Our first week on the Walk & Bike Challenge

The first five days of the Walk & Bike Challenge are done.  Over 30 schools are signed up and I hear some school communities are starting out with a bang!  The month of May also coincides with PDOT-promoted Bike to Work month, with events throughout May like guided beginner level rides, fun events with free food, and commuting workshops.  The double motivation is working for us and - especially with the fair whether out last week - we are seeing so many more folks walking and biking.

With all this biking going on, it can be so daunting to start trying bike commuting, especially as a family.  While we've tried to chronicle some of our own experiences with family biking, another great resource are upcoming workshops (remaining dates May 12 in SE, May 15 in Downtown, May 22 outer SE) "Getting Started in Family Bike Commuting."

Nervous about mounting a bicycle with little ones? Confused by all the options for carrying kids on bicycles?  The BTA's Family Biking Commute Workshops discuss the common challenges that families face when considering bike commuting. They are also a place for seasoned bicyclists to learn more about commuting with kids and share what they know about commuting with new riders.

For our family, after such a loooooooong winter and lots of wet, we have been driving more than biking in past weeks.  Last week, however, we were motivated by the Walk & Bike Challenge and here was our play-by-play for our famiy of four:

• Monday: we all biked
• Tuesday: we all drove
• Wednesday: one parent took the bus with one child; one parent biked with the other child
• Thursday: we all biked
• Friday: one parent biked with one child; one parent drove with the other child

How did you fare in the first week of the Walk & Bike Challenge?  Did you find many other families participating?  Is your school not signed up?  You can still sign up here!  What are some challenges that keeps you from walking, biking, or riding the bus to school?

Stimulate this! Great ideas for using your economic stimulus package

As soon as I heard about Bush's Economic Stimulus plan, I started in with the subversion. I'd use my stimulus check to buy things, but entirely not the things Bush and big retail corporations wanted me to. My debit card wouldn't be swiped at Target or Sears or Olive Garden; with the whopping $2,100 my family will get (we have three children) I wouldn't buy a single gallon of premium unleaded gas, nor sink a nickel into video poker machines (I'm scandalized and saddened that's where Oregon's kicker went). No. I'd buy things that would work gently against big government and big big oil.

I made a promise to myself that I would spend my economic stimulus money on things that would save me from spending future fossil fuels, future money and future greenhouse gases. I decided I would invest my stimulus package into my little urban homestead's soil, air, and food stores. I'd get off the grid, just a bit, I'd use it to live lighter. I made a list of ideas and (helped by a substantial tax rebate) I've already started in on it. Do you have any ideas to add to the list? Where will your stimulus package go?

• A family bike. I bought this Electra Townie + Xtracycle + Bobike seat from Clever Cycles for about $1500; you could do it a lot cheaper ($450-$600) if you had a base bike to use (you could even use an old Schwinn). I'm waiting for another Bobike seat for Truman. I can transport all three boys on it! There are lots more thoughts about family biking here.
• A couple of garden boxes, fertilizer, compost, seeds and starts. It seems as if I'm not the only one thinking about this! Lots of your great vegetable gardening advice here.

Take the Walk + Bike Challenge to Your School!

We know that all of the talks of bike and the Portland bike culture can be a bit alienating for some, but here's an opportunity to take the baby steps needed to bike and walk.  Need a little inspiration?  Sponsored by the BTA:

Oregon Walk + Bike to School has an exciting event happening in May. For the first time ever, we are extending the spirit of Walk + Bike Day into an entire month! In the style of the BTA's successful Bike Commute Challenge, all over the Portland area elementary students will be challenged to walk or bike to school as much as they can over the month of May. Once a week, a school champion will gather student scorecards and find out who's walking and biking! 

This event can be as robust or as simple as suits your school. Oregon Walk + Bike provides: posters, small incentive items, student scorecards, and tips on making your event successful.  Every student that walks or bikes at each registered school is eligible for raffle prizes. The winning school will receive a free class of the BTA's Award-Winning Bicycle Safety Education curriculum in the fall of 2008 (up to 32 students).

