Holiday Light Tour (aka last night with the borrowed car)

Hillary was determined to drive around with the boys to see neighborhood holiday light displays. Between that and it being our last night with the borrowed car, we were off on the drive after a quick cheese and bean quesadilla dinner. We ended up driving along Saint Paul's stately Summit Avenue which also serves as my bike commute route to work. We saw some impressive lights but only one light-choked, somewhat tacky yard. By that time both kids had fallen asleep. So we suspended the tour to stop by the nearby Whole Foods and pick up a few critical groceries, namely the cereal bars the boys apparently like so much. Hillary shopped like a seasoned car-free mama.  She got a whole case of the cereal bars at 10% off.  We should be set for months.

The unexpected perk of the tour was that I got to assess the condition of the Summit Avenue bike lane. Some chunky icy/snowy sections persist, but otherwise it was pretty good. After over three weeks without bike commuting due to an 11 inch snowstorm, I am itching to ride again.

After Summit Avenue we drove through our south Minneapolis neighborhood and saw some fine displays, especially this great arrangement of ice lanterns.  As Hillary took photos from the car, the homeowner waved through his window as she waved back.  Home sweet home. 

Lucky for us, the kids transferred right into bed without waking up. 

Home for the Holidays...with a car

For the first time in our 12 years in Minnesota we did not travel to spend Christmas with our families. We avoided the expensive airline tickets, the hassle of holiday travel, the two-way lugging/shipping of gifts, the wonderful yet sometimes exhausting visiting with friends and family.  For the first time in our lives and in our kids' lives, we could stay home and begin to nurture our own holiday traditions.    We hosted our third annual Christmas party, we got a full-size Christmas tree, we went to the family Christmas Eve service at our church, we figured out where to hang the stockings, we addressed the challenge of Santa getting into our chimney-less house (thanks be to the "Santa Key").  We took advantage of the perks of "FaceTime" to share our Christmas experiences and favorite gifts with our family members in Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Canada. We also got to do more things around town.  We went as a family to see the fantastic "China's Terracotta Warriors" exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  Hillary and I got to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie for the first time.  But best of all, we just got to hang out as a family.  Theo was busy making his own Christmas cards and making and wrapping gifts.  He and I got to play carols on the piano.  Theo is mastering "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" and "Jingle Bells".  I loved just watching the kids play with their new toys, games, and puzzles for hours on Christmas and the days after.  And of course we got to play too.

 All of this would not have been the same without having some family with us. We were blessed to have Hil's mom and her partner John with us for our first Christmas in Minnesota.  They helped so much in making this a special time for us and the kids.  And they helped us get some time away from the kids.

We also have a loaner car for about ten days.  With the cold weather and snow it has been a great gift!  Thanks so much to Jim and Emily who graciously loaned us their car while they traveled for the holidays.  And thanks to everyone else who similarly offered the use of their car while they were away during this time. On those bitterly cold day and nights around Christmas it was nice to not be waiting at the bus stop after a Guthrie show, or able to run up to Matthews Park so Theo could try out his new snowboard. We even managed to avoid the common pitfall of trying to do too much just because we had access to wheels. Many days were still spent just hanging out with each other at home. And that was the greatest gift of all.

 

Putting the Christmas Eve star on the beautiful Advent calendar made by our friend Martha Z. 

Theo sporting his snazzy Christmas vest at the family Christmas Eve service at church.  

Mormor gave the boys tickets to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Children's Theater Company. 

Hillary gave me these awesome Batman super hero boxer shorts.  Yes, they even have a cape behind!  The boys got quite a kick out of them, especially when their powers allowed me to zoom them around the house on my shoulder. 

Studded tire at last!

It was such a mild winter last year that we squeaked by without a studded tire on our Winther Kangaroo. But with the 11 inch dump last weekend, there is no skirting it this year. After many late night public meetings for work this week, I took this morning off to winterize the Roo. Henry's trike helped out nicely.

First Snow Ride

There is nothing like the first snow to get two young boys excited. By the time Henry and I left for his pre-school, nearly an inch had fallen and sun and blue sky made for a beautiful winter one-mile bike ride to pre-school. Henry marveled at the beautiful scene and giggled as I gave him the"wiggly-ride". The "wiggly-ride" consists of quick, small left-right swerves down the sidewalk, all made safe with the benefit of the three wheels of the Winther Kangaroo.

