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)