Yuba Mundo Bike

Still here

2011-07-16T09:58:00.001-07:00

Summer rolls on and a little hello from us, post ice cream break.

Shade and slides.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Freak sunshine

2011-02-05T07:13:00.001-08:00

20 degrees celcius. BBQ good wine and a spin on the yuba with no coats...
Its feb 2011, a couple of days ago it was log fires and high winds. Strange but nice to bake in the sun !

My computer went bang a while ago so i have been a bit webless. This post is from my phone on the grass in a park.

Been hard at work, do more walking now that we live in the town centre with everything so close so the Yuba has got less use since september. Mrs Yuba cycles everyday the 2km to work putting me to shame. I am moving into a new line of work 9km away in the countryside so I think the Yuba will get some heavy usage soon. Will keep you posted.

On the way to the park.

Horse stop.

See you soon !

Cool mornings

2010-09-25T01:34:00.001-07:00

Summer has slipped away, and we are putting on layers against the coolness in the morning air. The leaves are on the ground and we have after months of bone dry rides seen rain.

The orange Yuba has some nice brown Fat Frank kevlar laced tyres, and has lost its slow flat habit. The hole left by the shard of glass in the self healing inner tube was huge and couldn't bridge the gap with the latex sludge.
The Yubas get used so much that the car battery has lost its charge...

Spiderman, chuckles and the pool

2010-09-15T04:19:00.001-07:00

Great sunny day. Mrs Yuba dropped the girls at the pool 2.5 km away and it was my task to collect them on my Yuba taking Spiderman with me when the swiming lesson was over. Got smiles on the way and it was great to roll up and collect the girls as they came out without the hassle of parking. Lots of mums came over to look at the bike. Hope some will ride. If we 4 can anyone can.
What made my ride though, amongst the many smiles we got was the reaction of an old lady out on a walk who turned and chuckled when she saw us. You could feel that we had bought a ray of sunshine into her life. She wouldn't have seen our smiling faces in a SUV.

Fastest in town

2010-09-09T13:31:00.001-07:00

School is back in and we (Mrs Yuba) have been busy organizing out of school activities for the kids as two wheel adventures do not suffice. This morning I was informed that I had a RDVS on the other side of town 15 mins after the kids got out of school. Flamenco dance lessons for the girls in the municipal dance and music accademy. In a car at that time of day it was mission impossible...

Caught dismounting

Straight out of school (its across the road) and onto the back of the Yuba. Mouths dropped and others laughed as we raced off down the road towards town. We picked our way through the traffic and then the pedestrians in the centre. It has been a while since we have been 4 on the Yuba and people do gasp even more, the freak show effect is really strong. Although the remarks we get are more and more positive. Sara you are right, being an exrovert must help. I am not generally, and was just using the most effective mode of transport, sometimes you feel uncomfortable. But i just shrug my shoulders now and try and concentrate on the road.
We were the first to arrive, on time, and were not bothered by the traffic or the lack of parking. All the other parents looked
harassed and didn't stop moaning about the time slot.
Mrs Yuba joined us by bike half way through auditions and is planning to take the girls to swimming lessons on her orange Yuba.
More and more the Yuba's are getting non leisure usage and prove to be the best choice for us....

Beep beep

2010-09-04T06:47:00.001-07:00

Got honked at by some loser in a Benz on the way to the market. He didn't know how to drive and wanted me to pull over and stop. It ended in tyre spin, black exhaust smoke and a stupid close pass. 50 yards later he came to a stop because of a street protest. He probably spent 20 minutes sitting there. I resisted the pull of a face to face, and went my way. I was surprised how angry this idiot made me. We parked up the Yubas and I was told to sit and read the newspaper over a coffee while Mrs Yuba did the shopping, its usually me who does this so it makes a change. Some "me" time sans kids...

On the way back I noticed that the rear tyre was getting very squidgy and that my slow flat is no longer slow. At this point a bus starts honking at me. I thought the driver had spotted my soft looking tyre so I waved thanks and carried on. But he carried on honking and driving along side me. When I stopped the doors swung open and I braced myself for some abuse.

" Wow, really cool bike dude ! Where did you get it ?"

Amazed, I told him quickly, and watched as the traffic built up behind the halted bus and the driver tried to engage me in conversation. There were dozens of people nodding in the packed bus and a couple of them joined in talking. I tried to be engaging but we were blocking a main street in the town centre. I got the feeling that some of the passengers were in a hurry, and there was also the matter of my deflating tyre, and the fruit and veg warming up in the paniers.
I said bye and made it home without destroying the tyre. I am looking at some brown fat franks. Anyone know if these have kevlar in them like the black ones ?

You are never alone or bored on a Yuba Mundo....

Beach run

2010-08-30T23:47:00.001-07:00

We managed to make it to the beach. The last 2 runs failed for various reasons.

Here we are parked up on a village square for a drink stop.

We had quite a few people check the bikes out which was fun. Just watching their faces speaks for itself.

Yuba nap.

Done alot of shopping trips and errands with the summer sun. Its good to be out.
The orange yuba has a persistant slowflat. I have a shard of beer bottle that i pulled out that must have left a sliver that flats it over night despite the sludge goo no flat inner tube. Can't find it though. I might end up getting the same tyres for it as came standard with the green Yuba. Kevlar reinforced and no
problems in over a year.

Reality check

2010-08-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we used the car. Despite my vow to cut out driving after a recent trip to see family 100 miles away, which had found me at night on a motorway (6 lane highway) at 75mph facing a car coming head-on the wrong way. Yesterday the cat was very ill so we had to speed off to the vet, so that was that... We used the car all afternoon, went to the beach and a mall, sat in tourist traffic with the A/C on and couldn't find a place to park. Wasted alot of time doing miles and miles on highways that were not economical in their route from A to B... it was the cats fault... but it was still awful.

This morning we were having breakfast and listening to the news about the suffering following the horrific floods in Pakistan, and then the journalists wondering if this disaster might possibly have anything to do with global warming. What followed was pretty eye opening. My 6 year old who had been munching on her cornflakes asked if it was because we had used the car. My 9 year old confirmed that it was, and quoted global warming. I then asked them how we would go food shopping for the familly get-together tonight. My 9 year old said we would take the car (she obviously relished yesterday's aircon cooled effortless transport), and that is when my 6 year old told her,

"Well you say home and get a fat bum, we are going by bike."

My 4 year old broke out in giggles, and I asked my 9 year old why she wanted to go by car if it contributed to such a nasty thing.

" Whats the point ? Everybody else takes the car so it makes no difference..."

Thats when I pointed out that somebody has to start somewhere and that I didn't want to add to a horrible problem if I could avoid it. They munched on a little, thinking it over a bit, then they got up grabbed their helmets and the shopping bags and we headed for the Yuba. Truth from the mouths of babes yet again !

Pump jinx

2010-08-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Started our ride today prizing a shard of glass out of the rear tyre on the orange yuba and watching it self seal when I pumped it back up (At home with my foot pump). All I had to do was spin the wheel and the hissing air was stopped by the goo in the inner tube in under a second. Still good after 20 kms loaded up. Fantastic.
Our objectif was the beach but after our park picnic break we came back to the bikes to find two flat tyres. Both the front ones on the kid's bikes. After thousands of miles of cycling over the couple of years this is the first time we had had a flat on a family outing and not the morning after. This time it was a rusty drawing pin (tack) and a nice big thorn. And guess what no pump... had patches though....

As we had been able to move along without using the pedals on the way out, literally pushed along by the wind, we decided to head back home, and I got to pull the two girls and their two bikes.... won't go out without a pump again. Infact I don't generally, but it just goes to show that when you forget. Bingo !

Double vision

2010-07-20T01:31:00.001-07:00

We now have got into the swing of things. Saturday morning is when we go down "en famille" to the town centre to the farmer's market to buy the weeks fresh food. Previously we had stopped biking, walked and hauled everything back on foot in the scorching sun. As although with one Yuba Mundo and various other bikes it was possible to go, we just felt in danger in busy angry Saturday morning stop start traffic. Constant shouting instructions at one or two slow distracted children on kiddy bikes over the sound of dozens of car engines, screeching tires, car stereos, and putting up with drivers with little awareness of anything else on the road just didn't make for a fun outing, or good blood pressure. Now with the two Yuba Mundos as a family of 5 we can zip down to the square in a couple of minutes, park up, potter around buying fruit and veg, have a coffee while the kids run around playing and having fun in a car free space. The only problems are the arguments between the children of who gets to ride on the new orange Yuba Mundo !

Often, with the food stowed in the fridge we zoom off to the beach with the beach gear and kid's bikes hanging from or pulled along behind the Yuba Mundos. That way if they want to ride they ride, if they want to be cargo they hook up and ride the Yuba.

The V3 Mundo is noticibly lighter, a great ride, and the lighter MTB wheels are still straight and true.

