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eminva,

Great post, amazing picture. I hope our daughter posts a similar picture a few years down the road…

I’d just add that by bike commuting, my commute takes as long as it would by car (Arlington – DC), plus I get the workout in. (and ALL of the other benefits we all know so well I’m not stuck in my car in traffic or on Metro, the time doesn’t vary with traffic/accidents, don’t have to pay for parking and car maintenance, get to work happy, etc, etc, etc). I don’t know if any education campaign can illustrate that better than current bike commuters just talking to others about bike commuting — just today at work I was talking to a new dad who lives in Arlington about the difficulty of fitting in workouts, and I pointed out that if he commuted on his bike, he’d be working out for the amount of time he now spends on Metro. He agreed to try it (once it gets warmer).

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@Tim Kelley 12045 wrote:

I hadn’t even thought about bowing of the knees–I’d have to make sure the geometry of the bike/seat give me enough clearance as I’m pretty tall. (Tall enough that Dirt and I make each other feel normal sized!)

Yeah, you have to make sure the geometry works, which might mean buying a new bike. We both have road bikes, so we were getting a new bike to ride with the kid regardless. And we got the Biria new for $400 (so $500 total for bike + seat + wind screen) — so much cheaper than a car.

You can get a base for your wife, so you could leave the seat with the kid, and either you or your wife could pick up the kid, and neither of you ends up riding with a ghost kid.

The Cargo-T is very cool, FFX_Hinterlands. Though getting from Rosslyn to Cherrydale may be a bit challenging with a kid on the front AND 2 on the back.

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@Tim Kelley 12027 wrote:

How does the bike handle with the extra weight on the front?

I don’t really notice a difference, and my husband says he thinks it handles better. We have the seat on a dutch style bike (a biria citibike), so the rider’s weight is pretty far back. Having the extra weight on the front helps. It’s the most stable bike that either of us have ridden at slow speeds.

@Tim Kelley 12027 wrote:

And what do you do with it when there isn’t a child in it?

I don’t know about other brands, but the bobike has two parts — a base that attaches to the bike’s stem, then the seat (and wind screen, which is optional), that slides into the base. Without the kid, the seat is really light, and isn’t high, so it’s like riding the bike without the seat (so a little less stable). You could easily leave the seat with the kid when you drop her off, or take it off and put it in a pannier/strap it to the rack.

There may be an issue with riding a long distance with the seat on — depending on the bike geometry, you may be bowing your knees a bit (on our bike, I don’t notice it, my husband does). It’s easy to forget about the knees with the kid in the seat, because you’re talking to the kid, but without the kid there, you could get annoyed. But you could also just take the seat off.

I would never take the windscreen off in this weather — it really does keep you warmer. In fact, if I could put one on my road bike…

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@americancyclo 12023 wrote:

our nephew had something like that, the neon green one. The idea of the kid in front makes me uneasy. tiny little airbag.

I think that’s the iBert. I also thought they looked dangerous, before I really started researching it. It’s actually more safe, especially for younger kids, because you can see and interact with the kid. If you think about it, it’s safer in crashes (your arms are around the kid; back seats have the whole see-saw effect, trailers tip over and don’t have the visability of a seat). Besides, with a kid on the bike, you’re not going to be flying around super fast, weaving through traffic, riding on busy roads.

The worst scare I’ve had was actually when I was out jogging with the jogging stroller on a sidewalk, and I can came flying down a ramp, out of a parking garage and almost mowed me and the baby down. Had nothing to do with the bike.

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I definitely recommend the BoBike Mini over a trailer. It’s one of those “front” seats, so the kid is in front of you, you can talk to him/her, see his/her face as s/he notices all the cool stuff in the world. Plus, it’s a great way to show off a cool kids helmet.

(I also don’t trust the drivers around here not to run over trailers, but that’s me being paranoid).

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Before 9 am doesn’t sound like non-rush hour work times to me.

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I caught whatever bug our daughter brought back from London, so missed the forum on Monday. I was bummed, but am glad to hear it went well.

It’s interesting that the Lady brought up transporting the kid as an excuse not to bike — our 1-year-old LOVES the bike. She definitely prefers it to the car, even in the cold (we have a bobike mini with a wind screen, so it’s much warmer than what we feel). The kid has to be able to sit up well for the seat to work, but once they can, it’s awesome! We’ve already been researching cargo bike options for if/when our family grows – those can accommodate infants in car seats!

I had hoped to raise questions of family biking at the forum — my biggest complaint is the lack of local retail geared towards family biking (if anyone knows where I can test ride a bakfiets around here, PLEASE let me know). The irony is that my husband, who’s at home with our daughter, is the one who usually bikes with her, so in our family, biking with kids isn’t really a woman’s issue.

Maybe we could have a family biking forum in the future (I laugh as I type this, knowing that it would be a challenge for so many parents to attend)…

As far as women’s specific issues, I don’t understand why wardrobe and makeup would prevent someone from biking. Ladies all over Europe bike, and most of them are much more stylish than me. With a step-through bike, a willingness to change shoes after locking up your bike and an understanding that you’re not going to race anyone, there’s no reason you couldn’t bike in most outfits.

