Every Day Adventurers

Providing protection from the sun and rain is easy. Just follow the steps below.

The temperature is beginning to rise in Tucson. Before long, the temperature will regularly top out at over 100 degrees every day.

As a desert rat, you instinctively learn to seek shade because it is significantly cooler and because it keeps your skin from turning the same color as the Redical Red freeloaders.

People often ask, “how can you ride in the heat?” I tell them, “it’s only hot when you stop.” This summer, though, I have to worry about more than just myself.

Because my wife and I sold our second car — you can read about why we decided to sell it on my blog, TucsonVelo.com — there will be times my daughter and I will be out in the heat. On a bike in the Sonoran Desert, shade can be hard to come by.

I wanted something to provide her with shade everywhere we went. I searched the web for a PeaPod LT cover that provided shade and allowed enough air circulation to keep the seat from turning into an oven, but couldn’t find anything that worked. In the Xtracycle spirit, I decided to create my own. This project will also provide the structure to make the PeaPod rain proof. Yes, it does actually rain in Tucson, but not enough.

Here is how to do it:

1) Pick up a Kelty FC Sun Hood ($34.95). It is designed to work with their backpacks, but works great on the PeaPod LT. Our local outdoor store, Summit Hut has them as does REI, nationally.

2) Purchase rubber grommets from a hardware store like ACE Hardware. I don’t recall the specific size, but I just took the cover in and slipped on the grommets until I found one that was tight, but could still slip on and off. I purchased eight, thinking I would put one above and below the points where it slips into the PeaPod. It turns out the way the structure is flexed you really only need one on the bottom so the poles don’t slip out.

3) Drill holes a little bit wider than the plastic poles from the cover so they can slip in tightly. I drilled mine right outside the gray part of the crossbar in front and just outside the raised half circle on the back of the PeaPod LT.

4) Insert the poles into the holes and place a rubber grommet on the bottom of each pole. The grommets prevent the structure from pulling out, or being pulled out by small hands.

To get your child in and out, just remove the front two grommets and take the poles out of the holes you drilled. You can tuck the poles up into the shade structure to get them out of the way while you buckle and unbuckle your child.

The shade screen does a great job keeping the sun off our daughter’s face and neck.

Making the PeaPod LT rain proof is a snap with the shade structure in place. I just bought a rain cover for a running stroller from Babies R’ Us. The cover has two Velcro tabs on the front of the cover which make it easy to loop around a part of the frame to keep the cover pulled down over the PeaPod LT’s foot rests. The back of the cover has other Velcro tabs that allow you to tighten the part that drapes over the back of the seat.

I think the rain cover might also be a great way to help transport kids in the winter by keeping the chilly air from blowing on them.

We had a freak rain storm last week that allowed me to try the rain cover. It worked flawlessly. My daughter was warm and dry when we got to our destination. I, however, was not.

Michael McKisson runs TucsonVelo.com, a website devoted to covering the cycling community in Tucson.

Lou and her two adorable boys brought along their new Xtracycle to hit up some rails-to-trails trekking into the Australian wilderness. This being Lou’s first bicycle supported adventure, she took it easy, exploring what it was like to carry cargo and two kids by cargo bike, something we recommend all families do before hitting the woods with family in tow.

Enjoy some more snaps from their adventure and thanks, Lou, for expanding your comfort zone and trying something new! Good luck on your other every day adventures!

Read Lou’s entire post about herXtracycle cargo bicycle camping adventure.

Bill Kiely’s Big Dummy is no stranger to sun and sand, as he and his family hit the surf via bike on a regular basis.  He shared some of his ‘Big Dummy’s Big Wednesday’ photos with us:

Xtracycle Big Dummy on Spring Break

Not only can an Xtracycle get you and your surfboard to the beach, but it’ll help you dry your towel as well!  Keep on ridin’.

Riding an Xtracycle is a magical thing.

Sure, it’s practical, helps you exercise, invigorate your life and find an independence you may have thought never existed, but Marya hits the nail on the head with her initial impression of using and riding an Xtracycle:

A couple weeks later, Marya was sold. “This way of getting places just gives you something back”, she proclaimed. “When I drive I feel like I’m wasting my life away.” After just two weeks of pedaling my intellectually superior spouse was able to articulate what I had not after seven years. She also reported that when my son rides on the back of the Xtracycle, he likes to sing. “He’s my little radio”, she said. Can It get any cooler than that?

family biking and sharing the ride

Read full post at B-Town Biker Wants You To Bike More.

From the Land Down Under comes another tales of Xtracycle happiness and utility. Take it away, Bruce!

Dear Cheeky,

The Xtracycle you sent me has been up and running for a few weeks now, and has become indispensable in our family transport options.

I’ve installed a 200w Bafang rear hub motor, which makes the steep hills around here manageable, even with big loads. It’s been particularly useful when the local roads have been damaged in the January flood rains. It carries loads of stuff, including our weekly Foodconnect delivery to Mt Nebo, 11km of steep mountain roads away, and transporting our 6yo to and from play dates.

It’s a good quality bit of gear. I’ve used the disk brake mount, which requires a 203mm disk which really gets cooking on the long steep descents around here. I think it will save rims and reduce the risk of heat blowouts. I’ll be interested to see how well pads, calipers and disks last, as I’ve never had a bike with disks before.

Thanks for getting it to me last year. I think if people knew how useful the Xtracycle was (especially with a motor), you would sell heaps more of them.

Emphasis mine

See more of Bruce’s Xtracycle cargo bike and explore more Cheeky(ness).