Sunday Parkways: Ciclovia Portland-Style

The city of Bogota ciclovia is inspiring. Every Sunday over 70 miles of city streets are opened up to promote and encourage biking, walking, skating and physical activity.  On June 22, 2008, Portland is hosting on it's own mini-ciclovia with 6 mile circuit in North Portland closed to traffic.  We'd love to try to organize some type of urbanMamas event in conjunction with Sunday Parkways.  Should it be a urbanFamily ride and parade?  Should we help to organize a demonstration of family-bike set ups?  What should we do?  What would help you to ride more as a family? We'd love to hear your ideas. And if you want to help us coordinate, that would be lovely as well!

[Photo Jonathan Maus, published under Creative Commons license]

Outfitting the Family Bike Setup On a Budget

We personally still often refer to Jonathan's post on bikeportland.org.  He's got some great pictures of trail-a-bike/trailer combos, Xtracycle, tandems, etc.  We've also talked about great lengths about bicycling on urbanMamas, and with the weather hopefully turning the corner, you will see more families biking around town.  Shayne is looking to start her family down this path.  Do have any advice for finding a good set up for the family on a budget?  She emails:

So we know Portland is the most bike friendly city in the US but how does a family get started?  We have a 2 year old and a 7 year old and are wanting to get the family bike setup on a budget.  We were thinking of looking on Craigslist or at a used bike shop but we don't really know what to look for. Things we should be wary of? Also, is it worth it to try and take the bikes places on your car? Any tips for the best ways to do that?  Great trails?

Bike Commuting with a reluctant child

It's wonderful to live in a city where biking and walking to school isn't just a one day affair.  Safe Routes for Schools is an ongoing, year-round program to offer support to parents and kids who bike and walk to school.  And, urbanMamas are teaming with the BTA right now to come up with even more ways we support our grassroots efforts to take alternative modes of transportation, as families, every day to school and work.

Even with these programs in play, we may not always have the children who want to come along for the ride.  Our family bikes to school probably 70% of the time (so far this year), and the bus or car days are real treats.  Some mornings, they beg to drive to school.  Janice is encountering similar resistance:

My husband bike commutes and I’m trying to bike more and drive less, but my eight-year-old is reluctant. And if you’ve ever biked with a reluctant kid, you understand the true meaning of “passive-aggressive”! Who knew pedals could ever turn that slowly?

Anyway, we already have a system where he earns a reward for every 10 cheerful rides, but now that’s not enough. I’m looking for tips on motivation and equipment (any knitting patterns for child-sized lobster-claw mittens out there?...and I'd also love to chat with other uMamas about safety, routes, and benefits.)

I have to go pick him up from school now (with the car, since he was “too tired” to bike this morning), but I’m really looking forward to some help from this great bike-friendly community!

Suggestions for motivation?  Getting the kids out on the bike lanes, especially when it's cold and sort of damp?  What's your best rainy-day outfit?  Best "I-don't-wanna" treat?

Will you Bike or Walk to School?

This Wednesday, October 3, is the 2007 Bike & Walk to School Day.  In an effort to get in our faces, grab our attention, and/or shame us into walking or biking, a Willy Week editorial reads, "Driving is Lazy".  With Portland Public Schools offering school choice wherein many families opt for schools beyond their neighborhood schools, it may not be as easy to just walk or bike to school.

There are 37 or so participating schools in Portland, both public and private.  Is your school on the list?  Even if it isn't, will you be able to walk or bike to school?  Carpool or take the bus/MAX? 

Will you be pedaling across the bridges?

It's the family bike event of the year, the Bridge Pedal is here!  With three route options - the 10 bridge (36 miles), the 8 bridge (24 miles) and the 6 bridge (14 miles), organizers estimate 20,000 participants to register.  And don't forget the stride (5 mile walk that includes crossing the Broadway and Steel Bridges)!   Start times begin at 7am (for the 10- or 8- bridge rides) and run until 9:30am (for the 6-bridge rides).

