming in until 1:30! The sky wasn't yet dark and stormy, but we were watching the clouds very closely, ready to be forced to cut bait and make a break for safety below. The winds began to pick up as we began the long trek across the alpine tundra. Altitude was about 12,000 ft now, topping out around 12, 200. <div><br />We began riding across the side of the mountain with steep rock slides off to the right until the mountain began to drop away to the left and I could see up ahead there was a section of road about 50 feet long where we were exposed to the wind. I had to dismount and walk because of ferocity of the wind. Anthony seemed to have no trouble with the Llama and the kids. There went any concerns about the rain tent in the wind! It didn't seem to affect the bike at all, and the kids were toasty warm. I must diverge for a moment to tell you about what we refer to tongue in cheek as "snot suckage factor". This is when the wind is almost rushing perfectly horizontally and incredibly fast. Rushing so fast, in fact, that it tries to go in one nostril and out the other literally sucking the breath out of you and anything else which might happen to be in your nose! Usually when the wind is going that fast I have to get down low or be blown over. With the exposure to the left and right, I did not want to risk being blown off the mountain! Anthony seemed to have no problem with it whatsoever! Amazing! My hero. :) After passing the scary ridge the terrain while still steep was not so exposed to the left and right and I began to enjoy our ride again. We passed a herd of elk a the characteristic boulders dotting the landscape like marbles a giant forgot to collect after his game. Truly, I feel so small up there. The views to the left here were magnificent. I am certain Samuel thought so too. However, he began to get antsy and ask to get down. With the alpine center still two miles away and the clouds still gathering over the mountain, we had to explain to him that we needed his help to ride over the mountain. I think he caught the urgency in our voices and he waited patiently the rest of the way! What an amazing boy!<br /><br />About this time we both began hurting. The altitude was high, we'd been going for about 5.5-6 hrs (with kid stops). The grade was really steep and it was hard to breathe. But we were both getting low on blood sugar. The clouds were continuing to mount. The landscape all around us had so few features. It felt as if I was pedaling in place. About this time, Anthony prayed for help and the Lord reminded him to eat every time the grade let up enough. We were breathing too hard to eat on the steep sections. We switched from trail mix to salty whole grain crackers. The salty food was more palatable. This helped a bit. Then as we were pedaling up a steep section, courage waning, a man drove by with his window down and yelled, "Bless you! You can do it!" I think that was a turning point. His kindly face and words lifted our spirits and we found the strength to breathe, pray and eat.<br /><br />We pulled into the visitor's center around noon. As we parked the bikes, the first snow flakes began to fall. We had a hot meal, let Samuel down to play, nursed Anders. Samuel thought it was great fun looking out the big windows at the snow falling and the great drifts of snow curling like a great 30 foot wave on the side of the mountain. Truly, a stunning, wild place on the earth! We stayed for about an hour and a half and watched the sky. We saw a gap in the clouds and raced off the peak and out of the storm, down into a lush green valley on the west side! We made it!<br /><br />The west side is truly a reward for our efforts with lush hanging valleys and little lakes surrounded by peaks. The grass and flowers were so deep that an big bull elk looked as if he was laying down when he was actually walking!<br /><br />It turned out that storm was a front coming in that would last for 3-4 days. If we hadn't gotten up over the divide then, we would not have gotten over at all this trip. Also turned out (as we heard from other travelers who passed that way) that we shot the gap between a snow storm and a hail storm and never caught a drop! The rain cover proved priceless in that in all that temperature variation, we never had to change the kids clothes while we had to stop to change ours 5-6 times! Couldn't have done this without it.<br /><br />I suppose this was one of my favorite days because of the intense beauty and the challenge. I felt as if I was swept up in an adventure that asked all of me that I had to give and still more. And the "more" comes from those around me that love me and fight for me. And I have a chance to fight for them too.</div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-75658075660721876972008-09-22T09:33:00.000-07:002008-09-22T09:44:00.829-07:00When kids give back<center><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/2795388112/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2795388112_c2cb7432fd_m.jpg"></a></center> <p><br />I figured it was high time I actually posted at least one story from our tour last month. <br /><br />For any of you who are parents one thing you’ve probably figured out by now, is that parenting as a general rule is probably the most challenging thing you’ll ever undertake in your life. Consistently having the patience, and energy to be present, and loving with kids even when they’re testing is no minor feat. On the flip side there are those moments when kids give back, that make it all so worthwhile.<br /><br />In the middle of our trip we stayed in Keystone with my sister and her family while they were there for a business trip for her husband’s job. We had a great time, except for the fact that a few of us came down with a rather unpleasant bug, some kind of cold with fever and nausea for some. Nickie came down with it pretty hard while we were there in Keystone and was down for the count for a couple days.