Confession: We Got a Car

Confession to the Riding Phrius readers: We now own a car.  In fact we got it seven months ago.  It has been an identity adjustment, especially for this writer of Riding Phrius.  I have some explaining to do on how we got here.  With our car saga of the last few weeks, I have even more to share.  But first we need to catch you up on the decision to get a car.  Read on.

I got a call from Hillary over a year ago in November 2012.  She was breathing hard, biking the Roo to pick up one of the boys.  The tone of her voice mirrored the temperature outside, cold.  The message was crisp, "put on the list for 2013, get a car."  I took note, knowing it was just a matter of time before the kids' growing bodies and growing number of activities would push us to get a car.  But I also recognized the emotion of a tough moment. Yes, that day was a heavy dose of winter weather. But the rough winter conditions might ease up. Plus, Hillary's mom would be here for Christmas soon, giving us access to a rental car for two weeks.  But, I got two similar requests from Hillary over the next few weeks.  I started to reconcile myself with the idea that we might have to start looking for a car in 2013.  But as we headed into the new year, a Christmastime loaner car from friends and a break in the rough winter conditions paused the determined calls for a car.

Then we got a tempting offer a few months later in May.  Hillary's sister's family was moving back to Seattle from Washington, D.C. and did not want to take their 15 year old VW Passat Wagon with them.  It was actually the same car that punctuated our car-free decade while they were living in Copenhagen for one year in '04-'05.  It had 127,000 miles on it and was in pretty good shape.  It wouldn't make sense to pay to truck it, nor put the wear and tear on it by driving it to Seattle. They were ready to just buy a new car out in Seattle. And time was limited for selling it in D.C. So they offered it to us gratis.

Hillary immediately wanted to accept, but it took me many days to get on board. I thought of those beautiful mornings of biking the kids to school in the Roo.  Biking a trailer full of fall harvest fruits and vegetables home from the farmer's market.  Playing the games of tag with the kids while waiting for a bus connection. Enjoying reading together on the bus, and the unique perspectives on the city offered by public transit. Those moon-lit crisp nights biking back from a friend's house after dinner through freshly fallen snow. The kids asking, "are we going to take the bus or ride our bikes?", with cars never even on their radar.  Of course, just because we have a car wouldn't mean we couldn't experience those moments, right?  We know how special those moments are, even when sometimes suffering those really tough times when the bike was extra heavy with kids or the bus was missed. Surely after 10 years of experiencing them, we wouldn't stop seeking them out.  The problem is, having a car sitting right in front of your house makes using it way too convenient.  One's impulse to save 10 or 15 minutes on an errand often wins out. Rain or cold offer easy excuses to drive rather than bike. Then choosing the car over bike or bus becomes a habit. So, it was hard to think of letting go of our car free life. Ultimately, knowing it was just a matter of time before we needed a car and that this was a unique offer, we didn't pass it up.

Last June Hillary summed up so well what she's learned from our years without a car and announced our changing status.  She wrote this post on her Facebook page: "After 10 years without a car in the Twin Cities, here is what I've learned. You need to be stubborn. You need to be flexible. You need stamina, studded tires, and good winter and rain gear. Patience is important, and planning. I could use more of those last two. A garage full of bikes, a high frequency bus route, and a community of friends willing to give rides or loan you a car helps immensely. Even then, it's still not easy. You can't be afraid to ask for help, and should accept all offers. So when your sister offers you her car, for keeps, you don't say no. Come August, it looks like we'll be a car-light rather than a car-free family. Until then we will enjoy another summer of Riding Phrius, and then strive to keep the car parked as much as possible."

Birthday Butter-Butts in the Bike Lane

The snowy Minnesota Capital Grounds scene along my commute.

A major perk of my early May birthday is its concurrence with the migration of warblers and other songbirds from their tropical wintering grounds to their northern breeding grounds. I try to make the most of this timing and get out for a little birthday birding.  This year it turned out to be by bike the day before my birthday.

