My friend Bob had a gig in a park tonight on acoustic guitar. It was about 11 blocks away. I volunteered to take him.

I dropped him off (to a comment something to the extent of “Way to travel in style, Brother Bob!”) and he’ll call later for the ride back. I’ve been wanting to do the gig haul for a while, just for the sheer novelty.

Yesterday night’s rides were interesting. First, there was a Wedding. I’ll have more on that when I get photos back. The second trip of the night was with Bob, and we did the classic ‘home > Hyde Park > Downtown > home’ triangle.

First, we went to Hyde Park were both of us ran into people we knew. The new semi-enclosed patio area at Parilla Grill was nice. People were also out at Hyde Park Pub.

We hopped back on the Rickshaw and it was time to head to downtown. We decide to go to the Neurolux. On the way we see this Dodge Durango with an interior fire in the front seat area. Bob captured this picture with has camera phone:

The fire department got the fire out quickly. They did this with lots of water, and in fact we could see water coming out the bottom of the drivers door. Very entertaining for us, probably less so for the owner of the Durango.

We go the last block to the Neuro and they have a $3 cover. We weren’t hanging out there all night so we left. We decide to check out The Modern Hotel and Bar on Grove, but the bar was closed for the night. Oh well, onto Gil’s K9 (which is at 25th and Main) and then back home. On the way back home, the chain starts slipping continually worse and worse. We make it back but it was time to give the Rickshaw a rest.

All in all, a fun non-event ride.

(This entry backdated to July 19th. Actual date: September 4, 2008)

So, this dude Chad finds RickshawSeason.com while searching for Boise and Rickshaw. He’s getting married and wants to have a ride from his reception at The Linen Building in the ‘Linen District’ (or as I call it, the ‘Rhino District’) to the Grove Hotel. I talked to him, he sounds cool, so I’m all “Yeah sure, I’ll haul you.”

The Rickshaw has broken boards in the passenger bench (see Old seat fixed) so Kelly and I fixed that the day before. Everything was ready to go on wedding day.

I showed up about 30 minutes before the scheduled leave time. We ended up leaving about 50 minutes after my arrival. Watching other people’s reception once is kinda amusing, though I can see why the pros get paid for this.

Reception ends and it’s time to haul off. The bride and groom present me with an unseen challenge… …luggage! I really should have thought that through. Unfortunately, I had no bungee cords (I do now) and they had two bags. With bungees, I could have strapped luggage on the back fold down rack no problem, but that was not an option. Thankfully, there was room for one bag under the seat and the other went on the foot grate, less than ideal but doable. Here’s the picture as we’re leaving from the reception:

We took off, the bride and groom are stoked, I’m amused, and it was a nice night out and just late enough to where the LED canopy lights were starting to work nicely. I rode down Grove, up 10th, back down 8th (with lots of people on the patios… …nice) and then to a busy Grove with the fountain running. I ran the around the fountain 2 or 3 times and then rounded the fountain and dropped them off. It was an enjoyable experience and I hope I added something to their wedding night.

Mom and Bryce were on the back of the Rickshaw last year during the parade and it was a good time, so we returned this year.

The day starts by loading up the Rickshaw on Dad’s flatbed trailer for the trip from Boise to Eagle. He then takes it to Eagle, meanwhile I’m taking a friend and his musical gear to Eagle as well for an outdoor performance after the parade.

I meet up with the Rickshaw and get in line for the parade. Learning from last year, I bring a book to read while waiting. Mom and Bryce show up later, and after some more waiting, it is finally time to get moving.

This year’s parade was a bit different. We had experience. The parade route went the other direction. Unfortunately, somewhere before us there were a few horses.

I ran random circular patterns as usual and all were having fun except Bryce who for whatever reason wasn’t enjoying it like last year. Well, a quick passenger swap and Faye was now back there with Mom, and she was having fun.

Here’s some video I uploaded onto YouTube:

Parade riding is a lot different than regular. I’m doing lots of circles and I sit around more than normal.

The interesting (but sad) thing we saw this year was the engine on the Porsche 911 in front of us overheat. Those cars are rear engine and air cooled. The salon had a banner they wanted to show over the engine compartment and to prop the banner up, they stuffed the area behind it with towels. Unfortunately, this also blocked air from coming in and cooling the engine. Over time, the car started to blow more white smoke (it wasn’t blowing any at the beginning). The towels were removed during the parade, but it was a bit late. The 911 finally pulled over and stopped early near the end of the parade.

Mom likes being a passenger, and Faye does as well. She had figured out a sweet little wave for the crowd by the end. We regrouped with the rest of the family for BBQ after the parade ended. Total mileage for the day: About 4.5 miles with about 2 of that being the parade itself. The odometer is sitting at over 28 miles.

The most popular Rickshaw trip over the last 3 seasons has been from home at 25th and State to Hyde Park, to downtown, and back home. Today’s trip involved Kelly (wife) and the kids (Bryce @ 3yrs, Faye @ 1yr). There’s a variety of these loops done. More often than not, it is a nighttime trip with all the lights on, but today, it was a long trip to the Post Office with the family on the back.

