Biking with the Brakes On...

OK, we made it through the Bike-To-School Day adventure - despite the fact that I rode uphill with 40-pound Stephen (see below) on the back trailer with my front brake dragging on the wheel. Thankfully, Ryan was happy on his own as long as I had his backpack (which felt like it was full of rocks - note to self: clean backpack before next ride).

As soon as I hopped on the bike, I remembered that my brakes got out of alignment on my last bike ride and are desperately need of someone with more bike maintenance knowledge than me.

Ah well... the helmets were on, the kids were excited so off we went. Along the way, my friend Angela called to say she was walking to work (yeah!) and I met a nice woman who works for the Parks Department who said she had wanted to ride in today, but realized she needed a new helmet and tires.

So here's my advice - go get those bikes tuned up before summer! Either find a local shop or a class where you can learn how to do the basic stuff yourself. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, one to check out would be REI's free Bike Maintenance 101.

From the picture, you would think Stephen must have done all the pedaling, but that's not what it felt like to my legs! Anyone else out there want to share a Bike-to-Work or Bike-to-School Day story??