One of the things that I have been most excited about with working from my house was the fact that I could stop commuting and instead pick up bicycling. So far, both the loss of the commute and more bike mobility have been awesome.
Last week, I got to pick Audrey up from school (only 1.5 miles away, but over a couple good hills) a couple of times on my bike. Unfortunately for her, she has to ride a scooter back because I have to bring her method of transit with me on my bike. Today, I picked her up from her last day of school on the bike. I was trying to beat the rain, but I did not succeed. She and I were drenched by the time we got back. What a memorable way to start the summer!
When I lived in Japan everyone rode bikes everywhere. That was my primary form of transportation and even now I am totally comfortable carrying all kinds of crazy things on a bike. I had no problem jimmy rigging Audrey's scooter, helmet, a water bottle, and snack into Meredith's baby seat up front and securing it with plastic bags. Even so, I do plan to get a bike rack, and bungee cords. I got some strange looks and I had to lean back at an awkward angle when I turned so I didn't whack myself with the scooter.
Another thing I love about bikes is that I can do all the maintenance and fixing. Bikes are simple and pretty straight forward. I put my bike together and I have fiddled with the brakes a couple of times to get them right. Really it is ideal for the tinkerer in me. I need to put together a bike kit with a couple of spare tire tubes and tire replacement tools, perhaps a bit of bike grease, and a better pump. The bike I bought from Costco included all the tools I needed to put it together (#ilovecostco), so I feel pretty good about my basic adjustment tools already.
The only real downside to bikes is that bike helmets and sun hats are not as compatible as I would like. I am working on that though. :)
Last week, I got to pick Audrey up from school (only 1.5 miles away, but over a couple good hills) a couple of times on my bike. Unfortunately for her, she has to ride a scooter back because I have to bring her method of transit with me on my bike. Today, I picked her up from her last day of school on the bike. I was trying to beat the rain, but I did not succeed. She and I were drenched by the time we got back. What a memorable way to start the summer!
When I lived in Japan everyone rode bikes everywhere. That was my primary form of transportation and even now I am totally comfortable carrying all kinds of crazy things on a bike. I had no problem jimmy rigging Audrey's scooter, helmet, a water bottle, and snack into Meredith's baby seat up front and securing it with plastic bags. Even so, I do plan to get a bike rack, and bungee cords. I got some strange looks and I had to lean back at an awkward angle when I turned so I didn't whack myself with the scooter.
Another thing I love about bikes is that I can do all the maintenance and fixing. Bikes are simple and pretty straight forward. I put my bike together and I have fiddled with the brakes a couple of times to get them right. Really it is ideal for the tinkerer in me. I need to put together a bike kit with a couple of spare tire tubes and tire replacement tools, perhaps a bit of bike grease, and a better pump. The bike I bought from Costco included all the tools I needed to put it together (#ilovecostco), so I feel pretty good about my basic adjustment tools already.
The only real downside to bikes is that bike helmets and sun hats are not as compatible as I would like. I am working on that though. :)
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