I need a drum key for a bass banjo project I’m working on, and Faye wanted to ride along. So, off we went. We climbed up the bench on the rail bridge (as featured in this episode of TV Cycle) and made it to Gig’s Music on Orchard. That street seriously needs bike lanes. Lots of bike traffic and no lanes. Annoying.

Here’s a couple pics at the end of the ride. Faye had fun. Me too.

The kids and I went on a crazy ride tonight in Boise. We went from 25th and State to Ustick and 5 Mile to Glenwood and State. From there, we took the Greenbelt to Veterans Park, and then the back roads to 25th and State. Here’s a mostly correct map, with most of the error being the Chinden section, which was actually done by crossing on the new 36th Street Greenbelt bridge and then riding alleys near Chinden.

What made this ride crazy was the weather. It was threatening rain the whole time, and from the time we entered Veterans Park to home, I saw large tree limbs drop, it was starting to rain, and the wind seriously picked up. I booked it home!

It was a fun trip. I took on the Ustick bench climb on quite convincingly (a tailwind didn’t hurt). Once up the bench, the Ustick bike lane gets a little narrow around some of the intersections. We had some tasty sandwiches and Cheetos at Uncle Giuseppe’s, which I recommend. We were all a little wet by the time I parked the pedicab. All in all, a choice pedicab adventure.

Last week was Boise Bike Week 2011. The kids and I had fun on the pedicab. We were out with Kelly for the Thursday “LOOK! Family Ride for Safety” ride. The ride was a Greenbelt loop ride from Veteran’s Memorial Park, across the new 36th Street bridge, to Main Street, and then back to the park. It was a somewhat similar route to this recent episode of TV Cycle:

We didn’t make it to the Veteran’s bridge like that episode of TV Cycle did, but there was a lot of common trail. This is an unusually nice area to ride.

On Saturday, we participated in the Pedal Power Parade. I was short on time and could either shoot an episode of TV Cycle on the Schwinn or take the kids with me on the pedicab. I took the kids. It was a fun ride. The parade was a good ride, and there was food afterwards. The kids played with some other kids in the park, and on the way home we rang the bell outside the capitol building. Here’s some pictures:

 

 

…and yes, the pedicab is now advertising for TV Cycle. It’s not the prettiest sign since I made it by printing on six sheets of legal paper and then taping them together onto a piece of poster board, but it works.

Hello and welcome to the 2011 Rickshaw Season! This season has been a bit odd because it had a soft start. The pedicab was still seeing action in the “offseason”, though not at the levels of a rickshaw season. Still, I used to take months off during the cold part of the year, but that didn’t happen over winter 2010/2011.

This year’s kick-off ride was a few days ago with Bryce on the back. We went on a long ride from the 25th and State area to the Greenbelt, through Boise State, to the Park Center bridge, and back home. I took the pedicab through some shallow water under a couple bridges along the way. The south side of the Boise River had claimed the shallow section around the Park Center bridge so we rode around that.

I did get an upgrade for the pedicab in the off-season. There’s a new, larger top gear in the front of the pedicab. Bikes2Boards dropped it in there for me. I believe the old one was a 44 tooth, and this one I think is a 38 tooth. The moral is simple: The pedicab is now faster, but the lowest gearing has been left intact.

Welcome to the 2011 Rickshaw Season.

I’m working on a new TV program for Treasure Valley Community Television (Boise, Idaho public access cable TV) called TV Cycle, and I needed a TV to use in the opening sequence. I wanted a two knob side tuner set for the look, and had searched local thrift stores with no luck. They don’t accept TVs that crappy anymore.

My wife and I were driving home today and saw a house that was getting renovated. Out front was a bunch of beat up crap, including a 1988 GE two knob side tuner TV. Nice.

I went back to the house on the Schwinn not expecting to see anyone, but people were there. I plugged the TV set in and it looked like it might work (there’s no analog TV broadcasts to tune in, plus it is missing the antenna). The bungee cords with me weren’t long enough to hold it on the Wald rack, so I returned later with the rickshaw to haul it home. The TV barely fits on the floor grate behind the saddle, but it does.

I’m out $5, which is more than the TV is worth, but I now have a TV that we can use on the intro for TV Cycle. Problem solved. We’re going to mount the TV on my friend Bob’s Worksman cycle truck in place of the front basket for the shoot. This 1988 side tuner TV is much lighter than one made 10 years earlier, let alone one from 25 years earlier loaded with tubes. Bob’s Worksman could handle a heavier TV, but it’s nice that it won’t have to.

I hauled Boise’s own Brother Bob to an acoustic guitar gig by rickshaw a couple years ago. This year it was a different gig, more distance, a bench climb, more equipment, and a different ride since I used the pedicab.

Bob got everything loaded up and we climbed up the bench on Capitol Boulevard by the Boise Depot. I took a few stops on the way up, but was by no means wasted by the time I got to the top. The trip down Federal Way was complicated by the sidewalk that leads to the bike path being closed, which put me on the other side of the street with shrubs hitting the left side and later having to deal with a narrow sidewalk that the pedicab barely fit on. Thankfully, I never encountered any pedestrians.

Bob’s gig at the Shangri-La tea room ends and it’s getting dark. The pedicab doesn’t have a working light group at the present, but Bob’s working flashlights and clip-on LED bike reflectors for me and so we’re visible. We make it down the bench and home. The disc brakes handle the way down wonderfully.

(Backdated to day of the ride. Actual date: Aug 17, 2010)

Some neighbors are getting married today and they are having a bicycle parade. They wanted some ride support for those who didn’t want to pedal, and since I’m nearby and all, figured that I might offer up some rides. Sure. Why not.

