Well, The Lock Still Works

Bike
Originally uploaded by uncadusty

I came across this stripped down frame (even the cable housings were empty) on the streets of Minneapolis. The Kryptonite U-lock was still hard at work keeping the frame secure. It was like coming across the the sun bleached bones of some ungulate in the desert. The vultures got their fill here.

Another Sidecar Bike

Sidecar Bike
Originally uploaded by uncadusty

Another Minneapolis DIY Sidecar Bike. This one had panels of what felt like thin metal sheeting covering the narrow sidecar. Cool Beans.

Wild Turkeys

I think I live in a cool place when I can be biking back from a tea run and pass a pair of wild turkeys getting supper on the green of a disc golf course. How cool is that? Unfortunately, once again, I'm like "Camera? I don't need no stinkin' camera on a tea run." So I had to take the picture using my cruddy camera on my phone. I'll learn...

A Tricycle Built for Two...

Yes a tricycle built for two is also a tricycle built from two (bicycles, that is). I rode past this wonderful cruiser bike with a sidecar locked to a signpost as I was on a hardwood chip mulch run. The sidecar was built from the frame of another bike with rear wheel and welded to swooping steel tubes that were in turn welded to the frame of the drive bike. I used to see and hear about these sidecar vehicles more often but haven't seen one in years. This was the first opportunity I have ever had to inspect one up close.
The way the sidecar is set up I think it would be difficult to drive the trike without a passenger as it seems designed to use the passenger's weight to tilt the car's floor up and away from the road. Could that be the use of the water jug--a counterweight for single person operation?

The bike has multiple gear options engaged with a rear derailleur which is cleverly operated by a toggle under the seat.

All in all a clever use of a discarded bike frame!

While I am still and saving for and dreaming about the design of my own tadpole style Haley, my wife had the opportunity to obtain a secondhand Burley trailer in excellent condition for a great price. A Burley trailer is essentially a fabric walled cart on a light aluminum frame. This particular bike trailer can carry two kids with storage room behind the seating area. Of course, Elli won't be able to use it until she's a year old and that would put us in the middle of winter, so in reality, she won't ride in it until next spring and summer, but it is a great grocery hauler now. With my huge basket and this trailer, I am able to fetch things that would have taken several store trips. I'm not a huge fan of the "articulated" feel that bike trailers give to the biking experience, but all in all it is a good way to extend the practicality of our bicycles. And I must say that these trailers are so much better designed the early touring trailers I used to use in my youth.

CSI: Not

Hmmm, vacant pole, cut cable, what happened? You don't have to be some kind of crime scene investigator to figure out what occurred here. I passed some poor soul's locked bike on my way to finish a short errand and it was less than five minutes later that I returned by this scene. Cheap cable locks, folks--don't use 'em.

In Memoriam

Dennis Dumm (31), killed while riding his bike in Minneapolis on the morning of May 20, 2009.

Fenders Work. I'm Just Saying.

Here's the real world reason why the Brits call them "mudguards"--If you don't have them, nothing guards ya from the mud. (Click photo to see what I mean).