Here's Henry and our "sleigh-dog" Moxie at school.

Morning Commute: No Eagle Today, Maybe Tomorrow

Late night errands with a Cargo Bike

As a car-free family we have a lot of bikes for various uses. But sometimes they're spread around at various locations, or in need of repair. I had concert band rehearsal last night and expected to use my wife's bike "All Sass No Gas". But I forgot it still had a flat tire (second one in two weeks :( ). Then I figured I'd use my commuter bike "The Italian Stallion". But it was in my bike locker at work since I took the bus home yesterday afternoon. So I went with our family cargo bike, the head turning Winther Kangaroo. It was no big deal biking the cargo bike the 1.75 miles to rehearsal. Then I had it to pick up the 33 lbs of dog food and some sale item storage bins. Go Twin Cities cargo biking!

A Delightful Fall Color Commute

I heard the distinctive crunch of leaves as Theo steered his bike through the crisp fallen ash leaves on the road to school. It brought back memories of past years biking with him in the fall. To kids in the back yard it is the joy of jumping in a pile of leaves. To kids like Theo biking, it is riding through the leaves that get whisked to the side of the road by passing leaf blowers, whoops, I mean cars.

Here are a few pictures from the second leg of my commute, from Theo's school to work.

Bikepool for Saturday Soccer

This is Theo's first real year of soccer. Real in that they practice one night a week and have Saturday morning games at various parks. Last week a friend commented to Hillary that with Theo's interest in soccer, soccer mom-dom (and thus a soccer mom car) are in our near future. Yes, it is a matter of when. But so far we are managing well.

First, thanks to our friends Rolf and Renata, whose son plays on the team, and gave Theo and Hillary a ride to last week's game at a park far away from our house.  Today's game was at Minneapolis' Sibley Park which is within easy Kangaroo biking distance at just 2.3 miles away.  We even did a "bikepool", picking up another one of Theo's teammates.  This bikepool doubled as a daddy Saturday morning "spin class".  This spin class was less a cardio workout and much more a leg strength workout.  With the help of the 1st graders' budding math skills we calculated that I was pedaling about 380 pounds.  Whoa.  

Theo showing his friend the gears and the hydraulic brakes of the Winther Kangaroo before their soccer game.

The bikepool ride seeded some questions.  On the way home from soccer Theo's friend Hanif asked, "why your family hates cars".  A bit surprised by the impression that we hate cars, I responded that it's not that we hate cars, in fact we use cars often, especially when they are the better way to get around.  He had noted that his family uses cars everyday to go most everywhere.  I acknowledged that many people need to use cars because their work is far away and not conveniently reached by public transportation, for instance.  But then said that our family doesn't need a car for most of our trips.  Then Theo chimed in with the distinctive stream-of-consciousness style of a young kid, "We can take a bike, a bus, a taxi.  Cars create pollution.  Look at all these cars just parked on the street, sitting here, nobody is using them.  If we want to go camping, we can rent a car.  If we need to go farther away, we can take an airplane."  Gotta love hearing your 6-year old make such a rational argument for not owning a car.  Admittedly, this is the same kid who also occasionally asks, "Why can't we get a car?".

But the big news of the day is that the Brackett Rockets won their soccer game.  They dug out of a two point hole and won 3-2 to remain undefeated.  Go Rockets!

Thanks Nice Ride!

This summer Nice Ride Minnesota came to St. Paul with its unmistakeable green Nice Ride bikes. Better yet they put a station right in front of the Department of Natural Resources building where I work. After passing the station daily as I walked from the bus, I finally got to use it today.

Mission: Meet a friend/colleague in Minneapolis for Happy Hour
Trip challenge: get some work done to compensate for my early departure

Leg 1: Work to Town Hall Brewery
3:00 pm Walk from 6th floor office to Nice Ride station at Lafayette and Grove

3:04 pm Depart Nice Ride station

   --Enjoy bike ride--

3:11 pm Arrive at 10th and Robert Nice Ride station

   --walk one block (and start this blog)--

3:23 pm Catch 94B Express Bus

   --work on bus (editing report) while the bus passed much traffic--

3:53 pm  Arrive at Metrodome Mpls Nice Ride Station

   --Enjoy bike ride (Washington Ave. wasn't too bad)--

4:00 pm arrive Town Hall Brewery

Leg 1 Summary:
Total time: 1 hour
     Travel time: 50 minutes (30 mins bus, 14 mins bike, 6 mins walking)
          includes 25 minutes of productive work on the bus
     Waiting time: 10 minutes  (I started this blog!)