One of the problems with having two Yuba Mundos is the temptation to load and load with stuff that you don't need.

40 km in the day on her Yuba Mundo. Mrs Yuba is pleased and was not running empty.

Hint hint

2010-07-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be great if we could go down to the market with the kids on the two Yubas Saturday morning, and the beach on Sunday, Mrs Yuba mentioned at the breakfast table recently.

Today was too hot to go out, and I had my day so I was a man with a mission, finish the V3 Yuba before the end of the day. Rumbling through my parts bin I popped the BB7 cable pull brake on the front which as ever was easy to fit and mega powerful. On the back I put an Avid single digit 7 v-brake and levers which are capable of locking up the back wheel at speed. These too are excellent.

I had a rear Shimano SLX derailleur,

two SRAM chains an old set of cranks. The toughest part was fitting the bottom bracket (a wide one !) to the frame threads which were full of paint overspray and crap. But most of the frames I have come across are like this... Once that was on it all fitted together nicely.

I have not fitted a front derailleur as I dont have one, and I think 9 speeds is great for now.

All this done I took her out for a spin by the river. The headset creaked as did the crankset, so I tightened them up. The main difference was from the tires I felt. I had a set of Maxxis Larsen TT tires which zip along and hum on the road, but are quite hard compared with my V2's ballon tires. The bike feels longer too, but that is because of the stem which is longer and that I will have to swop out. The brakes are tighter and the 9 speed drive is a dream. I put the H bars on the back too, they don't seem as wide as on the V2 and are slightly swept back. Look good though and went on really easily. Lighter bike too...

Mobile Music

2010-06-28T02:28:00.001-07:00

Pedal powered fairground ride !

Well I have been busy running around working so I have got behind with my blogging. Not too long ago we went down to the Saturday morning farmer's market and ran across the yearly bicycle awareness ride which I had forgotten about. A sort of townhall sponsored (this year !) "Critical Mass". Previously it was all unauthorized and critical of townhall's lack of intrest in everything bike related. What with the massive green vote recently things are changing. This year it was pretty organised and there were a loads of bike "events".

Leading the ride !

There was the local bike shop selling bikes on site, and the local bicycle association that had all sorts of odd bikes on show and a mechanic to give advice (who I asked about my previous blog post front wheel doubts and he said it would be ok as long as I didn't load too much).

Flower power

When they saw me they asked me to park up the Yuba Mundo on the show stand and I spent part of the morning answering questions and giving couples rides on the back around the square which was really fun. Then a jazz band turned up in all sorts of pedalcars, and a Bakfiet three wheeler bike that came in at around 60kg the guy said.

Here I am giving a musician a lift and answering questions about the Yuba Mundo

Then off we went around town playing jazz and spreading the good word about bikes. We didn't go un noticed or unheard ! I had one of my kids and a brass player without transport on the back of the Yuba.

Mobile music

Shade break

A great day out again and we got a load of smiles.

9mm QR or 10mm bolt through

2010-06-10T04:12:00.001-07:00

This was fun. (Ok, I was bored in bed with a cold)

As it was raining and this is what I had been thinking about all morning, I went out to the garage, got my Vernier Callipers out and got measuring. Not something you think or talk about generally, but may be of interest to some people in my situation. Keep in mind that my Vernier Calliper is a cheap and nasty item so these measurements may be "slightly" off.

1. Rockshox Tora 289 disc fork had a perfect 9.00mm slot for axles on one side and 9.10 on the other. Oooh ! Probably paint and muck.

2. Steel MTB non-disc V brake fork had a 9.75mm slots for the 9mm QR axle supplied. Ahhhh ! (I must have done 1000 miles on this fork, often loaded like a donkey.) Looked OK.

3. Yuba Mundo V3 disc fork had a 10.10mm slot and a perfect 10mm on the other leg. Cooorr ! Probably paint again making for the difference.

4. My "standard" 9mm QR axle came in at 8,82mm in diameter... argh !

5. My original V2 Yuba Mundo front axle came in at 9.52mm diameter... ( I could see a slight gap between it and the drop out.) Looked OK.

My questions;

Is it Ok to run a standard 9mm QR in a 10.10ish slot with brake discs ? I get the feeling some people are going to do this without seeing an issue.

Or do I need a special 9,52mm axle disc hub up front ?

Looking at the numbers and fitted it looks really sloppy, it would probably work for a ride around the block, but discs do load axles, so I am faffing around on the internet trying to find somebody with THE knowledge. The Yuba is such a pick and mix of fun industry standards that it is quite unique and not always easy to follow on the best of days

My worry since I first popped a wheel in these forks is that the gap between the 9mm axle and the larger fork drop out slot edge would allow flex/axle movement/slip under load, over stress the skewer and/or make the brakes/forks judder. Or even lead to wheel loss.

I hope that this will be a simple general knowledge question, and that the cough medecine will wear off soon and my mind will clear.

I will probably learn that each manufacturer is slightly off the industry standard anyway depending on the day of the week or whats on the radio, that bike manufacturing is not aerospace manufacturing. But this is a bit off for me. I want to keep my teeth and avoid front wheel loss incidents...

Aren't home builds fun... there is always something that you don't know for sure... and this must be my 20th something bike build !

Opinions and knowledge welcome !

Slow progress

2010-06-08T12:11:00.001-07:00

I have been pretty busy recently, but I managed to fit the headset and forks this afternoon as I was off ill. Yes I should have been in bed, I know, but prefered to sweat it out in the garage. I had not fitted a threaded fork in a long time I realised. Still have the special spanner though.

For some reason I thought I had the right quill stem. Here is proof that a 1 inch one will not fit the Yuba Mundo' headset, which is a 1 1/8th inch threaded one if I remember correctly. Also I had the wrong seat clamp, I think it needs to be the bigger 34.9mm one. I say "I think" because I can't see the info anywhere on the web. I had the 31.8mm version, which is also the seat post dia but not much help otherwise. A quick internet trawl sorted that problem with some secondhand items for not alot...

V2 (Green) and V3 (Orange) seat tube external diameter. Thicker paint on the V2 ? Or rather perhaps I need to get a new vernier calliper...

Found a nice new SRAM 9 speed gear shifter to go on the handlebars, some grips. A new SLX rear mech and two SRAM chains in my parts bin. ( A sports shop went bust last year here and I picked up some bargains).
We were planning to go for a ride tomorrow but every one says storms are on their way, so maby not...

Right of way.... and bad manners

2010-05-24T01:21:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the mother in law with us to the beach as the sun is out finally. We loaded up the inflatable sharks, beach tent, giant styrofoam tube clubs for play fights in the sea (bought in a flea market second hand), buckets, spades etc etc. Number 1 child was in a sulk and wanted to play on her DS at home and refused to cycle, so she joined Number 3 child on the back of the Yuba Mundo. Quite the load.

We were soon on the cyclepath and after a couple of km we ran into a fleamarket that had run over and where everyone had used the cyclepath as a parking space. Obviously because it was a waste of space... We had to ride around this mess through endless cars attempting to find parking space and found our way on the other side. Then after 500 metres, on a corner, a man jumped out infront of us and shouted "Stop ! Its the marathon you can't ride here." Number 2 child ran into the back of the Yuba Mundo with a crash of handlebars and I looked down the cycle path to see 2 or 3 runners and a couple of huge motorbikes escorting them on the cyclepath. I asked him what I was supposed to do and he told me to watch or go home. The path runs through fields and there are no other road options. I looked around, there were no posters warning of the event, no barriers, and very few runners. I told him to "have a nice day" and carried on down the cyclepath as usual. We came across several other cyclists coming the other way looking very unhappy, one of them wishing us "good luck", and every now and then a sole runner. One or two of the runners insulted us and even changed sides of the cyclepath at the last moment to stop us head on to show that we had no right to be there ( A great way to make a child fall off a bike). After a couple of km I came across a couple of cops who were regulating cars where the cyclepath crossed a road and I asked them why the marathon was not being run on the road, like most marathons. It was a registered marathon route I was told. So I replied that I could see where the priorities lay with townhall. The cop didn't like that, and replied that pedestrians do indeed have priority over cyclists. (But not over cars apparently). Which I thought was a strange thing to say. Are marathon runners pedestrians ? LOL, I suppose a cop always has to have the last say and be in the right, whatever the case. He told me to wait while 3 runners and a huge motorbike went past and told me that I could carry on down the cycle path now that it was free. ( He didn't try and tell me to get off the path though, funny that...) so I told him to "have a nice day" and pushed off down the empty path... A minute later while I was thinking over the strange reply and barely hidden anticyclist sentiment of the cop, a runner swore at me in very strong language infront of my children. Fuming I asked a lone bystander what the route was and discovered that we were going to be abused like this for the next 10 km along our normal route. So we hooked a left as soon as we could and took a 10 km detour on another cyclepath to the east and north to avoid them. The mother in law (worried by the extra distance and the risk of not reaching the beach as a result) wanted to carry on with the runners as there were very few and we could share the path which is very wide. Sure, but I told her it would end in manslaughter by bicycle pump if another goon in lykra tried to push us off the path into the bushes, or swore at me in front of the children. I spent the next half hour calming down, fuming at the organisers of the marathon and the impossibility of people to share living space. Although I am sure I am wrong to catagorise runners as I did at that moment in time (I know some long distance runners and they are great people). This is the same kind selfishness that pushes people to drive cars so that they can be seperated from everyone in a bubble of polluting priviledge and comfort at the expense of others, the kind of people I take the cycle path to avoid...... To me this is another frustrating example of individualism and how cyclists are barely tolerated by "normal" people and how much crap we have to put up with in general.

