CU Car Free Plus Two

Today we took care of two little friends; E (6 years old) and L (2 year old) so we were car free with five kids (ours are 9, 5, and 21 months). Fun! Even when we had a car, we could barely fit our three kids in the Subaru let alone any friends. I understand why people with cars go for the minivan. Luckily, we didn't have to worry about car seats and smooshing kids into a vehicle.

We were ready to hit the road for the farmer's market by 8:30am. Our eldest was on his bike, E was on his (he and his family just got back from the Netherlands where they biked everywhere so biking to the farmer's market would be a snap for him), L in the Chariot, and my youngest two on the Xtracycle. All set....except, wait...hubby has a flat. No biggie. We'll just ride around the park while he fixes it and be on our way. Bang!!! The new inner tube explodes. Annoying, a little frightening to the little ones and exciting for the middle ones, but not a deal breaker. Bang!!! The second and last inner tube explodes. What the heck? We look at hubby's wheel and it is split. Did the first inner tube explosion break his wheel frame? Wow! The wheel is pretty dented so who knows what came first, but the wheel is shot. Grumble.

I'm starting to think biking four miles (one way) with five kids is not in the cards. I'm so glad I didn't go with my first thought and head out with the kids and let hubby catch up to us. My husband's Xtracycle still needs some repairs so that isn't going to help. Hmmm. As we are trying to figure out what to do (send me to the bike shop? take a zero on the farmer's market?) our sweet and cycling neighbor comes by. Aviva to the rescue! She came by to ask for an Ergo baby carrier for a trip to Chicago and we told her our wheel woes. She offers us one of her wheels. Excellent! Problem solved. Thank you!!!

Off we go, a little later than we like, but still in plenty of time to buy some local produce at the farmer's market. We definitely had some comments (all good), looks, and one person even took a picture (okay, that was a little much) about our cycling train. When we cycle with kids, especially younger children, we put an adult in front and an adult in back. This seems to be the safest and most efficient way to ride. In Illinois, you can ride two abreast, but I find that children, especially younger children, have very little "line awareness" and the adult riding next to them spends a lot of the time just making sure the child doesn't run into them. Our eldest is nine and rides often and knows our style and also takes responsibility for his own riding. He keeps pace with us, knows the drill, and has a great line, but we still often ride with him between us. E was a trooper and did great, but he is also six and is slower and less aware on the road. He was so cute looking around at all the houses and buildings, but I had to remind him to stay to the right. Most of our journey is on very low traffic side roads so things were smooth. I just always worry a bit when I have a child with us who I'm not used to riding with. I would have felt better with him on my Xtracycle, but he wanted to ride his own bike and he did fine.

On the ride home we stopped at Zyggyz Grill (more about this on my other blog) on Green St. for some lunch. I took the lead this time which was much more relaxing. I took us onto the sidewalk bike path (we don't usually use it because it is on and off the street and starts and ends so it can be more hazardous than riding in the street) since we were a long line of bikes and harder for vehicles to pass and we were riding pretty slow.

When we arrived home with L asleep in the Chariot and my youngest asleep in the Peapod, Rob and I felt like taking a nap, but we didn't.

All in all, it went very well. The traveling was definitely the easy part of having five children. I think if I ever end up having five kids (not gonna happen), I will just stay in perpetual motion.

Keep Your Bike Safe

On the Champaign County Bikes email list, there has been chatter about bike parking as of late and it reminded me of a couple things. There are some great new bike racks around town(s).

Downtown Champaign has enhanced bike parking on N. Neil St. near Aroma and Pekara (or if you are a townie like me, near the old Lox, Stock, and Bagel building). There is also covered bike parking in the new car parking garage downtown (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to get out more since it is huge...well, huge for Champaign). The car parking garage is also very well lit, if that is what you are looking for. I have yet to use this facility since I prefer to park my bike right outside the businesses I'm visiting. That is one of the many benefits of riding your bike after all, but if it was raining or something or if I worked downtown, I could see using this new rack in the parking garage.