<br /><br />Unfortunately for me mine had its worst bout out on the road. Two days out of Keystone, we rode from Idaho Springs up onto the peak to peak highway ending at the Cold Springs natl forest campground. On the map it didn’t look like it should be all that bad, especially after having done things like tow the kids and gear up over the highest continuous paved road in N. America (trail ridge road). I was wrong. <br /><br />The day started easy (downhill), riding down the valley from Idaho Springs to the junction with central city parkway. Central City Parkway starts its climb right from the get go, averaging 8-10% grades for the first 1.5 miles or so. If I were smart, I probably would have realized I was not up for what the day had in store at this point, turned back and taken a down day. That however is NOT what I did. After climbing those first 800-1000 ft. I had to get off the bike and sit down as I thought I was going to pass out and was beginning to feel pretty rotten. <br /><br />After eating and resting for a bit I got back on the bike and started going again. It was a hot dry day and every climbing grade on the Central City Parkway was around 8%. I was already feeling really weak and a bit feverish, so these types of constant grades plus the heat were beginning to wear me down rather quickly. As we were rounding out 2,000 ft. of elevation gain and about to roll downhill into Central City, Nickie would ride ahead a bit, park her bike, jog back and give me a little push for a bit then repeat, was I ever grateful!!<br /><br />After stopping through Central City for some lunch, we got back on the bikes for our last 1,000 ft of climbing up to the Cold Springs Campground. I was feeling worse and worse, and having a hard time stomaching food even though I needed the energy to keep pedaling. The weight of the bike kids and gear (around 160lbs) was literally getting to be more than I could manage. My stomach was cramping horribly, and my head was reeling. <br /><br />At this particular moment a couple of guys drive by in a truck yelling at me out their window. Normally, I really don’t mind when folks in cars do stupid stuff or yell at me, in fact I kinda get a kick out of just smiling and waving at them as they drive away. On this particular occasion, not so much. If I could breathe fire they’re car would have been reduced to a heap of smoldering metal and rubber ;) <br /><br />By now it had come to the point where I couldn’t even ride the bike up those grades any longer and had been pushing the bike uphill. Between the stomach cramping, feeling like I was gonna pass out, the sheer exertion of pushing a 160lb bike up 7% grades, I broke down and just started crying. Nickie came back and hugged me for awhile and demanded to push the llama with kids. I consented for a bit, but my stubborn streak kicked in and swapped back. <br /><br />A little ways up the road when we were on the last stretch of climbing about .75 miles before our destination, Samuel did the sweetest thing, and walked beside me helping to push the bike up the hill. You might think that a 3 year old can’t do much to help with a load like that, but I can assure you at that moment, his contribution both emotionally and physically were just tremendous to me. I’ll never forget that little guy walking behind this monstrous load of a bike pushing with all his little might as we proceeded uphill.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-47578773728192182662008-08-24T07:37:00.000-07:002008-08-24T20:55:16.304-07:00We're back, and what a trip<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/2792905260/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/2792905260_e3acbcce2b_m.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"><a href="hhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/2792905260/">Early morning in RMNP</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/25872288@N06/">stoutag</a>.</span></div><p><br />I don't have time presently to any kind of real trip report yet, but what I can say is that it was a great time, and despite some definite obstacles (everyone coming down with a ferocious cold while visiting family in Keystone, and having record rainfall in August) it was a great time.</p><div><br /></div><div>We saw a lot of beautiful stuff that we'd never gotten to experience by bike, Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road, Summit County mountain spleandor, the Peak to Peak Highway and Boulder Canyon. Many places we've known and loved much of our lives, but it was all new getting to tour them by bike and share that experience with our kiddos.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next year I'm definitely getting a waterproof handlebar bag, so that the SLR is more accessible, as there were simply too many great vistas passed up due to the camera being packed too far away.</div><div><br /></div><div>What sums it up is this "Where are we going next year?!?!"</div>The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-21321843058929822672008-08-08T11:05:00.001-07:002008-08-08T14:11:10.158-07:00The Calm Before the Sto.... I mean FUN!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmDhXURHNxwRzr8547kt7O9VegFMhsmsGZDmMNOQUuHlv3l4jmrDANERZlfSvYV0MH3-Ncrg5upWBjRJ3_ONi6WeV-1aseo3T868xzc9Gt0SpJECu1JeaoHzLkZmPuOB12aW2EuK055g/s1600-h/FiredUpReadytoGo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmDhXURHNxwRzr8547kt7O9VegFMhsmsGZDmMNOQUuHlv3l4jmrDANERZlfSvYV0MH3-Ncrg5upWBjRJ3_ONi6WeV-1aseo3T868xzc9Gt0SpJECu1JeaoHzLkZmPuOB12aW2EuK055g/s320/FiredUpReadytoGo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232257363346922386" /></a><br />We're pretty much just wrapping up small details at this point in preparation for our two week family bike tour. It was rather entertaining when Nickie and I were wrapping up the night before last and we started to list off all the major preparations we've made in the last 1.5 months to get ready for our trip through the Colorado Rockies. All I have to say is PHEW!