A Very Useful Engine

Sunday G and I went to the Fiets of Parenthood event at the Portland Art Museum. We showed up at the first FoP event a few years ago with the boat, but G was still pretty young and as baby's do, he changed our plans and we left pretty early. This year though was much different. He was fully committed to racing the Kid's Obstacle Course event as well as the Family Obstacle Course a few hours later. In between races we even got to step inside the Museum to look at bikes for a few minutes, make a Pinwheel, have some Salt & Straw Ice Cream and pedal on the generator bike that mixed $5 fruit smoothies. 

The side note to this post is that we recently got a GoPro camera. So until I learn to edit videos I will fill these posts with choppy raw footage. I was experimenting with camera locations and didn't realize until later that I can download an App to my phone that will let me see the POV of the camera. For G, I mounted the camera on his handlebars. On Thomas, I had 3 locations, on the side, on the roof and on the handlebars. I think the sideview gives the best perspective but unfortunately I only used it on the trip to the start of the event. 

Anyhow, we rode over to the eastside roll-out of cargo bikes heading across the river to the Art Museum. I enjoyed seeing all the different bike configurations and meeting families. G was a little embarrassed by the attention of rolling up on a group of 35 families in Thomas so he played that he was napping while a bunch of little kids checked our bike out.  He warmed up though and by the time we were eating sandwiches under the shade of the Park Blocks, he was explaining to passers by how we made it, how we ride it and the sounds he makes when we go down hills. For the latter, he would lean back, shake his head and arms and scream, "Whoooaaaahhh!". People who didn't have kids were kinda freaked out by this and looked at me with concern.

G got signed up to go last in the kid race. I was a little worried that he wouldn't have the patience to wait out some 30 kids before his turn. He was a champ and spent the whole time warming up on the vacant block behind the start line. The positive in his mind was that even though he went well after all the other kids in the 5 and under age group, he was able to pull down the hanging ring obstacle and ride over the jump that were only added for the 6 and older kids. Despite his hour long warm up, he managed to finish 4th even with the added challenges. 

 

He didn't do so well around the cones or over the curb, but he rocked the teeter-totter and the jump. Both of which he did extensive practice on before the race. Now he wants a teeter-totter of his own to ride over!

 

photo courtesy Travis Wittwer



 

 

 

For the Family race, we had to pick up groceries, ride through a tight slalom of cones, pick up a dropped kids toy, roll over the teeter-totter, skewer 3 rings with a Joust, drop them within a marked zone, stall for a pedestrian to cross the street and sprint to the finish.

 

The Newmastrategy was for G to ride Hobo-style off the side of the train to more quickly jump off and pick up our cargo at each stop. I was concerned he wouldn't stay on through the slalom but he was totally sold on the idea and did great. He may have a future hopping trains across the country like one of his Great Grandads did. The other actually worked on the Southern-Pacific Railroad. Of course, this is the part where my camera location choice was poor. Fortunately I've been able to get enough still shots to go along with the video to show how it really went down.

 

photo courtesy Ethan Jewett

photo courtesy Kristi Marleau

 

photo courtesy Ethan Jewett

 

photo courtesy Kristi Marleau

photo courtesy Ethan Jewett

 

photo courtesy Travis Wittwer

 

photo courtesy Ethan Jewett

 

 

 

We ended up 6th in the Family race based on time, penalty time additions for missing stops (we did not miss any which is an improvement over our last cargo bike race!) and time subtractions for extra kids being hauled. Though G's excitement of the race experience and focus on his part of the team effort felt like a win to me.

 

 

 

He was a champ as I strapped his bike back onto the side of Thomas and promised him a hard earned soak in the fountain on the way home.

 

 

 

Per usual on our day long outings, G crashed out hard on the ride home, leaving me to fantasize about a big meal and a cold beer while focusing on pedaling smooth circles to not rock him awake as we climb up Harrison and Lincoln and over Mt. Tabor toward home. 

 

 

 

The things that go through my mind on every trip home while G sleeps is rating myself on how close to bonking I am, adding up the total amount of weight I'm pushing up the hill, and calculating how the output on a 100 lbs of bike for 30 or 40 miles equates to a 16 lbs bike for 100 miles. Never had I considered that these rides have a shelf life. The thought kept getting louder in my head that this was likely the last big ride in Thomas. G is getting bigger and only likes to ride in the cargo bike if he can bring his own bike along to ride at some point, or to ride the tag-along bike. He's learned the freedom the bike brings as well as the camaraderie of enjoying that freedom with others. As much as I look forward to new family rides, I'm really going to miss the boat and Thomas. He's been a very useful engine.