Inspiring, Leah. Kinks will work themselves out after a few runs, and I hope others will join your lead.
Tailwinds, shoji On Monday, August 29, 2016 at 2:53:09 PM UTC-4, LeahFoy wrote: > > > Over the weekend I made a sketchy plan and carried it out. I ordered the > Nitto Big Rear Rack from Rivendell HQ on Friday, and it will arrive > Tuesday. I then contacted John at Rivelo, and he had the Backabike bags in > tan. I don’t think those bags are too pricey, so I ordered a pair and if > they don’t work out, you’ll see them for sale on the List, I suppose. > Anyway, I’ve always liked these and I’m excited to try them out. They’ll be > here sometime this week, and they can’t come soon enough. > > Today was our first day on what I call Leah’s Bicycle Bus - Ding Ding! > (See photos of my kids only, below.) > > Right on time, my boys and I were out the door. We pedaled around the > corner and met the first kid, who was waiting with her mom. She has a > Raleigh mountain bike with a questionable rear rack. She was trying to use > a rubber bungee with hook to attach a canvas briefcase-like thing. She > planned to carry the backpack on her back. She ended up having all manner > of trouble dismounting the bike at stops because she has to get her leg > over her rear load, which wasn’t terribly tall. By the time we arrived at > school, her back hurt. And that was the ride DOWN, folks. > > After she joined us, we met a pair of sisters a quarter mile down the > route. The older sister had her mom’s clunky (but very cute) beach cruiser > and little sis had her Target bike, crooked seat and all. They joined us > and almost immediately the rear tire on the Target bike went FLAT. Like, as > a pancake. Like a joke when my mother-in-law tells it. Like FLAT. The > internal struggle ensued - do I make us all tardy and try to do something > about this? Do I call her mom and wait for her to come? Do I dare leave her > to wait and take everyone else? After about 30 seconds of deliberation I > said, “It’s all downhill, G. You’re going to have to keep riding it.” She > brushed away the tears and we made it, though heaven knows we broke no time > records! We racked the bikes and I said, “You deserve an award! You’re the > only person ever to do that commute on one tire!” She laughed. > > So, you might imagine I’m eager to receive my packages this week. I will > carry the odd thing or two for these kids, but I’m not letting their > parents completely off the hook. I’m not going to pack mule it for 5-7 > kids. I figure if I’m taking this responsibility off the parents' backs, > they could part with a little money to outfit these kids with gear and > bikes that will make the trip possible. And maybe a little pleasant. > > It’s going to be a learning curve. These kids need to know not to cross > intersections until they know a driver has made eye contact with us, they > need to stay closer together - they were strung out over a block, I bet - > and they need to figure out how to carry their stuff. We were SLOW today, > and that was even before the flat tire. Excepting mine, these kids aren’t > cyclers. They didn’t grow up riding bikes, but rather riding in the back > seats of SUVs and family sedans. Flat-Tire-G is a 5th grader but a novice > at cycling. The boys and I used to just dance up that hill - load and all, > always racing home to see if we could beat yesterday’s time. I’ll have to > put that away and settle in to spending a little extra time with these new > kids. > > Say a prayer for me this afternoon! It will be their first ride home and > it’s going to be uphill and over 100 degrees! Ha! > > Ding ding, > Leah > [image: image1.JPG] > [image: image2.JPG] > > > > > On Aug 29, 2016, at 6:37 AM, Scott Loveless <sdlov...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > > On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 9:48 AM, Leah Peterson <jonasa...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > > When your school provides neither desks nor lockers, you have to schlep all > your possessions, nomad-like uphill, 2 miles to your doorstep. > > > Well, I was going to suggest purchasing copies of his most-used text > books so he doesn't have to carry them home every night, but the no > locker thing kinda kills that idea. > > Our 8th grader tends to carry a lot every day. Backpack and field > hockey gear at the moment. The logistics of after school practice > means she has to lug that stuff home every day. We settled on a > grocery pannier two years ago. Hockey gear goes in the pannier, > backpack on her back. When it's not hockey season, the backpack goes > in the pannier. > > > -- > Scott Loveless > Camp Hill, PA USA > http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ > __o > _'\<,_ > (*)/ (*) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/y1-Q4VoxMaM/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com > <javascript:>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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