*2019*

2019, it’s been real! Here’s our yearly Kidical Mass wrap-up:

• • 9 rides

• • 65 miles

• • 200 riders (on the nose!)

• 205 Facebook peeps

I love looking back through the seasons photos because I always think “Ohhhh yeah!!! I remember THAT ride! Awww look at everyone!” And I get all mushy gushy…

October 13, 2019 – River & Lake Foliage Peeping Ride

“Peep some lovely leaves and take leave of your bike peeps until Spring!”

October weather can be so variable: our first Kidical Mass October ride was in 50s with cold rain, second one was 90 and glorious sun, last year was windchill in the 30s, and this year I think we finally had the perfect fall day.

We had 23 riders (plus 3 who joined for playground time!) today, and while we started off on the chilly side, the sun (and hills) warmed us right up. We took to the Riverway Trail by the Zoo, crossing the bike/ped bridge over the river, following along the west side of the river on sidewalks, a bike path, and the trail, along Turning Point Park’s boardwalk, up to Ontario Beach Park.

September 29, 2019 – Ithaca Children’s Garden and Black Diamond Trail

Kidical Mass took to the road for a day trip to Ithaca, NY. We spent a few hours at the Ithaca Children’s Garden and hauled it 16 miles round-trip on the Black Diamond Trail.

The Ithaca Children’s Garden is a gem with so much to discover/learn about/play in that you’ll want hours (or, more likely, days). There’s everything from an edible garden, chickens, compost, woven bushes to climb through, tubes to roll in or balance on, a troll house with a green roof, bee hives, multiple little lending libraries, a butterfly meadow, a shaded sand pit area, a giant turtle, and many other unique spaces! I think the highlight for our group was The Anarchy Zone, an anything-goes area for kids to connect with nature and be totally creative in their play. The garden is open dawn to dusk every day and often has programming. It’s such a cool space!

After a picnic lunch we got on the Black Diamond Trail, which begins right at the Children’s Garden parking lot. The trail is extremely well-maintained, and it sees lots of use without being crowded. The name sounds intimidating but it’s not scary; it’s a former rail trail named after the Black Diamond Express that once ran from Buffalo to New York City, and runs 8 miles right now, with a plan to expand to 15 in coming years. The trail climbs in elevation from Ithaca towards Taughannock Falls, but we had a hardy crew and a beautiful fall day to tackle the challenge. We crossed paths with a large gray snake of some sort and a red fox. The trail drops off at the western edge of Taughannock Falls State Park, where you’ll see the gorge and a waterfall not usually visited from the main falls area. You can continue on into the park via the main access road to see the main falls (warning, the park ranger gave me a heads up that it’s steep on the road downwards to the falls), but most of us stopped by the main falls viewing area out on the way out of town. And that ride back (all downhill!) took half the time and almost no exertion. We flew!

A gorgeous day to be outside. Thanks for coming out and exploring with me! Definitely a contender for bike camping next year….

September 15, 2019 – 3rd Annual Little Free Library Bike Ride

My weather app said less than 20% chance of rain through the late evening…until we met up at 2pm and I felt the sprinkles and the sky looked ominous and then the rain started down harder and then it said 100%. I need either a new weather app, new brain, or both. But somehow people still showed and we had 44 book- and bike-loving souls along on this ride! That’s the most we have ever had on one ride–and it was in the full-on RAIN.

Deb set up a little umbrella and table and sent us on our way with lemonade in our bellies and snack packs for the kids!

Deborah was going to read us a story again this year but we kept going due to the rain this year

Jill and her son read us a story in the drizzle

August 24-25, 2019 – Kidical Mass Bike Camping Trip #3!

Our third Kidical Mass bike camping adventure included 25 awesome bike-loving people sleeping in the great outdoors next to one gorgeous Great Lake.

Mostly because someone — ahem, me… — didn’t get their act together for camping this year, we struggled a bit to decide on a campground and find enough open sites to book for the group. The previous two years we camped along the Erie Canal, which didn’t require reservations so we just rolled up. Next year, I’ll add it to my winter list to start scheming! Luckily, we landed in Hamlin Beach State Park, which is a super bike-friendly park inside. Speed limits are low, traffic is minimal, and bikes rule the road! I think our kids must have done 100 loops around the campground, possibly more. Despite the bike-friendly nature of the park, most of us opted to drive from Rochester so we’d have all our gear and kids bikes handy for inside the park. But three were hardcore and organized enough to bike the 25 miles to the park — way to go Sam, Hillary, and Zach!

