When you live in a city that averages over 300 days of sunshine and less than 15 inches of rain a year, riding in light rain along a quiet path is a special treat. And for me this morning, a peaceful way to start my day.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
When I speak up at public meetings for improving bicycling in my city, I regularly hear the naysayers: “You can’t carry groceries on a bike,” “You can’t ride in the rain,” “You can’t ride a bike in professional clothes,” “It’s too cold and dark in the winter.” I can speak from personal experience to handily dispel all these myths.
But for “Mothers need cars to take their kids all over town” I have to rely on stories from my friends. Like Karin, my former housemate who bought a bike trailer and started taking her son Anthony to day care on her way to work as soon as he could hold up his head. The 10 mile round trip gave Karin regular exercise that fit within a tight mommy schedule. And trust me, Karin isn’t a happy camper without regular exercise.
Now Karin has another job that doesn’t work for a bike commute with a day care drop off, but she and Anthony regularly ride around town: to the park, the farmer’s market, the swimming pool and even Baskin Robbins.
Karin and I met Elly through Girl Scouts where we formed a group we called the “leaders without daughters” because we didn’t have kids. Like Karin, Elly now has a son who rides with her to day care and around town. Elly says: “He sings to me while we ride (and makes up songs). I think he enjoys it because everything is closer and more immediate. He can say hello to people we pass, point out dogs and interesting sights.”
When Karin starting riding baby Anthony to day care on her work commute, she was the only parent I knew who did it. Now, I’m seeing more and more riding parents their kids to day care or to school. I rarely get the opportunity to snap a shot. They’re rushing to get to school while I’m rushing to catch the train.
But at the Energizer Station on Bike to Work Day last week I met this family. The mom and baby were riding to work and day care at Stanford University. The dad and sibling were along for the ride. All were perfectly content.
Karin told me a long time ago I should write about balance bikes. She said that Anthony learned to ride a two-wheel pedal bike in less than an hour because he had ridden a balance bike first. Since I only write about what I experience directly, I wish I had been there to see it. I can only imagine the smile on Anthony’s face.
But I did meet this two-year-old girl rocking a balance bike as she and her parents rode through our cul-de-sac. They had come from the grocery store almost 1/2 mile away and had another 1/2 mile to go before the reached home. That little girl has both endurance and some mad downhill skillz as you’ll see below.
Do you use a bike to take your kid to day care, to school or just around town? What were your biggest challenges? What tips do you have for parents who are curious to try it?
Photos of Karin and Elly in this post are courtesy of them and are used with their permission.
I saw lots of new faces on bikes on my commute this morning. You see, we’re celebrating Bike to Work Day today so the casual commuters were out in force and gathering at Energizer Stations for coffee and snacks. The new face I was most surprised to see? Mountain View Mayor John Inks on a bike. That got me energized.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
The heat was on last weekend, just in time to kick off the outdoor festival season. But instead of riding over to the A la Carte and Art festival in downtown Mountain View, Dick and I rode across town to REI to represent the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) at REI CycleFest. In addition to working with government and businesses for improved bike facilities, SVBC also provides education and encouragement for riders through programs like Safe Routes to School and Bike to Work Day, which is coming up this Thursday.
Bike to Work Day is the kickoff of the biking season for casual riders, who will dust off their bikes, pump up the tires and dig out a messenger bag for a bike commute to work. For people who ride every day, Bike to Work Day can lack excitement. It’s just another work commute, albeit with a few more riders out on the road and a chance to get a free muffin or banana along the way at an Energizer Station.
For Dick and me, REI Cyclefest was a perfect way to help people jumpstart their riding. The other booths had gear covered, so we spent most of our time pointing at the bike map talking about where to ride: efficient, low-traffic routes to work or stores and scenic, quiet routes for fun. About half the attendees were neighborhood and bike path only riders, while the rest were comfortable with on-street routes. All were looking for new options.
First it was a couple from East Palo Alto that was curious about riding across the bay on the Dumbarton Bridge. Then it was a double century rider looking for a cross-valley route to Mt Hamilton east of San Jose. Then a woman in her 70s who sees the Guadalupe River Trail from the freeway but can’t find a trail entrance. Then a teenage boy from Palo Alto who loves roam the gravel levees in the Baylands–how far they could take him?
For all the rhetoric about why people don’t ride, I think what limits cycling is how many nearby places there are where people feel comfortable riding. People love bikes, but if they don’t have a good route to work or school, or they have to load bikes on a car for every social ride, they won’t ride as much. It all starts with the route.
Do you find yourself doing same old rides? How do you find new routes or ideas for places to ride?
Every morning in high school my classmates and I bumped down Perkins Road crammed in a bright yellow school bus. We chatted with friends, rushed to finish homework, listened to music on our Walkmans, and girls like me rolled our eyes at the loud boys in the back of the bus cutting up to get attention.
There aren’t many school buses out here anymore, but the prep school boys from Bellarmine travel to school in style on Caltrain. With smartphones to keep them entertained, five spacious rail cars for the 100 or so boys and their own rail stop, it’s not quite what we had. But it’s certainly familiar, if you add some girls rolling their eyes.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
Forgetting to look before you leap can get your day off on the wrong track. In a mad dash to catch an early bullet train I jumped on the local by mistake. “Easy fix,” I thought. “I’ll hop off at College Park and make up time on the bike.” Good thing I looked before I leaped off the train. The platform didn’t reach the last bike car.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
On a clear and warm spring morning like today, why take the train when I can ride for miles along the quiet Guadalupe River Trail with the breeze blowing through my hair? My little mixte was up for the 14 miles and so was I. With a water bottle in the basket we were good to go. Who says city bikes can’t do longer commutes?
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
I miss my dear old cat Belle. She would come running when she heard the sound of my car pulling into the driveway, tail in the air and a bounce in her step. My new cat Blackie hasn’t learned that trick. Instead, it’s the sound of the garage door opening that has him sauntering lazily down the walkway to greet me.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
If I were back in the Netherlands I wouldn’t have given it a second glance: a sturdy city bike locked up outside an apartment building with a heavy chain. But it was chained to a lamp post in Menlo Park, California, not Amsterdam, so I had to stop and investigate. I’ve never seen the brand before and I can’t guess its vintage, but I was pretty sure it was Dutch even before an internet search. How so? The evidence is in the tell-tale details.
Strip away a few accessories and this typical Dutch bike could pass for an American bike from my childhood.
Note: An internet search revealed very little about Pointer except that it’s a Dutch brand like Gazelle and Batavus. If you know more about Pointer bikes or what vintage this bike might be, please leave a comment!
Location: Linden Oaks neighborhood in Menlo Park, California, USA, near Stanford University.
When there’s a weather advisory for 25+ mph winds and your office is smack dab between two light rail stations, the downwind station is the right choice for an easier way to glide.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
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