Despite a morning commute snowstorm, I chose to bike to work today and take the 12 mile route home along the Mississippi River. There were a few dedicated bike commuters in St. Paul's Summit Avenue bike lane this morning. By the looks we were giving each other, we all seemed surprised that our commute included a full-fledged, cheek-biting snowstorm.  But along my Mississippi River route home, I had the bike trails and bike lanes to myself...and the "butter-butts", the colloquial name for the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, aka "Butter-butt" (credit: www.science.smith.edu)

I was mostly excited to do my favorite Mississippi River route home for the first time since late fall. I actually didn't prepare for birding in that I didn't bring my binoculars. But in St. Paul's Lilydale Regional Park I spotted the first "butter-butt",  It was hopping and foraging on the ground along the bike trail.  Then I spotted a Palm Warbler on the ground a few feet from me.  With these birds, no binoculars were necessary. 

"Butter-butt Bike Lane" - the birds were too quick to catch in a pic!

But these sitings in Lilydale Park paled in comparison to the profusion of butter-butts I flushed from the bike lane along Minnehaha Avenue.  It was really incredible as I flushed 5-8 at a time. In fact I was surprised that I didn't run one over. I really wanted to get a picture to show you, but like any warbler, they move fast. 

I wasn't the only one noting the profusion of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the neighborhood.  I got home and Henry said, "Dad, we saw this really cool bird right next to the Roo near my school".  Theo had also spotted them and had looked them up with Hillary to identify them.  But they had not heard the nickname "butter-butts". For two young boys, that nickname produced giggles and made these birds all the more cool, and memorable. 

Winter Commuting on New Wheels

Today marked my second day of winter bike commuting since the big 11 inch snow fell on the Twin Cities about a month ago. I'm feeling a little out of shape in the legs but loving the cold temperature invigoration and thinking space my bike commute provides. 

This view of the Mississippi River Gorge along my commute route is a far cry from the one taken during the autumn picture below!  Ahh, the joys of experiencing the seasons from the bike lane.

All this has been made possible by my new 16-year old Specialized Hardrock mountain bike that I got off Craig's list.   Its condition is a far cry from my previous 18-year old Specialized mountain bike, I.N.D.Y. (It's Not Dead Yet). With its terribly rusted gears, worn out bearings, and its propensity for large maintenance bills, it now ought to be named, I.I.D.N. (It is Dead Now).  I will strip some parts of I.I.D.N and donate the rest to a great new organization called SPOKES where hopefully its frame will be renewed as the core of a new bike.

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. 

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.

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!

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.   

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!

Dashing Through the Snow along the Mississippi

The Twin Cities' weather this past week has been a bicyclist's delight.  The bike lanes were mostly clear of snow and ice and morning and afternoon commute temps were in the delightful twenty degree zone.  Many of us pulled out our summer bikes to revel in the conditions.  My five year old even rode his bike from a friend's house back home. It seemed like a stolen moment that many of us made the best of.  I bike commuted more this week than in months.

Snow did come on Thursday afternoon, so I was back on my winter bike with its studded tires.  Another 1/2-3/4 inch layer of snow came Friday, perfect for beautifying the bike trail while not impeding progress.  After a quiet day at work on December 23rd, I was psyched to take my 12 mile Mississippi River route into the Christmas Holiday.  Here are some photos I snapped along the way.

 

Beautiful pre-sunset light over the Mississippi River in Saint Paul. 

I didn't pass any bikes the whole way home last week nor this week. But 6 others had passed since the snow fell hours ago. 

This route is great for wildlife sightings.  Here is one of the several white-tailed deer I saw.  The best sighting this fall was a red-bellied snake crossing the path.  It was caught in the cool weather.. and very cold as discovered when I picked it up to move it off the trail. 

I love the quiet on this route.  It was magically broken as I was cruising up the old railroad grade and heard this train approaching from behind.  The Polar Express?

Back in our neighborhood I made a point of biking by our local Christmas light hotspot.  This week's commutes have also been a great chance to enjoy the beauty of some great Holiday light displays along my usual route home on Summitt Ave.

Here's to another great year of experiencing the seasons along this great Mississippi River route home. 

Car-free by the Numbers

What do we mean by "car-free"?  No, we have not completely sworn off cars.  We simply don't own one.  Our car-free (or car-lite) life includes many modes of travel.  For about a year and a half in 2009-2010 I dutifully recorded every one of our trips away from the house to see how much we used each of the many modes of travel.  I call it the Riding Phrius Data Project.  It is a pretty cool dataset.  Like many cool datasets, it has yet to be fully explored.