We had some pretty great camp food, like hobo dinner (no hobos were harmed in the making of this meal). We learned how to make cinnamon dough on a campfire. We learned how to turn a campfire different colors. We ran into some swamped out trails and high lake levels. We beached. We rode. We zip-lined at the playground (even the grown-ups!).

August 11, 2019 – Village to Village Ice Cream Bike Challenge!

A little road riding, a bunch of beautiful canal path, a whole lotta ice cream, and the most sublime summer weather you could ask for. For our fifth ride of the season, we took on an ice cream challenge. What kind of challenge? Well, we forced ourselves to try some of the best ice cream in the area — at the Pittsford Farms Dairy (Pittsford) and Moonlight Creamery (Fairport). It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it! And by the way, we never did decide who won the taste test today. Personally, I may just have to try more flavors to decide!

This was one of our longer rides, harder to plan and harder to pace when you don’t know the age of kids who will be riding or their comfort levels, but man-o-man-o they hauled it out over 7 miles out to Fairport, even pushing my pace. I kept turning around asking the kids how they were doing and how the pace was: “Good! Great! Wahoo! Passing you!” was all I heard. It was the longest my 6 year old has ridden on his own, and after 14 miles round-trip, I was surprised that there had been nary a complaint from a tired rider. We even took a special request detour after dinner down a secret trail to round out a perfect summer ride.

Thank you everyone who came; the rides are so fun because of you, the connections made, the shared joys. Grateful for all of you!

July 21, 2019 – Hojack Trail Ride!

Big, big, big shoutout of gratitude for the Wirth-Brocious crew for offering to plan some rides this season, and this was the first one. And they went big.

It was a new trail to everyone. There was creek exploration. Crayfish. Playgrounds — plural. And ice cream or popsicles — a choice even. How can we go back to me planning now?!

The ride started at Klem Rd South Elementary School in Webster, where there are several portapotties and multiple playgrounds. We hopped on the Hojack Trail, which connects at the back of the property, cruised about three miles to Vosburg Hollow (small park with some kid-size trails). We were advised by our hosts to bring water shoes and crayfish/turtle hunting equipment. We spent a long while in the creek perfecting our crayfish-catching techniques (Alex taught us they jump backwards when startled so after that we were on to their tricky ways). We backtracked on the trail to the school for lunch, ice cream and popsicles courtesy of our hosts, and playground time. A great adventure had by all, many thanks to Alex, Brandi, and their kiddos!

June 22, 2019 – Bike the Farmers Market!

In June, we started with a little community involvement–and let’s be honest with ourselves, just a super fun morning hanging out at the farmers market, letting kids try out bikes, do an obstacle course, play with chalk, rifle through silly bike stickers, and chat with families about biking. Working with the Pittsford Village Community Farmers Market, Walk Bike Pittsford, the Town of Pittsford Recreation Dept, and Towpath Bike, we planned a morning of kid-friendly bike activities and followed by our monthly bike ride.

The good folks at Towpath Bike brought a bunch of different kid bikes and helmets and fitted any kiddo that stopped by with a bike to take a spin around on. We brought our patented bike ramp and some cones, and some fun accessories to raffle off.

And then we set off on a 3.5-mile ride around the village and canal–pausing for a couple of laps around the giant parking lot behind St. Louis church–on an absolutely gorgeous June morning. It couldn’t have been a better day for biking! Proud of all these kids who pedaled hard and paid attention even harder, and much love for their parents for making memories like this.

Random Events!

When Kidical Mass isn’t riding, we are spreading the biking cheer and helping people both understand the virtues of biking with kids and navigate the questions about how to do it and with what gear. Here are a few of the things we’ve helped out with this year:

Bike & Trike Rally at Pittsford Nursery School

Bike to School Day at Jefferson Road Elementary School

Rochester Women’s Bike Festival

May 27, 2019 – Pittsford Memorial Day Parade! 

May 12, 2019 – 3rd Annual Mother’s Day Ride – CANCELLED due to weather

One of my favorite rides — and let’s face it, just a fun time to hang out! Come kick off a beautiful season of bike riding with our 3rd Annual Mother’s Day ride! Grab your favorite people and come roll for a nice slow bike ride, some yummy food, and always some surprises in store 😉

We’ll meet at Lock 32 (NOT the Brew Pub, but the actual lock) at 10am. 3.7-mile slow roll ride over to Great Embankment Park. There’s a brand new playground, shaded pavilion, and bathrooms there. Bring a ball or frisbee, lots of open space here.

