Across the Dumbarton Bridge

Yesterday, we took a "biking adventure" to the extreme. We've all been thinking about riding the 120 or so miles from the bay area to the Sacramento area to visit Jeremy's parents. Jeremy was hesitant that we could actually make it. So, he struck a deal with the kids: If we could make it across the Dumbarton Bridge to the start of the Alameda Creek Trail (about 25 miles from home) by noon, then he'd be game to continue onward-- riding about 50 miles a day (staying nights in hotels) and arriving at his parents' Wednesday afternoon or evening, in time for Thanksgiving.

Getting ready to head out.

All packed up and with the girls raring to go, we aimed to get out by 7 AM or so, but ended up leaving a bit after 8. We took a slight detour to the library to return some materials, then hopped onto the Stevens Creek Trail and booked it out toward the Bay Trail and then to IKEA in East Palo Alto to enjoy their Monday free breakfast. (We love free food!). After a somewhat rushed breakfast (Gabi was especially insistent that we get moving so we could make it the 25 miles by noon), we rode our bikes through East Palo Alto. We saw steers at a farm (or farm-like area?) and then got barked at by a very angry little dog (ringing my bell made it stop running at me and also brought out a kid from the home it belonged to).

Beautiful bay. (Thanks, Joey in the bakfiets, for this photo and many others.)

On the Bay Trail.

Breakfast at IKEA

Farm in East Palo Alto?

The dog that barked and ran at us. (Joey took the photo; I was ringing my bike bell.)

My favorite part of the whole trip was crossing the Dumbarton bridge. I've been over it many times in a car, but never by bike or foot. It was exhilarating. You are up high with great views of the ocean and (at least when we rode, but I imagine always) a refreshing crosswind. The cars are separated from the pedestrian/bike area by a concrete wall, so you don't have to worry about them. The approach to the bridge on both sides is long, but separated from all but a few cars going to the fishing pier (sections of the old Dumbarton bridge). It was just fun!

Western approach to Dumbarton Bridge.

On the bridge.

After we crossed the bridge, we rode into the Coyote Hills Regional Park area and it was noon... According to Daniella's bike computer (the only one who currently has a bike computer... ), we'd ridden 23.9 miles, about 1 mile short of the 25 miles we'd agreed on, but actually about 3 miles from the Alameda Creek Trail (since we'd taken a detour in the morning to the library). We rode some rather hilly, not-paved trails to a picnic/group campground area and had a lunch of cinnamon rolls (from IKEA; Jeremy bought them) and carrots and hummus (Mommy brought them). The girls (and me too, honestly) were rather bummed we hadn't made the agreed-upon spot by noon, but Jeremy stuck to his guns and after lunch we began to head home. At this point, both Joshua and I were rather tired and grumpy. (He'd pedaled the whole way on his 20" wheels and I was wiped out from all the little hills and trudging along on the bakfiets). After some exploring of the marsh areas, I demanded real food and we rode into Newark and stopped at Subway. From there we headed back across the Dumbarton Bridge, enjoying the sunset from there, rushed through East Palo Alto (weren't so sure about biking through there at night) and then stopped for a snack in Palo Alto near a bike shop I was curious about (Street Bike Named Desire) and then meandered on home along familiar routes (at least for Jeremy, who used to work in Palo Alto).

Lunch at Coyote Hills Regional Park.

Then playing...

The last stretch from Palo Alto to home I was really wiped out. I had three (at first fighting, and then sleeping) boys in the bakfiets plus was towing Joshua's bike on the Follow Me and we were going uphill. (It looks totally flat, but trust me... it's UPHILL). I was going so slow, I ended up sending the rest of the bikers ahead so they could get home and ready for bed. They decided we needed to eat ice cream and I caught up with them after they'd made a stop at the grocery store. At home, Joshua laid in bed and immediately conked out. The girls claimed they weren't tired or sore at all. After getting every one settled into bed (easy-- since half the kids had fallen asleep on the way home). I crawled into bed and Jeremy brought me a lovely, massive bowl of cookies 'n cream ice cream. Our family rode a total of 53.988 miles (according to Daniella's bike computer) and for 6:55:45 (also according to Daniella's computer). It's by far the longest distance we've ever done as a family.

Jonah and Joey asleep in the bakfiets.

Reflecting on the experience, there were several things we learned. The foremost was that the bakfiets really doesn't work for long distances with any sort of hills (up and down the bridge, tootling around in the Coyote Hills Regional Park). I was almost always the slowest by far... except for sometimes when Joshua was slowest. The idea was that if Joshua got tired, then we would connect his bike to the Follow-Me (attached to the bakfiets), but since I was already dragging we tried to hold off on that as much as possible. Joshua was a trooper, but if we go any such distance again, we need to make sure he gets pulled more of the way. Secondly, we learned (or maybe already knew?-- since she'd done a great job a few weeks ago) that we should have Gabriella pull some of the kid-weight. She was yelling for us to go faster and was clearly not working too hard for much of the ride. If we ride such a distance again, we plan to have me on a (yet to-be-bought) touring or commuter bike just as Jeremy and the girls were riding. We'd likely attach the Follow-Me for Joshua to one of those bikes, bring the Trail-a-Bike for Joey and the trailer for the two littlest.

As for whether covering such a distance or doing multi-day touring is something we might do again... When I got home Monday night, I was rather mad at Jeremy for egging us back on home (instead of just staying in a hotel in the East Bay and making a fun night out of it; the kids think hotels are fun with TVs, little bars of soap, etc.). Jeremy thought it was a success and was excited by the idea that we might possibly be able to cover some real distance while touring. The littles were all asleep and, in talking to them this morning, seemed to be willing to just go along with whatever. Joshua liked it, except for the fact that he got really tired. So, I guess we might try some big and long ride again? Maybe? After I get around to getting a bike that weighs less than the 100-pound-bakfiets? We'll see, we'll see...

Family Bike Touring

Lately, I've been captivated by the idea of bicycle touring with my young family. At some point in the last few months and weeks, I've found several other blogging families that have done/are doing exactly this:

On my blog sidebar are the Pedal Powered Family, the Family on Bikes, and the Global Mobile Family (I absolutely love the photos on this blog). Lately, my favorite reading has been about the Harrison family, who've nicknamed themselves the Pedouins. I've spent way too many nights up late reading their blog about their journey on a quint bike from Kentucky to Alaska and then their winter in a cabin near Fairbanks. Something about the writing just resonates with me. They've also written a book about their trip and are currently on a book tour (in an old school bus that they restored!). I'm bummed that I didn't find out about them, their journey, and their book a little sooner. They stopped just a few miles from our home in September! I'm definitely planning on reading their book, A Pedouin Life: Stop and Smell the Artichokes.

It'll be my second family bike touring memoir that I've read, the first being Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Joe Kurmaskie:

I liked this well enough, but it was a little crass, I missed a good chunk of all the pop culture references (I seem to often be clueless about these), and I didn't like how stories about the actual tour were mixed together with stories about the author's mom and the author's falling in love with his wife. Maybe I was just reading too fast to get it, but putting those three themes together in the same book seemed weird.

As far as bike touring goes for my family... I doubt we'll do anything longer than a few days. We have several day outings in mind, and we are toying with idea of traveling 100 miles to my inlaws. I worry about Nathaniel fussing, about hills (would we take the bakfiets touring?), and about just being tired/thirsty/hungry with nowhere to sleep. But it's fun to dream... Maybe someday, we'll be the ones out on the open road.