We managed to have a great time any way and stopped in a beautiful poppy field for a rest.

Parked up at a new beach with a kiddy park, picnic, fruit from the local market, a drop of cool Sangria from a market stall to calm the nerves. The afternoon on the beach and playing in the sea was fantastic. Mrs Yuba joined us after work (Yes on a Sunday...) by car (she had to deliver stuff today, she normally travels by bike), and the mother in law was taken back in a car as she wasn't up to the return journey.

Round trip 44 km loaded up like a truck ! Was not planning on the extra 10 km but hey, was not a big deal for me anyway.

V3 Build

2010-05-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Time to get down to work. The aim here is to build up this frame with parts from another bike that my better half finds too tall, and bits from my parts bin.

A better shot of the (frame turned upsidedown) gusset on the downtube. All the tubes are different ftom V2 and the frame seems lighter. The welding is nothing to write home about, much like the V2, lets say functional rather than pretty. The paint job seems (could be the colour) thiner in places than my V2, with perhaps less lacquer. Still cool though.

Bought this back from Shanghai 2 years ago, all the bikes there have this, and it has sat in the parts bin ever since. I wouldn't leave my bike out of sight with this as you can still drag the bike away and shove it into a van. But sometimes when you stop at a café or for a rest etc, it is a pain to lock up your bike. With this I can sip my coffee and leave it insight on its stand without having to keep a constant eye on it. I have a second one for my V2 Yuba too.

Here you can see the alu spacer that takes the frame dropout from the Yuba Mundo 14mm to the standard 10 or 9mm (can't remember) size for a wheel axel. I see this being the weakest point in this "lite" (read cheap) setup. As the bicycle wheel is one of the strongest structures known to man I don't see the wheel folding. Now the two girls are mobile, I doubt that Mrs Yuba is going to load enough to bust this anyway, especially with two Yuba Mundos to spread the load on outings. This standard MTB wheel has seen serious abuse pulling overloaded trailors and packed racks, children on child seats, sometimes all at the same time. If the axle bends I will look at another solution. This will be an interesting test in a family use context, afterall Mrs Yuba won't be hauling sacks of grain in the bush, or three kids for 40km like me.
Also dropping the wheel into the drop outs was easy, no grunting or effort involved. That is a big change from the V2 which was agricultural to say the least. For that I had to put one foot pushing on a chainstay and pull on the other with a hand whilst trying to waggle in the axle...
Have not tried fitting the dreaded H bars as yet !

Sans headset.

First problem. The Rock Shox Tora fork in the parts bin has been cut too short, which is a shame because they look seriously tough. The headtube on the Yuba is quite long, and even without a headset fitted there is just not enough space to fit a aheadset stem. ( I will have to check that the Yuba Mundo can take a aheadset too, or if I am limited to threaded setups only.) So this bit of parts recycling isn't going to happen... will have to look at other fork solutions.

Orange

The fork is also quite laid back due to their length, changing the headtube angle, so that might change the great Yuba stearing. Also it puts a slope off the back of the flatbed, although with rider sag it might all pan out flat.

Ran out of build time, end of part one.

Orange

2010-05-07T05:42:00.001-07:00

A man came to the door with a rather large box today. I signed it off and opened it up. The cat jumped straight into the box, strange animal, and wouldn't get out.

Very orange.

I am often frustrated by the lack of photos on posts so here are some shots of what sprang to my eyes as being new on the V3.

Still very orange.

If you look carefully there is a new reinforcement gusset (plate) on the underside of the toptube straight off the head tube. This is a traditional stress point on bikes, nice touch. Not sure what the threaded holes in the top and down tubes are for though...

New arrangement here. Beefed up, nice thick kickstand plate I see.

More threaded holes, loop and I like the way the light mounting plate has been moved back out of harms way.

Two more threaded holes and a loop just below them on the underside of the "load area" tube just behind the seat. There are also two threaded holes for a waterbottle holder on the top of the down tube, which is a nice choice to have.

Disc brake tabs, ooooh.

Can't wait to build this up. I have a set of Rock Shox Tora 289 forks in the shed and I am wondering if they would be up to the job at the front. They are MTB forks, and it will be the missus who will be riding this as a Yuba Lite setup... any comments folks ? I will have to look at the BB7 stuff I have in my parts bucket to see if I can peg them on this. I will check on the blogs of the kind people who have already posted on this subject.

I will keep you posted. Hopefully we will have the makings of a family Yuba Convoy here before soon.

Wind and inflatable sharks

2010-04-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

School was out so after a 3 to 1 vote and some bribery involving sweets we headed for the beach. (Superman was on the TV and he is much in favour with my 9 year old at the moment.) The objective was to see if the sea was warm enough to swim. The sun has been back with vengence this week so the odds were looking good from our front garden viewpoint. Chains were lubed, paniers stuffed with swiming gear, including 2 inflatable sharks, beach blanket, spades, buckets picnic etc... Tires were pumped up and we wheeled out into the sunshine.

A nice cooling breeze picked up.

We managed a long picnic break in a park. A coffee & loo break in a village café. The closer we got to the coast however the stronger the headwind got.

When we finally mounted the dune at the end of the cycle path and hit the sand the kids hid behind the bikes or lay flat to avoid being sand blasted to the bone by the lashing wind. I made the executive decision to head back inland towards the windfree park straight away and the inflatable sharks never even made it to the water. Oh well you can't win every time.

What was good was that someone has been busy building links on the cyclepath system so we had chanced a new left turn at one point and hooked up to a new car free path to this new beach a few miles up from where we normally go. There is now the possiblity of cycling to the beach 99% car free which is pretty fantastic. After doing 40 km, half of which was against a headwind in the sun with a fully loaded Yuba Mundo I am frazzled but feeling good. I was surprised by the drop in noise and better gear shifting I noticed after oiling my chain before this ride. Oops must do that more often, but the Yuba Mundo, although being the bike I use the most is also the bike I touch the less mechanically. Almost never infact, apart from pumping up the tires once a week. The moving parts although simple and not particularly lust-worthy are proving to be pretty tough.

Yuba Mundo brakes

2010-04-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about my weeks riding this morning over my toast and coffee, and one thing kept standing out - the outstanding performance of the Yuba Mundo brakes. My green V2 Yuba Mundo's brakes work very well, which is just as well. Riding loaded with two little girls zigging and zagging around me on the cycle path, at 14 km an hour, our kiddie cruise speed, I can stop almost instantly. The extra long armed V brakes (tandem ones I suspect) are really powerful. I also had a 5 year old boy randomly wobble into my path head on too and I came to a stop on a dime. At several places I found myself on steep slopes, loaded up, rolling slowly downwards, controlling perfectly and with ease with two fingers on the levers. I have not touched my set up in about a thousand miles too....
I have put in an order for a V3 frame which I will be building up for my wife (Ok, for me too) with lighter parts, and I will be putting Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes on it. It will be interesting to see who can stop faster. Another positive point I discovered yesterday was when I was being pushed off the cyclepath at a low speed by a car (who shouldn't be there) and jammed the front wheel in a hole by the side of the path, you don't go over the handlebars. The big ballon tires absorb the shock, the rest of the bike is tough enough and heavy at the back enough to stay put. Always a bonus !

GM foods and Yuba Mundo in the sun

2010-04-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our opinions concur... but who cares.

We went down on the Yuba Mundo to the farmer's market like every Saturday morning and ran into a Greenpeace stand asking for signatures against GM foods. Unlike the majority of the rest of the western world, 85% of the population here has remained deaf to the agro-industry's arguments and the attempts by the government and the media to promote this stuff. Call it self-interest, cultural difference, a respect for nature and people's freedom, whatever you want, GM foods just don't wash here. I listened again to the pros and cons today and reinforced my view that GM foods are a very very bad thing... The thing is though, that my opinion (are those still allowed in the face of big money ?) and the opinion of the other 52 million people here who think the same, is clearly of no importance. Despite widespread active public opposition, GM foods are now omnipresent, are on the shelves and there is no way of knowing what is GM and what is not GM. I have a tendancy to vote with my Eurodollar, and I believe in the power of choice and the free market when the state caves in to business, but how to tell now ? I was informed by Greenpeace (they were giving out samples of GM free French cheeses that my kids ate faster than they could serve) that my favourite AOC Camembert now contains GM products. Great, I would rather eat my socks now (same smell), but what do I know anyway... Obviously I should just bow down to corporate interests and munch on this stuff... and forget what it might do to my health, the environment and poor farmers across the world. If you think GM foods are a good thing, perhaps you should investigate deeper. I did and didn't like what I found...

