Biking Local

Simon is road ready on his bike.  With one of us coaching him of course, on the rules and etiquette of the road and bike tips and tricks as we go.   He L.O.V.E.S it!  He made it to the library and back with ease awhile ago. At that time, I declared that we would be on the bikes all summer long.  If we want to go somewhere local, it will be on the bikes.  No need to start the car and drive such a short distance.  Simon finished an earth friendly/recycling unit at school, so this is one we are going to take care of the earth.  

Since we chose wisely on the location of our house (11 years ago), we can bike to many places.  We are sort of "on a grid".  Our house is not a part of a subdivision with one way in and out that encroaches on a major intersection that discourages biking and walking to places.  We have a variety of road options and destinations that allow for self-motivated modes of travel.  Granted, we have to navigate some pretty busy streets every so often, but that is a learning process and we are careful.

Norah can scoot on her Skuut bike up to a mile, so far.  She can keep up pretty good with Simon slower biking.  I can either walk fast or bike slow behind them.  But, she still loves the bike trailer and wants to ride whenever she can.  That just means I pull the trailer, her, and the contents of the errand.

In the last week, I have biked to ACE, Jo-Anne's, and the park in one trip with Norah.  I biked with Norah to Simon's baseball game (with a stop to return books at the library that reduced my load by an estimated 20 pounds).  Simon insisted that we bike to Aldi for our grocery shopping, with me pulling the groceries home in the trailer.  He did great, but he was wiped out.  The slight hills were difficult for him on his single speed bike. I biked solo to the Farmer's market to pick up the beloved pretzel bread for our Memorial Day snack.

I did drive to the library near bedtime with Norah and felt like I betrayed my bike.  My bike revolted by acting up and giving me gear trouble.  Some of the trips above were driven with access to the middle gear only.  It has since been fixed, and let me tell you it is much better driving with more than 2 gear options!

I have a 15 speed blue bike with an awesome removable front basket.  I can honestly say I have never bought a brand new bike.  My Dad junk picked this for me a very long time ago and it is still great.  The basket is removable for shopping trips.  Pick up the handles and it comes off, place it on the rack and flip the handles down and it is on the bike.  Great Christmas gift from my parents.  

I am not interested in knowing how many miles I biked and how fast I rode them for each trip.  I would say I am a recreational and destinational bike rider.  I'm hoping there is some exercise benefit as well. Although, it would be interesting to know how many miles we can log this summer. . . .