Raising A New Kind Of Commuter
I am training my children to become bicycle-commuters.
I envy Europeans in cities where walking is a life-style. I would love for my town to adopt biking as a major mode of transportation, the way Amsterdam has done.
Let me name a few benefits off the top of my head. . . better health, cleaner air, and lower stress levels. Those are just the obvious ones.
In the United States, we did not make ourselves a walking/bicycling society. But given the current climate of social, political, and health trends, maybe now is the time to train a generation of bicycle-commuters.
Last Mother’s Day my husband gave me the gift of my dreams. We went to the bike shop and equipped the entire family with bikes (as much as my three-year-old wanted a bike, and as much as he surprised us by riding circles around the store, we attached a trailer to my bike for him to sit in).
Every weekend we go out together. I take the lead, the kids follow me, and Dad monitors from behind. We leave our neighborhood and cross the major road which leads to an elementary school parking lot, where Dad teaches the kids bicycle tricks, or we go to a greenbelt with sidewalks that wind around. On the way we teach the kids the rules of the road:
1. The side of the road to ride on.
2. Hand signals.
3. Right-of-Way.
4. General traffic rules.
During the week when my husband leaves early to work, I take the kids around the neighborhood. Since Dad is not here to watch from behind, I take up the rear and my eight-year-old son gets to play the leader. Because of this we have always stayed within our own neighborhood and avoided the major road.
I was so proud recently when, after only a few weeks of this practice, I felt Blake was ready to lead us across the main road to the other side. It was a risky venture, but we tried it and succeeded! He did great! We are now one step further in my plan to raise a generation of bicycle-commuters.
We will keep practicing through the summer and then I will take the next step forward when the kids are back to school. I’ll leave the comfort of these two neighborhoods and begin biking my youngest to preschool. I have already made a practice trip to verify the route is bicycle friendly.
Next I will begin making my way down the major roads to learn which have bike paths. I will start training myself to commute to the coffee shop, the scrapbook store, the grocery, and wherever else I think I can ride to. In the meantime I am making note of which roads have bike-paths and which shopping centers have places to hook up the bikes.
Once I’m comfortable biking around my town, my husband and I will start leading the kids around. We’ll teach them how to commute. And we’ll start commuting as a family to our favorite places.
My major goal is for the family to bike the two-and-a-half miles from our house to Tropical Smoothie. We’ll rest for a nice, cold drink, and then ride back home again.
So what do you think? Will you join me in my mission to raise a new generation of bicycle-commuters? Do you think we can transform the American way of getting from Point A to Point B? It doesn’t require a move to Amsterdam. It is a choice.
And if my dream to see bicycling become mainstream is unrealistic it will not take away from the benefits and my own pleasure at being a bicycle commuter. Even if it means being a lone one.
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July 3rd, 2006 @ 10:55 am
Good for you, I have no confidence with cycling and I am sure it’s because I didn’t do enough as a child, I missed the ‘cycling proficiency’ at school because we moved. A few years ago I tried a cycling tour around Bruges in Belgium but unfortunately it included a lot of roads and it freaked me out. We have cycle lanes in the UK but they are very inconsistent and stop abruptly on busy roads.
Your kids sound like they’re doing great.
July 3rd, 2006 @ 3:37 pm
When I lived in Finland, I rode my bike to work (~1 mile) and downtown (~5 miles) all the time. Of course, what with my not owning a car at the time, necessity was not just the mother of invention but of physical activity as well. At first I loathed it, but as I got in better shape, there was nothing to it (and it offset the copious quantities of beer I consumed while there, drinking being the Finnish national sport).
Now that I’m back Stateside, bicycles are for recreation only… my job is 27 miles away, straight across the heart of Denver. I don’t see that happening.
July 3rd, 2006 @ 4:58 pm
At one time, my whole family was very active in cycling. When my oldest two were about 10-12 years old we joined the local “Wheelman†club and went on rides each weekend. They had short (about 15 miles) medium (about 25 miles) and long (45-60 miles) rides every weekend. I commuted an easy 5 miles to work (on a 40 pound Schwinn 5 speed) and at one time joined a cycle racing club (Velo Orange). We took our bikes on a trip to New York State and toured with them. But that was back in the mid 70’s. Riding at home was out in the extensive flat lands through the orange groves and very little traffic. Today that would be riding through a sea of houses and wall to wall cars. But very effective lobbying got us bike trails that are not on the streets but are along riverbeds and the beach.
My point is that today, I would be very reluctant to ride on the streets whether there are bike lanes or not. In our area of southern California it is just too crowded with cars. The bike trails are great. For us it is two blocks to the bike trail then it is an easy 17 miles to the beach and the wind is offshore in the morning and onshore in the afternoon so it is behind your back both ways. No cars to contend with either way.
My son and oldest daughter are still bicyclists and my grandchildren also ride their bikes but the only street riding is to get to bike trails. Now that is a long way from your goal of commuting on a bike. It is strictly recreational riding. I would strongly urge you to join a biking club and I’m sure there are free newsletters in any major cycling shop. Seven or eight years old is not too young for most clubs. There is a lot more to it than the simple rules of the road. There are plenty of “courtesy†guidelines for riding in groups of two or three and many safety guidelines. Examples are ways to stay out of “blind spots†and ways to improve survival probabilities through other “visibility†techniques. Don’t let your idealism blind you to reality. It is dangerous out there.
July 3rd, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
Gregg100-Hmmm, much to think about. So even if we learn about these courtesy guidelines and visibility techniques, you recommend abstaining from road-riding, huh?
July 3rd, 2006 @ 9:26 pm
I just heard a piece on NPR about this the other day. The road/trail debate amoung bike entheusists is a pretty hot topic.