GM Camembert free we head for the beach.

We managed to have a great time by the sea playing in the sand and summer is getting closer. I have cycled a total of 132 kms (82 miles) this week, have only eaten GM free cheese. Feeling good !

Wow two "Green" blog posts in reaction to events in my neighbourhood in the space of a week...

Green fun down town

2010-04-05T13:20:00.001-07:00

Electric /diesel bus & pedal taxis

From a municipality usually not too concerned with the greener side of things came an amazing ecology fest this Easter weekend. We didn't even see all of it, there were stands all over the historical centre. We wandered into town to do some shoping on Saturday to find this mini revolution going on. I wonder if it had anything to do with the "Europe Ecologie" Party surge in the recent nationwide polls, or are the times achanging ? Mind blowing in such a usually conservative town...

Somebody brave at townhall had got their chequebook out !

We saw quite a few confused citizens, sadly alot of people are openley anti-ecology here (like much of Europe 15-20% of the vote is fascist) and will not have liked/understood this... Perhaps minds are evolving and people are realising/seeing that climate change will/is effecting them too, and not just poor people on the other side of the planet ?
A guy from town hall was doing his best with a megaphone to get people intrested and even gave away three new bikes at one point in a free prize draw. (We didn't win... my wife said just as well, with all the bikes we have...) And for once we did not look out of place !

There was a great Dutch guy Marc who has set up a courier business with an alloy box bike that comes in at 22 kg (48 pounds) he said, I wish him the best of luck. The kids climbed on bord and compared it to the Yuba. A very flash bike, capable, comfortable, really high end, and a thing of beauty in itself. Perfect for his activity... but his mouth did drop open when I told him the price of the Yuba...

:°)

There were also 2 electric assisted trike bubble taxi bikes subsidized by a local bank that puts its name on the trikes and supplies free rides around town to shoppers. As far as I can see this is a new form of advertising (for "green" bank loans ?!?) and a fun idea. The guy said they come in at 150 kg ! (330 pounds)

The kids went for a free ride and got some free sweets too !

Bye bye kiddies !

Old faithful !

Fun outing, a refreshing breath of air and quite a surprise. If it can happen here it can happen anywhere ! The kids also had fun on a free pedal car stand too, not easy to tear them away...

The pedal powered ecology theme continues !

The theme of the stand was recycling. There was a race where you had to grab some recyclable packaging (plastic bottle etc) put it in the little straw basket on the side of your pedal car, rush down the track as fast as your little ecowarrior legs can pedal and slam dunk the trash into a recycling bin. Great idea. Obligatory household recycling with truck pickup has not yet made it to our neighbourhood. Although we do haul as a family all our recyclables by Yuba to volontary collection points each week, I think we are a minority example here.

I hope this isn't another one day wonder aimed at pacifying unhappy voters with no follow through, but rather truely a sign that people in power are waking up to green issues.

We will see...

More pics of the day here http://www.bicicolis.com/actualites.html - on Marc's new boxbike courier website.

Something strange

2010-03-08T05:22:00.000-08:00

Winter wonderland

Hey, its nearly officially spring... Saturday we were having a birthday party in the garden in T-shirts. Today a foot of snow, this is strange weather for these parts.
It snowed all morning and our cooking gas ran out so I thought
"I'll pop out and pick up a gas bottle on the Yuba Mundo." - Afterall in these southern climes the snow is never much for a northern lad like myself. Famous last words.

Empty roads ! Good progress...

Great a chance to test the Yuba Mundo in the snow for 2km, he thinks. I grabbed a hat and headed on out. The roads were empty in our neighbourhood and the flakes fell gently.

Mayhem
(notice how the fire truck is going around the round about the wrong way),
and yes those are palm trees.

What made things interesting was the slush made by the morning rush hour traffic that was covered over in snow. It was semi frozen and the Yuba's back wheel with the gas bottle's weight squished off to the side every now and again. A foot to the floor and low speed was enough to keep any Yuba slides under control. Not too hard going. I can't help wondering what it would have been like with a set of knobbly mtb tires...
When I left the neighbourhood and reached the main road where the filling station that sells the cooking gas is I was greeted with fire dept 4x4 car sirens and an endless line of stuck cars.
All commerce was closed of course and I headed back home under what turned out to be a snow storm.

Snow is not fun he decides.

I had popped out of a side road and gone over to the station to see if it was open and my big green bike had obviously not gone unnoticed... as when I headed off I was followed into my sideroad by a stream of desperate drivers who had been stuck in a line for some time and obviously thought if an idiot on a big green bike could cycle on that road they must be able to get out of their mess that way too. These kind people with very little control of their sliding cars then proceeded to try and overtake me as obviously I was holding them up... Each time I had to jump off the Yuba and drag it off the road to avoid being crushed by sliding cars. Happily eventually they got stuck and I could leave them behind with their superior transport. No, I don't get sarcastic at all when I am angry...

When I got home there was about a foot of snow and I decided to go and pull the kids out of school. (Across the road). The teachers who all live out in the cosy suburbs were talking of sleeping in their classrooms... there are powercut warnings.... my wife's collegues who also live miles away may end up sleeping here at our home too. Some have been stuck in their cars all morning... what fun...

We hit the beach

2010-02-26T01:41:00.001-08:00

A man with a mission.

Sun was out, kids off school on holiday, we had breakfast and then off we went to the beach. The two girls were on their own bikes and my 3 year old had the luxury of the back of the Yuba to himself, and his little blue bike roped down. He managed about 2 km on his own before asking to climb back on board...

They wanted to jump into the waves, but this is february I explained so we played in the sand all afternoon in the sun. I think they realised how cold the water was when they saw a young couple enter and then exit the water rather rapidly at one point.

A sandwich stop and drink top up at a new organic supermarket (no bike rack though !) by the side of the cycle path and off we went back home.

I now have an escort of two little girls up front on the cycle path, talk about VIP transport ! This was also the first time Lucie rode by herself to the beach and back, 36 km... not too long ago she was a pedestrian ! Now the first thing she asks me in the morning is if we can cycle to the beach.

At home in time for tea...

Clamp seat, new bridge, horses and poverty camps..

2010-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

Schools out ! Time to test the new child seat that clamps with a vice action onto the back of the Yuba Mundo. Initially not a sure bet because the rear rack is 18 cm wide, which is wide, but I measured it all before buying and it fits great. There is also a strap to tie it down to the rack.

The bike is now a three seater, rather than a four previously, but the girls are now increasingly mobile.

Above is a stretch of road that had a cycle path that we use running along side it, which has now been blocked off to cars. This is because they have built a bridge across it and over the river. We are now free to pedal car free where the road was pretty dangerous before, which is really cool. Cyclists have a special tunnel under the start of the bridge to the cycle path on the other side that goes all the way to the sea. There are even cycle lanes on the bridge leading into town.

Brand spanking new, we are spoilt...

Traditional get your fingers bitten stop off...

At two points on our route down by the waterline we came across what I initially thought were dumps put upon closer inspection turned out to be habitations made out of cardboard and garbage. Three families live here.

This is something that I have never seen in my region or country before. Last autumn in the capital I had been shocked to see the same thing but on a grander scale by the side of the highway, way out on the way into the city. I thought it was people picking through a dump, but they were living there...

Here, before, the unemployed, the poor, the old, the sick, hapless immigrants, mental patients and missfits were looked after by the state. We pay the same taxes, but for more and more people in need this is not happening anymore. The priority contrast between the new multimillion bridge (and cycle tunnel) to relieve traffic congestion for business/tourism and the people leaving in cardboard huts with children (we had close to freezing for days last week) is new and to my eyes unacceptable.

Winter fun

2009-12-31T01:15:00.000-08:00

Older picture from the summer, but you get the idea.

School is out and we have got back into the habit of being 4 people on the Yuba Mundo. (Me and the 3 kids) The kids (3, 6 and 8 years old) have grown a bit and we are running out of space on the flatbed, although it is still totally doable and we still get the smiles.

For Christmas morning I took Mrs Yuba for a ride to the local Patisserie to get the traditional French "log" Christmas cake. We thought we were pretty chic on our carbon free transport, although we did stick out a bit amongst the 4x4's and Mercs. We had 18°C Christmas eve ( thats 64 degrees Fahrenheit for the americans out there) and the sun has been omnipresent, which is nice but strange. Normally it should be cooler and certainly not 18°C in the evening. Friends in the Northern climes have been sending me photos of frost and snow... here the battle is to keep the kids from going out in T shirts...

Happy new year everybody !