We’ll be on the canal most of the ride, except for a small bit on Schoen Place. This is a ride that is aimed to suit just about everyone. I’d put this at a Level 1-2 ride. We will be almost entirely off-road, but it’s slightly longer, so probably suitable for kids who can ride their own bikes or be hauled by parents for at least a portion of it.

I’ll bring fresh Bagel Bike bagels and fruit! Surprises abound! I’ll be raffling off some cute bike prizes.

The Ol’ Reminder: Everyone on or in a bike is welcome on our Kidical Mass rides! But parents/guardians must be on their own bicycle and accompany their children on rides.

April 27, 2019 – Arbor/Earth Day Fairs + Bike Ride

Hoo-wee, hello snow and wind. We should know better than to plan bike rides in Rochester in April, but it’s such a tease when we’ve had 70 degrees already! We were invited for a second year in a row to do a bike ride in conjunction with the Village Arbor Day celebration, and we do not turn down bike rides!

There were a committed few but we made the executive decision to bail on a formal ride and basically cross the street and cut through the Library parking lest we all turn to icicles. Still, we got out there, made bird feeders at the Village Arbor Day celebration and learned about everything from beekeeping to recycling vs. wish-cycling at the Town’s Earth Day celebrations.

Thanks to Sophie Bennett with Village DPW for inviting us to their Arbor Day celebration and Town Board Member Stephanie Townsend for hosting Walk Bike Pittsford and Kidical Mass at the Earth Day Fair. Renee and I talked to some new families interested in family biking adventures and to lots of people interested in making our streets safer for people walking and biking. We may have some new faces out riding with us this summer! Until warmer days arrive…

* 2018 *

That’s a wrap, 2018! Here are the highlights!

• 10 rides (43% increase)
• 176 riders (54% increase)
• 101 miles (93% increase)

We nearly doubled our miles this year! This summer flew by in a flurry of activity, but when I stop and think back to each of the rides we’ve had since April, I have some very specific and very beautiful memories. Here’s my favorite photo from each of our rides this year.

This season, we biked in rain, glorious, glorious sunshine, and what sure felt like close-to-snow. We did crafting together. We marched (biked) in a parade. We toured the Genesee Riverway. We hauled it 30 miles on an epic bike camping adventure. We ran through sprinklers. We learned about raising butterflies and protecting their habitat. We read books. We ate a lot of yummy things. We met neighbors.

I’ve been so struck by the kindness of everyone I meet through Kidical Mass. Sweet and fun families. Incredibly generous neighbors. Supportive elected officials. The most patient husband and kids you could ask for. I really get the warm fuzzies when I think about our ride get-togethers because it is a very special community. And we are a most welcoming community. So if you are already a converted bike-lover or just bike-curious, I hope you will come out and join us in 2019! All ages and abilities are welcome, and the more the merrier. Until 2019!

October 21, 2018 – Autumn Ride!

Last ride of the year! Temps hovered in the mid-30’s today in stark contract to the mid-90s on our September ride. Yet I am amazed at the tenacity and hardiness of our Kidical Mass crew. I almost canceled the ride, but didn’t when several families said they were down to ride in the cold and wind. I’m so glad we did. We enjoyed lovely fall foliage, horses, pumpkins at a farm stand, plenty of up hills to keep us warm (ha!), and even saw a bushy red fox.

And yes, I dressed as a dinosaur.

Our route took us from Thornell Farm Park playground on a loop over to Knickerbocker Farm Stand for pumpkins and other autumn goodies. Although the map shows us on East St, for anyone interested in this hilly route, we took Knickerbocker Trail, a bumpy gravel trail, tough on the tuchus but quiet and beautiful, through a wooded and agricultural area. You can access the trailhead on the approach up Knickerbocker Rd from Jefferson Rd, and it connects through to Mill St.

September 16, 2018 – Back to School Little Library Ride / Kidical Massive!

September means back to school for most of us, so to celebrate literacy and learning we made the rounds–by bike of course!–to our local Little Free Libraries to borrow new books and drop off pre-loved books for others to enjoy.

