Baby on board! Ellsley's first bike ride

Yea!  We recently decided that E was ready for the jogging stroller (makes mom very happy) and the cargobike (makes dad very happy)!

I had previously discovered that our existing infant car seat wouldn't fit into the box on the cargobike, so we had to do some additional planning.  Some online research will tell you that typically Maxi-Cosi infant seats are smaller than many other brands, so I found a Craigslist special.

I made a few warranty-voiding modifications that involved a hacksaw.  Just needed to get the base/back a bit smaller to fit in the box.

At the recommendation of Zach and the good folks at Totcycle we picked up an Uppa Baby Bubble sunshade.  Here it is on E's Maxi Cosi.

The Uppa Bubble has mesh sides and a mesh front zipper flap.  Then there is a solid blackout sunshade that goes over the top.  Two things I don't love about the bubble:  

1) It's pretty akward to get her in and out of it.  The mesh screen only moves up to as far as it is in the above picture, so you sort of have to slide her in and out. This also means I have to put her in the carseat and then put the carseat in the bike.

2) Mesh sides let in the sun.  So we have been draping a blanket over the sides to keep out the sun.

Baby in carseat, carseat in bubble, and then carseat in cargobike!  At first I thought about putting anchors into the base of the box and using the Latch system on the carseat, but decided to just go with a seatbelt.

I got a regular lap seatbelt at the auto parts store for $15 or so.  It is bolted through the box into existing holes and down through the kickstand attachment.  This way I didn't have to drill additional holes in the box and the final anchor goes through some metal rather than just plywood.  The seatbelt secures down over the carseat just like it would in a car!

In the bottom of the box you see a rubber exercise mat that I cut to fit to help with noise, vibration and to keep the box from getting too beat up.  That cost me about $10.  We have also been putting down a blanket under the carseat to help with vibration.

So far she's been on two rides of 8-10 miles and loved it!  She tried pretty hard to fall asleep on today's ride.  Would love to have naptime happen on the bike.

Don't report me to the Elizabethton, TN, police department, ok?