Yubaboy

Must.... resist.....

2009-12-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

The 3rd generation of the Yuba Mundo is out. I don't know how I managed to miss this... probably spending too much time on my bike !

They come with more gears, disc brake tabs, loops for hooking stuff on the frame, and it would appear more accessories... and they are even available as a frame set. Argh.

Must resist.

1000 visits

2009-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

During my travels today on the Yuba Mundo I had my 1000 th visiter. When I started this blog I never imagined that there would be that much intrest, and I hope that I have helped to prove and promote the Yuba Mundo concept, or even bike based transport in any form.
Anyway I got some milage in, a trip on my Trek hack to the local police station to report some stolen license plates missing from my wife's car, a trip to the recycling bins to empty the weeks cardboard, glass and plastics from the orange shopping caddy, then a trip to fill the shopping caddy and bag at the local supermarket. Had an old man stop in the street and gape open mouthed at me on the way back. I was quite loaded I suppose.

And as it was fantastically warm, sunny and I had my day, I hit the hills on my MTB. A great day. I often read in the cycling press about various states of beatitude reached during and post ride, and I often say to myself "over doing it a bit there.." but swooping along singletrack this afternoon got me up there and living the dream. (Well nearly.)

Fresh air

2009-11-23T03:28:00.001-08:00

Felt unwell and unfit all week. Pootling around on the Yuba Mundo is great but there is nothing like a lung busting, leg grinding ride into the mountains. My morning was free the sun was out, the wind was not too cold or strong, so off I shot to them there hills. Great freedom,and I took a bike pump with me this time.

Grabbed a sandwhich in the last village before the hills and climbed into the sunshine. The farmers were out pruning the vinyards and I came across a few walkers who were as lucky as me to be enjoying the countryside.

Death and rude people

2009-11-19T04:53:00.000-08:00

My hack.

I live in an old European town. The road layout of my neighbourhood probably follows the layout of cart tracks winding their way around fields set down thousands of years ago. Today this is all built up and covered in an urban landscape. Blind curves, endless junctions, blind spots, narrow points, one way roads etc etc and of course littered with cars parked on double yellow lines. One result of all this is that it is not car friendly. Drivers used to driving in a straight line at speed on the phone, listening to music whilst picking their noses and talking to their passenger (not necessarily in that order) often run into trouble. My house is on a crossroads on a bend where one of the roads has only space for one car but two lanes and a pedestrian crossing added just to spice things up. There is a crash here about twice a month where people find out that there really isn't room to fit two cars, or that speeding round a blind corner on the approach to crossroads is a bad idea. I spent most of yesterday evening listening to the shouting match that usually follows the now familiar squeel of tires and sound of crunching metal. I had a look at both parties who I thought might end up rolling in the gutter throwing punches by the sound of things ( the cops showed up and stopped that). They looked respectable members of society and were over fifty. Yet they behaved like three year olds, shouting in the street at perfect strangers, jumping around, swearing, threatening, telling lies. Out of context it would be funny. But if you acted like that on foot they would come take you away for a drugs test... why is it acceptable to behave like that if you are a motorist ? Often through my kitchen window I hear near misses then honking and really nasty swearing. And we have all done it...
I think this behaviour comes from our belief in god given rights as motorists to huge freedom and superhuman speed that places us above pedestrians and cyclists and the resulting superhuman frustration that slowly builds up with obstacles, laws and other people "getting in our way". Add money (the cost of running,buying and repair) and watch us all turn bad.
This post sprouts from two things. Firstly I read a few days ago on citysimplicity (a really fantastic blog on all levels)

A Dangerous Annoyance (to read the blog post)

a post on how motorists treat cyclists. And secondly today I was on the way back from the Post Office on my hack bike (no cargo so no need for the Yuba Mundo) at a junction waiting to turn left facing oncoming traffic, just as I would in a car, when a woman in a huge 4x4 screamed through her windshield "get out my F*%!ing way" and raced round me missing me by inches giving me a look of disgust. She wouldn't have done that if I was in a car (Or we were both on foot). I am so used to this sort of thing, and people's attempts to clip me with wing mirrors or drive really close to show that I am a dangerous annoyance, that I don't even react outwardly any more. It was when I pulled away from the junction towards home that a few words in citysimplicity's blog came back to me, and started this train of thought ;

"As previously implied, I think everyone has their right to own and drive a vehicle..."

This is almost universally accepted even amongst cyclists. Shaken and angry, I looked up a few numbers. Cars don't just pollute our streets, but injure 50 million people and kill 1.2 million people worldwide a year, thats 2.2 percent of all deaths... motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death among children worldwide.

Motor vehicle accidents are the sixth leading preventable cause of death in the United States^[43] (45,800 people died and 2.4 million were injured in 2005).

You can bet that tomorrow if you invented an activity that killed and injured as many people as cars, polluted as much and restricted everyone's freedoms in so many ways, that it would soon be banned and that you would be jailed pretty quick...

This is about rights alright. Those who are free to do as they will, and those who have to adjust their lives to fit around the automobile and give up their freedom. We have two cars in our household... I am so sick of all this that I will be looking at ways to go without.

Yuba Mundo at the pump track

2009-11-18T23:46:00.001-08:00

Lucie learned to ride her bike in about ten minutes flat. I was amazed, and I wonder if it has something to do with all the hours spent on the back of the Yuba Mundo. Anyway as school was out and so was the sun we grabbed the bikes and headed for the BMX track two blocks away down by the river. I noticed as I held the back of her saddle so she wouldn't fall off as we made our way, that she had her balance, but that she didn't realise it. The next step was to put my hands under her armpits to catch her if she fell as she went along. We could both see that she was ready to go solo. 15 minutes later she was zipping round the BMX pump track !

I was soon being chased around on my Yuba by the kids and it was fun to ride on the slopes and banks.

We were all exhausted by the end of the afternoon and I attached her littlepinkbike to tag along on the back of theYuba Mundo, Mrs Yuba (first time) climbed on the back with Lucie and our 3 year old son with his push along motorbike. Lots of laughing, quite a band wagon, but within the load limit. It made people smile as we went by.

Up the hill to the fort

2009-11-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

Lost my photos of Saturday's market trip so Sunday's spin will have to do. Mrs Yuba mentioned that there was a medieval festival on the other side of town in an old abandoned stone fort. I had heard that a cycle path wound its way up the hill to it's gates, so off we set to discover this new path. We cut through town on a Sunday morning that was surprisingly busy and found the start of the path well hidden behind some recycling bins at the entrance of a commercial strip. We were soon riding along a small canal with huge oaks giving us some shade and came across this aquaduct.

The fort was on the top of the hill with a great view across town. I found the Yuba Mundo quite easy to pedal up dispite the slope.

It was overcast but warm (stung by mosquitos in the night, and it is november... !) We were of course the only cyclists and we watched hundreds of people trying to find a parking space as we pedalled by. We locked up infront of the gates, the kids who had put on costumes to fit in with the medieval theme (Gipsy dancer, fairy & pumpkin ?!? - their tastes !) jumping around with excitement. Note the medieval looking types at the gate...

After a chat with a guy about the Yuba Mundo as I locked up. -He found it a great idea and was surprised that I had managed to pedal up there, but he decided it was too big to store practically - unlike his SUV of course snigger... We walked in. The fort was full of stalls with medievalish activities, sword making, woodworking, birds of prey ;

, cooking in dubious hygienic conditions, taverns, grill, clothes etc etc. Everyone acting very very medieval. Fun for the kids and intresting to see that there are still some people who can do things with their hands, but the scene was not really my cup of tea. I don't find that epoch very inspiring and grown ups getting dressed up, being too extravert for comfort, and trying to sell me overpriced tat was a bit too much for me on a Sunday morning... but it was fun to see a medieval princess on her mobile phone for 20 minutes.

There was also a cage with two bored wolves and an excited woman who couldn't stop cuddling them to show how nice the animals were.

Things picked up when the wolves smelled the ham and smoked sausage grease on the fingers of the kids (we had just had lunch) and it was at this point we decided to leave...

On the way out we noticed that the herd of sheep that usually inhabit the hill were keeping a low profile well out of site of the wolves in a corner.

Nice day out, something for everyone, I went along for the ride.

On the road again

2009-10-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

Breath of fresh air.

No cars here...

Sun was back so we headed out, all 5 of us fo a 35 km trip, rather than the usual solo trip to the supermarket etc. Cool, very little wind, leaves turning reds and oranges out in the fields... Little snack hut by the cyclepath... Great day out.

Had to break off our biscuit break though as a chopper turned up and started spraying a field close by and I didn't fancy agent orange on my cookies.

On the way back we stumbled on a new organic fruit veg shop and I watched the kids check the Yuba Mundo over while Mrs Yuba shopped. The locktight I had put on the cranks has stopped them dropping off and the Yuba is issue free.

