May, Flowers. Photo Roundup
May was a month that saw the blooming of so many things! So many, many, many, manymanymany things! All at once! In less than one week:
Tyler and I signed a lease for the future home of our new bike shop,
Wahooo!
The lamp which hangs over our entrance. It is in Greenwood.
Aaaand! This kid was born!
Awww!
Cute, right? We'll call him "Baby Oil," here on the blog. I wonder if he's thinking about cargo bikes yet?
The Oil Family, today.
So, now we have two small Oils! Little Oil is delighted to have him, as are Lady Oil and myself. Obviously, blogging may be light for a while. I do have a lot of things I'd like to talk to you about:
- how it feels to become a Pedal Parent of two,
- when we imagine we'll be getting him on a bike,
- why I've started scolding drivers again, and what Little Oil has to say about that,
- how things are going with the new shop,
- and all the other posts I had in progress before this momentous week.
We'll just have to see how much time I can find for blogging. I miss you! Meantime, here are a bunch of photos from the last month. Enjoy!
When Little Oil was born, our friend L-Train presented her with this fantastic quilt. Some eagle-eyed readers spotted it in the background of the post on naps and asked that I share a better pic. Nice, right? When Little is ready for her first fixie I am going to paint it to look just like this one.
Now that the shop and my growing family demand all my time, I finally concluded my many years at Bike Works. This is sad. :( And also joyous! :)
One thing I noticed over my last few months in the Bike Works shop was a massive increase in cargo-biking Pedal Families in South Seattle. This cool Pedal Papa with his G1 Kona E-Ute, for example. It was a little busted in the electrical side of things. I hope he's gotten it fixed, cause his family deserves a sweet ride!
This adorable father-daughter team in a lovely Bullitt were nice enough to pause for pictures.
Pedal Papa with Chariot on Lake Washington Blvd.
Another neato bike, spotted at Bike Works. It's an electric assist Huffy! A Hill Topper, installed by LionTail.
Cool DIY dad carries his young teenage daughter onboard this custom modified rack. We talked Xtracycles, but they are pretty happy with the $15 solution they came up with themselves.
Speaking of DIY Dads. The original came back to Bike Works on one of my last days. He's revamped his erector set seat and mounted it on a very robust looking Schwinn frame with an integrated, heavy-duty rack that I failed to photograph. Trust me, it looks boss. And DIY as frak.
This Pedal Papa and Passenger are rocking a front seat I've never seen in action before! It looks great for littler passengers. I cannot, for the life of me remember the brand. Anyone recognize this?
The same blue Bullitt as before, this time ridden by my friend, Shirley! She is awesome, writes a blog that you should read. She wrote about her impressions of the bike here.
Here's Tyler putting together our first bike sold! A fantastic cherry-red Larry Vs Harry Bullitt, equipped with BionX E-assist and a cushy seat for the passengers. The family who got this bike are super-cool. I'll do a post on them and their bike as soon as I am able.
Tyler, with Little Oil and his oldest, Frances out on our shop Bullitt. It is green, fast and has amazing hydraulic disk brakes. It is the nicest bicycle I have ever ridden.
Here's Tyler again, with Wheelio, my Xtracycle. I include this because they both look so damn good!
Speaking of Wheelio; I just innovated this simple solution for carrying coffee without installing a permanent cup holder. A toe strap and my basket! It works pretty well. Drink still sploshes out a bit.
Better than the alternative. Little always finishes my coffee! Here she is pointing out these nasty grips. She really wanted to share this picture with you.
The brassiest brass bell I ever did see.
I think I was given eyes by my creator simply so that I could spot and celebrate odd cockpits on strangers' bikes. I live for this.
Another occasion for bike repair innovation! A fancy cork handlebar plug broke off as I was installing it in my new solo bike and I reached for the most logical tool for the job.
Family bikes on Capitol Hill! I see this sweet ride on Broadway most every day. Yepp seats are quality.
So are BoBike seats. This one was parked in front of Central Coop.
This gorgeous WorkCycles Omafiets! I just met it's rider online, she seems like a pretty fierce Pedal Mama!
The cousin of that last Dutch bike. I think this one is a Secret Service. This guy was hauling ass up 10th Ave to Capitol Hill. He says he goes a little slower when his kid is riding on the back.
May was Bike-To-Work Month, which in Seattle means that you can eat free bagels and ride with the Mayor at least once a week, if you want to. Mayor McGinn is a really nice guy, and great with kids.
It is hard to believe that May Day was only one month ago. Cargo bikes are great for taking kids to marches and protests. Some can be a little unwieldy when you are traveling at a walking pace, but the EdgeRunner is very stable. And the ability to contain the kid and to split whenever you want is really a boon.
May was a big month.
Many changes.
More to come!