By All Means Go Slower...

The Artist recently read on a blog, "When you are starting to sweat, by all means go slower."  Words to live by as we finish up the first summer of riding.  Anyone who knows me personally knows that the summer was the season that I most dreaded in terms of cycling.  Now coming out on the other side of it, though the temperatures remain in the high 90s and low 100s, I am thankful to say that I survived.

It is interesting to me that one of the first questions that people ask us when they find that we are car free is something to the effect of, "But what do you do when it rains?"  (Which by the way, happens not very often in our temperate climate.  Maybe that is why people are so afraid of it.)  No one has ever asked, "But what are you going to do when the temperature is 100?"    Well, I'm here to set the record straight.  It is, in my humble opinion, the hardest season to ride.

In the fall, winter and spring, when I want to go somewhere, I just go.  I don't think about how dehydrated I'm going to be when I get there.  I don't think about how much sun I or my kids are going to be exposed to or how sweaty I'm going to be.  I don't worry about running into someone that I haven't seen for awhile and have to explain my red face and the sweat dripping off me when they come to give me one of those half hugs of greeting.

During those other 9 months of the year, I enjoy the wind and the fog and the flowers and the trees.  If I'm cold, I put on more clothing.  If it is wet, I take an umbrella.  If it is beautiful, I enjoy every moment of being outside. It doesn't snow here (sorry, gentle riders in the east) so that isn't even something that I have to think about.  For the most part these months make for a very happy cyclist.

On the other hand, the summer and it's heat make it much harder to find the joy in the ride, so in an effort to find the good in all experiences I figured out what I like about summer riding.  Here is my list...
1.  Light.  It stays light longer.  It makes biking with children so much easier when it is light late into the evening.   Plus I really like light.
2.  More cyclists on the road.  Interestingly, most people where I live only pull out their bikes in the summer months, and though I don't understand why people don't cycle in the fall, winter, and spring (because it is so much nicer), it is great to see a few more people cycling around town.  There are times even when, gasp, the bike racks actually have another bike in them.  (We live a pretty solitary biking existence here.)
3.  Never getting wet.  I actually don't mind getting wet from the rain, but since it is something that really seems to worry many people, I thought that I should add it as a plus for summer riding.
4.  School.  I notice that there are more bikes in the bike racks at school.  Yea for kids riding bikes and fewer cars around our schools.

I must say that after writing down my list, I feel much more positive about the summer.  But don't get me wrong, I am glad it is almost over.  Summer riding.  Not for the faint of heart.

One Year

It is quite impossible to fathom the profound impact of going car-free has been in my life.  Sometimes in my own thoughts, I forget how this has changed not only my life, but us as a family.  I recently overhead The Artist tell someone that this was the best decision that we have made in our married life together.  I agree.

Biking as transportation has given us so much.  It has given us time to be together as a family enjoying the outdoors, every day of the past year.  It has given us an identity that is ours with our box bike and our 6 year old confident to ride on the streets.  It has given us new friends both here and in the blogosphere that are working toward making our world a better and safer place.  It has given me spiritual insight into how the small changes that I make really can help others and myself.  It has given me confidence to try things that I have been afraid of doing in the past.  It has given me the insight that family and community are vastly more important than the things that we own and the conveniences that those possessions offer us.

And so in honor of this very special day, we invited anyone who was willing to join us for bike party.  It was a party to celebrate the accomplishment of the past year and to help us look forward to the future.  We started in a park.  Here are some of the pictures of the people who came.  Sadly I did not get pictures of everyone.  Next time I'll do better.
 

And then we took off on a leisurely ride through residential streets.  Some of these friends had not ridden a bike for years so it was great to see them rise to the occasion. 

We ended up at a local Mexican resturant where they were very accommodating with our 20 + bikes.

                               

Here's to another year of car-free living.  

Joined at last

We have been doing this for nearly nine months.  In that time we have been pitied, dismissed, admired, envied, laughed at, and encouraged.  I have explained, defended, encouraged, and shown why we are doing this and why it truly is important to our family.  But until last week, I have not really felt joined.

