This post is a bit belated, but the recent long weekend was an epic family biking time for us. So epic that I've developed the dread "anterior knee pain", either from too much pedal mashing, or the seat not being quite where it should be on my city bike conversion.

The brompton seat post adapter was lost on Kidical Mass #1 and it is SORELY missed - having the seat laid back 1-2 inches makes a huge difference, taking a godawful "hybrid bike" riding position (body upright, but a cramped cockpit with body right over the pedals) to a comfortably upright, laidback Dutch position.

Bike style in car seatSo in this week of glorious weather, I've been getting around on my wife's electric scooter, surprised by how much I miss pedaling, as I hum along on the roads next to the Burke Gilman, pining for the bike (but coveting an electric assist for long cargo missions).

Luckily, I have the following memories to sustain me. Saturday, we rode bikes (baby Luc in tow!) down to the "secret beach" behind the Shilshole Beach Club, where we drooled over some takeout Paseo Cuban sandwiches, dug sand chairs, and splashed in the water.

Madsen-by-the-Sea

Sunday, we took friends on a bike picnic to the Fremont canal, where we again dined on tasty sandwiches, this time upscale Vietnamese ones from Baguette Box. Plus Mighty-O donuts. Mmm ... must get sponsorship from them. We had so many folks along that we ran out of bikes, finally proving the utility of having a garage full of bikes. "Too many bikes" my arse. But my twin-in-law Melly resurrected the aforementioned electric scooter and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Move over Stokemonkey ... it's STOKEMADDIE!And Monday was the Aaron's Bike Repair 3rd Annual Cargo Bike Jamboree! My brother-in-law Kevin and the cousins Maddie and Lola came with me and Drew, riding the Madsen and the city bike conversion, with 6yo Maddie fiendishly stoking the bike via a Trail-Gator hookup to her own pink bike. Ballard to Pike Place Market for the meetup, a leisurely ride past Alki to Lincoln Park in far West Seattle for picnic, bike drooling, and throwing pebbles into the sea. Great ride, lovely folks, lots of cool bikes. Maddie rode for 20+ miles!!! What a star.

And then back again, the Madsen serving as a handy "sleeper car" for its passengers, with 3yo Lola slumped forward onto pillows, and Drew down in the bucket sitting on pillows. "Cozy cozy cozy" as Drew likes to say. We stopped for ice cream on the waterfront, natch, followed by the girls chanting "Baby Got Back" over and over as we rode up the Elliott Bay trail. Where they learned this song, we know not (perhaps from Sir Mix-A-lot himself, a local?). Luckily, they don't know much beyond that, so we made it up for them:

I like big bikes and I cannot lie

You other brothers can't deny

When a bike rolls in with a xtra longtail

Or a big ol' juicy bucket

That cargo we like to truck it

Oh baby you got three kids in the back

And ample cargo in the front rack

36-24-36 is our gear ratio

So load up the saddlebags, big daddy-o

My bike is long, and strong, and likes to get the passengers on

Baby got back!

I'm not at all convinced our version was more appropriate. And Fossil Fool's bike rapping job seems pretty secure at this point. But hey, happy summer, everybody ...

Napcycle