Leg 2: Town Hall Brewery to Home
5:33 pm Head home on Nice Ride bike

5:51 pm Arrive at neighborhood Nice Ride station (about a 2 mile ride)

5:59 pm Walk 6 blocks to home, for the first time a little sweaty. Ready to change into shorts and a t-shirt.

Before Nice Ride this journey likely would have taken me 50%+ longer due to less than ideal bus connections.  Here's to the fantastic bike-walk options that Nice Ride has brought to the Twin Cities.  Here's to Bike-Walk Twin Cities and their many partners for the great improvements they have brought to bike-walk infrastructure.  Here's to many, many more who are making the Twin Cities an even better place to get around without a car.   

Young Bikers Spreading their Wings at Chautauqua

The second week of August took us back to the long-time Holdsworth summer vacation spot, the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State.  It was my 40th year there (I missed one while doing research in the Brazilian Amazon). After many years of flying from Minnesota to Cleveland, and then driving with Hillary's family to Chautauqua, the recent jump in airfares (and the need to purchase a 4th for the first time) made us rethink our plans.  We decided to rent a car and drive the 900 miles (~16 hours) there and back.  In my humble opinion, I think the trip went well. Henry, however, exclaimed many times on the way there that "this trip is taking too long!"  The trip home was easier and we'll likely do it again.  Driving to Chautauqua again brought back vivid memories of my family packing the family station wagon (and a large trailer in some years) and driving the 8 hours from eastern Pennsylvania to Chautauqua.

Three years ago I wrote a Riding Phrius post in which I reminisced about biking as a kid at Chautauqua.  I also looked forward to the time when our kids would experience that freedom.  Well, this year's trip was the beginning of that time!  Last year Theo rented a bike and began to master using his brakes as he navigated the hills of Chautauqua. But this year I saw the beginning of Chautauqua biking freedom in him.  One of his 7 year old cousins led him and his other cousin the ~3/4 of a mile to Boys and Girls Club on their bikes. No parents involved.  He tested himself on the hills.  He comfortably biked ahead of us in the quiet streets mostly minding the rules of the road. Meanwhile, Henry finally mastered peddling a tricycle. What a great week of daily riding for the kids. Here are a few biking pics from the trip.

Henry, Theo and their cousin Louisa rev their engines in preparation for Children's School.

Theo showing off his rental bike. Louisa sporting her Papa's childhood bike. Theo wishes he had one like it.

Heading along the lake to the afternoon session at Boys and Girls Club.

Parking amongst the mob of bikes.

Theo running into the Girls Club where his Group 1 started their afternoon session.

T rolls his first car into a pond.

Worse yet his three year old brother's stick collection got wet. Beware the dangers of kids from car-free families!

A beautiful morning on the Midtown Greenway

You could tell it had been an exceptionally hot eight days in Minneapolis from the sight of the many bikers, joggers, and walkers on the Midtown Greenway this morning. Yes, finally the temperatures had cooled down to a reasonable mid 60s by morning. As I walked our dog Moxie, I was wishing I was on my bike headed to the lakes or beyond. But I did have the chance to stop and appreciate the beautiful native plantings along our section of the Greenway near the Anne Sullivan ramp.

I want to thank all who have worked so hard to restore this little patch, especially my wife, Hillary. I love walking through this section, the "Shasta site," throughout the seasons, always thinking of what so many have done to make it such a wonderful spot along the Greenway.

Bike, bus taxi... The making of multi-modal children

There have been lots of great Riding Phrius quotations from the kids this past year. They show how facile the boys have gotten at considering and choosing amongst all the transportation options we have. 

Bonding with Henry on the bus. 

While returning from the Fulton neighborhood’s Fourth of July parade last year I was riding our Winther Kangaroo trike, Hillary had Henry on the Bobike and Theo was on his bike.  We were riding along the Hiawatha Light Rail Train (LRT) in Minneapolis when Theo exclaimed, “I know, Mom, we can catch the LRT, put our bikes on it and then ride the last bit to our house!”  Great idea, Theo.  Why didn’t we think of that? 

“I want to go to the Minnesota Zoo.  Let’s rent a car!” - Henry.