In previous years, the thousands and thousands of riders of all ages and levels have resulted in bottlenecks, accidents, and complaints.  I know some families who are discouraged and even afraid to ride the event, opting to leave their bike riding to their daily commutes with or without kids.  I know families (like ourselves) who keep coming back for more, even if the ride can be wrought with difficulties and some frustrations.  The views and the thrills from up top of the Marquam and Fremont bridges just can't be beat!

Will you be riding?  What are tips and tricks for the rest of the family riders?

Biker Chic

What with three other urbanMamas going low-car, I've been giving thought to switching to a bike commute, maybe once a week or so.  But it's one thing to commute from close-in to downtown and quite another to go from close-in to Gresham, so it's taking me a while to work out the kinks (especially with carrying a baby in a trailer!).  One thing that I don't have to consider too much is how to dress once I get there.  Luckily at work we have individual bathrooms with sink and mirror, so freshening up isn't too hard to do.  Along with spare clothes, I would pack a washrag, some soap, and a small hand towel.  To be honest at my workplace they probably wouldn't notice if I dressed in pajamas, so I don't have that much appearance to keep up.  In a pinch, after a run, I might use one of those instant facial soapy rags to wash up.  Suzame is about to jump back into the working mama pool and asks this question of other bike-commuting mamas:

After nearly a year off I'm returning to work full time (Yay! and Boo-hoo! all at the same time). My patience during the search resulted in me landing a job downtown, just slightly two miles from my house in NE. I'm excited (and nervous) about joining the ranks of Portland's bike commuters, and plan on finding a workshop to get tips on how to make the ride safe. (I'm a bit nervous about riding in traffic down Broadway and back, but it's the quickest route for me.)

But what I REALLY want to know is -- how you show up for work looking good? I already got my hair chopped off so that it'll always look stylishly mussed (at least, I hope so). It's a short ride (maybe 10 minutes) and most of it is flat, so I don't anticipate working up too much of a sweat. But I'm definitely showering at home and doing make-up before I leave, and hopefully either arriving at work with a quick change of clothes or wearing my work clothes during the ride. But that depends on me finding decent business casual clothes that I don't mind biking in. I'd love to hear from other mamas who ride their bikes to work -- how do you do it and manage to look pulled together all day?

Do you have any fashion tips for the biking working mama?

How to find a child's stolen bike?

How sad is this?  Any ideas for finding a child's stolen bike?

My 7-year-old daughter's bike was stolen from in front of our house today. I realized, too, late how "valuable" it is, at least to her. The bike isn't worth much money at all, is old, has a torn banana seat. It's vintage, I suppose, but battered, and its true value is in the fact that Eugenia learned to ride on it (in two hours flat! without training wheels!), loves it dearly, and rides it daily. While I think of myself as a pacifist, I find myself wishing karmic retribution on a massive scale for the person [I almost used a much, uh, earthier, word] who stole her beloved bike. But I'm trying to put my energies to more positive use. I've registered the bike as stolen on finetoothcog.com, which searches for stolen bikes on the internet, via Craigslist and eBay. Is there anything else I'm missing here? It seems unlikely that reporting it to the police will help, am I right? Or should I try? We don't have a serial number or anything like that.

In the meantime, if anyone sees a beat-up old child's red sparkly Schwinn Stingray with a torn banana seat, please alert this mama (who will do anything I can to find it). I know a heartbroken, tearstained little girl who would be very grateful for its return.

The Trials and Tribulations of Being Car Free

When fellow urbanMama Olivia and I signed up for the Low-Car Diet Challenge, I was really enthused.  I didn't think it through entirely, but reducing the use of our family car has been in the back of my mind for a long time.  When the challenge started a few weeks ago, it didn't feel so bad.  I was already commuting by bike and bus to work.  My husband and I just needed to integrate the bike into our childcare drop-off and pick-up routine; and social activities.  When he was around for week one, it worked beautifully sharing the load between the two of us.