Often when I talk to people about our journey they tell me all the reasons why they can't choose this lifestyle. In all the reactions that I thought about before we started this, I never really expected people to feel guilty.  My reaction to this is that I always encourage them to start small.  That not all families can go cold turkey like us.  That we always were committed to living where we work long before we started riding bikes full time.  That this was just a natural progression for us.  But these conversations always leave me a little sad, because it reminds me that for the most part, we are doing this alone.

                                                The Bakfiets parked at the grocery store

It is not like I don't see people on bikes.  I do.  Everyday.  I even have a friend who has started to ride her bikes when we go out to coffee. But I have never seen, in my town, another mom on a bike with her kids going to the grocery store for their weekly groceries or ride across town with her kids to drop them off at a play date/grandparents and then ride off to do something else.  (If you are out there and I don't know about you, please comment because I would love to dialog with you.)  I know that there are other moms committed to this because I read about them on the internet.  I see pictures of them with their children.  I know it can be done.  But here in our little town, we done this journey primarily alone.  That is until last week.

                                                            The Little Guy at the bank

Two moms, one at the Big Guy's school and one at the Little Guy's school, both started taking their kids by bike to school.  They both traveled over 2.5 miles and got there in not much more time than what it took them by car.  Suddenly our conversations took on a whole new direction.  We discussed what are the friendliest roads for biking, how to navigate the more dangerous parts of the city, how to keep our kids entertained without a radio. It was community.  It was bike culture.  It was fabulous.  

We are three and we are mighty. Wanna join us?

A New Addition

We have known for awhile that our current way of transporting children was at best a short term solution.  Bike trailers, even the best ones, have certain drawbacks, the biggest being a 100 pound limit.  We have been fast approaching that limit, not mention that the boys were very tired of being smooshed into a very small space whenever we wanted to go anywhere as a family.  Also, our trailer, which we bought long before we were car-free, was not designed for the demands that we were putting on it.  So, we went searching for a solution.

If it was just me and the Artist who were going car-free, there would be actually quite easy in our flat town with mild climate.  But when there are kids involved, there are certain challenges.  There were things that we were looking for in our new bike.  Space and weight capacity were huge.  Durability was a close second.  And safety is always important.  We also wanted something that we could use not only for the children, but could transport stuff easily.  Essentially we wanted a bike that we could use as a car.

After much research, we were pulled to the capital of biking as transportation, Holland, where they have made biking not only practical, but also fun.  So on Tuesday, I emailed one of the few suppliers of Dutch bikes in the United States, My Dutch Bike in San Francisco and found out they had just gotten a shipment and these bikes, called Bakfiets, were selling quickly.  Not wanting to miss an opportunity, we borrowed a truck and headed for the city to see one in person and, yes, test drive it.  Two hours later, we were strapping our new vehicle in to the back of the truck.

                                                            Boys in our new Bakfiets

Never before have I ridden a bike like this.  It is 8 feet long and about 90 pounds and rides like a dream.  It can carry up to 200 pounds in the front and over 100 pounds in the back.  And did I say that it rides like a dream.   It cost way more than any bike we own, but is so much cheaper than any car we could have bought with no insurance cost or gas to put in it other than the extra food we have to eat to keep our motors going.

                                                 Our new vehicle loaded down with groceries

Another biking challenge solved.  I never knew it would be this fun.  Want to join us?

Merry Christmas to Me!

I thought I should post this picture before to many days had gone by.  I snapped this on Christmas morning on the way to my parent's house for breakfast.  This is the five lane road (there is a turn lane in the middle) that we cross every time we head to their house and crossing it is not for the faint of heart.  For the most part, we have discovered ways to get around our town that are off the main and busy car roads, but this is the one road that we have to cross (we have not been able to figure out another way) when we want to head to the north side of town.  It is a beast of a road in the eyes of this biker, but we are careful and aware and don't take undue risks.

But oh, on this day, there was not a car in sight, and I must say I had a smile on my face.  It won't happen again until next Christmas (there being no cars, not the smile), but for the moment, it was bliss.  It got me to thinking how if just 100 people committed to one day a week riding a bike or walking to work or school or the store instead of driving a car, how fewer cars there would be on the road and that maybe, this town would start to think about how to make our roads safer for bikers and pedestrians.  It is a dream.  But on that perfect Christmas morning bike ride, I got to glimpse what it could be like.  I'm still smiling.

