Search found 1292 matches

by alicej
17 Dec 2016, 8:50pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: What to replace child seat foot straps with?
Replies: 15
Views: 2474

Re: What to replace child seat foot straps with?

Smiles wrote:Erm....I am getting a sense of your parenting style....perhaps my solution is not for you.... :D


:lol: Yep you lost me at "we agreed..."

Will be a different world when he has enough language to convey what's going on, what needs to happen etc. For now it's just miles of going "Look mama, a CAR!" :roll: .
by alicej
10 Dec 2016, 9:54pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: What to replace child seat foot straps with?
Replies: 15
Views: 2474

Re: What to replace child seat foot straps with?

Brilliant, thank you all!

I've no experience of toe straps and the velcro ones looked like they'd be limited by where the fluffy side of the velcro stops and the hooky bit begins. But the clippy ones in Vorpal's photos look perfect, and threading them so they tighten on the outside of the footwell is genius - so much easier to stick his foot through a loop and tighten it than to fiddle with the clip each time. Yes little slots, not fixed, so could do this easily.

That'll stop him undoing them himself too. No point telling him not to. He's only a year and a half, so although he understands "foot" and "shoe", pretty much any and all requests for anything get the response "NO NO NO NO NOOO!", followed by very fierce demands for a banana. I don't think his feet can actually reach any dangerous parts of the bike, but they could probably reach some tender parts of ME :shock: . Plus yes, he would enjoy taking his shoes off and chucking them into traffic. Or into my spokes. Or under my bum. Or absolutely insisting that I need to turn around and take them off him and SAY THANK YOU, right this minute. Basically the more of him tied down the better for the time being...
by alicej
6 Dec 2016, 11:38pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: What to replace child seat foot straps with?
Replies: 15
Views: 2474

Re: What to replace child seat foot straps with?

His shoes measure about 19cm around the bit the strap would go round, if that helps - I don't think they make normal toe straps small enough!
by alicej
6 Dec 2016, 10:53pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: What to replace child seat foot straps with?
Replies: 15
Views: 2474

What to replace child seat foot straps with?

I'm back on the bike after having a baby! He's 18 months and I've got a Co-Pilot Lima. Been out a couple of times, so far so good.

I feel like I need to replace the footstraps though, they're rubbish! They're a strip of velcro that's supposed to bend back on itself to close,
footstrap.jpg
footstrap.jpg (6.85 KiB) Viewed 1816 times
but the kid's feet are in size infant 5.5 shoes which only just poke out of the footrests, so the strap has to go a very long way back round his foot to stick, and I can't get my (cold!) fingers far enough into the gap next to his foot to get it closed or open easily.

The seat is something like this, with three sides of the foot enclosed really so very little room to get (cold!) fingers in, and I can't see what I'm doing in there at all which makes it difficult to grab the end to undo it.
child seat.jpg
child seat.jpg (17.33 KiB) Viewed 1816 times

Is there a different design of strap I could replace these with? What are other people using with similar sized tiny feet and child seat footrests? And did I mention it's really cold?
by alicej
3 Aug 2014, 1:25am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Double sleeping bags - what do you use?
Replies: 17
Views: 2305

Double sleeping bags - what do you use?

A huge amount of the total volume of our camping gear is taken up with a big double sleeping bag. It's worth it because I'd get cold on my own and couldn't do without the cuddles, but I'm wondering if there's anything a bit less bulky than the huge square-ended Coleman thing we're using. The small (top) bit just about goes in a pannier and the big bit has to go in a rack top bag, and this is with both bits squashed as much as I can in stuff sacks.

Does anyone else use a double sleeping bag with a partner, what do you have and would you recommend it? Also please could you give an idea of pack size and how roomy they are when sleeping? We only really use it in the UK April - Octoberish, so doesn't need to be a super thick one.

(Apologies if I don't reply for a few days, I'll be living in a tent and sleeping in the above sleeping bag til Friday!)
by alicej
3 Aug 2014, 1:08am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?
Replies: 16
Views: 3963

Re: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?

Perfect, I will drink the vodka instead then :lol:
by alicej
3 Aug 2014, 12:57am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?
Replies: 16
Views: 3963

Re: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?