My heart is full having shared the afternoon with such lovely folks. I’m continued to be impressed by the stamina of the smallest riders and the generosity and kindness of everyone I’ve meet through biking around here.

We gathered at the newly renovated Pittsford Community Center playground for some play time and chit chat. There, we were joined by Amanda Madigan, Assistant Director of Pittsford Community Library, who shared information about park and museum passes that you can borrow from the library, as well as a Rochester toy library. PCL donates their discarded books to Little Free Libraries, among other causes.

We then made the little library circuit, visiting seven of PIttsford’s Little Free Libraries, ending at Jefferson Road playground to play with what little energy we had left and to make bookmarks in the shade.

We visited libraries at:

– 59 Brook Rd
– 39 Brook Rd
– 67 State St (canal towpath-side)
– Pittsford Nursery School (Rand and Locust)
– 9 Maple St
– 30 Rand Pl
– Jefferson Road Elementary

We are so grateful to Deborah, Holly and Gary, and Janice, Little Free Library stewards who came out to greet us, gave us cool drinks and treats, sat and read their favorite books to our group, gave us special bookmarks, and stamped our “Little Library Passports.” Thank you for sharing your books and your kindness–you made the ride so special!

This ride coincided with KIDICAL MASSIVE weekend where all the Kidical Mass groups around the world (!) plan rides, so we were just one community coming together to demand safe streets for all users, including the most vulnerable. And we know how to have a lot of fun doing it.

26 riders, 3.5 miles, 7 little libraries, 2 playgrounds, 10 little passports stamped, 0 heat exhaustion–a perfect afternoon!

August 18-19, 2018 – Second Annual Kidical Mass Pittsford Bike Campout!

30 campers. 63 miles. Our longest and largest ride ever! Rain cleared out just in time as we made tracks for Holley, NY for our second annual Kidical Mass Bikepacking Campout.

We had a great time bike camping last year along the Erie Canal in Macedon, NY (search this page to read all about about it). This year, instead of heading east, we went west, taking the canal towpath out to Holley to camp along the Erie Canal again.

We stopped along the way in several villages along the towpath and in doing so toured a century-old tugboat (the DeWitt Clinton) in Spencerport, drank brews at Stoneyard Brewing in Brockport, had some well-earned coffee at Sam’s Diner in Holley, chatted with kayakers, adjusted seats, held back toddler heads while they sleepily bobbed in bike seats, cheered on the youngest who were riding their longest ride ever on single-speed bikes (!), sometimes hauled each other, ate wild grapes, made s’mores, saw Great Blue Heron, mink, and groundhogs, dodged grasshoppers, attracted cicada and praying mantis, and most definitely didn’t encounter the midnight Macedon pooper.

Holley has a pretty unique canal park set-up with a man-made waterfall, grills and picnic areas, and proper bathrooms–even showers(!). We listened to the rushing water of the canal overflow and waterfall as we slept.

We made the call not to haul our food with us this year and instead visit the villages along the way and support their establishments while we explore. I have to say that both Stoneyard Brewing in Brockport and Sam’s Diner in Holley accommodated our group of 30 flawlessly with no advance notice or reservations since we weren’t completely sure of our arrival schedule. All the staff were so friendly and the food and drink was just what we needed! Give them a try if you are passing through.

For those planning a similar trip, here was our rough itinerary. We got started a bit late, and each stretch took longer than scheduled with riders of different ages. All in all, we rolled into Brockport for dinner around 6pm and into Holley around 8pm with just enough time for a quick camp set-up and a campfire for s’mores as dusk set in and before the littlest went to bed.

I thought we couldn’t top last year’s bike camping, but we totally did. Thank you everyone for making it such a special bike campout weekend!

August 12, 2018 – City Playground Riverfront Ride

Huge thanks to Alex at Yellow Haus Bicycles for planning this Kidical Mass ride complete with city views, sun-dappled bike paths, two playgrounds, healthy snacks, and wooden gliders for the kiddos! Couple ALL that with a gorgeous blue sky and a nice breeze, and it was pretty much a perfect ride.

A few of us rode in from Pittsford where we gathered with the whole crew at Genesee Valley Park. We set off along the beautiful Genesee Riverfront, along both sides of the river, crossing the Ford St Bridge, chilling at two playgrounds, and finishing up 6.3 miles later for glider time!