Below is a sneak preview into how many miles we traveled by bus/light rail, bike, rental car, visitor's rental cars, etc. for the 9 months from March - December 2009.  It does not include air travel, the Achilles heal of most people's carbon footprint.  In this 9 months we traveled a total of 7176 miles, 58% of which were divided equally between public transportation and bicycle.  I look forward to sharing some more gems from the Riding Phrius Data Project. 

Busing and Triking it to Church

A few years ago, like many parents with young children, we started attending church. While not in our neighborhood, we were drawn to Plymouth Congregational Church on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. It offers probing, progressive preaching, a deeply engaged congregation, wonderful music and youth programs and much more.  Theo and Henry really like to go to church school and Hillary and I get a peaceful, reflective hour together in the service. 

So how does a car-free family get to a church that is 4+ miles away?  Usually by bus. Two buses actually.  We can hop on the #21 heading west and pick-up the #18 heading north up Nicollet Ave.  If we are lucky it is a 30 minute trip.  If not it can be 40 minutes.  Sundays aren't great bus days, with lower frequency even on busy routes. Luckily, if the bus connection is bad, we can usually find a taxi waiting in the K-Mart parking lot and get a $5 ride the last mile, a convenience that's especially helpful in the winter.

And as of yesterday, we added a door-to-door taxi ride to the mix.  Yes, we are usually pushing the bus schedule.  Yesterday was the day we completely missed it.  In frustration Hillary suggested we just go home.  But Theo's tears over missing church school, as well as our own desire to go, led to Plan B.  So we called a taxi and $14 later ended up getting there earlier than if we had caught our bus.

Here are some images from a recent Sunday when we took the bus.  And then an earlier Sunday when we biked.

Train-obsessed Henry checked out The Polar Express from the church library to read on the ride home. The library is a favorite stop for the kids.

One advantage of a bus and kids- no car seats!  They love looking out the windows and always want to sit "up high" for better views. Sometimes one or both fall asleep on the way home.  The bench seats can be an advantage in this situation. Another perk of the bus, Hillary and I can take turns reading the Sunday paper.

On mild spring and fall Sundays we will occasionally bike to church.   We can cruise westwards on our nearby bike highway, the Midtown Greenway, and then do the last mile or less on Nicollet Ave.  A few weeks ago when Hillary had to work, I did my first solo trip to church with Theo and Henry in the Kangaroo. 

Theo looking ahead on the Midtown Greenway.

"Stop it with the camera" he is probably thinking.  Soon he was blocking my camera view with a book.  This was a beautiful day to do this ride. 

A favorite destination after church school- the church courtyard with its fountain.  Theo and Henry love chasing each other through the bushes and jumping off walls.

Ok, solo church dad looking a little disgruntled, but all in all this was a great church outing with T and H via the Kangaroo.

Theo's 5th Birthday in the Park by Bike Cargo Trailer

Another big birthday to rally for - Theo's fifth.  Theo had many requests for this one - a scavenger hunt, pinata, a sperm whale cake, all at a favorite spot - the "Giggly Hills" along the Mississippi River Gorge.  Hillary's mom was in town so we had access to her rental van.  But how could we quickly carry lots of stuff, including a long table, all the way to the trail-only accessible site?  Leave it to "Tully" our bike cargo trailer.  Tully is a tough one, built to haul up to 300 pounds, and long.  Now that is a burly trailer.

Soon after we went car-free some eight years ago, we did some reading on how to do it.  Acquiring a bike cargo trailer was highly recommended.  From a friend who worked at Peace Coffee- our awesome local coffee roaster that delivers much of their coffee by bike (!) - we learned about Bikes At Work trailers.  These are serious utilitarian cargo trailers built in Iowa.  We soon purchased one with the savings that we reaped from reduced car insurance costs.  Tully has served us very well hauling groceries, bales of straw and bags of potting soil, brush (buckthorn), xmas trees, and even furniture to sell as a mobile yard sale.  But this time it was Mission 5th Birthday along the Mississippi River Gorge.

Hauling in full coolers of food and water, watermelon, scavenger hunt materials, fold-up table, blankets, rain gear,  etc. I popped off the bike trail and rode the short dirt trail in. The uphill was a bit of a challenge but I managed by walking the bike and trailer.

Add a table cloth and voila you have a perfect table for serving four pizzas and watermelon to a bunch of pre-schoolers.

Mormor chatting around the trailer table.

Pinata!

The Birthday Boy enjoying his sperm whale cake.

