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10-01-11, 04:12 PM
Hi! I'm a stay-at-home mother to three kids, aged 7, 5 and 2.5yo. The 7yo hasn't been brave enough to take off her training wheels, but my 5yo is steady on his bike. My 2yo doesn't understand that he has to turn the pedals.
My husband started taking the train to work and we got rid of the second car. The Family car isn't getting much use because most things are in walking distance of our house. We're thinking of getting rid of it. We're basically using it once a week, but we don't think we need it. Husband works downtown and we can use zip cars for places too far away. There's excellent transit and a taxi would work for late at night with tired children. Or for seriously bad weather. If we could get the lot of us on bikes, it would help. Traffic is slow in our 60's suburb, no thru traffic. If we venture a little further, there are sidewalks lacking pedestrian traffic.
Only real question is, what do we want to buy. I liked the cargo bikes I've seen online. I haven't owned a bike since I was in my early teens. I had a speed bike I used to take long distance with my father. I'm not in horrible shape, but not doing enough. We're in a northern city, so if we did something like , I would want it enclosed to keep the 2yo warm. I'm a little put off that they stand out a lot. I'd rather avoid attention, but if it's the most practical solution, I'll go with it. I don't like the child carrier trailers because they're hard for cars to see back there. But I liked the sidecar chariot as a better solution. I like the tag alongs, not sure it that will start fights between the 5yo and 7yo.
Anyway, I'm looking on here to see if there are other families using bikes for more utilitarian reasons. Maybe a little advice.
My husband started taking the train to work and we got rid of the second car. The Family car isn't getting much use because most things are in walking distance of our house. We're thinking of getting rid of it. We're basically using it once a week, but we don't think we need it. Husband works downtown and we can use zip cars for places too far away. There's excellent transit and a taxi would work for late at night with tired children. Or for seriously bad weather. If we could get the lot of us on bikes, it would help. Traffic is slow in our 60's suburb, no thru traffic. If we venture a little further, there are sidewalks lacking pedestrian traffic.
Only real question is, what do we want to buy. I liked the cargo bikes I've seen online. I haven't owned a bike since I was in my early teens. I had a speed bike I used to take long distance with my father. I'm not in horrible shape, but not doing enough. We're in a northern city, so if we did something like , I would want it enclosed to keep the 2yo warm. I'm a little put off that they stand out a lot. I'd rather avoid attention, but if it's the most practical solution, I'll go with it. I don't like the child carrier trailers because they're hard for cars to see back there. But I liked the sidecar chariot as a better solution. I like the tag alongs, not sure it that will start fights between the 5yo and 7yo.
Anyway, I'm looking on here to see if there are other families using bikes for more utilitarian reasons. Maybe a little advice.