We went through Hyde Park and didn’t stop, then made it to the downtown post office to drop off some mail. From there, it was time to go down 8th Street to The Grove. For those of you unfamiliar with Boise, Idaho, here’s a picture of The Grove:

The Grove was the city blocks surrounding the downtown intersection of 8th Street and Grove originally, but was turned into one huge block with new buildings and a fountain in the center of a common area. That area is used for events including Alive After Five, which we biked to last night.

Anyway, we did a couple loops round the fountain and headed home, going a chunk of the way back on the Grove Street bike lane. The whole trip came to 4.1 miles and the Odometer reads 23.6 miles.

The canopy is having some issues:
1. It is insufficiently attached. It was trying to blow off, and some of the velcro straps were coming loose.
2. The front is too low, and the velcro retainers up there aren’t holding the front up very long. They give while riding and my visibility goes down.

The canopy is going to need some work before the Eagle Fun Days parade this weekend.

Today was the end of Boise Bike Week, and it ended with the highlight day for me, the Pedal Power Parade. It was uphill to the start, where we waited until a good 30 minutes after the official start time to start. Blah blah blah! Mom shared the back of the Rickshaw with both Bryce and Faye (alternating) during the ride. Kelly rode along side with her Giant Simple Single and a kid trailer.

The ride to Julia Davis Park was nice. Having the speedometer is fun. I was peaking at around 11-12 MPH. Depending on the situation, I run out of gear.

At Julia Davis (pictured above), I got free pizza, a salad, snack mix, Oreos and water. Thank you Old Chicago and Boise Bike Week. I took the Greenbelt part way home, so Bryce got some tunnels in. The trip was 7 miles, putting the odometer at 18.4 miles.

As seen in the picture on the right (click it for a large view), I added some letters for the back saying “RICKSHAW SEASON.COM” (about $2.30 a package at Wal-Mart, but it took multiple Wal-Marts to find two sets of the letters I wanted) and I heard at least one person say it during the event, so it was effective. It took two packages of letters to accomplish the task, and I had to fab a lowercase ‘l’ into a period. Cake.

I’ve been active in Boise Bike Week this year, attending an event every day so far. With one exception, I’ve been the only single speed cruiser guy, and that guy wasn’t a cruiser guy, he borrowed his son’s ride and forgot it even had a kick stand! Anyway, tonight’s event wasn’t a ride, but rather a gathering at Sachel’s in downtown Boise. For me that’s probably a hair over one mile each way. Well, the Rickshaw hadn’t seen action yet so I took it with Brother Bob on the back.

It was a good night. I need to air the tires up more often, especially the rear right one as it loses some air over 2 weeks, and I forgot my lock (again) for the second time this week. I just pedaled harder and we parked the Rickshaw in plain sight. Not a biggie. I’m going to dedicate a lock to the Rickshaw though, so I don’t have the lock problem again.

Boise Bike Week has been fun so far. The Rickshaw will return for the Pedal Power Parade on Saturday.

My odometer is sitting at about 10 miles now. A chunk of that is with no passenger, though.

Another great day in this young Richshaw Season.

Went on two rides today. The first one was for breakfast with Bob. I thought, “Hey, let’s go to the Trolley House.” Bob had to be somewhere at 2pm, but I figured worse come to worst, we could cut the trip short and eat downtown. Well, that wasn’t a problem. I took the long way there and arrived in 45 minutes. We took our time eating, and still got back with o’plenty of time. Here’s a Google map that’s 80%+ accurate:

The food was great, the whole staff seemed to get a kick out of the Rickshaw, and I logged about 6.5 miles, putting my total to 7.5 miles with passengers this year. The Warm Springs bike lanes have a very textured surface and are much slower and difficult than they look.

The second ride, without a passenger, was from home to Bikes2Boards and back. I took the ride to show them the whole Rickshaw, and to let them know the rear wheel was working nice. I took the Greenbelt home.

A great day for Rickshawing in Boise, Idaho.

The 2006 Rickshaw Season was the first. I started the year in poor shape, and as I’d mentioned many times “The way to get into Rickshaw shape is with a Rickshaw”. Evidently. The season was rough at the beginning, but sure enough, was more tolerable as it progressed.

The low point of the season was the Tour de Fat. Yes, the Tour de Fat was still enjoyable, but the Rickshaw, already damaged from hitting a speed bump in a parking lot too fast, hit a section of tree roots under the asphalt on the Greenbelt during the tour, vibrating the carriage to the rear right wheel, and ending that year’s ride very early.

All in all a great year. I got in way better shape, and had fun. The Rickshaw suffered some damage it wouldn’t receive the next year as I learned how to baby it. For example, don’t pedal on notably uneven surfaces because the frame lacks rigidity and you’ll bend on the front sprocket with the chain in the process.

(I’m backdating this entry, actual date is April 15, 2008)