Smiles

2009-10-09T03:22:00.001-07:00

Got some smiles from the ladies at the supermarket today. I am not sure if it is because I was one of the very few men doing shopping, the big green strange Yuba Mundo or my orange-glow-in-the-dark shopping caddy. Perhaps all of the above.

This supermarket is cool because although it is a cheaper regular type place in a working class neigbourhood, it has a place to lock up your ride (that is bolted to the floor). Unfortunately the old ladies who shop here also use it to tie up their dogs when they go in to shop... so yes those are dog turds...

Also intrestingly this place has a line of organic homebrand food. Local, cheap and good quality. So you can shop cheaply without consuming pesticides or contributing to poisoning the countryside and damaging farmer's health. Suits me.

They can spot me miles away now. It is even brighter in real life.

Inner tubes

2009-09-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

Is it me or are punctures more common than I remember ?

Also when I was a boy 25 years ago, I did alot of cycling, and I can't remember having to pump my tires up so often, or fix punctures. Perhaps we just forget.

I have very little to complain about with the Yuba Mundo's tyres which have kevlar in them and despite 5 or 6 hundred miles loaded up and running over urban detritus have not punctured yet. Fantastic. I still have to top up the pressure every week or so, but that is the same with all my bikes.
As the temprature dropped this week, and heading for the foothills only 20 minutes away from home seems less of a heatstroke risk, I got on my mountain bike and headed for the hills for some fun. Something I have managed not to do since April.

I rode out from down there...

Had a great time, despite riding out there on the road. The climb out of the last village into the hills on dirt track underlined the drop in my level of fitness since April. Will have to do this more often...

On the way back I had a headwind, but it wasn't that bad because it was down hill. But I still found it hard going. I figured out why when I got back from the school run and noticed that I had two flat tyres. It was tough getting back in because my tyres were slowly deflating because of tiny thorns, but not flat. Soft tyres are tough to push along...

Great two punctures to fix... Are tyre compounds too soft. Are inner tubes now wafer thin ?

At least my bike had the decency to get me home. I realised when I got home that I had my puncture repair kit but not my pump. I was a long way from home. Won't do that again.

VIP police escort

2009-09-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

Another trip out to the bigmetalbox shops in the suburbs to buy DIY supplies... nothing provided to chain up the Yuba Mundo of course. But I suppose I was the only cyclist for miles.

I was on the way back from buying pots of paint for the house, minding my own business, trying not to get killed on the road by white vans and blind OAPs behind the wheel, when a Police motorcycle pulled up alongside me. The cop looked at me with his Robocop helmet and I wondered what I had done. But he didn't point for me to pull over, he just looked at me as we sped along at 17 km/h...
I thought, this is strange but maby he likes bikes too and he's checking out the Yuba. So I gave him a smile as I reckoned that I probably wouldn't be able to out run his BMW motorbike.
He smiled back, sort of.. then I noticed all the people behind us.

It was a class of 25 kids out in school time on a bike ride round the block. Wow. I stopped to watch them go by, lose the cop, and take some photos. It was quite the convoy. 2 elderly lady teachers infront in a little blue lead car (hazard lights on), 25 chatting kiddies on bikes, 1 cycling male teacher shouting constantly trying to keep control, and a motorcycle cop escort to stop people driving through the group of 25 kiddies (Despite the best efforts of a Audi A3 driver).
Is cycling on the road such a dangerous activity that it needs a cop and car escort... ?!? It is not as if it was a busy stretch of road or anything. I think though that this is a demonstration of people's fear of letting kids out of the ever incroaching cocoon, the fear of cycling, and the general bending over to automobile absolute rule of the road. A friend of mine told me this weekend how he was hooted off the road on a Sunday morning family ride by an old woman who shouted from her car window that he had no place to be out on the road. This in a backwater village...
What I saw today was a private school activity I believe, and I am sure alot of kids these days never learn to ride a bike on the road, and what was my first taste of freedom 25 years ago as a 12 year old is now considered impossible by most parents.
What struck me too, and what saddens me every time I pick my kids up from school too, was the number of seriously overweight kids huffing along on their bikes. I look back to photos of me at that age, when I had to cycle 15 miles a day for school, and even my kids who cycle too, and the difference is shocking.

Oil world

2009-09-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

I know its 9/11, and my heart goes out to all those who died and who have since died, but I couldn't help thinking about oil and our dependance on it today. Its a sensitive subject... but I feel linked to many many problems.

I spent an hour this morning lost, cycling round a huge industrial estate on the outskirts of town, I was surprised by its size compared with our backwater town, but I guess it has more to do with the motorway and the frontier 20 kms away than our town. I needed a taylor made bolt for our aging Fiat and had found a small engineering firm to make it. I looked on the map and saw a cycle path run right past it. Great I thought, and 15 minutes later I was heading into heavy industry country.

I was greeted with a truck sitting square on facing the end of the cycle path. The irony of this image hit me hard, two worlds face to face. I then ventured into the industrial estate and was overtaken by tens of very large trucks, overwhelmed by disgusting smells, noise, factories with open doors where you could see more trucks, and heavy plant. I have an industrial background and it was intresting to see all this only a few miles from home. I cycled and cycled in very unpleasant, agressive traffic situations, couldn't find my way through because of a rail line that was fenced off, and the access to the other side was a motorway ramp... No thought obviously for cycles... I had to leave, cycle all round through the outskirts and enter from the other side. I eventually found the engineering firm and it was like an engineer's dream from the 50's. Old men in blue overalls at machines that looked as old as them turning parts for god knows what, everything was coated with a film of black grease. They had made my special bolt and off I went.

It was then that I started to think about all the jobs in the area, jobs that depended on trucks, cars and international transport. And the consequences of the investment of millions and millions of Euros people have put into this industrial estate. My old boys in blue overalls, the countless other obscure engineering, and parts supply businesses, import export businesses, cantines, even the guy selling burgers out of the back of a van to factory workers. They all depend on one thing for their jobs and the means to get from their suburbs to their jobs, and that's cheap oil. When you sweat and pedal around aimlessly, frustrated, surrounded by hundreds of trucks, people loading / unloading, fixing them, cleaning them etc etc... the power of oil and our weakness physically without it is underlined.
If oil goes up again like last year and keeps going up as some experts are saying, they will all be out of a job, and fast. Thats alot of people. What will happen to the miles of metal buildings, who will carry on paying for the loans taken out for their construction, same for the machinery and all the huge trucks. Will it all just sit and rust on the outskirts of town ? Will it happen, or is it a case of when ? In 3, 5, 8 years ? What will all these people do for work, how will they pay for their houses and food... I pedaled home away from all the noise and activity, thinking about all this with my shiney new bolt in my pocket.

Yuba Mundo !

2009-09-10T02:58:00.001-07:00

Before

and after !

That was a big box. I had ordered a recycled/reconditioned (ie second hand) vacuum cleaner off ebay and the guy sent it in a rather large cardboard box. Of course I was out when the Postwoman came, so I went off on the Yuba Mundo to the post office this morning to collect it. I had a couple of people turn round in the street and stare at me on the way home. Quite funny..

As the days are drawing shorter I bought a dynamo lights kit for the Yuba Mundo, and because of the large size of the tyres I needed the extension bracket so that the dynamo wheel meets up with the tyre correctly. Without it it touched at an angle, the top ridge of the dynamo cap wheel only, which would have carved a groove in the tyre eventually. Like this it makes contact with 100% of the driving surface of the dynamo wheel.
Up graded to this rear light which has a battery/capacitor inside that keeps the light onfor 3 minutes, which is good when you come to a junction at night for example. Still have to do the wires, as the wire that came with the kit is 6 foot long and isn't long enough !

Different planet

2009-09-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

This ruined my day... no not the view...

Recently I was walking along the boardwalk by the beautiful river near my house (it runs through town about 100 yards from our road), teaching my kids how to ride their bikes. Up came 2 youths on a scooter ( about 8 and 14 years old. ) One got off the back carrying a disassembled and new looking scooter frame without motor, forks, tank, etc and then chucked it into the river next to a sunbathing woman who stared on in disbelief. When I opened my mouth to say something I was met with abuse, threats and we were followed around and given evil looks for 20 minutes. Perhaps they were waiting to see if I would call the cops or fish out the stolen scooter frame with it's chassis serial numbers.
I don't know what depresses me more; the fact that dumping stuff into a beautiful river like it is their private garbage dump, in broad daylight before witnesses, is normal activity for these children - and what hope can we have for keeping nature in some sort of decent state - or that at a such a young age they are (and need to be) stealing and dismantling scooters. I shudder to think what their life must have been like so far and what the future holds for them... I live on a different planet to alot of people I often feel.