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things we've bought (excluding materials for things made by us:</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Wide loaders for the llama</li><li>Extra sunshade for the kids on llama</li><li>Various spare bike parts (brake pads, tubes, etc)<br /></li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things we've made (this list is a bit more extensive):</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Ultralight down bag for our toddler, good to about 15F and weighs 8oz.</li><li>Centerstand for the llama much better stability when (un)loading kids and gear on all types of terrain.<br /></li><li>Rain cover for the kids on the llama</li><li>Two 60L rolltop waterproof duffels out of silnylon, weigh about 5oz a piece.</li><li>Made some improvements to our ultralight two person (plus baby) down quilt just under 3lbs. including stuff sack and also good to 15 degrees</li><li>Snapdeck kid seat with sunshades, weighs about 15lbs which is 15lbs lighter than trailer, lower rolling resistance, single track, allows conversation with kids, and more aerodynamic.</li></ul>In truth, while this is all part of preparation for the trip, much of these things were part of our ultimate transportation direction with the kids for the next few years.<br /><br />We've made lists, lists, and more lists, crossing things off, adding new things on. Its been a refining process, but our aim was to have a couple days before leaving to actually just chill so we're not starting out ragged.<br /><br />So back to the title, preparations are now winding down and the remaining items on the list get more and more minute and less critical if we decide to scratch and just chill till departure day.<br /><br />All the weight saving measures and ultralight gear construction has paired our total gear/food/diaper weight (for 2 days without restocking) down to just under 40lbs, which all said and down is at least 25lbs lighter than our first couple camping trips up to the mountains by bike.<br /><br />So onto the tour itself...<br /><br />We're taking two weeks to ride up from Longmont towards Rocky Mountain National Park, up over trailridge road, down through Granby, over to Kremmling, down South ultimately to Keystone. We'll be meeting up with family there for a couple days, then turning around and heading back the way we came unless we change our minds.<br /><br />The route involves three significant days of climbing with somewhere in the ballpark of 13,000ft of total elevation gain and just shy of 370 miles of riding.<br /><br />Generally what we've found works best with the kids is to do a 1-1.5 hour riding stint right after breakfast, then stop someplace convenient and play with the kiddos for a couple hours, eat snack and lunch, then hang out another 45mins-1.25 hours and then load up for another 1.5 hours of riding during their usual nap time. Between those stints we can cover all planned mileage most days, except the 3 days of heavy climbing. Those days we'll be waking the kiddos early giving then a quick snack and loading up so we can get some riding under our belts before they fully wake up, then the rest of the schedule is pretty much the same.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176381447976247719.post-53876845261855993312008-07-22T00:41:00.001-07:002008-07-24T06:27:14.321-07:00Bike camping at its finest<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/2691387037/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2691387037_570b3d9057.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/2691387037/">Bike camping at its finest</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/25872288@N06/">stoutag</a>.</span></div><p>We took our first bike camping trip with the kiddos this last weekend. It was beautiful, fun, and a lot of work ;)</p><br />We rode up Lefthand Canyon past Jamestown and hit a singletrack trail up over the crest around 22 miles up from Longmont, 8,400ft elevation, and rode down to where we setup camp.<br /><p><br />A couple years ago when we first braved backpacking with out older child, our first trip was unforgetable on more than one front, but the one that comes to mind is the overpacking first time parent, who in this particular case happens to be be carrying *everything* on their own back. Thus we were propelled into the lightweight backpacking age after lumbering up a 6 mile hike in with somewhere around 70lbs worth of stuff for an overnight stay in a mountain meadow. By the end of that summer through many steps we'd widdled our weight down to a much more manageable 30lbs or so for food and gear for the whole family<br /><p><br />Now after last summer off from mountain adventures from a then pregnant wife, this was our first time back up, and this time, with two kids and doing it via bike as a now car free family.<br /><p><br />In some ways it definitely reminded me of that first time backpacking. There's just no way around it, riding up 3,500ft with a load of kids and gear is not easy. Is it worth it? I suppose that depends on who you talk to. To us, yes, although it makes me think about getting that electric assist up and running on the llama sooner than later ;)<br /><p><br />When we got back on Sunday, after settling back in and unpacking a bit the first thing we did was reevaluate the loads, and start to trim the fat. After much calculation and brainstorming we figured ways with a bit of gear making and a bit of creativity to pare our loads back by around 16lbs, which leaves our current total gear/food weight for an overnight at somewhere around 45-50lbs for the whole family.<br /><p><br />We'll hopefully get in another overnight camping trip at least once in the next two weeks just to iron out a few more details before we head out on a 2 week bike tour with the kids up through the Rockies.The Stoutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594580348073717356noreply@blogger.com6