Not So Much Fun

Car free has been great.  I've driven the car once and it felt really weird.  I was wishing I didn't need to go out to Meridian because it would have been an excellent day to bike.  But alas there was no safe way to bike where I needed to go.  Other than my one trip in the car we are standing by our car free lifestyle.  Michael even hauled home a large trunk and a small school desk.  He hitched up his cargo bike trailer and away we went.  Everything has been going swimmingly.  And then I posted on my blog about our goal and then the universe decided I needed taken down a peg or two.

Yesterday evening we were to meet Michael at Julia Davis Park for Art in the Park.  He called to let me know he was heading out of work and I headed out the front door.  I loaded the babies in Maddie and started backing her up.  The wheel started grabbing.  Upon closer inspection the back tire was completely flat.  I pumped it up only to realize it wasn't slimed.  I didn't have a spare tube but I figured I could still make it work.  I would hook up the bike trailer to my normal bike.  Yes, I have two bikes.  So does Michael.  We have a lot of bikes.  Alas, I had forgotten it had a flat tire as well.  Meany-butt goatheads.  They ruin everything.  I couldn't call Michael because he had already left so I dumped the babies in the stroller and let the big kids bike.  Thankfully their tires were hole free.

Today Michael started fixing tires.  Yay, on the road again.  Except...he broke Maddie.  It wasn't his fault but I still feel like blaming him.  After he fixed the tire and was putting it back on, the rear derailleur hanger (the part that attaches the derailleur to the frame) sheared in half.  For the uninitiated, the derailleur is the thing that makes shifting possible and keeps the chain on the bike.  It had been bumped at some point and was just holding on by the skin of it's aluminum teeth.  This made Michael growl and grumble.  This made me growl and grumble.  Meanwhile the babies are burying tools and spinning pedals.  Tra-la-la-la-la-tra-la-la-la.  This did not add to the adults' enjoyment of the situation.  Although Michael had already biked close to ten miles he jumped on his bike and headed to the bike shop.  There he found out the happy news that derailleur hangers are not standard and we need to order one from the manufacturer.  It's Saturday and everything is closed.  We also learned derailleur hangers are made of brittle aluminum and are designed to fail under stress, sacrificing themselves to save the bike frame.  Without this little hunk of aluminum, we would be looking at frame repair and oodles of $$.  So thanks, derailleur hanger.

With false cheer I said I would use the bike trailer.  I really don't like pulling the trailer but I can suck it up for a week or two.  Then we realized I no longer have the trailer hitch on my bike.  It is on Michael's bike and we can't find the second one at the moment.  For me to pull the trailer we would have to take the back tires off both bikes, move the hitch, then put everything back together.  I have a sneaking suspicion Michael doesn't currently feel like doing that.  The growling and grumbling coming from his direction is still going strong.

So I still have a bike.  I just don't have a way to get the babies around.  The big kids have their bikes and Michael can haul the trailer.  Tomorrow we have a church meeting several miles from the house.  The original plan was to put the older kids on the back of Michael's bike and put the babies on mine.  Given the MIA second hitch and the grumbling, it's looking like he will haul the big kids on the back of his bike while pulling the trailer with the babies while I happily pedal alongside.  I'm currently not loving this car free month.

On the upside I finally got a recent picture of Maddie.



 
Sad, isn't it?