Busy non-riding cycling Saturday.

The day started with Katie waking me up asking 'What did you buy from Burley?', at which point I figured FedEx had just delivered the Burley Nomad I had ordered earlier this week to go along with the B.O.B trailer. (Yes, two trailers is overkill but when has logic held me back on cycling purchases?)

So I got up and started assembling the Nomad. It wasn't too difficult, but the instructions weren't very clear in a few areas. I eventually got all of it figured out except where the safety flag attaches, as the instructions state on the inside left side and I can't find anywhere for it to securely attach.



After that was completed, lunch was had and then Emma and I went off to complete a few outstanding errands. Namely having MWC cut the steerer tube on my Salsa La Cruz and find a bushing for the Thule T2 hitch assembly, as it was missing one when I received it on Thursday which prevented me from assembling the rack.

The guys at MWC were pretty busy when I called but they said they'd still get it done if I dropped it of for a bit. So that was the first stop, a quick one, and off Emma and I went in search of a bushing so I could assemble my new bike rack. A friend and co-worker recommended the Baker/Ace hardware store at 8th and N street, as it has a room full of various odds and ends that are hard to find anywhere else.

I brought the entire Thule hitch assembly with me to make sure I got the right part. I ask the cashier for help finding a bushing for the bulky hitch assembly I'm carrying with me. She asks a younger guy to help me and so I explain my problem and what I need. We walk over to this room full of drawers and the first drawer has bushing that look nearly identical to what the Thule comes with. He guesses the incorrect size the first try but nails it on his second attempt. So in under a minute the guy is able to find the exact part I need and the cost was only $3.81. I was very excited as Emma and I walked out the store. MWC said to return in 2 hours and we had barely been gone 30 minutes, so we had a bit of time to burn before going back.

I decided it was a good time to go to the Running Company and buy a new pair of shoes, as my previous pair are worn out. They happened to have the newer version of the same shoe on sale, so after putting on one of the new shoes to make sure they still fit me as well as the previous model, I paid for the shoes and off we were.

We had at least another hour to wait before picking upt he La Cruz so I asked Emma if she would like a snack from Arby's. I had a coupon for the popcorn chicken meal and both of us were excited to try it. As we walked to Arby's I noticed there is a new coffee house/starbucks type place where the parking lot for Amigo's used to be. I was having a conversation with Emma and instinctively went to the second building after crossing the street and walked into Amigos with my Arby's coupon. I felt pretty dumb but thankfully Emma is not at the age yet where she was embarrassed by her father's idiocy. So we left Amigos and walked around to Arby's. The popcorn chicken is what you'd expect, small breaded chicken pieces. They were definitely fresh, as it was around 3PM when we placed our order, and a few bites were painful from the temperature.

After we finished our midday snack, we decided to visit a Novel Idea Bookstore a few blocks away. I asked the gal working if she had any recommendations for Emma based on her age and reading level. She suggested Beverly Cleary's Ramona books for a good age specific series. We picked out a couple and off we were.

At that point it had been approximately 1.5 hours since dropping off the La Cruz and I decided we should swing by MWC to see if it was ready. Fortunately, the bike was on the workstand as I walked in and the work was done. So I picked it up along with a few other odds and ends and Emma and I headed home.

I started assembling the Thule T2 rack as soon as I got home. I took care to carefully read the instructions as a buddy who has the same rack said he put the trays on incorrectly due to not reading the instructions. A few hours latter it was fully assembled, along with the Thule T2 918 +2 extension. It's pretty massive but it works great. I was worried about my 29ers not fitting on it since I read a few reviews that said they had problems with getting the front wheel secured with the ratcheting arm. I tried with the Dos Niner that has WTB Nanoraptors and didn't have any problems. One thing I didn't care for is the soft 5mm hex bolts Thule uses to secure the bike tray to the hitch. To securely tighten them takes some force and the bolts aren't hard enough to handle the load. I nearly stripped one as I was tightening it. Good enough for now, but I'm definitely planning on getting better bolts for all 4 trays in the near future.




So after all that Katie reminds me I have 3 library books that are due so I figure it's a great errand to try the Nomad. So I installed the bracket on the Dos Niner and rode off to Gere Library to return the books. On the way there I stopped off at Ben's house to show him the Nomad, as he was interested in how it worked. Overall the Nomad worked quite well. It was pretty bouncy, mostly due to the tires being inflated to max pressure and having very little load. It, however, managed fine and I'm looking forward to using it, along with the B.O.B. Ibex, for many carfree errands.