Mile By Mile - Life In The Bike Lane

Last Sunday we went for a family bike ride.  One of the major street in our town was closed to vehicles and open to bikes!  It was a beautiful day and fun to see so many families riding bikes.

 We're still riding our bikes as much as ever, even if I haven't written about it lately.  It has become routine and normal for me and the kids.  Audrey knows how to buckle herself in and can put on her helmet.  No sure about her look up there, but did you notice the goggles? Oh, yeah!

We still love our Burley trailer and hope to keep riding through most of the fall.  I'm not sure what we'll do next spring though, as the trailer is getting pretty heavy to pull and the kids are running out of room.  Maybe one of these?  (I just showed them to Craig.  He said "No way," {for very practical reasons, where would keep one, how would we afford one?} but still it's fun to dream!)

I have a few more biking posts I'm working on. I hope to have them up soon!

Mile By Mile - A Different Lake Path

This morning we loaded the bikes and trailer into the car and headed to the Chicago lakefront path, at Foster Beach.  We rode south to Navy Pier.  It was about 10 miles round trip, which pretty much wore me out! The path is full of locals and tourists - running, biking, walking dogs, heading to the beach, just living.

Can you see the John Hancock Building, Trump Tower and the Sears Tower, I mean Willis Tower? (From right to left, the three tallest buildings!)

Belmont Harbor

The ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

 On the way back we stopped at a bird and butterfly sanctuary. It could easily be called a people sanctuary, too, it was so cool and quiet inside.  Adurey loved being "in the woods."

Montrose Harbor

We hardly ever head down to Chicago, but I love seeing the city this way.

Mile By Mile - The Lock Up

It took me a long time to figure out how to lock my bike and trailer together.  Like, a really long time.  I've had a few people ask me recently how I do it, so I thought I'd share my set up, in case you were wondering too.

This way you won't find yourself outside the library with two crying kids, muttering under your breath trying to get the gosh darn thing to work.

So here's our stuff:  Bike, trailer, U lock and cable.

First I loop the cable through the trailer.  Don't use the wheels and the tow bar, as these parts are meant to come off easily.

Then I loop one end of the cable through the other.

Next I pass the cable through the back wheel of the bike.

Then I loop the cable through the U lock.

And pass the U lock through the bike and lock.

When we're downtown or at the lake, I also pass the U lock through a bike rack.
When Craig is with us, I can pass the U lock through his bike and a bike rack.
If we're someplace without a bike rack, like a friend's house, I'll just leave the bike like this.

I did a little googling to see what other kind of locking systems are out there and it seems like this is the way most people do it.  Certainly it's not perfect, a bolt cutter could get through this in no time, but it would deter someone from just walking away with the bike or trailer.

Also, our city now offers bike registration and I'm filing mine electronically today.  The trailer has a serial number too, so I'm going to try to register it as well.  If the bike or trailer were stolen, this would help the police identify them if they were recovered.

*I should say I did no research on bike locks, this is just the set I got with the bike about 10 years ago.  I use it because I have it and it works just fine.*

So that's how I lock up our bike.  How do you?  Do you have any tips to share?

Mile By Mile - To The Beach And Back Again

This morning we headed to the beach and it was one of those early, unprepared beach days. I forgot bathing suits and hats and most of the sand toys the kids wanted to bring.  But as you can imagine none of that mattered once we hit the sand.  There was too much fun to be had.

I really wanted to share today was what our rides look like, what we pass and what we find along the way.  That is easier said than done on a bike with a trailer and two kids in the back.  But here is a bit of what we saw today.

The lilacs across the street were blooming and fragrant as we pulled out of the drive way.  We passed our neighbor pushing a daughter in a stroller and waved hello.  After one stop at the first red light, we traveled all the way through downtown on green lights.  We didn't stop again until we reached the lake.

We usually go south on the trial but today we went to the north edge of our town to meet some friends.

Along the lakefront path....

Past the university...

To the beach.  It was perfect.  The kids dug and poured and rolled around in the sand and were totally occupied while the moms sat on blankets and had a whole conversation without interruption.

We rode home with our friends, the kids talking to each other in their trailers behind us. It was a great ride and a great day with friends.

It felt like the start of summer.

Mile by Mile - Along For The Ride

A cool, Spring feeling is in the air.  We made three trips by bike this week.  It's good to be riding the bike.  Good to get my heart rate up, good to be moving fast, good to get back into a non- car mode.  Our bag of change is much lighter after a cold winter of feeding meters downtown and it's time to put the car keys aside and put on our helmets.

I was looking back at my first Mile by Mile post, on my old blog, thinking about why I originally wanted to trade my car for my bike.  One idea that really struck me was that I choose - mile by mile - how I arrive at my destination.  I don't want to get in the car just as a force of habit, but because I had  made a conscious decision.

In the last year, as I drove less, I began to question the trips I did make by car. Did I really need to run this errand?  Could I find what I needed at a closer store - a store I could walk or bike to?  Could I postpone or eliminate the trip all together?

Now, instead of driving to Target, I pick up what we need at CVS, on our way (walking) to the library.  I trawl the aisles of our crazy, random craft store downtown, instead of a long drive to Michael's.   Instead of a quick trip (in the car) to the grocery store to pick up a missing ingredient for dinner, I substitute and improvise.

It is exciting and liberating to leave my car at home.  It is good for my health and good for my time.  It's good for my pocketbook and good for the environment.  It's good for my soul.

And so I wanted to ask...Do you want to come along for the ride? Leave the keys and take a bus, take a walk, a scooter, skip or stroll?  Or stay outside instead of running errands?

Spring, and change, is in the air.  The world holds so many possibilities.  Let's leave our cars at home.  

Mile by Mile - Back On Two Wheels

Sorry for the random snow photos, it's just really hard to take pictures on a bike!

The kids and I took our first bike ride of the year on Friday.  It was very spontaneous  - we were downstairs putting on our shoes when I decided to take the bike instead of walk.  I was excited to give my bike a spin after a tune up from a neighborhood shop.  (The tune up was a great investment in our biking routine!)

Over all it was a good ride.  We rode straight down Church St to the library.  I had forgotten how hard somethings are, and how easy other things are, on the bike.  Colton had no trouble wearing his helmet, thank goodness!   The temperature was in the mid 30's and there was a pretty strong wind, but under the blanket the kids were toasty warm.   It's amazing how fast we travel on the bike, compared to walking, even if I'm pretty out of shape.  When we got to the library, I unhooked the trailer and brought it in with us, stroller style.  I couldn't remember how I locked the bike and trailer together to bike rack so unhooking just seemed faster than figuring it out again.    It was a good thing I did because I checked out a bunch of books and then remembered I had to get milk at Whole Foods across the street.  I just loaded up the "trunk" with all our items, and we were on our way.

After our two errands, I hooked the trailer back up and we were home in no time.  So begins our biking season.

PS. If you'd like to check out how we biked last summer, you can visit my old blog, Adventures with Audrey, and look under "Biking with Kids." Happy cycling!