“We’re going in a rental car?  Yay!” - Henry

Henry inspecting our rental car during a Wisconsin X-C ski weekend.

“Let’s ride our bikes!” - Theo

“I want to ride my bike” - Henry referring to what is actually a small tricycle that he will sometimes ride for mile-long trips. 

“How about we borrow a car?” - Theo.

“How about a taxi?”

“What, we’re taking a taxi instead of a bus?  Taxis are expensive.  I used to think they were a dollar a ride”. - Theo

Some readers of Riding Phrius have joked that Theo and Henry will want to drive big SUVs when they turn sixteen.  That could be, but hopefully our kids are gaining a deep experience of using a variety of modes of transportation.  I hope this experience will help them adapt in this rapidly changing world where transportation choices have important environmental, social, and economic implications for individuals, communities and society. 

As I was writing this I found this interesting Grist post on the decline in driving by young people. 

--> Theo and I showing off our ski boots and skis after  carpooling with friends to the MN Youth Ski League in Theodore Wirth Park.

A pedal-powered Saturday

It was a gorgeous Saturday in the Twin Cities and a great day to be pedaling around.  We made the most of the day with some gardening, a trip to the Midtown Farmer's Market, and a side bike trip to check out a beautiful street mural done by a friend.  Here are a few pics.

 

To make way for a new ironwood tree in our yard, we moved Theo's beloved white currant bush to a another spot.  Here he is pedaling it across the yard in his tractor wagon.  That rig comes in handy!

With the currant transplanted we caught the tail-end of the Midtown Farmer's Market.  We saw this super figure puppet show by two guys from Open Eye Figure Theater.  They have this fun, whimsical stage built on the base of a Burley kid bike trailer! 

 

Here are the artists riding away on their tandem with the theater trailing behind. They said it is especially good for promoting Open Eye Theater at large festivals...and for lunch money.

With both kids needing a nap, we extended our route to check out this beautiful street mural.  This shows a part of it at 19th Ave. S. and 34th Street, right next to the Corcoran Park building in south Minneapolis.  Henry was asleep in no time, but Theo was up long enough for the mural and to spot the ice cream truck ahead of us.  After three blocks in hot pursuit we caught up to it. Mmm... popsicles.

The middle of a long nap for both boys in the Kangaroo.  I guess we should have kept Theo strapped in!

30 Days of Biking at Last!

All of our family members above the age of 3 signed up for 30 Days of Biking this year.  That is me, Theo, and Hillary who have taken the pledge along with 3000+ other folks all over the world.  The 30 Days of Biking pledge is simple: "Ride somewhere every day for 30 days, then share your adventures online". 

We are lucky enough to be spending the first week with Hil's family during spring break on Sanibel Island, Florida.  (Check out it's excellent 22 mile bicycle trail network (and incredible amount of green space/conservation areas) here.)  We were having so much fun on the beach and such that we didn't rally to line-up rental bikes for Theo until yesterday (Day 2 of 30 Days of Biking) and then managed to miss our daily ride yet again.  But finally we all made it out this evening, with the addition of T's cousins.  With all rented/borrowed bikes, it was more of a test ride to adjust everybody's bikes.  Here are some pics from our first 30 Days of Biking 2012 ride.  For us make it 28 days of biking.  Oh, well.

Finally,  a fine excerpt from the 30 Days of Biking story. 
"...We want you to remember how riding around your neighborhood felt when you were a kid, when a bike was your only transportation and you loved it. We want you to remember the freedom bicycling offers. The happiness, the independence. These things aren't lost to the ages or the past. They're still available, as nearby as your saddle. And, ultimately, they lead to a healthier life."

Thanks to the Readers of Riding Phrius!

I must admit that blogging can be a rather lonely endeavor.  How much are people reading my posts?  Yes, I can look at the page view statistics.  Some posts have topped one hundred views.  Woohoo. Many have less than ten.  But what value are people really getting from Riding Phrius? 

Henry and I enjoying a moment together on the bus to church. 

In early January I sent an email to friends and family with year-end highlights from Riding Phrius. Here’s a big shout out to all of you who read Riding Phrius and those who comment online or in person.  It means a tremendous amount to me and helps me keep writing about our family’s experience of “Riding Phrius.” Writing droughts there may be, but I am always thinking of new posts, a few percent of which happen. 


