Quite some time ago, there was a person on Flickr who commented on a few of Gareth’s photos. I didn’t think much of it, lots of people look at them, but while checking out site logs for the past year, I found that this person not only linked Gareth’s site here but is also on quite the journey - 20,000 kilometers around the world, via bike and skateboard!

I’ve been known to say that if Gareth ever wanted to tour, I’d refuse based on having to sit on an upright seat, but secretly, deep down inside, I know I’d jump at the chance.

Robert has already finished the Japan to England leg of his tour. We wish him good travels and lots of tailwind for his US/Mexico leg (and luck getting a visa).

UPDATE: Oops, forgot to mention. He has also commented here twice in the past. I guess I just never put all these things together. I’m slow like that.

Has it really been nearly a month since the last ride? Painfully, yes. As the temperatures climbed into the 90’s, Gareth decided that riding his bike was not a priority over playing with Star Wars toys. My itch for a family ride finally brought the drought to an end.

On Saturday, August 11th, we drove out to the Lower Trail with our bikes and gear in tow. This was our first time doing two things: 1) using Gareth’s new rock climbing harness as a hip/lap restraint; 2) packing the trike panniers with Gareth’s supplies for a rest stop.

Let’s talk about the harness first since I’ve mentioned it in the past. It worked really well. The harness has two plastic loops meant for hanging supplies (like chalk bags) that are situated on either side of the primary restraint. All I needed to attach that to the bike was an appropriately short and taut bungee strap. The only trick to using the harness is that we have to put it on Gareth before we put him on the bike. The old restraint remained on the bike at all times. A small price to pay for a restraint that works much better for Gare. He told me that it was much more comfortable than his old hip restraint, which means that rides should be much more tolerable for him now.

The big lesson I learned on our 20 mile ride was that Gare needs to get off the bike at some point or else he’ll become quite uncomfortable. When Brandy bought a rack for my trike, I purchased panniers for it shortly thereafter. We put them to good use for our trail ride, packing them with a blanket, spare diapers, Gareth’s food, a camera, repair tools/supplies, et cetera. This allowed us to stop on the trail and attend to Gare’s needs (like the need to stretch) in order to prolong the ride. As a result, we ended up doing 5 miles before stopping off to rest and returning back to the trailhead. At no time did Gare express discomfort or a desire to stop the ride.

Actually, he really loved this ride. The Lower Trail is wide enough that we could ride right alongside Brandy. He got a kick out of being able to reach out his hand and touch his mom, and I got a kick out of being able to see my trike in action without actually being on it.

The trail itself is a beautiful, well maintained, flat stretch of crushed stone traveled by some very friendly folks. If you’re in the area and looking for a relaxing ride, it’s definitely worth the time. The only thing I would caution is that if your bike/trike is greater than 36″ wide, you might have difficulty getting it through the trailhead fences.