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Since we’re headed out of town to see family next week, our little family (me, husband and one-year-old) were thinking of doing a mini-family-lights ride this Saturday starting around 5:30pm.

This is the route I have so far: http://g.co/maps/qzxg2 (the googlemaps loops starts/ends at Conte’s, but if others want to join, I’d suggest meeting at Clay Park, at 7th St and Highland, so our daughter can play as we gather). I’ve only gotten wind of 4 good houses/blocks to see, so this map basically connects those, while attempting to wind around a bit and avoid any mean up-hills. I think it clocks in at 6 miles. I’m completely open to suggestions.

If anyone wants to join, let me know. We’d love the company, but I know the late notice makes it difficult.

Happy Holidays, all!

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I agree with Greenbelt generally about on-street parking. However, living in Arlington and having a kid, there are lots of times when we’ll head into the District on the weekends, and because of lots of reasons, the best option is driving. At the moment, there aren’t private parking options everywhere in DC. I think gradually removing on-street parking will encourage more private parking lots to open for longer hours. But the change would have to be gradual. In areas that are mostly government buildings, there will have to be some sort of broader change — like opening parking at government buildings (for a fee) to others, possibly those that have gone through some sort of check.

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Any chance we could do a version of Pete’s #1 on Saturday or Sunday early evening, and make it kid friendly? I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to take our 1 year old out on one. She’ll last about 45 minutes and needs to be home by 7:15pm. Maybe we could even cross post with Kidical Mass…

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So many good ones here, I don’t have anything creative to add. But I’m just back from vacation in the UK, and noticed slick bike parking in Bath that included a helpful map of the area. It was both great for the cyclists, and brought others over to the bike racks, increasing awareness.

Bath also seemed to have bikeshare with only 4 stations… Interesting. Boris bikes (bike share) are ALL OVER London. In fact, London has LOTS of bike infrastructure to be envious of. Sigh…

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@Dirt 11136 wrote:

You’re right though… it would be nice if we got better publicity for the law.

Agreed, though at this point I’d settle for WMATA bus drivers following the law (as in most cases, I find that ART bus drivers to be polite and courteous and to pass with ample room).

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I got an early Christmas present — the Shimano version of the Lake shoes — and I got to use them for the first time today. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

I realize this isn’t very helpful, since I don’t know what they’re actually called, but I was so excited to have toasty, dry feet all the way in this morning, that I had to share. This may sound strange, but I didn’t even mind my face being chilly, which usually irks me down the hills. I attribute it all to these wonderful shoes! I can’t wait to commute all winter! (Ok, I’m completely going overboard, but thanks for indulging).

I also put on my bikeglow lights — the beep that I find so annoying indoors is inaudible outside, though the lights didn’t help this morning (I’m sure they will tonight!).

Happy riding!

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@KLizotte 11048 wrote:

I strongly suspect that men respond differently to female cyclists (some shred of chilary still exists?) especially if they are overtly feminine (long hair, street clothes, baby on board or simply a baby carrier).

My husband is at home with our 1-year-old, and they’re often out and about in Arlington on our dutch-style bike with a bobike mini (which I HIGHLY recommend). He’s also a cat 3 road racer, often out on weekends in lycra on his road bike. The difference in how he’s treated on one bike v. the other is amazing. When he’s out with our daughter, cars roll down their windows all the time to complement the bike, seat, child, ask questions, etc. It helps that her helmet has a pink mohawk. When he’s on the road bike, drivers are not so polite (though he’s fast enough he usually can’t hear them).

I commute on a road bike, and must not look very lady like — I get yelled out more than my fair share. Unfortunately, I’m not going so fast I can’t hear them.

@KLizotte 11048 wrote:

I’ve noticed that when a driver does stop to let me cross, say at a crosswalk, they usually look all tense and in a hurry but when I smile, wave, and give the thumb’s up sign, I almost always see the driver relax and smile back. Sometimes they even return the wave. Good kharma all around. For that reason, I always try to thank drivers for giving me the right of way even if they are just following the law. I also say thanks to peds that move out of my way. A little civility goes a long way to soothing jangled nerves.

I completely agree, though I still finding annoying that cars think they’re doing me a favor when they follow the law. Then I think of our daughter in the pink-mohawked helmet and smile.

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Having recently been an accidental ninja, I can tell you that it’s scary as hell. If just the experience of being on a bike without lights doesn’t convince someone of the need for lights, I’m not sure what will.

Of course, you may encounter someone whose lights are not working or inadequate or who didn’t plan to be out so late. It might make sense to talk to those folks about the importance of having backup lights (lesson learned!), the fact that their lights aren’t really enough, where they can get better lights, how it makes sense to have lights on the bike as a permanent thing, etc. But true ninjas – I’m not sure there’s hope.

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