Packing to head home and catch a bit of a refreshing rain storm. With a bike trailer you can roll your load right up to the house for easy unloading!

"What happened, you guys came here by car!"

Yes, we did.  Tonight was the end of the season picnic for the Seward Concert Band that I play clarinet in.  This year's picnic once again coincided with Hillary's mom's visit for Theo's birthday weekend. But this year I was struck by how many people noticed our car-full arrival. Perhaps we should have parked out of view!

For a car-free family visits by friends and family with rental cars are a minor bonanza. In fact in past years, soon after each of the boys were born, these rental car-full visits by Hillary's mom racked up hundreds of miles through trips to outlying stores and visits to friends and sites in the greater Twin Cities area.  With some luck I think we'll keep the mileage down this weekend.

Open Streets-Ciclovia Minneapolis 2011

The biking joys of Minneapolis rose to a new level this weekend.  Yesterday was the grand opening of the RiverLake Greenway.  Today,  for the first time Minneapolis closed about 2 miles of a major 4 lane street (Lyndale Ave.) to motor vehicles.  For 4 hours bicyclists, walkers, strollers, runners, roller bladers, and more flocked to cruise up and down the street during Open Streets 2011.  We popped Henry in the Bobike, stuffed Theo's bike with him in the Winther Kangaroo, and headed down the Midtown Greenway to Lyndale Ave.  Within half-a-mile of Lyndale, Theo couldn't wait any longer and got out to ride his bike.  He was definitely out to break his long distance biking record today.  Little did we know he would end up biking nearly 7 miles, much of it on the new RiverLake Greenway - the first time he biked on a bike route with cars (albeit few).

Here are a few videos and pictures from the day. 

"My bike is a kite!" (above).

Biking on the RiverLake Greenway for the first time (below).  We were surprised by the extent of its  rolling hills.  Here Theo is pushing up one of the hills.  It was a little nerve-racking at times having Theo on the road, crossing intersections for the first real time.  But there was relatively little traffic, he has gotten a lot of biking practice, and was listening very well.

 

Minneapolis' bike share program, Nice Ride,  was at Open Streets in full force.  Here they are making "Nice Cream" while biking. Gotta try some next time.

Mayor Rybak dueling it out for the slow bike race.  Go Nice Ride!

Gorilla Yoga and a Bakfiets bike.

Decorating Theo's bike at one of many bike decorating stations.

RiverLake Greenway overpass above 35W.  Note the blue yarn bombing behind me.

The Bobike seat is great, until your kid falls asleep.  Should have gotten Henry home earlier, or at least into the Kangaroo trike where he could have slept without the head bobs.

We are looking forward to the next Open Streets event! 

Every day is different, but no fish this time

I always enjoy meeting other bike commuters along my route, especially when they are recent converts to the joys of bike commuting.  Today, I met one such person at the work bike lockers.  We were both looking at the cloudy skies and wondering if we'd get caught in a passing shower.  I commented that I hadn't checked the weather but that I had checked the Mississippi River levels  online.  I wanted to get an indication of how passable my river route home through Lilydale would be.  She then commented how much she loved bike commuting and was doing it more and more.  She noted how "every day of bike commuting is different."  So true, and my commute through Lilydale today confirmed it.

I reached the  Lilydale section of my river ride home. Good sign: the road gate was open.  The surface of the Mississippi River was rushing just below the road's level, but enough time had passed that the many inches of river sediment had been plowed from the once flooded bike path. Reassured and optimistic, I took the bike path through the floodplain forest.  Soon I reached a flooded section of trail.  Hmm...I had encountered a flooded section last year (see below) and successfully biked through with dry feet. But this was a different section and a very different flood year.

The water flooding the path was irresistible, so still, reflecting the tree canopy above.  Its surface was speckled with tufts of cottonwood seeds.  Thinking of last year's successful fording of the water, I plunged in with two wheels. The water rose as the bike descended... 1 inch, 3 inches, 6 inches, feet wet as they churned through the water.  Don't slow...9 inches, 11 inches, my panniers are now cutting through the water.  Luckily it got no deeper and I  stayed upright.  I reached dry ground, feet dripping. I emptied the water from my panniers, finding no fish.  I dried off the bottom edge of the iPad that had suffered the crossing and headed to the next crossing.

Yes, every day of bike commuting is different.