Snafu 1: Reality hit with week 2 when the weather turned rainy, the week was jammed with early morning work engagements, and a husband / father that was 5000 miles away for work.  Mentally, I had to change gears and really focus and plan how I would it make through the next two weeks without an extra set of legs (that are made for pedaling) around to share in the hauling.  The main blip was the rain.  Cole stayed nice and dry in the trailer, and Carter in his nice waterproof breathable rain coat and pants, while I was a soaking mess.  When I retold my sob story, most recommended "You should get fenders."  Ahem, I do have fenders, but they certainly don't keep your lower body dry. Solution 1: It's only rain!  After I stopped pouting, I wiped myself dry in the bathroom and changed.  When I heard others complain about the traffic and their miserable commute into work, I realized that the rain only delayed me only a few minutes and I made it to my meeting on time.

Snafu 2: The other major issue?  The Eastside is hilly, you don't notice it quite as much from the comforts of your car.  It also finally occurred to me that my commute distance had doubled and that I was biking 10 miles each day, most of it hauling children.  No wonder why my legs were aching, and I was a sweaty mess when I arrived to work!   Solution 2: I made sure I was out of the door by 7:30 am on day I had to moderate an 8:30 am session.  I wiped myself dry with a towel, put on some deodorant, pulled my hair back and changed into work clothes. I hung up my wet clothes in the bathroom and left them there to dry.  Who would want to steal my stinky clothes?

Snafu 3: To top the whole experience off so far in week 3, I got a flat tire after dropping kid number two off.  I left my pump in the trailer left at kid number 1's daycare, and the my back up bikes had flats as well.  Solution 3: I walked the bike to the local bike shop (they're awesome!) and worked from home.

Should I give up?  Should I be discouraged?  The good comes with the bad, and practice makes perfect.  The more I bike, the easier it seems.  It's been a few weeks, and I've found that I've developed a biking rhythm.  And those pre-pre-pregnancy shorts that I kept around from 4 years ago?  I can now slide into them.

What are your tips for biking more and driving less?  How did you go about venturing into more biking activities?  If you're a casual biker, what are some of your fears?  We want to hear from you!

My first day on the Low Car Diet: Everyone loves the trail-a-bike

This morning, I was in a tizzy to get Philly to summer camp on time and in a tizzy to get to the Low Car Diet kick-off on time.  We set up the bikes in traditional train formation: my bike, connected to the trail-a-bike/tag-along, connected to the trailer.  In a rush, I heaved my way five miles from our N PDX home to NW Portland, to Philly's summer camp.

The problem of the morning: My girls fight over who rides the tag-along.  Now that the girls, ages 3.5 and 6.5, are both happiest pedaling on tag-alongs; no one wants to sit in the trailer.  Sad, lonely trailer!  This morning, our biggest girl, 6.5 year old Philly, "let" her little sister have the privilege of pedaling, so I had the privilege of hauling around 45 pounds of Philly in the trailer the five miles from home to summer camp.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.  Sure the trailer can handle loads up to 100 pounds, but can ya handle pulling those 100 pounds??

Bike for uMamas & uPapas

When it comes to the family bike ride, there are bike trailers, there are bike tag-alongs, but - of course - there are also the adult bikes that pull them!  Can you give Meliah some tips on what sorts of bikes would be good for an urbanMama and urbanPapa?  Any advice on where to get them?

One of the things I love about living in Portland is the vast array of transportation options. I am fortunate enough to live in a great downtown location where we don't have to drive to much at all. With the summer setting in and our oldest one getting to that age where bike riding is a feasible thing for him on his own, we've been talking about purchasing bikes for the family.   Here's the thing: I am a total novice when it comes to this field! I sold my bike when I was 14 and haven't been on one since (not even the stationaries at the gym). I obviously have no interest in putting myself or my family at risk of any kind so I'm wondering if there are some urbanMamas out there who can help me out.

