Every Day Adventurers

Gearing up for marriage can be a challenging time, depending on how much you’re willing to organize. My dad proposed to my mom in their tiny piston driven airplane (she couldn’t vamoose). She said yes, and according to Colorado common law, they were husband and wife.

My marriage is a bit more detailed than that. We’re going the full nine and are having a blast in the process. Sure there’re hiccups like coordinating schedules, picking the wedding party and who to invite, but overall it’s planning a giant party with your loved ones.

One hiccup that hasn’t relaxed till five minutes ago is my suit. Being über tall and rail thin poses logistical nightmares for finding a suit. I wouldn’t care so much if it wasn’t my beautiful bride and I, front and center, for all our family and friends to see. After numerous attempts, and the usual procrastination, I settled on getting a custom suit.

The day my suit was ready to be picked up, I pedaled into Berkeley excited with anticipation. Trying the suit on I immediately noticed something wrong. It felt as if small pythons were mistaking my armpits for baby capybaras. This couldn’t be. I thought I got this baby custom. Ugh.

Turns out the suit tailors thought my 39.5 was my chest size WITH jacket (I’m not that scrawny) instead of it being my skin measurement. It already took three weeks to get the suit from the tailors and the wedding was 10 days away. Panic kicks off Plan B gearing as I tell my fianceé, who’s there with me, that the suit seems a no go.

Fast forward through frustration, suit hunting and some berating (“This is why I told you not to wait!”), we find out that the local tailor can semi-fix the tightness. She does. I try it on. Almost there. The sleeves need lengthening (boy, where did custom ever come into play with this thing) and a few other minor points of alteration.

Present day, and another ride into Berkeley praying it’s my last. Current tally: 4 Xtracycle rides, two single-speed and one BART trip – not to mention the other visits during the suit replacement scramble. I try on the suit. Feels great, but wait… What’s this? Why is one sleeve longer than the other? Did I mention I’m leaving on a plane tomorrow at 7:50AM and you’re about to close…. NOOOOO! The owner gets the tailor to stay late, promising me to bring the suit by this evening. I accept fate, hop aboard my Big Dummy and roll home.

Almost to the domicile, and talking on my earphones with future wifey about the rollercoaster (or is it rollercoat?) of the day, I randomly take a street earlier than my usual. The warm setting sun lights me from behind. I notice an overgrown orange tree and wonder why more urban fruit tree owners don’t donate their fruit to shelters. Then I notice a book on the curb, it doesn’t take me long to see what it is and elation erupts in my heart.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. On the edge of the sidewalk, no less. Another glorious curb find, and one that reflects the unknown future we all waltz, stumble and pedal down. May this be an omen of good tidings and glorious excitement.

Catch y’all on the flip side(walk).

Just one of the many great curbside finds I've been fortunate enough to find.

P.S. Have suit in hand. All systems go!

In the spirit of adventure and following the lead of other Xtracycle bikestars, Pebble Pedalers Seth and Parker Berling are riding from Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego. Their purpose?

raise awareness of and garner support for protecting the Bristol Bay Watershed from the largest proposed open pit mine in North America. Riding through 15 countries—from Prudhoe Bay, the northernmost point accessible by road in Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of Argentina—we work towards preservation, protection and the restoration of watersheds throughout the Americas in partnership with Trout Unlimited. Please join our fight by educating yourselves on this critical issue and taking action with both pen and pocketbook.

Check out their photos of the trip thus far.

Pebble Pedaler Website

The Bay Area is enjoying an Indian Summer, finally. After a bout of chill-tempered weather, a scorching week and more bleh, we’re finally getting the hot days and cool nights signaling harvest time.

The weekend started with a photo shoot for the new Donkey Boxxes. My Big Dummy hauled the mini-cooler bag by Timbuk2 with refreshments for the crew and models, camera gear and changes of clothes filled out the remaining FreeLoader space. We rolled through various parts of San Francisco, even climbed up to Lombard Street and had a nice carve down.

