Tension crossbar needed for bike rack

Today I decided to try out the new bike rack and things didn't go like they did at Summit Bicycles when I practiced putting a bike on the bike rack.  The bike I practiced with had a cross bar and mine does not.  A quick search of Amazon.com informed me that what I needed was a tension cross bar to mount on the bike so the bike could be secured on the bike rack.  Summit was going to have to special order it, so I just went with the one on Amazon, that had over 200 very positive reviews, and had a video on their Amazon page about how to install it:

Allen Tension Bar Bicycle Cross-Bar Adaptor

So I should be able to solve that problem for under $20 bucks and within a few days.

I think I should have named this blog:  Clueless and trying to ride a bicycle!  :-)

Pink bike site!

Here is a site that lists pictures of pink bikes!  If you are riding a pink bike, you might want to send them a picture! :

Pink bike site

Mid-Peninsula Open Space

Mid-Peninsula Open Space District features many San Mateo County places to get out and hike or bike.  This page shows which preserves allow bicycles.  Please note in sme cases they are talking about mountain bikes:

Preserves allowing bicycles

Want to learn more about the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District and the beautiful places you can go visit in their preserves?  Check out their wen b site:

Mid-Peninsula Open Space District

Transit and Trails: You don't need a car to get into the great outdoors!

Transit and Trails promotes the awesomeness that you do not have to have a car to get out to our natural areas to hike and bike in the bay area.  If you are interested in finding out more about what they are doing, checking out their videos, perusing their maps and information... then go here:

Transit and Trails website


Transit and Trails video:

Transit and Trails Video

Riding the San Francisco Bay Trail

The San Francisco Bay Trail is a wonderful ongoing project.  I admit I got my first exposure to it sitting in a window seat, facing the bay, at Elephant Bar Restaurant in Burlingame.  So many happy people walking and biking right outside my window!  Some of the hotels and restaurants in this area have unrestricted parking for free if you do not want to pay for access to a park as the starting point of your ride.

Here is a map of the San Francisco Peninsula Section of the San Francisco Bay Trail:

Peninsula Section of San Francisco Bay Trail

Here is a link to a page that describes the whole San Francisco Bay Trail project:

The San Francisco Bay Trail

Bicycle Sunday on Canada Road

When I have made trips down to Filoli in my car, I have noticed that the road to Filoli always has a lot of bicyclists on both sides of the road on Sundays.  Right after Filoli there is a road closure on Sundays for bicyclists and people walking.  This is a beautiful area and well worth investigating as a place to ride your bike!

Canada Road in Redwood City Closes on Sundays for Bike Riders

Peninsula Bike Trails Online

http://www.trails.com/trailfinder/browsebymap/?statecode=CN

San Francisco Peninsula Bike Trails online.

Unboxing my Public C7

Unboxing from December 6th.    Some pedals have been recalled from Public Bikes.  When I looked it up the recall was about bikes sold in an earlier time frame.

The recall notice from Public Bikes:

http://publicbikes.com/Important_Safty_Update.htm?position=tile6

Nutcase Helmet to match my bike!

This is my new Nutcase Black and Pink Helmet that I got for Christmas that will go awesomely well with my pink bike.  Thanks Mom!

Nutcase Bike Helmets

Water bottle fits on handlebar

I decided I wanted a water bottle on my bike.  Going with the pink thing, I got a pink Polar BPA free water bottle from Amazon.  Pink and a polar bear.  Total win.  I ordered one water bottle cage from Amazon and did not read the reviews to discover that it did not come with any hardware to install it with..... until it arrived and I couldn't find any hardware in the box.

Plan B was to buy a water bottle cage that definitely had hardware with it to get it on the bike.  I found a pink one on Amazon.... and it was a bit different.  It mounts of the handlebar, which they note is a more convenient place to have a water bottle than the usual place.

It is convenient to have it up in front, but there is only so much real estate on the bar.  I have a big Day of the Dead bell on there, the water bottle,  a reflective light, the handlebar grips.  I hope I have room for the mileage gage!

This is the pink water bottle cage, if you are interested:

RavX Belly X Handlebar Water Bottle Cage

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0060YXP0C/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

I love the staff at Summit Bikes in Burlingame!

This week I went over to Summit Bikes in Burlingame.  Having finally gotten a trailer hitch attached, and having special ordered a Saris bike rack, it was time to go get it and put it on.

I was pretty shameless about asking for help putting it on.  When I called Sports Authority in Daly City, they said they didn't have have time to help me put on a bike rack.  They offered to hand me the manual and say good luck.  Summit Bikes was willing to put the bike rack on for me, and then show me how to get a bike on and off the rack. Awesome on you Summit Bikes, and especially upon you Chris, who helped me out tremendously.

