New Bike Rack

So my new bike rack arrived today. Yay! It's hinged so that it arrived in a fairly small box. Even after I took it out, Haley kept saying, "It looks so small. I don't think it's going to work." But then I started unfolding it and she said, "Oh wow, it's big!"

Anyhow, as you can see, it fits perfectly on my car :) The bottom feet are resting (lightly) on the bumper. I can open the hatchback while it's on, though it's a bit heavier.


This bike rack isn't officially recommended for the Prius, although you see it on Priuses all the time. Here's why: Everything is perfect except that the metal buckle part of the strap just happens to be in the worst possible spot -- right at the bend over the spoiler. So left to its own devices the metal buckle will etch through the paint. But a little bit of shelf liner stuck under the trouble spot (while not hugely attractive) should take care of that problem :)


Here's my bike on the rack. I can hulk the hatchback open, but it's a pain in the butt.


Here are both of our bikes, nose to tail.


As you can see, neither bike is actually touching the car :)


And I can even park my car in the garage with whole inches to spare!

But wait, you say, back up a minute... That's not Haley's bike! Alas, Haley's bike won't even come close to fitting on a bike rack. Also if we're going to be going up any hills she's going to need some gears. So we went on down to our local used bike shop. This bike was a little dusty, a little used, a little ugly, but it is in good mechanical shape. Then we looked at the price tag. For $20 it's fantastic :) :) :)

It's a little big for her. She has a little trouble starting and stopping, but on the plus side her knees aren't fully extended when she's pedaling. Plus she's growing really fast right now -- another inch or two and it won't matter :) I figure we can spend some real money on a better bike when she's done growing, but this should do her until she's my height :)