 

4 Months and Counting

Yesterday marked the 4 month anniversary being car-free.  We have borrowed cars, rented cars, and ridden in cars, but we have not owned a car for 4 months.  In the first few weeks of this journey, there were times when I would be struck with the realization that for the first time in 17 years (I bought my first car as a junior in college) I did not own or have daily access to a car.  And then I would think, "Why don't I miss it?"

I'm not sure why I don't miss it.  Truly, it was more convenient to own a car, and there are still times when I say, "I'll drop this or that off at your house," before realizing that they live 10 miles out of town and there is no way I'm going to bike out there just to drop off an item.  And being in a car is definitely warmer than riding your bike in the rain.  But other than that, the list of things I don't miss is astounding:  filling the car up with gas, repairs on a old car, oil changes, traffic, insurance costs, and parking lots (bikes always get the best parking spots) just to name a few.  It is really strange to realign ones thinking so drastically in such a short amount of time.  If you had told me that we would be car-free and biking everywhere a year ago, or even six months ago, I would have laughed in your face mainly because I didn't like to bike and was pretty scared to do it on the road.

And yet here I am biking everywhere and really enjoying it.  Some times The Artist will just stare at me and shake his head.  He is not sure I'm the same woman he married 12 years ago, but I think that he likes me better now.

Getting from A to B

I'm not sure when getting from Point A to Point B got so arduous, but somewhere in my mid-twenty's it did.  I remember when I first got my drivers licence, I could hardly wait for an opportunity to drive the car.  It was new, fun, and exciting, but that wore off with traffic and busyness and just life.  Driving became a part of life, not because I wanted to do it, but because I had to do it to get from Point A to Point B and C and D...

The other day I was out of eggs (Gahhh!) because I had forgotten to buy them the day before when I was grocery shopping with a car.  And I needed them because, well, I bake...a lot...and I was on a deadline to bake somethings for friends as gifts.   So, I dropped off the Big Guy at school,  left the Little Guy with The Artist and set off for the grocery store...in the fog.

Then something happened.  I don't think I have ever enjoyed the fog as much as I did that day.  It was quiet and still and cold and wet and I was a part of it.  And it got me to thinking about how rushed I am and though the day before I had been warm in a car, I did not really enjoy being in that car.  It was just a means to an end.  And there I was cold and wet and loving every moment of the whole experience.   It was like being a kid again when you had moments of your life where time stood still.  I must say it was pretty addicting.

Enjoying the journey.  Huh, what a concept.

Success!

After 6 weeks (yes, we have been doing this for six weeks) of frustration and failure, I made my first successful solo grocery trip on a bike.  Figuring out how to do this has been the hardest part of this transition.  I've had apples crushed between the front fork and the wheel of the bike causing a very abrupt stop. (Thankfully I wasn't going very fast or it could have been ugly.)   I've had five bright yellow toy plastic bats for the Big Guy's birthday party scatter all over the street in front of a group of strangers that had just come out of their house after dinner.  (They did help me tie those bats back in the numerous bags hanging from my handle bars while all the while shaking their heads in disbelief.)  I've lost control and almost hit a car because the milk that I was carrying in my front basket upset the balance of my bike.  (I have dreaded getting milk which when you have a family with little children is not an optional purchase, but a necessity of life.)

The way that I've made this work is to borrow a car for a few hours a week and drive around like a mad woman trying to anticipate and get everything that I need for the coming week.  I come out of these shopping trips exhausted and inevitably having forgotten something (often times that thing was milk, my weight nemesis.)

But that is all in the past.  On Friday, The Artist went down to our local bike shop (who have been truly great to us even if they do think what we are doing is a bit bizarre) and had a double pannier installed over my back tire.  It has changed my life.