Carrying all the gear and supplies for our photo shoot

Following the photo shoot, I ventured to the free Michael Franti and Spearhead’s Power to the Peaceful music festival in Golden Gate Park. Not in any rush, I decided to drop it into my lowest gear and chug up some of the tallest streets I could find. Spinning to win, I slowly, persistently climbed to the top of The Presidio. The workout makes pedaling my wife and friends from BART much, much easier. :)

The festival is an amazing experience. Festival vibe, without the festival price. Only donations are requested, no invasive personal property searches and freedom to leave and re-enter the festival. I wish more music venues would follow their lead.

Heading out of the festival I ran into a San Francisco couple with kids in tow. Literally. Mom had her Xtracycle, outfitted with neon pink leopard print, while dad finished dialing in the trailer with their two children. The pair have ridden two Xtracycles, in San Francisco, for the past 6-years, been to Burning Man a few times with them, and now are family biking with them too. Kudos and applause!

6-years, going strong

After saying our adieus, and waiting for a friend to spill out of the crowd, I enjoyed spotting the bicycles that attended Burning Man. They stand out in the sea of bikes due to the powdery white coat of dust on tires, chains, frames. Even spied another old-time Xtracycle and a sticker bike that reminded me of my adolescence.

Back from the Burn

Spotting Burner Bikes is Easy

Another tell-tale burner steed

Gotta stick 'em somewhere

Well worn and loved Xtracycle FreeRadical

Before leaving, I noticed that FreeLoader bags at festivals double as trash receptacles for event goers. At least they’re not dumping food or other soiling items.

FreeLoader cargo bike bags doubling as cap dispensary

Rounding out the weekend of haul, I donated used clothing, completed grocery shopping at the farmers market, snagged more cat food and made a laundry run (282 liters of clothing) to the local laundromat. My thighs were tired, but my soul energized from a perfect late summer weekend.

Donating used, old clothing to those in need.

Another wonderfully lazy Sunday on my X

282 Liters of Laundry

Ben Sollee, Marty, Katie and Jordon kicked off their tour across the United States, playing shows, seeing fans, friends and family and “re-humanizing” the musical experience. Ride on!

This tour is not about going “green,” even though it will have a smaller over all carbon footprint than a more traditional tour by van. Instead, its about re-humanizing the pace of the road. The bicycles provide the limitation on a local level. However, we have to be real. I have a family and we all have bills to pay so we can’t afford for this tour to be a musical vacation by bicycle. And, it’s important to us to demonstrate that biking to our business can be financially sustainable. We want biking to be a compelling choice to other businesses and artists. So, through some trial and error we’ve discovered a few things.

Discover some of the few things the crew has discovered at Ditch the Van Bike Tour Blog.

Ian Ritchie, a chef in Louisville, KY, delivers homemade “soup by cycle” after his own experience losing his job. Now he delivers his culinary delights on his Surly Big Dummy Xtracycle cargo bicycle.

Ritchie says he started his one-man business after being laid off. “I had trouble finding a job, you know, with today’s economy not too many people are hiring,” he says.

So after doing a little research, he began his operations at the end of winter. He says, “I just decided to cook some soup one night and go around and deliver it to make a little money.”

He started by delivering to a few friends, then word got around. So he’s been delivering a few more bowls of soup each week.

His business is not yet profitable, but he hopes to make it so as cooler weather approaches and there is more demand for his product.

The name of the business is SoupByCycle. Customers can order on line at http://www.soupbycycle.com. Mondays he spends shopping for the ingredients, Tuesday he spends the day cooking, and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are delivery days — about 25 miles of cycling in the hot summer weather each day.

“Everyone I run into seems to like soup, and I love making soup,” he says.

Soup delivered by bicycle – FOX41.com Louisville News Kentucky Indiana News Weather Sports.