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. 

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.