Finn's Chariot

When Finn was a baby my dad's excitement about his existence lead to him purchasing some expensive gifts. First was the big 75 inch TV when Lindsey was pregnant we stuck in the media room. Another was a bicycle for Lindsey plus something called the "Thule Chariot" when Finn was one. This "chariot" was something like a trailer for a bike, you put a child in, connected it to a bike, and then you could ride the kid around behind the bike. 

When we were stuck home during the COVID year suddenly there was a motivation to use this chariot after it had sat for a year. We hooked it to the bike he got Lindsey for the purpose and she took him around the neighborhood once. But I couldn't really be involved since dad didn't get me a bike and I hadn't had one since college that was long since lost, and so I went on a hunt for a new bike for myself so I could participate. But that wasn't an original idea during COVID and by the time I went bike hunting it was fall and most everywhere had been cleaned out of bikes. Took me weeks to find one. 

Eventually at a very south Target I found a decent bike that was kinda expensive. I drove all the way down and got it, and then one September weekend I got it fixed up and got the chariot completely ready. Even got Finn a helmet which was also hard because he required such a large size for his head. The total cost of the setup was probably over $1000 between me and my dad's investment, but with it all coming together we finally could get out of the house during the COVID year. 

The last weekend of September 2020 it all paid off, we rode around the neighborhood together and did some laps around the nearby high school bus lanes and at the nearby church parking lot with Finn gladly finally riding in his chariot. I hadn't really ridden a bike since my childhood so I wore out quickly, but Lindsey kept doing lap after lap as Finn quietly rode in the back. As mentioned here the COVID year was a tough year, but that weekend was easily the best memory in 2020 after Finn's birthday. I will never forget Finn just casually sitting in his chariot, with the demeanor of royalty in a movie being ridden around in a horse drawn chariot. 

We made plans to do plenty more rides in the future after that weekend but for the most part that stayed plans. I got a bike holder that fit on the Kia trailer hitch that could hold both of our bikes the very next weekend, and we even paid an extra $1k for the Model Y to have a hitch in 2022 so we could potentially use that holder for the bikes once the Kia was gone. Yet next big time the chariot was used was when Allie came to visit at the end of January 2021. She rode Lindsey's bike and Lindsey rode mine and they did another tour at the high school. I am pretty sure that was the last time the chariot ever got hooked up frankly. Luckily I took pictures and video of it being used then. 

Some of the issue was that the neighborhood simply didn't have a lot of good biking areas. That is why I got the car bike holder, but I think we did a trip like that only once to the local park only for it to be too hot for it to be fun. Also Finn got to the point he didn't like the idea of passively being driven around, he wanted to participate more. 

Eventually Finn got his own bike during Christmas 2022 which got rid of the need for the chariot. We maybe used the chariot something like three or four times in total, which I would feel bad about given its cost but here we are five years later and I can reflect that those are some of my favorite memories during the pandemic year. I meant to sell the chariot for extra funds but never got around it it, and currently it is in my garage long after its useful life...hanging around just for the good memories. 

Luckily my new neighborhood is better for biking with a park at the end of the street. I hope sometime soon me and Finn can take a ride with me using my COVID bike and him using the Christmas bike and we can build a new great memory.