The Market at the Square has added more bike racks in the Lincoln Square Village parking lot. A few of them are in the shape of produce and the market's mascot, the rooster. Over the last several years that we've been biking to the farmer's market, we have seen an increase in bike traffic. It is wonderful! New racks seem to be added every year to help with the bike parking issue, but these new racks are pretty cute and added just recently so check them out.

Of course, the best bike racks will not help if you don't lock your bike properly to them. We were biking to campus for a bite to eat after the farmer's market Saturday and saw a wheel locked securely to a bike rack on Green St. Too bad it was just the wheel. The rest of the bike was long gone. Most bikes built in the last decade have quick release front wheels so you need to lock the frame and the front wheel to the rack. I know this seems simple, but apparently there are still people not locking their frames.

Here are some tips on how to keep your bike secure.

What's a Mile Among Friends?

This evening we had a graduation party to go to (Congratulations Kurt!!!) in Savoy. The party was next door to our old house in Savoy. We were debating about our eldest riding his own bike or not and how far the ride was going to be. When we first moved into our current house, we would ride our bikes back and forth between the Savoy house and the Champaign house quite a bit. Our ownership of the two houses overlapped by nine months so we would bring stuff from the house on our bikes a little bit at a time before we rented a moving truck for the big furniture. Now we rarely have a reason to head out to Savoy so it sounded like a long ride compared to what we do daily around town and my husband wasn't sure if our eldest would be up for it. He's nine and very comfortable on his bike and street savvy. He rides at least once or twice a week to the co-op/farmer's market which is close to 4 miles one way and I figured the house in Savoy was around the same mileage. In the end, we decided he would ride on my Xtracycle because we were in a hurry. I came home and checked the mileage and it is over 5 miles one way. What is an extra mile? Nothing! I'm sure he would have been fine, but I love having him on the bike with me so we can chat easier.

We had a great time at the party, but it reminded me how much farther I had bike when we lived in Savoy. I didn't think much about it at the time, but it is nice to be closer to the places we go on a regular basis. My husband's commute to work is about the same, but my daily errands are much easier living in Champaign. We also had to walk almost a mile to the bus stop when we lived there....not at all convenient. I will NEVER understand why Savoy is against the MTD. Craziness...I could call it more things, but I'll stop there today. I hope they come to their senses at some point.

We miss our neighbors and some things about our old house, but our place in Champaign is definitely home sweet home.

Keep the Light On

I went to a meeting this week maybe a mile away. I was late getting out of the house so I was in a little hurry. I grabbed my LeMond road bike since I was cycling sans kids. I love the feeling of being fast and light once in a while. I wish I had a chance to ride more by myself because it really is a great bike. However, I completely forgot that my LeMond has no light (front nor back) right now. I remembered about the time I arrived at my meeting. Too late to go back. I hoped the meeting would end quicker than normal and I could ride home while it was still light out, but no luck. It is dangerous to ride at night without a light. It is a pet peeve of mine to see cyclists without lights at night. I basically walked my bike home (I did cross the busiest street in the saddle because it was safer to get across quicker) which is no fun. When I did ride, I kept in mind that I was invisible and rode on the sidewalks which is not my favorite place to ride and has its own dangers, but it was night and slow traffic time on the side streets.

Note to self: Always, always, always be prepared and have a light on your bike.

Brave Bus Riders

We've been getting around town a lot lately and enjoying the beautiful weather (rain and shine, it is all better than the winter). Yesterday I was waiting for the bus a few blocks from our house and it started to rain a bit. The kids were enjoying the rain and we were spelling words and doing math problems to pass the time. We didn't have an umbrella, but a little rain never hurt anyone. A nice man (complete stranger) stopped his vehicle and offered us a ride. He said he only had his son in the car so he could fit all four of us. I thought this was funny since we were waiting for the bus in fine weather (except for a light rain) and were only a few blocks from our house. I smiled and thanked him, but said we were fine. We get offers for rides from time to time. It is nice to live in a town where people are so caring and thoughtful.