Phew, should be ok then. Is it still purple? Why do some places not allow it to be dyed? Surely it's to stop you accidentally taking a swig from what you thought was the water bottle - or worse still, trying to use what you thought was the water bottle to dowse a small fire?!
by alicej
2 Aug 2014, 10:57pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?
Replies: 16
Views: 3963

Re: Meths replaced by bio-ethanol?

Oh. I'm leaving for a few days tour tomorrow and I've only got one pack of this newfangled bio-ethanol gel stuff. I figured we could easily get more depending on how fast we got through it - will we find it hard to get now? Can anything else be used - what happens if you try to use vodka or something in a Trangia?! :?
by alicej
2 Aug 2014, 10:53pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Overnight cycle camping trip with 6 year old
Replies: 12
Views: 1652

Re: Overnight cycle camping trip with 6 year old

I love it! Thinking about maybe taking a nine year old on a short cycle trip sometime soon, I think I'll use your blog to explain what sort of thing I mean. Loads of lovely photos. Where are you going next?
by alicej
2 Aug 2014, 10:45pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Charging your phone or tablet on camping tour…
Replies: 43
Views: 5302

Re: Charging your phone or tablet on camping tour…

A possible alternative - I have about 5 spare batteries for my phone, which are cheap from china on ebay. Every few days of a tour I sit in a pub for long enough to charge any I've used up, they're light to carry and tiny and this definitely works well for me.
by alicej
2 Aug 2014, 10:41pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Stuff in a porch
Replies: 39
Views: 4757

Re: Stuff in a porch

Our tent is tiny for 2 people, there's only just enough room for us in there, and the four panniers and 2 rack bags we carry stick outside the porch a bit however we stack them up.

But they are lovely completely totally water-and-slugproof Ortliebs, so it doesn't matter :D (<smugface)
by alicej
24 Apr 2014, 11:54pm
Forum: National Standard Cycle Training
Topic: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?
Replies: 16
Views: 65521

Re: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?

BTW I have a Surly LHT which I LOVE TO BITS.

Manufacturers say not to use a kick stand as it will damage the frame.

How much will I miss having a kick stand while teaching, given how much I'll be not actually riding myself during lessons?

Is my own bike likely to get ridden into, knocked over, scraped/scratched/dented any more than it will with only careful me near it?

Could I possibly use this whole enterprise as an excuse to buy the Brompton I've been wanting for a while..?

Any other kit I might need? I already have warm waterproof footwear and a big hi-vis bomber jacket which is very warm and waterproof.
by alicej
24 Apr 2014, 11:48pm
Forum: National Standard Cycle Training
Topic: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?
Replies: 16
Views: 65521

Re: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?

Maybe if they don't mention it then I won't mention it either and we'll see what happens.

I would be willing to wear one if absolutely required to though, I'd rather have a nice job than try to prove that it's probably not worth it to someone who would just decide it's not worth the bother of employing me at all, and probably wouldn't have the power to allow me an exception anyway...

Pick yer battles, etc. :roll:
by alicej
24 Apr 2014, 12:30pm
Forum: National Standard Cycle Training
Topic: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?
Replies: 16
Views: 65521

Re: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?

Do they? Why?

I suppose I'd wear one if I absolutely had to, but that's another expense I'll rack up. I suppose I'll need it for the training? Don't think it was mentioned in the course info.

Children will think I'm a hypocrite when they see me riding around without one outside of school.
by alicej
23 Apr 2014, 9:26pm
Forum: National Standard Cycle Training
Topic: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?
Replies: 16
Views: 65521

Re: Do I really really want to be a Bikeability Instructor?

Thanks so much, that's all really really helpful!

Redundancy pay will mean I have a little freedom to take the time to train and take the risk that there might not really be enough work to not do anything else. Doing a bit of something else would be ok, although I'm not sure what yet. I only work part-time at the moment anyway so it's not a full-time income that I need to replace, although the irregularity might become a problem, and cancelling at the last minute is really frustrating...

I think I'll at least do the training and see what's what in my area, given that I have I think just enough flexibility before I really need A Proper Job. Nothing else has really inspired me yet like this has. The best bits sound brilliant :) and I would like to be out of doors, even if not actually cycling, for large parts of the day.