Low speed stability

2009-08-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

I ended up on my wife's bike again after she toppled over on it coming to a stop at a badly placed motorbike obstacle on the cycle path, with N°3 child in the childseat on the way to the beach. After this unfortunate but not too serious accident she asked for a swop to the Yuba and that was it. She finished the 20 Km of the ride with child and beach gear easily.
She rides a hybrid with 700 c wheels which places the centre of gravity high up. That with thin tyres, a child perched up in a child seat over those tall thin wheels makes for a top heavy bike that whips along, but understeers, and is not as stable as a 26 inch bike. It really wants to fall over when loaded anytime you take your rear off the saddle. The frame might be a tad too big for her too, with these big wheels. The Yuba even with a larger child, beach bags, with its smaller wheels and lower centre of gravity makes for a safer ride and a bike that goes round corners... even if slightly slower !
We saw a lot of rabbits and partridges on the way back, but they were too quick to catch on the camera.

We will start looking for a replacement for the hybrid as she uses this bike every day and there are probably better solutions out there.

Bad Pizza and sharks

2009-08-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

The kids nagged me all morning so that I would take them to a pizza restaurant a mile down the road for lunch, one of 70 in a national chain. Being weak and after three hours of mental assaults I gave in. We turned up on the Yuba and I parked up on the side of the restaurant near the terrace leaving the Yuba on its kickstand. A very rude server came up as I was doing this and told me not to throw my bike in the bushes. Good start, I nearly left there and then... cyclists are obviously freaks to this person, and one with three kids in tow obviously put her stress levels up.
Access to this fake Tuscan style villa is on a busy main road, stuck between car sales emporiums, a parking lot and a supermarket. It was not nice to access it on a bike. We were the first to arrive, we ordered our pasta and pizzas with the scowling server and I tried to relax. Gradually people started to park up and get out of their cars, some had driven only a few hundred yards from their workplace down the road. Then every single person who came to the terrace started to smoke, repeatedly. The fact that it is now illegal here to smoke in a public place, and that there were 3 children present didn't seem to bother anybody. The food was bad, there was about double the food needed, especially for the kids, and I spent my time calculating how fast we could get out of there. Then came the moment when I understood why the kids wanted to come to this nasty place and why they had been unusually well behaved. ( Appart from an incident when N°2 child came back from the toilets mid meal and said, no shouted - Boy, I am really constipated ! - I tried not to laugh. At this point I would have been pleased if they had started throwing food.) At the end of the meal they get a toy wrapped in 3 layors of plastic. They came for the toy, not the food.... the joys of marketing. The toys were cheap swimming goggles, so I suggested that we go test them at the beach, and we were out of there...

We were soon out of town and alone on the cyclepath that takes us the 15 clicks to the beach, we managed a park stop on route and were soon in the water. I found out that you can fit a 1.5 litre water bottle in the frame in front of the rear wheel and it won't fall out. A great find for hot days.

Also I like taking my bikes onto the beach where I can see them, the Yuba even loaded up with beach towels, toys etc rolls along nicely on its fat tires on fine sand. And when you put it down on the sand the side bars hold the chain and hub high off the sand so it all stays clean.

We had a cool wind with lots of waves this afternoon. Had great fun rolling in the waves all afternoon and left the beach at about six in the evening. I found the ride back with the three kids (65 Kg) on the back harder than usual, but there had been a head wind on the way out and I am not in my usual physical condition after a lazy holiday period.
Alot of people were in their cars going home too (looking hot and cramped), and this cycle path is not too far from the road so we had tens of people slow down on the road to look and point at us. It is not often you see 4 people on a bike after all. Its not often that you see a bike with 1 person on it either unfortunately... We must have been overtaken by about 3 bikes on the 15 km trip back, mostly kids who would probably been on motorbikes if they were old enough. Happily we got alot of smiles and thumbs up and looks of surprise from people who might think of doing the same thing as us. When I get stopped in town and chat to people I am often taken back by their surprise at the distances we travel on the Yuba. In most people's minds a bike is not a method of transport anymore.
When we got back there was a piece on national TV about 2 six foot Blue sharks that had been sighted a mile from where we had been paddling all afternoon ! Unheard of here... Anyway I doubt they would have come into 8 inches of water where we were.

Back in the saddle.

2009-08-20T00:55:00.001-07:00

Our holidays were pretty much bike free unfortunatley. We thought touring Italy in a Fiat would be different. It was great, and the sights and food amazing, but the closest we got to a bike was taking photos of vintage Italian racers. I finally got to jump back on the yuba yesterday and resume bike based life with a trip to the beach with the three kids. Mrs Yuba joined us in the fun after work.

It was great to pootle along with the kids in a car free environment under the blazing sun. The Yuba was on top form, I had spent some time that morning fettling the gears, brakes and pumping up the tires. I fitted some panniers to carry the beach toys, and I think I will use them to go shopping. We were pretty loaded up and I can feel the 30 km in my legs this morning. Not suprising after nearly 3 weeks lazyness.

Long tail

2009-07-07T03:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I got back from the capital and we decided to go out to eat. It rained quite a bit, which is unheard of here in July, but atleast that brought the temperature down. The streets were dry when we came out at the end of the meal. My friend from London who came down with me walked back rather than climbing on the back. Very first refusal.... never mind.

This morning I popped down to the post office to pick up a parcel that had come while I was gone. Got some funny looks going through town. Its a roofrack for the car that came from ebay, and didn't move at all on the 1 mile trip.

This is the storage arrangement, the Yuba hardly takes up any space here in the corner.

This stops the beast falling over and crushing wife and kids etc when they open the outhouse door. Still very pleased with the Yuba, had a technical though today, the crank bolts work free now after about 10 miles, so I will have to put some "locktight" on the bolt threads to stop them unscrewing when I cycle.

Summer heat

2009-06-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

Done quite a bit of urban riding with kids on back, and trips to the beach with the round beach tent that you can see in the photo. So much better than the car. People still come up and oogle at the bike when it is parked up. Building work on the new house is taking up alot of time too, but we are aiming to take the Yuba on holidays with us. I ordered a roofrack for the car so we may haul it with us on the roof... An old friend is coming to stay next week too, so some Yuba antics will be on order too.

Pizza and a flick

2009-06-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

"Home" by Yann Artus Bertrand was on tonight so we phoned for pizza and I hopped on the Yuba to go and pick them up. Zero carbon pizza, well almost...
I arrived back and was in time for the start of the film, which to be honest I found a little flowery and poetic in language, but worth watching and very hard hitting with it's message, with fantastic images of the planet and how we are destroying it. Can't really argue with the man.

I was handed a political flyer from a major party on the way out and the environment is really a secondary after thought for all of them, something trendy to keep the youngsters happy without actually doing anything of course. It will be intresting to see the European election results this weekend to see if mentalities are changing as people tend to vote outside of the box to push big ideas (if they have any...) rather than for local representation of a certain flavour. As Europe is aging and the older people on these shores seem (IMO) obsessed with insecurity, immigration and the money in their pockets, I have my doubts. I hope the rest of my fellow Europeans don't follow the Dutch example.
I will keep on pedaling my Yuba... and getting funny looks.

Ladies too

2009-06-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

An action shot proving that ladies can haul long distance on the Yuba too. I was asked to swop bikes "just to try" (at last) on the 15 km ride to the beach this weekend. I ended up riding my wife's bike which was too small, hurt my knees and is surprisingly nasty.

We chained the bikes to a flag pole by the beach (flying the italian flag ?!?) and had fun building sandcastles for hours before the sun went in and we had a cool ride back. Managed a stop on a village square for icecream and watched the locals watching the Rugby on the TV in the Café. Probably more entertaining than the match.

Could become a regular stop on route to the beach...

Mini Yuba

2009-05-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

All this Yuba Mundo time has obviously marked some little minds... they ganged up on us and we had to take their little vintage bike with us to the farmer's market .

Which turned out to be pretty good as they are easier to spot as one very slow entity rather than several fast moving bodies traveling in different directions, disapearing into the crowd.

Wow somebody at town hall remembered the cyclists out there.. well done ! It is great to have somewhere to park up.

Post office

2009-05-11T02:51:00.000-07:00

Seth turned 3 recently and as our new house hasn't been maintained for 40 years with blocked drains, toilets, sinks, cracked plaster, peeling paint, peeling wallpaper, damp, dirt, and silent door bell... we didn't hear the postman come to deliver what I guess to be his present. A "I came to deliver but you were not in" slip was left in the new letterbox (the old one was bust) while I was busy renovating. Another slip was left to let me know that a replacement part for my wallpaper stripper had come from Germany over the bank holiday too. Armed with my two slips I set off to the central Post Office in town to pick up the goodies. I must remember to fix the doorbell...
Again I sped past lines of people stuck in their cars and was in the centre in minutes. Having been a car muppet for years I am conditioned to believe that cars are faster. The message is sinking in. What is great about a bike is that you can just stop when you want and there is no parking hassle, on the way back I managed a coffee on a lovely square that took my fancy and had a chat with the café server who asked me about the Yuba Mundo, then I cut my way through the immobile traffic and was home in minutes. Impossible in a car.

