I managed to go entirely car-free on Tuesday. No, I did not just stay home. That would have been cheating. I actually got up early, packed the bike, and aired the tires and rode the boys to school. This time I made the trip bike-abuse free and took the long way around. It was quite a pleasant trip. I was planning to leave at 8:30 - 30 minutes earlier than usual - but we were late anyway. The actual trip might have taken longer than anticipated but the loading of the bike certainly put us behind schedule. I had kids wandering all over the place – one had shoes and no helmet, one had a helmet, one shoe, and a dirty diaper, and one had a helmet and shoes but couldn’t find his books. That is one of the down-sides to a bike – I can’t strap my kids in and leave them while I run back into the house to get whatever we are missing. Next time I’ll have to push for an 8:20 departure.
I gave Linus the camera to document our day. He got some pretty good shots. Unfortunately he also got some schmutz on the camera lens which I didn’t notice until I was uploading. Sigh. Anyway, here’s our trip in pictures…
Starting out:
Levee views:
Trucks!
scene of the Bike Throwing:
Admiring crowd:
Happy Baby:
Unloading:
last stop: ice cream
Looks like fun, schmutz and all!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration! I mom on a biked all day Monday: To Park, to Leo's school, home and to Aurora's school for pick up. I made it half way through Tuesday, we made it all on our own bikes to the park and back. But then I didn't have enough time to ride Aurora to school. But a little bike is better than no bike right. I think if I keep this up and keep having kids at school over the freeway I will have massive quad muscles.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great day, way to go! You should really check out Team Wonderbike on New Belgium's website if you haven't already: http://www.newbelgium.com/Community/team-wonderbike/home.aspx
ReplyDeleteIt got me in biking mode a couple of years ago, I decided to bike anywhere I needed to go that was in my town. Your blog is going to motivate me to do it more and farther!
You amaze me...
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed you made it out of the house at all. My guess is that you will only get more efficient (and on time) with more practice. Kudos to you for continuing to push for a greener option.:)
ReplyDeleteNice. Congrats on being carfree for a day. I remember my first day. I hope to have many carfree days this summer. Love the blogs look and feel. I added you on my blog roll on my site!
ReplyDeleteMatthew
www.Bike4Heck.com
I love the pictures! I take ones like that with nothing on the lens!
ReplyDeleteThe Yuba is such a perfect minivan, love seeing all the toys being pulled out of the Go-Getters.
My fave is however, the scene of the bike throwing incident, made me laugh out loud!
The first 2 months of my carfree year were a bit rough, I think its good to slowly get into it, especially as you have three passengers!
Cheers!
Lindsay
youaintgotjack.blogspot.com
I was wondering how wide the bike would be fully loaded. I'm glad you posted a picture of that. great blog Kate! I wish my area were more bike friendly. Looking forward to reading future posts!
ReplyDeleteAs a new Yuba owner with two small children I've enjoyed reading about your experiences on your blog. It's such a great bike and I like knowing there are others out there going car free.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you ride it with three kids - my two are enough for me! That said I am very little so the Mundo with all the accessories and my toddler weigh more than I do. By the time add my 5 year old and her school backpack there's another 50%. And then there are all those hills here in Berkeley...
I have my Yuba set up with the padded seat, handle bars and foot pegs for my 5 year old followed by the peanut shell for my toddler. I've got the wheel skirts to stop little feet getting caught in the spokes and the running boards plus I'm thinking about getting the new tow tray for my 5 years olds bike - if it fits with the peanut shell (fingers crossed). I'd love to add at least one Go-Getter bag for shopping but it doesn't fit with my current set up. Instead I got the basket which fits loads of stuff but makes the bike too long for the elevator to the train.
I use my bike mostly for the pre-school run in the morning and afternoon, rides to the park and family rides on the weekend - my husband rides it then and I get to "relax" on a single bike :) I'm yet to use it for running errands mostly because all the places I need to go are up hill! I'm sure the more I ride it those hills won't seem so bad. I've only been riding it for three weeks and prior to that I hadn't ridden a bike for almost 20 years. Talk about jumping in at the deep end!
We don't own a car so the Yuba has given us so much more freedom. The bike ride to pre-school takes less than half the time it takes me to walk with the stroller and we no longer have to rely on public transport to go to parks out of walking distance. Yay for the Yuba!
I look forward to reading more of your adventures :)