August 3, 2018 – Butterfly Bike Ride

Our first weekday Kidical Mass Pittsford ride was the brainchild of a kind Pittsford neighbor, Deborah, who has been raising monarch butterflies for 12 years, and who we met through our Little Free Library ride (June 2017, search the page for it below!). She invited us to take a bike ride over to her home to see her monarchs, read some children’s books about monarchs, and participate in a butterfly release if she had any ready to be set free. From Deborah: “I am in awe every year of the Monarch butterfly and thrilled to be able to share the wonder!”

Wonder and amazement there was!

We met at Pittsford Nursery School playground and rode for a relaxing 1.5 miles to Deborah’s house, where she greeted us with open arms. To say we were filled with awe would be a ridiculous understatement. She has raised–just this year–hundreds of monarch butterflies, so she walked us through each stage of life, showing us with a magnifying glass eggs, caterpillars of different sizes, pupae, and butterflies. She answered our many questions, and we saw a caterpillar emerge into it’s chrysalis right before our eyes (yep, they don’t spin a chrysalis around themselves, they emerge and form one as they wriggle out of their skin for the 5th and final time. I know, that’s not what we learned in school, right?!).

When we finished up inside, Deborah brought us outside to her butterfly garden to release 13 monarchs that had emerged over the last day. The kids got to hold the butterflies as they crawled out of the enclosure and onto their hands before lifting off into the air. We read books about butterflies in Deborah’s backyard and made some butterfly artwork, and to be honest, didn’t really want to leave. We are so grateful to Deborah for sharing this experience with us!

July 15, 2018 – Splash Park Ride!

We had a perfect (hot! humid!) summer day for our bike ride to East Rochester’s splash park. With the cooling splash pad water, popsicles, snickerdoodles, stickers, and bikes, bikes, bikes…what more could you ask for?

Our July ride to the splash park fell on just the right kind of hot summer day. We met on Schoen Place, headed out Washington Rd and over I-490, and then zig-zagged through the quiet neighborhood streets of Pittsford and East Rochester as we made our way to the splash park in Edmund Lyon Park.

Kiddos (and several parents and grandparents) cooled off in the splash park water, and then we settled in the shade for popsicles (hauled by Austin, for the second time, thank you love!) and snickerdoodles (yum, thank you Bailey family!).

There is so, so much that is reachable by bike around Pittsford, if given the chance. Sometimes it becomes a family challenge for us to see if we can reach a place by bike, and lo and behold, often times we can, and dare I say: every time, we find that we enjoy the journey there just as much as the destination. East Rochester splash park: definitely on the list of bikeable places from Pittsford!

June 24, 2018 – Tortoise & Hare “Race” – CANCELLED due to weather

The rain forced our ride cancellation but it couldn’t stop us meeting up for some brews. Thanks for hosting us Lock 32 Brewing, and props to our one hardcore family that went for a family bike ride before meeting up!

The original plans which we had to defer for another day:

Slow and steady wins this “race”! This ride will have two routes – one for those hares who like going fast and far, and one for those meandering tortoises who may still be learning to ride their own bikes. Everyone meet outside Lock 32 Brewing at 3:00pm! We’ll take off on our own routes, and meet back around 4:00pm at Lock 32 Brewing (adult beverages) and adjacent Gelato spot (sweet treats for young and old) and time to mix and mingle.

The tortoise route, 3.4 miles: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27825378

The hare route, 20.0 miles: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27823629 (huge thank you to Barry Cherney for the route planning!)

Is this race rigged?! We’ll have a small prize for one tortoise and one hare, but don’t worry about your speed, as we all know the speediest isn’t always the winner.

The tortoise route is a Level 2-3. Sidewalks for those younger riders, quiet streets or sidewalks off main streets for those older riders. The hare route is Level 4. All road-ride, faster pace, busier streets, and longer distance.

May 28, 2018 – Pittsford Memorial Day Parade! 

This year, the American Legion welcomed Kidical Mass Pittsford to join in the Pittsford Memorial Day Parade. We decked out our bikes in red, white, and blue and enjoyed a lovely slow roll down the middle of some of our normally busiest streets, remembering the lives of those who died for our country and celebrating our community. Thank you to all of you who help make up My Community here, I love riding with you each and every day. 

May 13, 2018 – 2nd Annual Mother’s Day Ride!

I’m so glad I accidentally planned our first ride last year on Mother’s Day because it’s started a wonderful tradition.