Here are the posts that I highlighted to my friends and family:

The Annual Christmas tree pick-up by bike

Theo, our eager cyclist:  Theo joins me in 30 Days of Biking

Car-free through a serious Minnesota winter: Taxi Time and the Siberian Express

    (this winter seems far away after the crazy mild winter we just finished.)

Fun video as Theo bikes 7.5 miles: Open Streets - Ciclovia Minneapolis 2011

Yes, we have our doubts: Confessions from Riding Phrius 

          What do we mean by car-free?: Car-free by the Numbers 

Here are some messages I got from readers: 


Jim G. "...As someone who still does drive a car (though sparingly when in the city — I’m a subway/streetcar/bus freak), I can tell you that my occasional and always rewarding drop-in on your blog makes me question continuing to have a car — you’re a great example of “how-to” in this crazy mechanized world."  
 Thanks Jim!


Anne-Marie: "...I was thinking about your blog - have you ever considered making it a kind of "how-to?" You and Hil must have learned so much about how to use your bikes to do almost everything. For example, how do you get groceries? What do you keep an eye on when you're commuting in traffic? How do you see when it's unexpectedly pouring rain?"  Good idea, Anne-Marie.  I will try to weave in more how-to when possible.  I have always thought that there is a lot of how-to resources out there.  But it is easy to take that for granted.  And we often lean more on what we hear from friends and contacts.  


My grad school office mate Mitch wrote: " At one point this year Valerie and I owned 5 cars, but being good Americans we reduced it to 3."  That is classic, Mitch.


My college professor (now emeritus) Doug M. wrote: "You'd be happy to know that we both continue our bike-riding ways, so that I may not use the disgusting car more often than once every several weeks, and Else sometimes may not more than one or twice a week. I plan to ride through the entire winter, only falling on average once every other year or so when there is such glare ice that one can't get traction. My (now) much younger colleagues delight in calling me a wimp if I don't ride in."  Doug, you are an inspiration!


Thanks to these folks and many more for their comments, inspiration, and ideas for Riding Phrius!
What do you like about Riding Phrius?  What types of posts do you enjoy reading the most?  What questions to you have about our car-free life? I value your comments and appreciate that you take the time to check in with Riding Phrius. Thanks!

Eleven Below

Winter hit hard this week.  It hits even harder when you miss the school bus on a cold morning.  Yup, Theo was dawdling this morning.  We ran as fast as we could to his bus stop a half block away.  We were out before the scheduled bus stop.  We stood, waiting in silence.  No bus.  1 minute.  2 minutes. 3 minutes.  Ok, let's give it 5 more minutes. 1.2..3...4....5.  "I guess we're going to have to take the Roo, Dad," Theo said.  These multi-modal car-free kids know all the tricks.  I am surprised he didn't mention a taxi.

We got the Roo trike and biked the mile to school.  It was cold.  I opened the front of the Roo upon arrival.  Theo looked a little shell shocked from the cold.  "You OK, bud," I asked.  No response. "Did you stay warm enough?" I followed.  "Yup, Dad," he replied as he hopped out of the Roo.  He insisted that I come in with him to his class.  It is always fun to see the Kindergarten class starting their day.  We saw Theo's friend's father, Jim.  He asked incredulously, "You biked???"  Yup.  He looked at us, speechless.  (It turned out he thought that Theo rode his bike too!).

I headed home.  Curious about the temperature, I finally looked.  Eleven below.  Hello Minnesota winter.

Racing the light, on a dusting of snow, lonely falls

January 13th: I was able to take my long Mississippi River route home yet again.  This is definitely the latest into the winter I have been able to do this route.  What a crazy snow-lite, warm winter we are having in Minnesota.  But it has been a boon for bike commuters. 

I left my work bike locker at sunset, 4:55 pm,  and raced the dwindling light home.  It was 13 degrees F. and my hands got cold within 10 minutes.  My legs and bike felt really sluggish.  So sluggish that I checked to see if my brake pads were dragging.  Nope, must be me.  I braced myself for a long, arduous 13 mile ride.  But within a few more minutes I was in the groove.

This afternoon's dusting of snow was whisked away from the roads by the cars, but it was beautifully present on the bike trail.  For the first time ever I arrived at Minnehaha Falls with nobody around.  Quiet, beautiful.  I started in clouds in St. Paul.  They had parted by the time I got home in Minneapolis.  It was a wonderful dusk commute home.