Family cruising. Sorry, no map.

Last week, we purchased a Burley D’Lite Trailer, which we assumed would perform double-duty as a bike trailer and a jogger stroller for Jen. We actually won an eBay auction for it, and got a very good deal. Once it arrived, we purchased the stroller adapter from REI and we thought we were set. Too bad the model we had was a 2001 or 2002 vintage, which does not accept a stroller adapter. Hrmph. I’ve slowly started the process of trying to sell it, and I suspect it may end up back on eBay within the next week. We’ll likely just buy a new D’Lite since we now own the stroller adapter.

But anyway.

The weather was fine today, so I put the trailer on the Surly and loaded up the boys for spin around Highland Park. Seb was excited about it, and by the time we did a lap around the reservoir, he didn’t want to stop at the playground–he just wanted to ride. So off we went, to the lower section of the park. We did stop at another playground in the park, and the boys ran about for a bit, but soon enough they wanted to get back in the trailer for more riding. We cruised around a bit longer, then cut the ride short when my rear tire was slowly going flat. Once I changed the tube (at home), I discovered our tube supply was gone, so I loaded Seb back into the trailer and went to the Trek store in East Liberty (no, sorry, East Side) to pick up a few, plus a new patch kit.

(Sort of related sidebar: I’ve found the service at the Trek store to be pretty good, which, for me, is pretty high praise. I’ve special-ordered a few small parts, and the staff has been helpful and, shockingly, generally knowledgeable. They also have a swell collection of wool jerseys.)

I will say that I am hooked on the trailer. It’s quite the workout on the fixed gear, but riding in (mostly) neighborhood traffic wasn’t bad at all, and cars tended to give us a pretty wide berth. Too bad winter is coming.

As an added bonus, here are a few photos of the new lighting setup.

Posted on 3 November 2007