Wind and butterflies

2009-05-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

There is a farm on the other side of town where you can take the kids and they can see animals in real life, play with dwarf goats, feed hens, get pulled around by horse and cart etc.

So we made our way across town and hooked up with the cylepath that heads out on the other side. We got to the farm only to find that it had closed down and they were selling all the animals... to say that the kids were gutted would be an understatement. Sign of the times ? Financial fall out hitting our little corner of the world ? We hadn't planned on this but as lunch was fast approaching we hit the cyclepath and carried on out of town. The idea was to go right to the end following the route of the old railway line that they had converted into the path that winds across the fields. 20 kms there and 20 km back.

The wind picked up, the sun went in, the path turned into the wind and it was murder for about 5 km before we stopped to drink some water and the kids played picking daisies. We made it to the end, in time to see them packing up the morning market, had a great meal of paella and some wine on a little square trying not to notice the kids jumping around like springs.

To be less antisocial we then headed for the park and slides so the monsters could bounce around in a dedicated space, hoping that the wind would drop thinking of the ride back, but of course it really picked up.

But the great thing about a headwind is that it becomes a tailwind on the way back and the sun came out ! The yuba with two kids on the back caught the wind nicely and in places I didn't even have to pedal... like a sail boat, stopped once for water and biscuits, and watched as a series of at least a dozen bikes made by Giant went by. All different vintages, shapes and sizes. Strange.

We must have been three time faster getting back, were mobbed by hundreds of orange butterflies, managed another parkstop and had fun making our way through town post Rugby match. The traffic was stuck, we just sped through, it was great. Could really feel the ride in my legs this evening, the wind was not fun on the way out.

Heat wave

2009-05-07T03:33:00.000-07:00

After spending the morning running around the county ferrying Emma to her circus lesson in dad's car (to keep the battery charged) we managed better things out doors.

The summer sun is here... so hot it hurts the skin not used to it yet. A real shock after the crappy weather we have had since November. Yesterday was Wednesday and school was out so we hopped on the Yuba and rode four traffic free blocks to the park with the kiddy rides by the river. It was so hot we sat under the trees and kicked a football, drinking lots of water.

Mum got out early so after dance lessons and icecream in the village park, we headed for the seaside which was alot cooler. The girls didn't even try a real swim which is unusual.

Emma wanted a Kebab (yes, yes) so we headed for our local and Seth was over the moon because they had a flat screen and the Chelsea vs Barcelona match was on.

Had an intresting phone call, but can't let on yet. Shall see.

School run

2009-05-05T12:33:00.001-07:00

Spent the day sanding window frames Monday, so when the time came to do the school run I thought I would try it using the Yuba as I was sick of being stuck inside. Since we moved 8 km away three weeks ago, to the big smoke, the school circuit back to the old village takes about 15-20 minutes by car from the new house, or longer if you count the time it takes to park up at the two different school sites. It took 25 mins to get to the first school on the Yuba and it is great to be able to wheel up to the classroom door directly without having to find a parking space and walk. It probably takes about the same time on the Yuba, its probably safer being off the road (witnessed a crash again today), and its probably better for my waistline.
Alot of stay home mums take their car to do the half a mile from their houses on the other side of the village to take and pick their kids up every day, so parking space is at a premium. This in a place where we have over 300 days of sun a year... nuts... and I'm not sure what the "rural" mind set of the village thought of our 2 wheeled green monster and 3 singing kids on the back but I don't really care anyway.
What was nice was shooting past on the cyclepath by all the people sitting in their cars on the 15 minute traffic jam that happens when everyone picks up their kids and/or leaves work at about 5.15, I think I got home faster !

This is the final approach along the river towards our new hood. Flood grassland and a dirt track that leads to the end of our road. Flowers and butterflies etc. Very nice. If you head back the otherway you get to the sea in about 15 km of stand alone cycle path shaded by london plane trees.
Of course it was sunny with no wind when I set out in shorts and a T, but on the way back the sun went in and the wind picked up over the last 4 km pushing me down into 1st gear and about 7km/h... Took 35 minutes on the return journey, no big deal though.
Thats about 60 km in two days with 3 kids plus their stuff on the Yuba. I could feel it in the legs a little this morning. But great, I am going to feel like a rocket next time I go out on my mountain bike !

Long haul

2009-05-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

You can load and load and as long as there are no slopes or strong wind its all good. The picnic box has been unloaded here.

The sun was out Sunday so we hit the cyclepaths, had a picnic in a park, did a car boot sale and made it to the beach for 3 o'clock icecream.

Then all the way home for a BBQ.

40 to 50 Km all by pedal power on the Yuba. Left at 10 am and got back in at 6 pm. Cool day, lots of sun. Managed to bungee rope the front wheel of Emma's kiddy bike to the back of the Yuba which lets her hop on the back of the Yuba when she is tired of pedaling her bike. She sits with Lucie and sings or chats as the villages go by. This makes us about 8 foot long with up to 4 people onboard, quite the freak show and draws lots of comments usually encouraging ! Still surprisingly easy to pedal. I am starting to think of the first upgrade though, namely the gears which although entirely functional are not as good obviously as the luxury items I am used to.

Took a gas bottle to the filling station too. I also wondered what a titanium or aluminium framed Yuba would be like...

The rain has stopped...

2009-04-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Moving house and two weeks of rain have kept me off the Yuba alot, only done about 30km since my last post and been completely off the net... But yesterday I took the Yuba out to find last minute BBQ supplies when we realised that the sun was out and here to stay. This bike is utilitarian. Shopping, trips to the recycling bins, trips to the Post office etc

I have also fitted a Hebie 605 stand which is great and found that the bike can be stored vertically quite easily if you attach the front wheel to a hook in the wall at head height with a rubber rope. Takes up a lot less space in the shed like this... but bare in mind that I am a big chap and I dont find standing this thing on its end a problem.

Road presence is good with this bike, people in cars tend to notice you which is good, and pedestrians gape and comment quite a bit. Slopes are intresting and I find that the Yuba will pick up a turn of speed quickly and you can be surprised by just how fast you can go.

Night rider

2009-04-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

Took the Yuba to the supermarket to get wine and bread, with two kids on the back. Number two kid discovered that if she kicked the moneybox on the playground ride car thingy at the entrance of the supermarket it would start for free. Hmmm, free rides....
Then as we had Gran baby sitting we took the bikes as a couple to town to see a film at the cinema. I think somebody must have tried sitting on the Yuba whilst we were watching the film because my cheap cheesemetal kickstand had snapped when we got back to the bikes which were still standing hung by the bike chain on the bike post.

Riding back at midnight on the cyclepath in the dark by the river was fantastic. My phone is on the blink so no photos sorry...

Don't drink the water...

2009-04-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

Visited a fort (too far for a Yuba ride unfortunatley) with the family this morning. Took the tour with a bunch of OAPs who were surprised by the kid's antics and NOISE as we were shown around the place.
I was more marked by the comment on the extensive works being carried out about the place. We we told " At the moment we are in works because we are not connected to the public water supply. For hundreds of years the fort has relied on the natural spring that runs through the foundations of the fort. Last year the health authorities informed us that because of the levels of pesticides present in our water we are no longer allowed to use it or supply in to the general public."
I listened to that and looked out across the nearby fields and beautifull rolling countryside and wondered why they didn't just tell the farmers to stop spraying rather than spend millions putting in pipes to a historical building if it was such a health hasard. How has this become acceptable... nobody said anything, or even looked bothered.
Took the kids to the park on the Yuba this afternoon and then for a spin in the countryside near home. Could feel yesterday's ride a little in the legs, but nothing too heavy. Everything on the bike is still shiney new. Gears crisp, brakes firm, new tire hum. Mmmmmm.

Thanks Ben, great product !

2009-04-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

We set out today to town on a 20 km circuit under a nice spring sun. Three kids on the back and no headwind. Great set up, very vertical and pleasant to ride. My most confortable bike yet despite being "low spec" on the component side of things. Not noticably slower, but you need to put some effort to get up to speed. After that you just seem to roll along. Hills or rather steep slopes, because we don't have hills around here were murder, but the bike was hauling about 180 kg...

We had found a bit of plywood and two cushions, that with two elastic ropes and we headed off along the local cycle paths to town.

Its very very big, and green.

2009-04-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of hours later and here we are. It is huge. The putting together part was pretty agricultural compared with the other bikes I have put together as the rack and bottom bars were not quite the right shape and had to be errr "adjusted" quite stronglly to get it to go together.
The hardest bit was getting the back wheel into the frame which is about 2mm too narrow for the axel, about 15 mins of faffing about got it in.
Everything looks great and despite being utilitarian it still manages to look pretty cool.

UPS or not to UPS

2009-04-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

During my wait for UPS, I thought I would start a blog.. Their website said that they would come yesterday. They didn't. I am staying in today to try and be there when they come.

Ring ring at the door ( no really)...