With an impromptu ride from Pittsford to Lock 33 with a handful of families and a lovely slow roll from Lock 33 back to Carpenter Park in Pittsford with the full crew of 28, we soaked up the warm spring rays and enjoyed the company of fellow bike lovers–new friends and old.

Can’t get enough of all these bikes and sweet families!

The moms and grandmas enjoyed flowers from the Pittsford Florist–beautiful, bright carnations, strong and perfect for holding while biking (thank you Sarah Costello!). After the ride, we hung out chatting, climbing retaining walls, making dandelion crowns, and munching on six dozen mini bagels provided by Bagel Bike.

Here’s to 2018 bike rides! So happy to see so many of you again after this long winter! 

April 28, 2018 – Tree-mendous Arbor Day Bike Ride & Village Celebration

We were honored to be asked by Pittsford Village DPW to participate in its first Arbor Day Celebration by planning a family bike ride. It’s a gamble planning a bike ride in April in Rochester, but 11 souls joined for an adventurous ride through mist and rain, through the village, along the canal path, to Great Embankment Park for some running around, tree story time, tree arts and crafts, and just plain hanging out.

We gathered at the corner of Boughton Ave and South St under one of my very favorite trees in the village, a massive and stately old Red Oak.

Though it wasn’t quite dry enough for bark rubbings and there weren’t yet any leaves on the trees for leaf rubbings, we still enjoyed ourselves!

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At Village Hall, we made fairy doors, listened to live music (check out The Fog!), got free seedlings of sugar maples and pines, chatted with Wild Wings reps who brought a screech owl and red-tailed hawk for demonstration, and enjoyed a magician and face painters.

I loved meeting new biking friends and catching up with old ones. So glad you all could come, and that you braved the rain to ride! Until next time, and hopefully warmer weather…

* 2017 *

Kidical Mass Pittsford wrapped up our 2017 season and here are the highlights:

• 7 rides!
• 114 riders!
• 52.3 miles!

We’ve met so many wonderful people in Pittsford and neighboring communities who bike for transportation and recreation, who support policies that faciliate biking around our communities, and who support this movement to raise awareness for safer streets for all ages and abilities of cyclists.

This season, we toured Pittsford’s Little Free Libraries, biked to three playgrounds, had a sweet bike scavenger hunt, went bike camping, explored trails, learned about gaps in our biking infrastructure, ate cake and had a crazy good time.

Check out all our previous rides below and join Kidical Mass Pittsford to ride with us in the spring! All ages and abilities are welcome and with biking, the more the merrier. We hope to see you!

October 14, 2017 – Fall fun + potluck ride!

Our last ride of the season was an autumn-themed ride of foliage peeping and riding past cornfields, but we had summer-like temps and gorgeous late-afternoon golden sun shining on us–a lovely surprise and just the opposite weather from our October 2016 Kidical Mass Pittsford kick-off last year which was a cold 50 degrees with wind and rain. Yes, those are shorts and short-sleeves in mid-October in Rochester!

We started on the Erie Canal towpath to let the littlest riders haul around on their balance bikes, training wheels, and two-wheelers without having to navigate traffic. We found ramps and threw rocks in the canal.

We headed out Highway 31 via sidewalk to the Highlands Trail where we did some more leaf looking, cruising alongside corn fields as tall as an elephant’s eye, and even found a fairy hut or two.

Nearing exhaustion, we headed to our potluck locale to refuel with some food and play in the yard. Kids decorated pumpkins, and some special paper plate awards were given out reminiscing about good times this season.

And we ate cake! Yummy, yummy Kidicial Mass cake!

[It’s supposed to be a bike wheel. Can you see it now?]

I’ve loved riding with you all. Thanks for making the spring/summer/fall extra fun for me. Hope to see everyone from this year again next year and lots of new faces too! Until 2018, happy trails to you and yours!

-Brooke

September 17, 2017 – Global KIDICAL MASSIVE + superhero ride!

We had a short but sweet September superhero ride through Brighton today with 24 energetic souls. Today’s ride also coincided with the worldwide KIDICAL MASSIVE ride where thousands of families across the country–and in cities around the world–go on a bike ride together, enjoy the time spent outdoors with their friends and loved ones, and show that streets are for people and kids and people on bikes are traffic too, deserving of safety and respect on the road (from other road users and, ahem, road designers too).