A challenge in this situation was getting both of the rides up to Camel’s Back Park here in Boise by myself. Kelly was gone for part of the day, so she wouldn’t be around to pick me up and take me back home. I did have an offer from the wedding party to get hauled, but naw, not necessary. I have a rickshaw, a lock, a car carrier for bikes, and a Schwinn. Simply mount the bike rack to the back of the rickshaw, put the bike on the rack, and off you go.

I wasn’t sure how this would work now that I have the huge Wald basket rack on the back, but all was good. It did make it less stable than before the basket rack, with all that weight now off to the side, but no problem. I hopped on, rode to the park while being careful about not slamming the bike into something, and before I knew it I was there. I locked up the Rickshaw, took the bike rack off, bungied it to the basket rack, and I was ready to go again.

The ride home is cake, since it is downhill, plus the Schwinn is a way easier ride than the Rickshaw with the Schwinn as cargo. It was actually too easy. I uncharacteristically missed my turn and had to backtrack a block to get home. When it’s time to be there for the festivities, I’ll just ride myself back to Camel’s Back on the Pedicab, someone else will ride it back to the neighborhood (with passengers) and I’ll take the Rickshaw back with passengers.

I had wanted to enter this event before, but it’s a lot of terrain for the Chinese rickshaw. Well, this year I have a 21 speed Main Street pedicab. My friend Bob and I drove the 15 mile route last weekend, and I did some trial climbs with Bryce to see how well the Main Street and myself could climb. After Bryce and I conquered Sky Drive in Boise’s North End, I decided I could make the big climb on the 15 mile route, a bench climb. I talked to Mom and she was willing to be the passenger. Game on.

So, earlier today, Kelly and I load up the Pedicab onto Mom’s trailer, not unlike we’ve done before to get the Rickshaw to events. Turns out it is longer as well as wider than the Rickshaw, but still not too long, and it fits on the trailer. I drive out to Meridian, sign in, find Mom, unload the Pedicab, and it’s time to ride.

The ride wasn’t easy, it was hilly, and then of course there was the bench climb. I fell behind the pack pretty early on, and then when the first climb happened, the bicycles disappeared off into the distance ahead of me. There’s a chase vehicle for the event that kept coming back and checking on me.

The bench climb was HARD! I stopped three or four times, as I didn’t want to waste myself. The bench is a little before the halfway point, so there’s plenty of ride left after the climb is complete.

Past that, there’s more climbs left, plus some unfortunate headwinds. There is one steep descent, on which the GPS showed us as going 25MPH down at the fastest point. The ride was smooth and controlled.

I had to climb over Highway I-84 once again, and continue on into some headwind. Finally, the turn for Pine comes and I want to dime the pedicab for the final stretch but the legs aren’t so sure. I ended up bouncing between 3-5 and 3-7 (top gear) and finally made it.

Total time: 2 hours, 24 minutes, or 6.7 MPH average. Not too shabby for a first event ride with notable terrain and distance. I decided before the ride that I’d be impressed if I made it in under two hours and disappointed at over 3 hours. That 2:24 was not optimal either, as I clearly took multiple stops after the bench climb that weren’t necessary, but hey, Mom made me a tasty turkey sandwich. I didn’t have to ride and eat, so I didn’t. Next year, I might have to shoot for a two hour or lower time. Is it doable? Sure.

1. Train more, specifically for climbing
2. Don’t stop as much, certainly not to eat
3. Have a higher top gear. I geared out multiple times
4. Start out optimally hydrated. I wasn’t bad, but if I’d taken down a little more before the event, that would have been helpful

I wasn’t rolling for the best time I could deliver, but I wanted to finish before three, and preferably closer to two hours. Of course, I also wanted my passenger to have a great time. Mom had a great time back there, noting that it was a nicely scenic ride. Success. I actually enjoyed the scenery too, but I wasn’t on a road bike staring at the ground.

All in all, a quite worthwhile event that was a strong motivator in getting the pedicab in the first place. The rickshaw simply would not have made the trip. I couldn’t have climbed the bench with a passenger, and stretches like the downhill bench section are ill advised with the rickshaw. The pedicab isn’t perfect by any means, for example the carriage needs some work and it geared out, but overall, excellent performance. At 25 MPH, the pedicab is smooth.

Bryce and I went on a fun trip today. We dropped off paperwork downtown and then went to Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel synagogue for Boise’s annual Deli Days. Here’s a somewhat correct map:

View Larger Map

So, around seven and a half miles for the whole trip. Bench climbed on Capitol by the Boise Depot. Actually went by the depot and rode in some gravel, which the pedicab, and especially the Maxxis Hookworms, took like a champ. Here’s a picture of Bryce and myself at the synagogue just before we left.

My pastrami sandwich was tasty. Going down Americana proved to be a challenge since they had signs in the way. We crossed the street and went down the other sidewalk. Bryce spotted the greenbelt, so we hopped on it at Ann Morrison Park. We crossed the river on the bridge there, and then went through town on the way home. A great ride, about half the length of the ride coming up on Sunday.

I was told to be home at 6:30. We made it home at 6:20. It was a nice 50 minute ride in the Pedicab.

Bryce, Faye and myself went to the Greenbelt today. Here’s a picture:

We crossed the river at the 9th Street rail bridge, the Ann Morrison bridge, and the Friendship bridge. We went by the Ann Frank memorial. Then, we went home.

I’m not all happy with the newly improved ride. There’s still some fiberglass noise. I think it’s the right fender (not the one that’s messed up) rubbing on the Hookworm tire over there. I’ll have to troubleshoot. I’m also not sold on GPS yet. I don’t like the lagging speed readings or having to removing the GPS when I park and leave. A bike computer wouldn’t have the lag and could stay on the handlebars at all times.