On Saturday, eager to try out my newest accoutrement, I headed down to my favorite grocery store (which I had been avoiding because it was just a little too far to carry groceries on my back and over my handle bars) and bought $40 worth of groceries.  Two gallons of milk, a couple pounds of apples, a big box of corn flakes, a pound of carrots... Well, you get the picture.  All in all, we estimated that I brought home about 16 pounds of groceries on my little bike without any incident or loss of items.  I am thrilled.  (I still plan on using a car for picking up the really large things like one can only get at Costco , but I'm hoping to limit that to once or twice a month at the most.)

                                                           My bike loaded up with groceries

The biggest drawback to this newest development is now I'm sore again.  All that extra weight means I have to work that much harder to get home.  Is it worth it?  No question.  I am empowered.

So, is anyone moving?  I've got a bike with panniers and can carry sixteen pounds.

Photos

I've had a great blog post floating around in my head for the past few days, but currently I am too hot to write it. It is hard to write about biking and enjoying the outdoors and being inconvenienced by everyday tasks such as buying milk when you are sweltering in the shade at the end of September.  I'm o.k. with hot until August 31st, but I have little tolerance for it after that.  Not sure why that is since September can sometimes be the hottest month of the year where I live.  It is not logical and certainly doesn't change the weather, but that is the way I feel.

Now, I say that, knowing that there are some of you who live in parts of the world that would love for it to be hot right now.  You are thinking, "Boy, it is getting cold already, and I'm not quite ready for the snow and the dark and the multiple layers of clothing that one must put on just to survive 5 seconds outside."  You are right.  Sun is good, and I'm going to stop complaining about it and show you our rides.

This is the Artist's bike.  We found it in the back of our garage and best we can tell it is a late 1950s - early 1960s Raleigh made in England. This bike was my grandfather's, and when we bought our home from my grandma, it was left in the back of the garage.  It has become ours on the basis that we have lived here seven years, and no one else in the family has claimed it.  (Cousins, you had your chance.)  Plus we needed a bike since the Artist gave me his at the beginning of this adventure.  It is way cool to ride some history (so the Artist says) though has some quirks such as the breaks don't really function, and since they are rod breaks we haven't found anyone who knows how to fix them.  I don't know much about bikes, but apparently these are unique.   The Artist just coasts into stops.  (He is a much better cyclist then me.)

Here is my bike, an automatic with coaster breaks.  It is very steady, since I am a jittery biker at best.  I love my coaster breaks since I have trouble controlling both my arms and my legs at the same time while riding a two wheeled balancing act that requires a lot of leg motion.  Stepping back to stop just makes sense.

I'll show you the kid's bikes later when it has cooled down.  Until then, I'm drinking lots of water and thinking of warm woolens and cool nights.  Heat is all in the mind, right?

Still Us

It has been an interesting experience seeing people's reactions to our life choice to live without a car.  Here are two of the most common reactions.

Reaction #1:  "That is the coolest thing I've heard in a long time...(slight pause)...but what are you going to do when it rains?"
I really like talking to these people about this.  They seem really open to different experiences, and though they are not making the same choices as our family, don't make me feel like some crazy lady who says that she likes to eat worms for breakfast.  They are often curious and want to know what motivated us and how we get to the grocery store and just our general experience riding bikes for transportation.  It is refreshing and fun to tell them about our journey.  But inevitably the question comes up, "What are you going to do when it rains?"

Now we are not in the rainy season in our part of the country yet so I really don't know how it is going to work. But lets suffice it to say that in our little neck of the woods, it does not rain that much, and it never snows.  Our weather is nothing like Portland, Oregon, the biking for transportation capital of the country.  Or anything like the person I was reading about today who doesn't own a car in, get this, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The Artist (my husband) estimates that if we owned a car for the rain we would only need to dive it about 30 days a year.  I can not answer people about the rain, because I have not lived it yet.  But I think as in all the challenges that we have been faced with so far, we will figure it out when we have to.  Do you think a bright orange poncho would look good with my hair?

Reaction #2 -- Stun silence followed by a stammered question like, "But you still want a car, don't you?"
This reaction is the hardest for me.  It is not that I am trying to shock people by not having a car, nor are we as a family, opposed to owning a car, nor am I going to start chanting on street corners that the end of the world is near and everyone needs to give up their cars.

