The dogs get a nice ride...

The dogs have it made. They get to tag along quite a bit.

American Xtracycle dream....

I should clarify my thoughts on Xtracycles. Here's my WHOLE thoughts and worries list.

1) The rising trade and operation costs for an American company that's getting stuff made in Taiwan is making it possible for an American made product to compete in both price and delivery. I'd like to see manufacturing come back to America. Rising transport and foreign labor costs are making this fantasy look more realistic.
My answer - With the closings of all these auto manufacturing plants, it'd be great if somebody sunk money into a large bicycle frame/fork/component manufacturing plant that can make nearly anything you want in the realm of frames, forks, Xtracycles, trailers, racks, handlebars, wheels, etc.....This could be a profitable venture and put people to work. Companies like Surly, Kogswell, Xtracycle, Rivendell, and even biggies like Trek and Kona could contract product to be built there. Way less than one percent of bikes and bike parts sold in America are made in America so there's a large market share to gain. Some major tax breaks for the environmental goodness of manufacturing bicycles would also be helpful!! We could do it!

2) I'm a lil' embarrassed when somebody asks me the cost of my Xtracycle because it's usually someone that doesn't spend a whole lot on bicycles. I'm actually philosophically opposed to spending so much for snap things and snap decks But I already have my own answers for this problem. ;-) The other pieces are worth it but now Xtracycle is making it harder to buy individual components/replacement parts. This is usually a typical problem that comes with growth and/or changes in management. If I'm not mistaken....Both of these have happened recently.
My answer - I'd love to make everyone realize bicycles are an investment and worthy of their money. They replace cars and make us healthier and friendlier folks. Back when the Wright Brothers were building bikes, it was common for people to spend half a year's wages on a bicycle. Some spent more and some spent less but nowadays that'd be equal to people NOT FLINCHING at $15,000 dollar bikes. That sounds great to me!

Bicycle powered ice storm damage assessment

In my out-of-shape-ness it's a fairly tough ride out to the farm.....Especially if the weather is bad. We've had a few nice days following the harsh ice storm that came through and this was the first time I've been able to check the damage to our property and travel trailer. This was the most destructive ice storm in anyone's memory. Most people were out of power for at least a week. We feared there was hefty damage on our farm.

We're living in town during winter. This was a pretty lucky thing as I'm sure we'd have been nearly scared to death if we were out at the farm and listening to trees falling everywhere.

Things are now settled down and it was a pleasant ride out there. Once you leave town it's mostly uphill to our place so I always have to remind myself to take it easy and not try to duplicate my ride time of a few years ago for this ride.

Used to be easy to get out there in less than a half an hour on a nice, lugged steel road bike. Now it's nearly 45 minutes on a heavy Xtracycle equipped Electra Townie. That's probably not too bad considering the bike weighs twice as much. I'm nearly thirty pounds heavier as well so I really can't complain about the ride time.

It's mostly a very nice ride. There's a few minutes of very hectic riding but the rest is nice.

Good news is the trailer didn't get wiped out. The awning broke from the weight of all that ice sitting up there but no trees fell on it. Even our access road escaped all but two small trees falling on it.

Twas a good visit made better by the fact that I had a relaxing ride out and back!

Feel good (to me) bike story #1

Over a year ago, my wife's nephew lived with us for six months. He's from Idaho, just like her. Kentucky was quite an adventure for him. He made the flight without his parents. I can't imagine having done that at nine years old. Quite brave!!!!

He was with us during Christmas and while his parents sent him good stuff, my wife and myself had a great experience. Elijah charmed everyone during his stay and a couple of great folks who we didn't know really well bought him a new bicycle for Christmas! These are great folks and we got to know them better through Elijah.

Anyway.......We gave him his bike and asked him to name it. He named it Christmas. He hadn't learned to ride yet so we got to experience his first pedal strokes! We took him to a parking lot across from the house where we used to live and turned him loose without training wheels. He immediately started riding smoothly. It was super to see him start riding and gain confidence over the next couple o' months. It's a testament to how easy one can learn to ride a bicycle. It's not rocket science but the more you do it, the better and calmer you'll be.

Elijah showed me that it's pretty much intuitive to a person to be able to hop on a bike and go. That's an exciting thought because I learned to ride so long ago that I can't remember the feeling of conquering a bicycle.

He learned to ride in about thirty seconds so, surely, all of us adults who haven't been on a bike for years can get it pretty quickly and painlessly too. It's worth a try!