Another day this week, the four of us (me, my 9 year old, 5 year old, and 20 mo. old) boarded the bus and sat down. A young woman turned to me and said, "You are so brave!". "What do you mean?" I asked. "Getting on and off a bus with three children!". This also struck me as quite funny. I find it easier to get on and off a bus with my kids than getting them in and out of car seats all the time.

Happy Bike to Work Day!

My husband started biking to work eight years ago (you would think he would have arrived by now...teehee) and has never looked back. He bikes through thunderstorms, hot humid weather, sub-zero temps, and ice/snow. No, he is not a postal worker. He biked to work when his commute was around 6.2 miles one way and now when it is only around 3.4 miles one way. It is not always fun or easy, but most of the time, he really enjoys it. One reason we moved to this area and then closer to downtown was to make our lives more bikeable.

Here is a nice local article on the reasons people give for not biking to work and how to get past them.

Happy Bike to Work Day, honey!

No Feeding Meters and Local Businesses

We had a wonderful day last Friday. It is finally feeling like Spring and that makes me want to be on my bike more. I had an early appointment downtown with my middle child (5 years old now!) so I got out the Xracycle and my 19 mo. old would not calm down. It was clear I would not be able to leave the house without her on the bike too. She loves to ride in the Peapod seat, especially with one or two of her brothers behind her on the snap deck. After the appointment, my husband met us downtown on his bike with the Chariot trailer and my 9 year old in tow (no he does not really fit well in it, but he didn't feel like riding his own bike). My husband dropped my eldest off with me and kissed us good-bye and he biked on to work.

Next on the agenda was going to a playgroup on campus. It was super windy so I decided to keep the bike locked up and hop on the bus. I prefer not to ride my bike on campus when it is busy and it can be hard to find a free bike rack in the area of campus we were going (Yay! That means people are using them!) and all buses in my town lead to campus and we were a few blocks from the main bus station so bus it we did.

After we played at the playgroup, we picked up lunch at Chipotle with friends and ate on the quad. One of our friends and her two children had also ridden the bus, but our other friend and her two children drove. She had to feed her meter, but we didn't have that much change between us so she put the quarter in knowing it wouldn't last long. We bought our food and walked back to the friend's car to feed the meter again. We had a lovely lunch with the children running around and all of us chatting. We enjoyed the beautiful day. Then the friend with the car had to either feed her meter again or leave. We were all ready to go with little ones ready for naps, but it reminded me how tied I have felt to those parking meters. It is liberating to not have to worry about getting a ticket or worry about having enough change. I don't miss feeding the meters!

On the way to pick up a bus, we did another errand or two which I would not have run if I had been driving a car. We were walking by a couple businesses which I don't normally seek out on campus and we decided it was a good day to browse. Walking made the difference for our business. Then we caught the first bus that went by knowing it wouldn't take us to the bus station, but I was happy to do more walking. I was happy. My middle child, not so much. As we were walking toward downtown, my middle child kept stopping to fix his shoe. I noticed again how worn out his hand-me-down shoes from last summer were and how tight they looked. I looked across the street at Champaign Surplus and decided to go in and buy him new shoes. This is a local store we do patronize, but I possibly would have gone to the mall instead if I was just going out to buy shoes. We went in and bought my son a pair and my daughter a pair since they were having a sale. Some local businesses have been reluctant to give up car parking or reluctant to add bike racks or perhaps unaware or unconcerned if they are located on a bus route. To us, it makes a big difference. We try to buy local whenever possible and businesses which are located in the downtown areas, on bus routes, with bike racks, and/or walkable access will get our business.

We all happily walked the rest of the way to my bike (stopping at Aroma to get a snack and drink for the kids to eat on the bike ride home...I would not have done this if I had been in my car). I realized on the bike ride home with my eldest and youngest in the Chariot trailer (my 19 mo. old went with the trailer because that is where big brother and the smoothie were going) and my 5 year old in the Peapod (he wanted both hands free to eat his snack) that I had done the right thing taking the bus to campus. Hauling that load of kids in the trailer with the wind was a tad tough. Luckily, it was a quick mile or so (uphill) ride home. We arrived at "our park" late afternoon/early evening and played outside until dark.

Not owning a car has never felt more freeing than it did Friday.