Bikes and a Playground

Sam has been biking a bit more this fall. His usual bike ride is down the block to his buddy's house, but he's up for a longer ride now and then. Last week we headed over to the metro park:

There's a small hill in the metro park. We zipped down it only to turn it around and climb back up. "Sam, do you want to do that again?" "Sure!" So we did two intervals of hill climbing.

The next evening we continued on past the hill and swung through a construction site to a new playground in the Riviera development. Sam spotted a playground so we had to stop for a few minutes: 

Then it was back around Grizzel middle school and home, a ride of probably eight miles. Sam didn't complain or slow down at all, so we may be ready for some bigger rides. That's a good thing as this will probably be the last summer he can realistically fit on the Burley Picolo. I will be a bit sad to see this go, though I won't miss the heavy steel rack.

You'll notice my Rivendell Clem Smith in the background. It's been my favorite bike this summer. It's so comfortable to ride, yet surprisingly speedy. I keep thinking I should put some fatter Schwalbe tires on it--it's currently running 38mm Little Big Bens--and some fenders, but it rides so well now I'm just letting it be.

Henry got a new bike frame for his birthday. I'll write more on this in another post, but building that up involved stealing parts from some of my bikes. My Black Mountain Monstercross is currently hanging in the garage, minus some wheels and bars, but I don't really miss it when I have the Clem to ride. The Clem is always ready for an evening spin with my boy.