Test Riding Bikes in Columbus, OH

Miles Walked: 13.9	Biked: 56.9	Bused: 2.1	Drove: 396.3	This week
37.7	112.9	12.6	399.9	Since August 14, 2011

Downtown Mechanicsburg, OH

Flat fields of Champaign county Ohio

 Grandma got settled at home in Mechanicsburg,OH  at about 1:30PM yesterday and I set off in my empty mini van for Columbus. I was meeting my dad at Handy Bikes in Grandview to check out a cargo style bike. I had only looked at their website and found they carried the Madsen brand, but I know now I should have called first. The ladies at the counter didn't know anything about a Madsen and said there were none in the shop, but the owner came out and said he happened to have a used one in the back that he was trying to sell. It was the older model, powder blue and ready to ride.

I do believe there's a hint of fall color here.

I took it for a couple of spins around block, checking out the gears and breaking. I wasn't able to add any weight into it, as all my precious cargo was at home. Over all it was a fun ride. It didn't have some of the features of the newest model, like front cargo rack, front disc brakes and parking brake-lock, but what it did have was good enough. It rode smooth and easy and more upright than my box-store bike or Brent's GT. I am not experienced enough with bikes to give any sort of review, but I did have a great time riding this box bike around Grandview. The owner said he would sell it to me for $1000, and seeing that a new bike retails for $1500 with shipping, it sounded decent, but it was the older model and it was used, AND I hadn't ridden anything else to compare it with.

I was testing out the Madsen

The Madsen in front of Handy's Bikes

When driving to Handy's Bikes, I had some extra time before my dad was to arrive so I went to WholeFoods on Lane Avenue looking for a lunch and ended up a little backwards going from the store to the bike shop. I am glad I got a smidgen turned around because I drove past a shop called Roll:, also on Lane. After Handy's, dad and I went to Roll: to see what they might carry. The shop didn't have anything I was looking to test ride, but was stocked with some beautiful bikes. They also sold the Yepp Mini front style child seat I considered before we bought the iBert. I think the Yepp Mini seat is worth a second look. It had a higher back which might allow for napping. There was a higher cushioned front bar for both comfort and sleeping as well as the seat itself was made from a very dense but modestly pliable foam.

Chocolate cherry trail mix from WholeFoods, aka lunch.

Roll:

The salesman at Roll: told me about a shop in the Short North that sold cargo style bikes so dad and I headed downtown. Paradise Garage had an electric assist Kona Ute bike in the window. The sales-guy gave me a run down on the specs, since I was completely unfamiliar with this long-tail style. Then he mentioned having a Yuba Mundo, something I had been researching. The Yuba Mundo long-tail cargo bike was one of two I had been considering, the other being an Xtracycle.

This Yuba was ready to be fitted with disc-brakes, something that dad, the salesman and I discussed and decided would be most beneficial to my riding situation. Two child seats could fit on the rear and one could fit on the front as well as two extra-large pannier bags for groceries. This bike was ready to haul 600 lbs. I took it for a couple of loops around the block and loved how smooth the gear transitions were. It was more of an upright seating position, something I am realizing is more comfortable for me. It was overall a very well built bike. The deflating moment came when I returned from my ride, had a conversation with my dad about how I might be able to talk the sales-guy into selling me the floor model and was ready to give my pitch. Before I could even make an offer he told me the owner would not sell this bike. He was keeping it around for test rides and as the company "truck" for events. Maybe in the spring, when the new model was released, I might be able to purchases it. Huge disappointment, but it held me accountable to my "I am only shopping, not buying" creed for the day.

Yuba Mundo at Paradise Garage

I came away from these two test rides knowing what a better quality bike looks and feels like. I learned a lot about what I need for my situation, how far my money might go and how long a bike will last post-children. There are a few more bike styles and brands I am looking to ride, so if you have something and are willing to let me give it a spin, I would be most grateful.

Dad and I had an early dinner at the Short North Tavern then we parted ways. He went home and I met up with a great friend who was in Columbus, coincidentally, for the day as well. We met at the Raisin Rack in Westerville and then she drove us to old downtown for some live music and espresso drinks at Java Central. Near 10pm we said goodnight and I drove home to collapse contentedly into bed at 12:45AM this morning.

Jockey style post bike racks were embedded all along High Street Columbus.

Beer bike! in the Short North

We didn't wait in line for Graeter's but I love this Ohio based ice cream

Java Central, Westerville

We stayed till the sun had long since set

Downtown Westerville, OH

Spinning my hypocratic-web

Can you have a car-free month and still drive your car once, how about twice, three times? I know we got off to a rough start, but we have been going great since the 2nd of August. Oh, then there was that one time Brent drove to get Grandma from the Greyhound station. Does that count? I mean, if we really didn't have cars, we would have had to rent one in that particular situation, so driving was relatively unavoidable. Having two cars sitting out front and driving one to the station was sort of like renting a car right? One of the purposes to this entire car-free month was to set out to discover what was possible, for our family of six, without driving a car in Huntington, WV.