It might not seem like a big deal to put a bike rack on a trailer hitch.  And it is not a huge deal- if you have tools.  Chris had to go back into the bike shop two or three times to get tools to put the bike rack on.  These were tools I do not have at home, so if I had just taken the box home and looked at the manual- I still wouldn't have a bike rack on my car.

I like the Saris Bike Porter Hitch rack a lot- it is simple to use and now I can take my bike anywhere.

If only it would stop raining.  My bike is not rated for riding in the rain, so I will have to wait for clear skies.  That will happen soon enough.

The staff at the Burlingame store are awesome:

http://www.summitbicycles.com

One of the things I really appreciate about them is that even though I will never ride in a bike race and am not a candidate for spandex, they were helpful. respectful and friendly.  I thanked them for helping me, even though "I am not a real bicyclist."  "We're all real bicyclists," the young man I was talking with said.  Well, thank you for that.  :-)

Centennial Way trail in South San Francisco

I would like to make note of Centennial Way, a paved path that runs generally behind the BART lines from South San Francisco BART to San Bruno BART.  This is a great place to ride a bike, if you live in this area, or just to go walking:

http://www.ssf.net/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1255

My New Pink C7 from Public Bikes arrives! I love it!

Today my new pink C7 pink bike from Public Bikes arrived.  I put on the video from their web site about the few things it take to finish assembly and was assured that it would take me five to ten minutes.  I am perhaps a klutz. It took me 20 minutes.  I am not unhappy about this.

They advertise that it rides like butter.  It rides like butter.  It is the best riding bike I have been on, and I have ridden bikes that cost twice as much as this one.

There isn't anything I don't like about it.  Honestly.

I took it out for three short rides today and discovered something important.  I am really out of shape.  I could really feel it in my thighs.

Getting the bike today is part of a continuing journey about bicycling.  I bought a Townie about a year ago.  I don't like the angle my arms must assume to ride that bike, given it's construction.  It also is very long.  It feels like riding in an old Cadillac.  I am not sure if I will sell it or keep it, and that decision can wait for awhile.

In the last couple weeks I had a trailer hitch installed on my Honda Fit so I can could put a bike rack on it.  When I bought the Fit I imagined I could get a bike in it without taking off the front wheel.  I had seen ads that showed a bike being walked into the back seat area with the back seats folded up.  I actually bought that car so I could walk a bike in there like that.  It must have been a child's bike, because an adult sized bike will not fit.  (No pun intended.)  I can jam a bike in there if I push the front passenger's seat all the way forward and collapse both back seats.  Doing that is a pain in the you know what, so I decided to have a trailer hitch installed so I could have a bike rack.  (The design of my Honda Fit in back precludes putting a bike rack without a trailer hitch.)

I called Honda of Serramonte where I got my Fit and asked them about installing a trailer hitch.  At first they said it couldn't be done, and then defaulted into saying it is an "after market" item and they don't have trailer hitches.  I called Summit Bikes in Burlingame, and they said to call U-Haul in Belmont.

I tried calling U-Hauls that were closer, and every one of them told me to call U-Haul in Belmont.

I called U-Haul in Belmont.

They put on my trailer hitch, which had to be special ordered for the Fit, about a week ago.  If you go there to have a trailer hitch put on for a bike or anything else, given my experience I would say: WATCH THEM LIKE A HAWK.  When I went to pay for the trailer hitch the guys behind the counter were having a difficult time processing my credit card.  There was nothing wrong with my credit card.  "We're having problems with our system. It's us." they said.  Finally tehy asked me to sign on the screen and since they had run my credit card at least five times I asked if I was going to be charged more than once.  "Oh no, it didn't go through those other times, it just went through once," I was told.

I believed them.  They were wrong.  They charged my credit card five times.  (It took me an hour on the phone with B of A to straighten that out.)

Anyway, I went out to look at the trailer hitch.  I have seen trailer hitches before and there was clearly a  piece missing.  I went back in and up to the counter and said, "There's a piece missing."  The two guys at the counter denied there was a piece missing.  But a third employee off to the side said there was a piece missing, and that he would go and get it.

The first two guys acted like they had no idea what he was talking about.

He came back with the missing piece, which the other two guys suddenly recognized as being in existence, and they proclaimed "She hasn't paid for that piece."  The other guy said.  "It's part of the kit.  She paid for the kit.  Therefore it belongs to her."

They gave me the missing piece without charging me extra for it.  Thank you guy that works at U-Haul in Belmont who was honest and actually helpful.  As for the other two guys:  watch out for their shenanigans.