• WHAT KIND OF BIKE/S AM I LOOKING FOR?  We are buying mostly for pleasure riding (along the waterfront/sauvies island/mt. hood trails, etc). I know NOTHING about bicycles and don't want to get ripped off or end up buying something inappropriate for what we need. Just something functional, basic and reliable.
• BUYING.  When it comes to actually purchasing a bike, where can we go to get what we need for a bargain price? The pocketbook will dictate a lot of what we can and cannot do on this matter.

One uM & her Bike To Work Day 2007

...  psst ... head on over to the Activistas site to read more about One uM & her Bike To Work Day 2007 ....

Two Wheeler Advice

Melissa is pondering the many options for kid-sized bike.  Perhaps you can help her out?

The baby daddy & I are thinking about getting our daughter her first bicycle for her 4th birthday which is coming up fast. At first we thought, "Great! that decision is made." Well...now we're realizing there are more options than we were prepared for. Do any of you have experience/advice/stories to share regarding pedals, no pedals, brands, size, etc.?

Beyond the Bike Trailer: Tag-alongs

We've posted previously on Family Bike Ride: The Gear.  In a comment to our recent post on Bike Trailers, Erin asks:

Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do when your kids are just too heavy for the trailer but the oldest isn't old enough to bike along with you on his own? I really want to continue biking and I have a great double trailer, but I just can't realistically zoom around town with the 70+ lbs. of kid and add groceries, library books, etc. Any experience with a tag-along and a trailer?

Bike Trailers

originally posted by urbanmamas on January 29, 2005

We're thinking of getting a double bike trailer for our 6 month old and 3-1/2 year old. Any suggestions on brands? When do you think our baby will be old enough to ride in the trailer?

updated by urbanmamas on March 12, 2007

Now that springtime is coming, there is a flurry of renewed interest in bike trailers and towing the little ones around town.  So: 

1. Did you decide on a bike seat or a bike trailer?
2. What brand or make did you decide on?
3. What are good local sources on where to buy your bike seat or bike trailer?

We found a great nuts-n-bolts Bicycle Child Trailer Buyer's Guide, but we'd love to hear your experiences.

Get on Your Bike And Ride! (with the kids, of course . . .)

Portland, being the generally bike-friendly city that it is, has an amazing number of cyclists hitting the road with kids in tow.  Being left without a car and not having a bike meant getting around on Tri-met for about 6 months, but then the days got nicer and I started dreaming of feeling the wind in my hair.  Oh yeah, and our daughter was finally big enough to don a helmet and sit up straight for long stretches of time!  As she neared that 1-year milestone Jeremy and I got anxious to get on our bikes so I started looking around in earnest for a bike for myself and a way to haul our little bundle of joy. 

I ended up deciding on a hybrid bike (not a road or a mountain bike, but something with features of both) because sitting higher up makes it easier for me to glance behind and keep an eye on baby.  I'm sure I'll get comments from at least one hardcore road bike enthusiast who loves her steed, but after test riding lots of bikes over a few weeks I went with a KHS and have been more than satisfied.  A smooth ride for not a terrible lot of money.

As far as child-carrying devices go, there's a whole slew of options to choose from.  I grew up riding in a rear-mounted child seat on my mom's bike, as I'm sure many of you did, and there are still plenty of people using those.  They're nice because the child is close to you, but the main disadvantages are that the height make your center of gravity go way up, which can mean it's harder to maneuver at slow speeds, and in the (unthinkable) event of an accident, your baby will fall from a considerable height. 

An interesting variation on the rear-mounted bike is the front-mounted version, which is, apparently, quite popular in Europe.  I saw one on Woodstock the other day, so I'm sure they'll soon start popping up all over the place.  The advantages are that you can keep an eye on your child at all times, and in turn, they get to check out the view.  If you fall, chances are that you'll be able to cushion the impact for them, since they sit perched between your legs.  The down sides seems to be that the seats might interfere with long-legged parents' ability to pedal comfortably, and that the shorter people among us might have trouble seeing over and around baby's helmeted head.  A few different designs include the Safe-T-Seat, and the Bike Tutor.  Have you used one?  How do you like it?