After a brief safety lesson about pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle behavior and how a superhero might choose to cycle safely on the sidewalk (thanks Blair Hornbuckle, Cycling Savvy instructor) we cruised through the beautiful Brickyard Trail from the Brighton Public Library to Buckland Park for playground time, snacks, and kids ramp tricks (thanks Hillary and fam!). I loved seeing all the costumes!

We have just one more planned ride this season in October, and we hope to see you there!

-Brooke, AKA The Cargo Crusader!

August 26-27, 2017 – Bike camping at Lock 30!

Eight adults and six kids made the 14.5 mile trek from Pittsford to Macedon for our very first (and MY very first) bike camping adventure! And it was epic. We lucked out again with the weather, having picked this weekend several weeks out, and we had highs in the low 70’s with beautiful blue sky, and (gulp!) lows in the upper 40’s at night (in August!). The cold temps at night made for mist rising off the canal in the morning–quite a spectacular sight to wake up to.

[Photo by Alex Wirth]

We set out in late afternoon, and stopped at Perinton Park playground (nearly midway between Pittsford and Macedon) to let the kiddos run around before hopping back on/in bikes.

Once back on our bikes, the ride out there did not disappoint. We passed through Fairport (right in the midst of Fairport Music Fest!) and through a neat community with houses right along the canal (beware potholes on the shared quiet road/canal path here though!). We ducked under cool bridges, rode alongside railroad tracks, and even saw an old tractor plowing a tiny tract of farmland right up against the towpath.

[Photos by Brooke]

And when we arrived at Lock 30 in Macedon, we got to walk across the lock with our bikes (how cool?!).

[Photo by Alex Wirth]
We set up camp, cooked dinner, went stick hunting to make s’mores, and the kids played on the small playground and checked out the Little Free Library for bedtime books. We went to bed after a lovely sunset over the canal and woke up to fog rolling over the canal until the morning sun warmed things up. (No need to mention train horns in the night, chilly noses while sleeping, or kids waking up in the wee hours of the morning, right? Nope, the rolling fog definitely erased those memories!) For those considering this trip, Lock 30 is appointed with a porta-potty and potable water via spigot.

[Photos by Brooke]

After downing some pretty fancy camping breakfast foods–strawberry pancakes, hot breakfast sandwiches, and COFFEE!–we checked out the Butterfly Trail and got ready to return to Pittsford (and Rochester! We had some families who trekked even longer by bike to join this adventure).

[Photos by Alex Wirth]

I had the most awesome time! I was really proud of all we hauled and the feeling of accomplishment and contented exhaustion that comes from hauling your own people, your own things, and getting somewhere by the power of your own body. Already dreaming of my next bikepacking adventure…

-Brooke

August 13, 2017 – Trail ride + scavenger hunt!

You couldn’t have dreamed of August weather more lovely for a bike ride. Blue sky. Big puffy white clouds. Warm but not enough to make you sweat. Nineteen big, little, and in-between people joined on our epic trail ride and scavenger hunt!

On this ride, we checked out part of one of Pittsford’s trails–the Auburn Trail. This is a small section of the larger Auburn Trail, and also part of the Pittsford/Brighton Railroad Loop trail.

The kind folks at Park Ave Bike Shop let us gather by their shop and use their parking lot before we hopped on the trail right around back. We had a motley crew of older kids and parents on their own two-wheelers, parents hauling their kids on child seats, trailing bikes, and bakfiets, and one tiny balance bike rider who did not quit!

We pedaled along a lovely sun-dabbled trail from the Pittsford Plaza area to the Village of Pittsford, with just one road crossing, at French Road.

Once we reached the canal path, we paused to distribute the scavenger hunt, and man these teams brought their A Game! They found speed bumps, trains, animals, wooden-hulled boats, green bikes, sharrows, among many other items that we thought we were being tricky about when we planned it.

We reconvened at the Spiegel Community Center playground and with prizes doled out to the teams, we played on the playground, hung out, and enjoyed the delightful morning before parting ways for lunches, naps, or busy afternoons of weekend errands.

[Photos by Brooke]

I so enjoyed another beautiful bike ride with such awesome folks. My heart swells.

