3 for a Swim and a Panther on the Burke
Mar 16, 2008 · 09:47 PM · permalink
All in all it was a nice day for a ride — to windy, not sunny enough, but most importantly I was actually out riding which made it all OK. In the afternoon I got to load up the xtracycle with the kiddies to take Little J. down to the pool for his first swim. Big sister tagged along for the ride and the ride down was great. The ride back? Harder. 60 pounds of kids doesn’t get any lighter even if they’re cheering.
Earlier in the day I managed to put in a few miles through down town and on the Burke Gilman trail. I was almost home when I spotted this beauty and asked if I could take a photo. Unfortunately my phone-cam failed me and the photo you see is the best I could pull out of my editor.
The frame is an aluminum Schwinn Panther cruiser, but Jake (I think it was Jake, sorry if I got it wrong!) has it set up as a geared bike with disc brakes up front and very nice moustache bars heading the whole thing up. It was obvious he’d done a lot of work to get it where he wanted it and it’s a great looking bike. 
I love seeing folks out riding bikes they’ve obviously put careful work into. This guys clearly got the bug, he has almost as many bikes as I do. Hope to see you around, and I’ll try to bring a better camera and memory for names next time.
Is this really a safe ride for the kiddies? Looks like they could pretty much roll off and go under a car.
Buna,
Citing a joke from SNL, you’ll want to go to the hat store, buy a hat, and then hold the fuck onto it, when you ride an Xtracycle! Joking, but check the Bettie photoset here — there’s a bar in the back, plus rails for their feet.
Hey Buna,
I’ve got foot pegs for my older one, and the stoker stem in the back helps alot. With both kids on she’s a bit less secure than she would be otherwise, but can still reach the back seat handle bars. In the future I’ll be putting on running boards so she can put her feet down all the way back.
We’ve done hundreds of miles together, and never had a hitch. She even came on one of those ‘end of month bike parades’ last summer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56062272@N00/2279791692/
My girls love the xtracycle too. Stoker bars are essential. The wideloaders are great for the 7 yr olds feet. Still haven’t fully resolved the lack of foot pages for the four year old. I’ve also put a foam pad on the rear deck to make it less slippery. Looks like the weather is warmer in Seattle!
The Bettie photoset definitely shows off the bike and its awesomeness! Very cool and it does look like a ton of fun. Thanks
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