After some discussion we decided to go with a bike trailer.  There seems to be consensus that they're the safest way to carry kids, since they're designed not to flip even if you and your bike do.  Plus, the better ones have roll bars and 5-point harnesses for the off chance that your little one goes for an unexpected spin.  Oh yeah, we also wanted one with a screen small enough to avoid spraying baby with road grit, as well as a sun shade so she wouldn't bake in the heat.  One of our other considerations, besides safety, was that, without a car, we'd need to pick up groceries, etc. while on our bikes.  Our trailer is rated to carry up to 100 lbs.  As it turns out, it also came in really handy when Jeremy was teaching a cooking class at a school in Gresham.  He would bike the Springwater Corridor to the Fred Meyer closest to the school, load up groceries for 15 kids, (they each received a grocery bag full of stuff to be able to try the recipes at home) and then ride to his class.  Keep in mind, he was doing this in the middle of winter.  So yeah, our Burley trailer is a champ. 

To choose a trailer we did a lot of research and essentially everyone said the same thing:  Burley's are the best.  Of course, they also happen to be three or four times as expensive as the kind you can pick up at Toys R Us.  We lucked out and had a couple relatives chip in to buy it for us as a (very generous) gift.  You can also find them used on craigslist or eBay since they're built to last a lifetime (though, of course the warranty is non-transferable).  We also decided to go for the model that can hold two kids, even though we're not exactly planning another yet, and now it means that I can go out biking with other mamas and carry one other kid. 

When I wrote about Tri-Met there were quite a few of you that commented about how much more complicated reality gets when you have more than one child.  If your kids are a little bigger, yet can't handle a long ride, I really like the Adams Trail-a-Bike option.  It's like a tandem attachment for an adult bike, but it's designed so that the child (age 4-7) can stop pedaling whenever s/he wants and just enjoy the ride.  If you buy this product second-hand keep in mind that there was a recall issued in October 2004 and you should make sure the bike comes with the appropriate new parts.   

Finally, here comes the probably unnecessary reminder that kids under age 12 are all required to wear helmets, regardless of the method of bike travel you choose.  Unfortunately, I've yet to find a helmet that goes on easily on a squirmy toddler.  Maya loathes having her helmet on.  She likes playing with it, she loves pointing out when other people are wearing "hats", but she shrieks cries of terror every third time we put it on her.  Granted, this seems to coincide with return trips when she's already tired and cranky, but it drives me nuts.  Why can't they design a helmet with the latch on the side of the child's face?  Babies and toddlers often have cute little double chins and pudgy necks that can easily get caught in their so-called PinchGuard (tm) fasteners.   Seriously, I'm going to start working on my own design and sell it to Bell or Giro for a million dollars some day.  If anyone has a solution, please, please let me know! 

In spite of helmet trauma, Maya has really been enjoying the bike outings we've taken.    After one particularly grueling ride across town and up Terwilliger I nixed any all day outings until baby is a bit older, but she will literally coo and whee! all around SE Portland--until she conks out, that is.   It's a rare ride where she doesn't decide to nap until we reach our destination.   Must be all that fresh air. 

PS- One big recommendation I have is for everyone to check out the Metro bike maps available for $6 at most bike shops or online here.  Also, the folks at ByCycle have a good tool to help you plan your routes.  Yay!

Family Bike Ride: The Gear

Now that we're well into summer, we're hopping on the bikes pretty often.  The sunny and not-to-warm days are perfect for riding into the sunset.  Thought I'd just share a few things that have worked for our pedaling family of four.