-Brooke

July 22, 2017 – ABCs of Family Biking

Ok, ok, so this wasn’t a ride per se, but it was awesome so I’m including it. Kidical Mass Pittsford joined forces with Yellow Haus Bicycles at the Pittsford Village Community Farmers Market to host the ABCs of Family Biking. This event was geared towards people who are curious about biking with children but have questions about equipment, want to try out different styles of kid-hauling bikes, or are feeling a little cautious with their new precious cargo and want to chat with experienced family bikers. We chatted with folks from Pittsford and neighboring communities, people with kids and people without kids. Who doesn’t love talking about and trying out cool bikes?

[Photos by Brooke]

We had a bakfiets, front-loading trike, bike trailer, trailing bike, front-mount and rear-mount kids seats, a balance bike, and e-assist bikes on hand for visitors to try–and try they did! I loved seeing so many happy adults and kiddos on and in bikes!

HUGE SHOUT-OUT to Alex (Yellow Haus) and Hillary (awesome bike gear sharing volunteer) for giving of your time, expertise, and gear and to Robert (Pittsford farmers market) for your generous support of this fun and educational event! And thanks everyone who stopped by to chat. Hope to see you out riding soon!

-Brooke

July 15, 2017 – Frozen custard + playground ride! 

Our July ride was a two-parter covering 3.5 miles one-way. We gathered at the eastern end of Schoen Place just as the gray all-day-threatening-rain clouds gave way to warm sun for our ride. So much for packing rain jackets and no sunscreen, whoops!

We cruised out of the village along the canal path to Abbott’s Frozen Custard in Bushnell’s Basin, where we took a short break to slurp deliciously melty frozen custard.

After everyone was sufficiently sugared up, we hopped back on our bikes for the short ride to Kreag Road playground. We slid, climbed, and swung before pedaling homeward, appetites whetted for dinner.

Come along for our next ride in August and join our Facebook group to stay up-to-date on all the Kidical Mass happenings!

-Brooke

[Photos by Brooke]

June 11, 2017 – Little Free Library ride! 

Bikes + kids…what could be better?

Bikes + kids + books!

It was a hot, hot, hot 90 degrees, but a hardy crowd biked to three of Pittsford’s Little Free Libraries to drop off books and pick out new books to take home. One of the library stewards even came out to visit and share lemonade with our group (thanks Deb!).

We are lucky to have a bunch of these little book exchanges throughout our neighborhoods. And our fantastic public Pittsford Community Library also supports these exchanges by donating their discards (books that aren’t getting quite as much love anymore or unneeded duplicates). Here are a few of the LFLs we know of in Pittsford:

39 Brook Rd
59 Brook Rd
67 State St (accessible via canal towpath)
19 Cricket Hill Dr
25 Rosewood Dr
48 Mendon Center Rd
12 Trailwood Circle

They are fun little treasures to stumble upon. We didn’t visit all of these on our ride because of time and distance, but maybe you’ll think of them next time you have some books to pass along or you are out for a ride and looking for a little adventure, or a good book.

We ended our ride in Carpenter Park, thankful for Austin hauling a huge cooler of popsicles on his bike. With sticky popsicle hands, we relaxed in the shade of the pavilion, watching boats on the canal and making bookmarks to hold places in our new books.

[Photos by Brooke]

Hope to see you on our next ride in July!  –Brooke

May 14, 2017 – Mother’s Day ride!

Despite a dismal forecast, we had the most perfect of biking weather you could imagine–bright blue sky, warm but not hot, and sun, sun, sun. In Rochester! In early May!

We had 25 happy parent and kid riders–on everything from trailers to trail-a-bikes to box bikes to child seats to training wheels to their own two-wheelers. It was great fun to meet everyone and enjoy such a beautiful morning together!

We made a short 1.8 mile ride from Schoen Place in the Village of Pittsford to Lock 32 along the separated walking/biking Erie Canal towpath. No roads for us this time; we had a nice, slow ride easing into our season as we sailed through verdant sections of the towpath, by suburban backyards, and onto our picnic locale.

[Photos by Brad Thyroff]

We set out blankets, enjoyed yummy snacks together, threw rocks into the water and climbed the observation deck to see the lock. I had such a great time and I’m looking forward to seeing you all–and some new faces too!–at the next ride. Thanks for coming out!

[Photos by Brooke]

-Brooke Fossey

October 22, 2016 – First Kidical Mass Pittsford Ride!

The inaugural Kidical Mass Pittsford ride! Chilly 50’s and rain, but we did it! It all starts somewhere.