Our choice, and it is very much a choice, to not have a car was made because it allowed us to remain who we have always been as a family.  Sure, we are adjusting to the lack of convenience and luxury that a car gave us.  Sure, there are times when I'm tired and really don't want to get back on my bike to go to get milk for dinner.  But, at the essence of who we are as a family, choosing this life choice has given us the freedom to continue doing the things we love and being who we are.   I still get to knit and teach and help my kids at school.  The Artist still gets to paint and draw and create.  The Big Guy and Little Guy still get to be with us a large part of their days.  Much of who we are as a family would have had to change if we had chosen to get a nicer car (which is what we plan to do, since the Artist is done with cars that he has to worry about every time we go on the freeway.  Our last car had this annoying tendency to decelerate as you were pushing down on the accelerator while trying to merge into traffic on the highway.)  And so, I am not going back to work, and we are riding our bikes for a time, and thanks for asking, but we are not looking for a car right now.

On a side note: Thanks to all who have asked about the pain in my legs.  I am feeling much better in the legs, but now I feel like I have a bruised bottom.  Really looking forward to that going away.  

Ouch!

So, I'm in pain.  We have been riding our bikes exclusively for one week, and I hurt.  I've not hurt like this since...well, let's face it, I've never hurt like this.  It is not the pain of a stubbed toe or a broken arm.  It is the ongoing muscle pain of those muscles that you learned about in anatomy class in college, but really truly didn't believe were there.  It hurts when I walk.  It hurts when I sit.  It hurts when I stand.  Pain is my new reality.

Once upon a time, I was an athlete.  I ran cross county and track and could even brag about running a 5:25 mile.  I ran through pain, and I even liked it (because it never lasted very long.)  But since I'm coming up on my 20 year high school reunion, I can't really claim that I am an athlete anymore.  Not that I stopped cold turkey after high school.  For years, I would run on and off when ever the mood stuck me or when it was convenient.  I never went more then a few months without going for a run (except when I was pregnant, which I believe is a time when one is exempt of all expectations.)

And then I had a freak accident two years ago where my toe was crushed and it took over 6 months to heal.  After that I didn't exercise hardly at all.  I did not run, not even once.  I did not played tennis or ride a bike or swim for exercise, and though I still walked quite a bit, I got into the worse shape of my life.

So, when we started riding everywhere a week ago, I quickly realized that maybe two years was a bit long to not exercise.  About day 3 the pain come and stayed.  Pain became my closest companion, and reminded me with every step, "You idiot.  What did you think would happen if you didn't exercise for two years?"

I'm trying to remind myself that it will go away, and I'll be better for it.  That I need to work through the pain so I can be stronger.  But let's be honest, pain sucks no matter how good it is for you.

And you want to know the irony of all this?  The only time I don't feel the pain is when I'm riding my bike.  How's that for a slap in the face?

Four Bikes and a Trailer

And so the day has come that I've been anticipating and dreading.  We gave the car that we have been borrowing back to my parents-in-law,  and we are officially without a car.  

When we decided that we were going to try this very crazy idea 3 weeks ago, it seemed very exciting.  The preparation of getting our lives scaled down to "bike-able" segments seemed like a challenge.  I went shopping and stocked up on all those necessities of life like Trader Joe's Dried Apricots and 30 pounds of bread flour. I was ready.  But as the day drew closer, a fog of dread descended.  Can we really do this?

Now as we looked at our empty driveway, the reality of what we had decided to do hit me full force.  If I want to get somewhere I have to either walk or ride a bike or find someone with a car.  No more quick trips to the grocery store or to get an ice-cream cone. Gone are the days of "running to the bank."  No one in my circle of friends lives without a car.  Heck, I haven't lived without a car since I was a sophomore in college and let's face it, that was awhile ago.  In fact, I've always put a car as necessities up there with things like refrigeration and a flush toilet.  And yet this is our new reality, and I am a bit excited about it, because for the first time in a long time I'm walking in an adventure that I'm not sure how it is going to end.  

As the old adage says, "It's sink or swim."  I'm hopping in.  I hope the water's warm.