The bike entheusiest in the interview was completely on the side of the trail system – saying that in the end, it comes down to the simple comparrison of a biker sharing space with (and out numbered by) 2 thousand pound pieces of hurtling metal with visual limitations and low expectations about sharing the road.
This makes perfect sense to me.
The contrary view point tends to go along the lines of “I pay my taxes for road repair and maintainence, and my bike is a vehickle, too!” – - this doesn’t really help you out once an SUV has made paste out of you, though.
A good resource for learning more about programs that create bike trails in your own area, and how to find and support them – try:
http://www.railtrails.org/
I’ve shared bike trails with people who commute to work that way – some compromise and have a little mechanical assistance they can engage when they get tired. There are also products that serve as a kind of full body deoderant/aftershave to reduce the ‘funk’ if you can’t grab a shower once you reach work (available – I’m assuming – at bike shops, but surely online).
Hope this is helpful!
Your training the kids for a more bike-filled future is a great endeavor, Noell! It could well contribute to more safe, responsible, and close-knit communities of healthier, happier people!
July 3rd, 2006 @ 9:28 pm
sorry about the spelling of my post – my spell checked version didn’t over print the other as I had intended.
July 3rd, 2006 @ 11:13 pm
I love my car-free lifestyle!!!
My favorite advantages relate to health and stress-level. Basically, I just find it pleasant not to have to immediately get in the car every time I want to go anywhere.
I’ve written a little about it here: Le Metro !: No longer car-dependent, I’m now part of the French underground.
July 4th, 2006 @ 2:09 pm
I think the decision to ride bicycles on the street is a judgement call based on traffic, width of roads and bike lanes, experience of the bike riders, appropriate visibility provisions, proximity to construction projects, blind driveways at apartment complexes, hydration needs(trying to drink out of a water bottle in 100+ degree heat near traffic is a no no), bicycle size (no 20 inch kids bikes … 24 inch minimum) etc. etc. Note that most of this does not apply to isolated bike trails. You be the judge.
July 4th, 2006 @ 2:32 pm
C.L Hanson: I quite agree with you on Le Metro in particular and metros in general. I spent a week in Paris in May, stayed at the top of Montmarte (good exercise) and used Le Metro every day and would not have wanted a car for anything. It just goes everywhere needed. I found the same thing to be true in Toronto and Montreal. There is nothing like having such great public transportation. Here in the Los Angeles area, most transit authority busses have racks to take your bicycle with you.
July 5th, 2006 @ 8:35 am
Hi folks,
Great post. I work for the Institute for Humanist Studies in Albany NY. I live in Troy NY, about 7 or 8 miles north.
I own a car, but haven’t driven it in months now. I either take the bus or ride my bike to work.
It’s a great ride along the Hudson River. There’s a bike trail between Troy and Albany. I enjoy it very much.
My dream, however, is to canoe to work. My apartment in Troy is only a block from the Hudson River. And the Institute for Humanist Studies is only two blocks from the river in Albany.
Even though Troy is about 140 miles north of the ocean, we still get a tide here. So it’s possible for me to ride the river current to work and to ride the tide home. Cool, huh?
I’m hoping to get one of those lightweight canoes and just throw it over my shoulder when I come ashore in Albany in the morning. I can’t wait to see the look on all the folks in their suits when I walk by with my canoe. I might even wear my tie too!
I would like to see more humanists express a concern for the environment — natural and built. Surban sprawl is destroying the world. Among other things, it produces human beings who wouldn’t dream of walking or biking anywhere.
July 5th, 2006 @ 3:56 pm
Duncan, if you ever do do that, you’ve got to get someone to take a picture of it. Put it on HNN and send me a copy. That is the coolest!
July 9th, 2006 @ 10:10 pm
A new generation of bike commuters?…
Yeah, cycling is a great family activity and you can’t beat parental example as a way to teach stuff to kids. Is it a vehicle for broader social change? Maybe. But on one level, who cares?……
February 24th, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thil0020/carfreelife/
This fellow owns a bike shop in the Midwest and has many interesting posts.
The thing about America being a car-centered society has its roots in economic revitalization: cars and roads are very expensive and complex things to maintain. They provide many jobs, both private and civil.
We built an economy around cars, so it’s going to be hard to convince people to change to self-powered transit when owning a car is considered an American Virtue (incidentally, Adolf Hitler also used cars to revitalize his economy. He helped invent the Volkswagen–”people’s car”–Beetle).
June 1st, 2007 @ 10:11 am
My comment is to Duncan, or any other Troy bike commuters. I also live in Troy and work in downtown Albany. I would love to be able to ride my bike back and forth, but I’m not aware of a bridge over the river that’s safe enough to ride a bike on. Could you tell me exactly how to get from Troy to the bike path, (the corning path right?) or what route is the best. thanks.
September 6th, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
This is a follow up to my comment listed above. I did commute to work by canoe a few times this summer. And, as Noell requested, I got someone to take a picture and I published it in HNN. (The Albany Times Union wrote an article about it and took some photos).
Here’s a link:
http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=313&article=1
September 10th, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
As newly-weds my husband and i are trying to break free from the consumption based lfestyle of our forefathers and have neglected to get cable in our new home (much to the shock of our friends and families)with the idea of doing something better with our time and lives. To make matters worse i have sold my gas-guzzeling jeep in favor of a bicycle! I was amazed at how horrified everyone was when i told them i intended to bike to work!
america needs to break free of her soial norms and remember to notice the life around her! fight the expanding wastlines and the distance between people and remember her simple virtues! and if not for that at least save money on gas!
sign me up to help people remember the pleasentries of travel!