Industrious Sunday

Maybe it's because Vancouver is so flowery, shiny and more and more residential that I like to go look for the more industrial corners of this city. I find stacks of pallets, graffitied dumpsters, and rusting industrial machinery just as beautiful as manicured gardens. Sunday mornings are great because most of these areas are deserted and you can ride freely in between buildings and down interesting lanes. Highlights of today's industrious bike ride were the train and the stack of golden reindeer.

The boy was very excited about this "sleeping" train.

 

I can't think of a clever caption for this, but it really wants one.

Two

A container full of Extreme Luxury Fur?

The Portable Orchard had a few apples left, but way too wormy to eat!

Vertical Gardens

Very cool vintage truck with wooden wheel spokes.

Stack of reindeer waiting for snow

Rusted!

Murals

We topped off our ride by stopping at the party store to buy helium balloons just because. What a perfectly perfect morning with my boy.

Bringing Home Nothing

Still on my simplicity binge and it's been 3 weeks now that I have vowed not to bring things home aside from food and basics like toilet paper. I did break down twice. I bought a toy and a shirt. I won't use excuses like it was on sale, or it was used or made by a local designer. Although I did break down a bit, I am getting used to leaving the house and coming home with nothing. Not a twig, or a newspaper or an empty coffee cup.

One trick I found useful to avoid stores is to ride your bike. It's super annoying to lock your bike up, untie the kid, and deal with the helmets plus, without the stroller, corralling the kid in a store takes up way too much physical agility and negotiation power. Bike window shopping is the way to go!

Another realization I've had that really puts a stick in my simplicity wheel, is that I grocery shop too often. It seems I go to the store 4-5 times a week. This is partly due because I can't seem to find one store which carries both wonderful produce and decently priced staples without breaking the bank. The sensible part of me wants to responsibly plan menus for the week and make a detailed list of what we need, but the other part of me wants to eat pasta all week if it means I can veg on the couch for an hour before I have to head to bed. The problem with this is that I have very random stuff in my fridge and I'm just not a good enough cook to make something delicious with a can of black olives, oranges, bread, tomato paste, and kale. So back to the store I go. Gotta figure out a way off this grocery hamster wheel.

When I still lived at home, my mom would shop only on Saturday mornings. If we were pigs and ate all the cheese in one day, then too bad, no more cheese until the next Saturday. Often Friday would roll around, the fridge was practically empty and my mom would make something super yummy with with a can of black olives, oranges, bread, tomato paste, and kale...

I wonder where I got this idea that the fridge has to be well stocked at all times. It's okay to run out of bread or cheese for a day or two, isn't it? Once my mom told me that she always keep a big basket of toilet paper rolls in the bathroom because when she was little, and having too many siblings to count, they often ran out, and now she just can't relax unless there's a full basket in plain view. Maybe that's the same thing with me and the fridge?

Anyways, I will figure something out. Stay tuned.

Cycling with the Kid

Last summer my husband and I investigated all the different ways to ride your bike with your kid. Then we spent a whole lot of energy and time looking for used options, which never materialized and then the weather got bad. This year, I learned my lesson; if you can find it used quickly, go for it, if not, pay full price and enjoy! So look at me, it's mid April and I forked out a pretty penny ($275), but boy am I having fun.

Here is a run-down of some of top considerations I took to make my choice:

1. Trailers are great because your kid can ride in all kinds of weather, you can take more than one kid and a bag of beach toys, plus it's easy for you to haul them. Most trailers double as a stroller which can be handy when you reach your destination, although it can be a pain to fit through shop doors. However, you can't talk to your kids while riding and trailers tend to be the most expensive option. This would be good choice for moms and dads who commute and take their kids to daycare/school by bike.

2. Rear seats are a cheaper option, but the view ain't the nicest. In general, I found that most people didn't like this option because it was hard to balance.

3. Front seats have several benefits: your kid can "feel" what it's like to ride a bike, they have an excellent view, plus you can talk to them while you ride. The extra bonus, your kid can push all the crosswalk buttons on your route and ring the bell. Balancing is surprisingly easy, even if it looks weird to have a kid attached to your handlebars. Another consideration we took with this option was that we could load our bikes on the bus/skytrain and in our car more easily than with a trailer, that way we could go to the dikes in Richmond, Stanley Park, and Barnston Island. One disadvantage might be that if it starts to rain, which is often does in Vancouver, your kid will get soaked, but isn't that kind of fun anyways?

We opted for the IBert which has received good reviews. It's a bit pricey, about $175, plus I had to make some adjustments to my bike, but it was well worth the price. It is SO much fun! I was riding along with my son to the farmer's market this weekend and a lady who was watering her front yard yelled at me: "Don't you love that bike seat?" "We love it!" I yelled back with a yipee!

If you want to see a zillion other happy Iberts click here! or me and the kid.

The World Cycles

It's about time I write a bit about "The World Cycles" on our street. Danu opened his bike shop just after we moved in a few years ago. He's super friendly and you can tell he's really passionate about bikes. Not only does he offer top-notch service, he has a fantastic collection of old Schwinns, newer bikes for all different uses, and any other bits and pieces you might need.  On any sunny day, there is a constant stream of people whizzing down the hill in front of our house, testing out his vintage bikes. You'd be hard-pressed to see one of them without a giant smile on their face.
Danu rides the ride, if you can say that. He commutes from Lynn Valley on his retro-fitted electric Schwinn to save his legs for mountain biking on his days off. (lol) As for me, I already had a pretty good old Rocky Mountain, but I wanted that cruiser feel, so Danu set me up with a set of wide handlebars and voila! This season, I'm going to add on some "paniers" for my farmer's market yummies, and a nice seat for the boy. Trust me, it's worth a little detour on your wheels to come check out The World Cycles.