So you heard from CFM (Car-Free Mom) about what happened over the weekend and her feelings about the challenge, but I wanted to add just a few words too.
I thought it was sooo cool to be riding around with my wife in the front of the bike. I felt really strong. As my wife would say about me, I "felt like a manly, man of a man." :) It was a super way to go on a date. I have always been trying to get my wife to go on walks with me or walk to our date especially if it is just a mile away. These walks have been few and far between. I think that with the Dutch bike, they could become much more common. I really liked the ability to talk while we were out getting some fresh air and moving under our (my) own power. It was a real trip.
I realized one small (correctable) gripe about the bike on my first night trip. At night, even though there is a headlight and taillight, I feel like it would be easy for others to miss the bike in the dark, especially from the side. I have a brighter headlight for my normal bike which just snaps on and off of the handle bars. I am thinking about attaching it to the Dutch bike when I take it out at night to try to ensure more visibility for the bike. (Two lights are better than one, right?) If we ever purchase one of these bikes for ourselves, I think another thing that I would probably do would be to add some reflective tape to the bucket as it comprises about 1/4-1/3 of the bike's length. That is a lot of space on which it would be nice to have some sort of reflective surface.
It is nice that there is a 5-gear gear shift though. On my normal bike, I usually stay in the highest gear all the time, which makes startups a little difficult, but I manage. On the Dutch bike, I find myself switching gears all the time. I usually stay in 4th or 5th gear, but I will switch to 2nd or even 1st when I am starting up from a stop or going up a hill. I find that it makes the startup easier and less wobbly and climbing hills (not that there are big ones in Chicago) a lot easier.
Overall, after having the bike for about a week and biking around on it for the same amount of time, I would have to say that this is a really great bike and I really like using it.
--CFD
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It sounds as though you and your family have given a high priority to this mode of transport. I applaud your efforts and hope you will have success. What do your children think of traveling in a basket/bucket? Good luck.
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