If part of our self-inflicted contract was to reduce our carbon foot print, this blog would read more like No Impact Man. While what we are doing has great benefits to the environment, it's not one of our primary purposes, just another great by-product of our efforts.

With two blemishes on our record since August first, I am knowingly committing to another. After spending four days with my grandma she was picked up by her friends from Milton last Saturday, and has spent the past week with them. Before she left our house she was wanting to get her return ticket from the Greyhound station to leave tomorrow, August 27. Grandma is 76. She was obviously slowing down considerably since the last time she visited and I feel that going home on the Greyhound isn't right. I am driving her home tomorrow. She's paying for the gas, at her insistence, and no objections from me. It was a compromise. She doesn't like to have folks go out of their way for her and she really just wanted to take the bus. I told her I had been wanting to get up to Ohio anyway and she would be doing me a favor by providing the excuse. I think we are both happy.

I couldn't let an opportunity to go to central Ohio pass by. I am making plans for an afternoon in Columbus.

While I feel like a cheat and hypocrite, I do feel justified with the next breath. We are still saving enormous amounts of money. We have been able to live without our cars here in Huntington and I am replacing a potential rental with my own van. Yet, obviously I feel guilty enough to lay myself out here to try to assuage my own mind and keep my path honest.

Our Vehicle History: Stacy

Due to the nature of marriage, this will be a three part post. First my history, then a recap of Brent's, and finally what we have accomplished together. Due to our extensive moving history, lack of care for keepsakes, technological upgrades, and disorganization, there will be a shortage of photos.

Way Back When
My family lived down a 4/10th of a mile long gravel drive way in between two towns in mid-western Ohio. We had public school busing that picked us up at the end of the drive and took us directly to school. Sometime in junior high my friend Jill and I were granted permission to ride our bikes to school. We didn't have any concept of miles, but we knew it took about twenty minutes. We had been riding the country side all summer and even went into to town to the mall and movies. Biking was our freedom.



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A general map of home to junior high above and home to high school below.



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We even biked some in high school. Then there was my first car in about 1995, a 1978 (dad, is this correct?) silver Volkswagen Dasher, and with that machine my bike rarely saw the outside world again. The Dasher had been the family car till about 1986 when my parents bought their first van with the arrival of my youngest sister, their fourth child.


The car got me where I needed to go, but eventually it was parked and I was permitted to drive the 1990 Plymouth Laser. The Laser went with me to college in Asheville, NC in 1998. My campus life was spent mostly walking. I drove down off of campus and then walked most of the city. The Laser then took me to Denver that same year and I was able to salvage some time with it until the timing belt broke, I fixed it, then decided to drive it home to my dad and live without a car. In Denver, I walked, carpooled, borrowed my aunt's and friend's cars, bussed, and biked. Again, I didn't have much sense for distance, but I knew how much time I needed and I went. I worked, I went to school, I had fun, and I didn't need a car.


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A general map of home to work in Denver, above.


Sometime in early 2000 I moved to Atlanta and drove my boyfriend's car or his brother's car or just stayed home. I didn't fancy Atlanta very much, for many reasons, mostly climatic, so I leased a Saturn and moved to Columbus, OH. I ended up in Hilliard, on the outside edge of the city (it was really the burbs) and drove the Saturn everywhere. I was in a cookie cutter apartment with a young 20s lifestyle. I worked, I went to school, I played. While I was at Ohio State University (OSU) I had an expensive parking pass and still had to walk from the lot to class, which I am guessing was near a mile.


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The distance from Hillard to OSU, above.


I wound up giving the Saturn to my boyfriend when I ended the relationship. At some point while I was in Columbus I ended up with the Laser again, but I don't recall why. I gave that car away to a family in Maryland whom needed one.


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A map from Grandview to OSU, above.

I moved to Grandview in 2001, closer to downtown Columbus, and took up a carpooling, walking lifestyle again. I got rides to school and work and walked around Grandview and to the grocery. My dad loaned me a Cavalier for a short bit when Brent and I had gotten together and his car was hit by a driver and totaled out by the insurance. This marked the beginning our car life together.


Typical American Girl

So all in all it seems pretty classic to me. I drove when I had the means to drive. I biked and walked when I couldn't. The car was pretty important to my sense of independence. It was needed less when I lived closer to town.


I will work on getting Brent's story for you next time.