Go Faster, Mommy!

Courtesy of high gas prices, I've been biking with Youngest Child to his school every morning. Usually, I bike pulling our old Burley bike trailer and he rides his two wheeler with training wheels. It takes us 45 minutes to get to school! After walking him into his class, I put his bike in the Burley and take it home. Then, he rides the bus home at lunchtime.

Today I said, "Please, will you ride in the Burley?" and he agreed although he worried that his friends would think he was a baby.

He changed his mind when I was able to go at a normal biking rate of speed - nothing too fast and helmets all around! - and he got a taste for speed . . .

All I heard on the way to school was, "Faster, Mom, faster! Go faster!" Oh, and it took five minutes. We were at school EARLY!

I foresee more morning bike rides in my future. Although, I really wish the older ones could bike to school. Oldest Daughter does every once and a while but she can't take her backpack (panniers help but there are a lot of hills!) and it takes an hour and 15 minutes each way. Her one trip isn't really saving us any gas money - but she does sleep well that night!

The Burley is a double child version and it is old! I got it originally for walking with all three daughters in there and it must be 16 years old by now. The bike is my old (14 years old?) hybrid-around-town bike and it's just fine for running errands. I even biked to the yarn store yesterday!



In this picture, you can really tell how cruddy the Burley is. Plenty of room for three little girls and a passel of Barbies! The bikes behind it are Oldest Daughter's Specialized Sequoia road bike and Mr. Daisy's Nova Satellite road bike.

My real bike (sister bike to A's: a female version of the Nova Satellite) is still down in the basement on my trainer. I have to change its tires before riding outside and I've been putting that off. Kind of like my husband's sports cars - I'm saving it for really good occasions!