kcm5

The biggest problem with kids and bike commuting is that first year. Now, if you have a year's mat leave (hello, Canadians) it should be a piece of cake. But you do have to have your life set up right. In our case (1 child, 2 yrs old) we both work full time. I bike commute full time and my spouse commutes by car most of the time. Days go like this: bike with child to day care (1 mile), continue on to work (2.5 miles further). Child is picked up by spouse in car unless something comes up in which case I pick her up. Pediatrician is only about 1 mile from daycare so I've always picked her up on the bike and taken her. The only time we have issues is when it's actively raining (maybe 5x/yr?) or actively snowing (5x/yr? we're in Iowa) in which case child is driven to daycare instead of taken on the bike. But I guess what makes it work is that we have the car as a backup. If we had better public transport a bus would also work as a good backup.

But before our daughter turned one I really wasn't able to bike commute - there's not really a good way to take an infant on a bike until at least 9 months unless you're comfortable strapping a car seat in a trailer or bakfiets. People already think I'm crazy for commuting with my two year old full time, I imagine if I had a baby with us too we'd get a call from social services or something!

snow_echo_NY

i have a kid and i agree, riding to work, there is a huge barrier for parents b/c of day care drop off and pick up. it's hard. what does make it easier is riding to work on my own everyday. for multiple kids and multiple drop offs/pick ups it's even harder. but for those who are able to get in the swing of things, i think it's probably easier. 1. not stuck in traffic 2. not reliant on a bus/train system that may or may not be late 3. fit from carting kids around on the bike, so it's not too hard from a physical standpoint.

this is us this morning going to back-up care b/c her school is closed and hubs is sick today. she's excited to ride in the trailer (at first she asked to ride her bike but i had to say no in the interest of saving time):



i have the trailer axle already set up on my wheel and i just had to attach wheels to trailer, unfold it and go. she's big now so she helps by opening the door for me plus bike plus trailer. this was us exiting the apartment bldg getting ready to go. note her scooter atop the trailer. when i pick her up later, we plan to scoot home while i walk my bike behind her.

i just started a moms on wheels facebook group in my locale to offer a supportive space to moms looking to get around town on their bikes. for some moms, we do it. for other moms, they want to but don't know how or they are curious to see if they are able to.

snow_echo_NY

i joined a seattle family biking group on facebook (a friend is a cyclist there) and they were thinking up shirts that say "if you can read this shirt, that means i have already picked up my kids ...or I've not yet dropped off my kids" or "Not a Path-lete, just super late for daycare pickup"

i thought that was pretty hilarious. i've been that mom. passing everyone on the bridge cuz i'm late for pickup. lol!

tjspiel

Love it. I see more and more Mom's and Dad's pulling their kids in trailers on my morning commute. Also run across the occasional Bakfiet.

Glad to see that you're helping provide a resource for other parents hoping to do the same thing. Though not quite the same thing, when I first wondered about biking in the winter (over a decade ago) I stumbled across the old "ice biking" web site. Knowing that there other people out there doing it successfully and being able to learn from them made all the difference.

snow_echo_NY

awesome.
i hope it turns into something good i'm excited.
and oooh i know what you're talking about. a commuting friend in Denver turned me onto icebike so we plan to commute thru the winter this year (we did this winter, but only when it wasn't snowing/icy on the ground).

incidentally we might be outgrowing this. see how her legs stick out? well i just checked. the chariot carrier can carry up to 74 lbs. the carrier is 27 lbs. she's 37 lbs. does that mean she's 10 lbs shy of the weight limit or do i not include the carrier itself in the weight limit? i will have to inquire...

edit: friends say it's 74 lbs limit for the child, not the trailer included. so i'm good for now. i've just been turned onto weehoo. i'm off to ask the family forum...

Onuris

I ride 2-3 hrs a day, before and after work, and often do about 60-80 miles/day on weekends. And in town, short trips, I nearly always take my bike as opposed to motor vehicle. My gf almost always rides with me. She is half my age, has more endurance than I do. See several women out riding through town on a daily basis, and a lot of kids, but not as many adult men.