Weehoo! DaveyOil! Day of Rest.

This week it felt good to loan out our Weehoo to a friend so she could get pedaling with her five-year-old daughter–a classmate at DPS’s preschool. We don’t use it anymore because I refuse to get back on the Frankenbike after having taken ownership of Helga (Helga and I are still possessive of each other, what can I say). It was contagious to behold their bikeyfaces! I can’t wait to ride with them again.

As an aside, my experience with Weehoo has been great–there’s a Facebook page and the owner of the company regularly posts there to help troubleshoot and the like. He even gave me his personal cell number (on a public wall post!) and told me to call any time, since I was having some trouble getting the bushing installed on my seat post (nothing a little packing tape couldn’t fix–don’t worry, it’s legit). I love it when that happens.

Plus, it’s such a practical trail-a-bike: comfy, padded, recumbent seat with a three-point harness; velcro foot straps; drink and snack holders; built-in panniers; a maximum weight of 65 lbs. (holy crap!); and it breaks down easily to fit in the trunk of a car. A kid can pedal or sleep or rest or snack or whatever–it’s a great trail-a-bike. My only wish is that it attached like the Burley Piccolo to a custom rack instead of the seat post, as there is a teeny bit of wobble sometimes.

AND THEN serendipity struck! After parting ways with my newly Weehoo-enabled pal, I got to unexpectedly meet DaveyOil! He was meeting up with Family Ride so they could do a Critical Mass ride together, so we played and grazed a bit at Seattle Center before they had to jet. I needed to adjust my new Ergon grips, and because I remain totally clueless about most mechanical bikestuffs, I thought for sure I was going to have to take Helga in to see Edward at Ride Bicycles before he took off for a long trip to China.

I mentioned it and Davey handed me his multitool and told me to figure out which doodad (my term, not his) fit the job. At first I tried to cram pointy things under the grip itself because that’s what I had seen my mechanics doing, but Davey–without laughing at me even a little!–mentioned that actually I could easily adjust them myself with the turn of a screwdriverthingie (again, my term). And in 30 seconds or fewer, the problem was solved and my ride got 200% sweeter. Thanks, Davey!

The Parking Squid remains a hit, but a nice security officer informed us that the nearby foliage may look like “woods,” but actually harbors a lot of junkies who leave behind dirty needles in the mulch and such. Charming! So we herded our kids back out to the pavement and into the (now so-called) Armory for foodstuffs.

I also just found out that Davey will likely be teaching the ABCs of Biking class at Bike Works in August–this is a class I have really been wanting to take, though I’m intimidated by the course content and by finding childcare. But if Davey’s teaching, that’s all the more incentive. I can tell I won’t feel totally embarrassed and/or stupid the entire time, which is a plus. I do often wonder if I did something foolish by buying such an expensive bike without really understanding how it works, but I’m ready to learn.

I’m still getting my cargo/bike legs, it seems. After a few consecutive 20+ mile days in the saddle, I had to take yesterday (mostly) off from riding. Sore and low on power, I was. I read taking time off is good, but it’s hard to give up the bike when the sun is out in Seattle.