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| the cruiser. for cruising. duh, dude. |
I grew up in Woodland, CA, a stone's throw from Davis, which is the biking Capitol of the Universe.
When I was younger, it was the thing to make fun of all the crazy cyclists who thought they owned the town in Davis. But it turns out that those crazy folks were smarter than everyone in my little farming town.
These days, everybody is riding a bike. A couple of friends of mine actually gave up their cars completely in favor of riding their bike everywhere. Oh, and these are not single folks by the way, these are people with multiple children.
Seeing the way that they live their lives completely car-less, has been really inspiring to me.
They're saving money, getting exercise, and being good to Mother Earth, and here I was, driving to the store that's 3 blocks away. Yikes. What a lazy jerk.
I don't really know how I got to this point. I didn't have a car until the year I turned 21. Maybe that doesn't sound too out of the ordinary, but I had a baby at 17 and by the time I was 21 I had been living on my own for 4 years already. So, for all that time, I had been living life sans car. My son & I walked everywhere. Sometimes we took the bus, sometimes we got a ride from a helpful family member. But mostly, we were carried around on the mode of transportation that we were born with.
It was only after I got my first car that I started to feel like it was a necessity.
But guess what? It's not a necessity, because anywhere my car can take me, my bike can get to just as well.
I've made it a goal to bike as much as possible (until I get my bike trailer, I can't go anywhere with my youngest kids) and use my car only when I absolutely have to. I have a 5 speed road bike and a cute little cruiser. Both pretty inexpensive, no frills bikes, but isn't the point of a bike to get your ass on it and ride?
I'm averaging a good 6-8 miles per outing and feel like I'm in better shape than I have been in a long time.
It feels amazing to say that.
I'm really, seriously considering getting rid of one of our cars. I used to think we needed 2 cars because my husband works out of town, but not anymore. He can have his car.
If I have my way, I'm getting one of these:
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| http://www.madsencycles.com/ |
I am doing the same as of July and loving it. My 2 year old loves riding with me on the back in her little bike seat. Do you find your self throwing eye daggers at all the drivers that are driving only a few blocks? And then feeling guilty when you do have to drive. That bike above has been circling the design blogs for awhile now and is clearly cute, but that tub looks like it would be a dud after awhile. Check out this bike. I wish I had this one 4 years ago and still thinking of upgrading. You can put your little one in a bike seat behind you and your second little one behind your tot on the extended bike seat. Its so cool! http://yubaride.com/
ReplyDeleteOooh, that bike looks awesome! There is a woman who rides one of the Madsen bikes to pick up her kids from school everyday and I have been drooling over it. but it does seem cumbersome.....
ReplyDeletethat bike is one hot thang! looks really sensible and awesome. :)
ReplyDeletei've walked to the grocery twice this last week.
ah, it feels good. 5-6 blocks...mhmm. fresh air!