Dealing with the challenge of commuting longer distances by bike; with the kids

I don’t remember a whole lot from my childhood. But the memories I do have a very sharp. Aside from summers spent swimming 9-to-5 like a job and smelling my mom’s hair just before she told me she was pregnant with my sister, few memories stand out more than when we had to commute using public transportation. I’m talking, up before the crack of dawn so mom could get us kids to the babysitter and get to work by 9:00 AM.

And now I’ve begun doing the same thing. Actually, it wasn’t until Summer and I had two kids on vacation, that child care and commuting by bus became a real issue. As I started pricing the child care, I almost had a heart attack. All day child care for two children is expensive. And getting them there is a challenge, to say the least. Especially since we all have to get there by bike.

The first day was a bitch. We were up at 5:30 AM and out of the door by 6:00 (you have no idea what I had to go through to get the boys to get dressed, even in their sleep deprived stupor. I told them to sleep earlier. They’ll learn.). We all mounted our bikes and set out for the Boys & Girls Club, which had the best rates for summer day camp. Four miles, up hill, down hill, busy streets, early in the morning.

For someone who had spent that latter part of the school year commuting by bike, the youngest seemed to have the hardest time. He cried about his nose hurting, complained about being hot and generally had a hard time with the whole thing. The oldest spent half the ride yelling at the youngest to stop crying. At one point we went down a hill and I let myself fly down until I reached the bottom. Along the way, the boys lost sight of me. When they caught up the oldest was crying and glared at me angrily. “He got scared because he couldn’t see you,” the youngest said rolling his eyes.

Despite the challenges, we made it to our destination and I got to work on time. It took an hour to make a 30 minute ride, but I’m pretty sure we’ll get faster as the boys get more used to the route. The ride home was much easier and faster and when we made it, we all vegged out in front of the television.

I saw a sign that the average bicyclist loses 13 lbs their first year commuting by bike. Those are results I can get behind. That and showing my kids that you don’t need a car to get around town. The more used to it I get, the less inconvenient it seems. We were even able to grocery shop–I’m talking real shopping–and get everything home on our bikes.

Truthfully, there have been plenty of times I wish I had a car. But I’m also learning to make due and so are my kids. Much like when my mom would drag my sister and I out on the bus to get to the sitter, I have to drag my kids out on the rode at ungodly hours to get them to the sitter as well. The main difference is that we’re all getting a work out on our way to our destinations.

As my mom always said, “I gotta do what I gotta do.”

Truer words are rarely ever spoken.

Tags: bicycle commuting, bus/bike to work, family, Health/Fitness

My first bus/bike to work day!

Today was my first bus/bike to work day and it was kinda AWESOME.

I found a route that didn’t require me to get a sitter in the morning; so the boy and I left the house at the same time. The school doesn’t allow scooters on campus, so until I get him his own bike (and yes, that will be soon), he has to hop on with me. He spent much of his ride going “Ooooh…watch out, watch out” because he was afraid I would hit something or “ouch!” because the crotch bar was hitting him in…well…the crotch (that is until he figured out to sit on his backpack). And since my bus stop is at the same corner I usually drop him off to walk to school, we just parted ways there.

I felt like an old pro in the morning. I confidently threw my bike on the rack, flashed the driver my pass and found a seat. I could have transferred but since my connection wasn’t supposed to arrive for 20 minutes, I hopped on my bike and got on my merry way.

The air was crisp, the traffic was light and alert and the sun was lovely. There were bike lines all the way from the connection stop to the office and I probably made it to the office before the bus ever arrived at the stop. I didn’t even break a sweat until I hit the major intersection just before the office corporate park (thank you yoga & pilates!).

At the end of the day, I walked out with a coworker who also takes the bus. He got on his route and mine arrived a few minutes later. And boy was I clumsy about the whole thing.

Maybe it was just the bus driver being helpful but he treated me like it was my first time riding the bus. I couldn’t get the bike rack down and once I got it down, I struggled to get my bike on. He actually got out of his seat to show me how to do it. When I got on the bus, he showed me that I had to activate and swipe my pass (why the other bus driver didn’t say anything, I’ll never know). As we got on the road, he informed me that if the bike rack was full, I’d either have to wait for another bus or lock my bike and leave it (which explains the occasional bike left at the bus stop). Neither sounded like agreeable options, but whatareyagonnado?

Exited the bus to find my stop caticorner to the bike shop but since the YMCA had a closing time, I decided it best to pick up the boy first. We headed over to the bike shop where I had the cruiser fitted with a basket and got myself a helmet. It’s a little dorky looking but better safe than sorry. Besides, its practice for when I get my motorcycle.

I was already tired when we left the bike shop but then it was time to make the ride home. It wasn’t that it was far (because it wasn’t), it was the helmet in the basket, the bumps hurting the boy’s testicles, my purse sliding off my arm and my skirt billowing behind me (oh shut up, I had on yoga pants under). We had to stop like four times to get adjusted but once we did, we had a fun and quick ride home.

The whole experience was great and when I do get my car, I’ll probably still use my bike a lot.

I <3 my new bike. I also love the fact that riding every day enables me to keep getting regular exercise while I get where I need to go.

I wonder if I’ll be saying the same thing at the end of the week.

Tags: bus/bike to work, epic, I did it, Work/Life Balance