Changing, Before We Begin
We are short of one week before we leave on our travels. Sorting things out, organising a short set of menus, Jacqui is spending a lot of time finding a path that will get us to places she has marked. I have been working, trying to finish off a project that has been chasing me down like an angry wolf.
Two nights ago I found a post from November 2013 (Recall Information - Tailwind Rack) that made everything unravel. The rack we had fitted to the back of my bike (codenamed Papa Bear) was recalled, citing hidden cracks, breaking while riding and injury to either rider as a result. Needless to say our excitement balloon deflated while we discussed options.
One of the items mentioned in a previous post (Requirements Just to get About) that we thought the little boys should ride. The last thing we want on a bicycle trip is the little ones to be disappointed that we are going to ride, so we planned some elaborate bikes to get us about.
The difficult bike to build was for me. It was to carry Adeline, Elijah, a few panniers full of gear, and myself too. We talked to a few shops in Geelong, but no bike store clerks would agree that it could be done; a tag-along cycle and a baby seat on the same bike. We felt all alone, a family trying to plan a trip and no-one to help.
We know that things will not go to plan, but when something falls apart before we have had the chance to start, well, that “stings”.
We came across The Family Ride, and after reading their posts we felt comfortable that it was an “Every Mom/Dad for themselves” game. With that in mind, we started shopping in Melbourne and found a bike store that was willing to help.
Enter “Commuter Cycles”. They didn’t shy away from the difficult nature of our bike build, said it could be done, and it was. The bike was not an easy build, and did not come cheap, but Will worked some magic and got us on the road. For that we are forever grateful.
This made learning that the rack was unsafe and recalled difficult to comprehend. We know that things will not go to plan, but when something falls apart before we have had the chance to start, well, that “stings”.
It is better to find out that your bike rack could break, rather than finding out that your bike rack has broken. It was the only thing Will from Commuter Cycles told us to keep our eyes on - the weakest point of the build was the rack - citing the rack is light and could bend or flex with too much load.
We had planned to have Joash and Elijah ride with us, rather than sit in a bike trailer waiting for their time to ride. At this point, with a week to go before we leave, we are hoping that we can get things fixed up before we go. If everything falls apart Joash and Elijah will have to change between riding and “relaxing” (that is a nice thing to call it), but we are going to try for that not to happen.
I contacted Burley and they have been helpful in all the ways they can. No-one is listed as a Burley dealer in Australia, so we have to deal with them direct, over an ocean. Expedited shipping, phone calls at strange hours, and a little prayer for the shipping stars to fall into place. We hope to be back up and ready by late next week, just before we go.
So far we have a good feeling that things will work out. Things always seem to work out, or should we say, we take what we can get and that always seem to work. We are not at panic stations yet, and we’ll see how this next week works out as we gear up to launch next weekend.
Needless to say, that however it works out, we are all excited.