I've shared before about our riding around with our bike trailer (and which one we bought, at that).  Last year, our great addition was our tag-along, the Adams Trail-a-Bike.  We decided to get one when Philly was about 4 years old, and when she was getting awfully heavy to ride in the trailer with her sister.  Plus, she had already been on her two-wheeler with training wheels for several months, and she was getting good at the pedaling.  After testing out a couple of tag-alongs, we decided on the tag-along that: (a) folds and (b) has 5 gears.  (we felt lucky to have found what we needed on craigslist.)  The fold-up aspect comes in handy when we go on a trip, we can fold it up so easily and put it in the trunk.  We first tried the non-folding tag-along, and it was a bear to fit into the car!  The gear-shifting is wonderful when we hit higher speeds.  WIth the fixed-gear tag-along, when we were cruising along, Philly would stop pedaling at some point because the gear was much too low.  She couldn't keep up.  Now, with the gears, she can even share in some of the work.

When we're both riding around with the girls, one of us pulls the tag-along and one of us pulls the trailer.  Sometimes, when we are riding solo, we have attempted the caravan: daddy pulling the tag-along pulling the trailer...

I guess a couple of my biggest tips for pedaling around town are:

Map it out.  It's good to know where you're going.  We have great bike maps of the CIty and even touring around Oregon.  There are routes with bike lanes, no-car paths, low-traffic streets, then high-traffic, super scary streets.  When you have the kidlets in tow, it's good to make sure you avoid those high-traffic, no-bike-lane streets.  We've once mapped poorly and we ended up with the kids on a major, major two lane, higher-speed thoroughfare .  Man, was it scary!  Here is a complete list of maps.

Underestimate.  I have a tendency to think we can go that extra mile with the kids, thinking we can do the full 10-bridge/36-mile Bridge Pedal without incident.  Easy does it, slow going, safety first.  I like to put a small radio/CD player in the trailer with Tati so she can play her favorite music for us and everyone we pass by.  If there are prolonged complaints or discomforts, we have learned to stop and take breaks!  It's all supposed to be a fun and healthful time.

Cycling Playgroup

Thanks Jackie for the heads-up on a FUN event:

The Bike Gallery on SE Woodstock (at SE 43rd) hosts a cycling playgroup on the last Friday morning of each month throughout the summer for moms, dads and tots.  Bring your little one, bicycle, and trailer or extra seat to take a short bike ride to the park and for coffee.  Meet at 10 AM.

Join them tomorrow if you can!  The shop manager brings along his 2-year old for the ride.

Bike to Blazers Night Ride '05

Tomorrow night, Saturday April 15th, there's this event: Bike to Blazers Night Ride.  Sounds like a great event, and pretty family-friendly too!  We are definitely going.  Join fun bikey people at Lucky Lab for pre-game food and drink, then mosey up to the Rose Garden for the 7PM game.  I know the game interferes with bedtimes, but we've taken our girls to a few evening games, and their enjoyment is worth the temporary disruption in routine.  They cheer!  Eat popcorn!  Yell "DE-Fense!"  I myself usually barely watch the game.  The girls & I watch the cheerleading squad with  intensity.  We usually come home and take turns making up silly cheers.  The girls are so enthralled with just being there that we just soak up all the excitement in the arena.  Regardless of how lousy the teams are.  It's still fun to watch a live sporting event.

Come tomorrorw night ...  and also support a great program: "Get Lit!"...

Parents ride wild

Ok.  So, they weren't riding wild.  But, this family of four was riding around safely on their bikes and in trailers.  Read Jon Maus' of BikePortland.org and his Report: Danica's first ride.  Jon tells us how he secured 4.5 month old Danica in his trailer while his wife Juli pulled 3-year old separately.  What fun!

And also see a post from yesteryear for a couple of suggestions on bike trailers back when we were considering which bike trailer to buy for the family.  We ended up with the Burley d'Lite for two (which we especially love with the Walk & Roll attachment), and we took Tati for her first ride at about 6 months old.  Our pediatrician had said, as long as she could hold her head up, she can ride in the trailer or a bike seat.  So, we padded Tati in like crazy for her first ride.  Rolled up blankets everywhere to prop her into place.  The bucky travel pillow (kids size) worked great, too, to prevent too much floppy head syndrome.  We've continued padding Tati in, up until she was over a year old.  A small pillow for her back still works great.  Can't wait to get back in the saddle again (I'm more of a fair weather rider)....