Looking forward to a spin

I suppose I cannot accuse my husband of being a rotten blogger when I'm no better.

Our year with the Dutch bike is coming to a close and I think my husband is already in mourning. It's amusing to think that I can't remember a time when we didn't have our Dutch bike. We go everywhere in it. School, church, the grocery store, the farmer's market... we've even taken it out for an afternoon at the Brookfield Zoo, about six or seven miles from here.

The convenience of hauling two kids on a bike can't be beat. Parking for cars has become such a pain in our community, but there are plenty of bike racks. I highly recommend the Dutch bike as a more convenient solution.

My husband and I have been discussing what to do when our Dutch bike experience is over. Of course, we're toying with the idea of buying one ourselves, but we're still on the fence. First, it's quite expensive, so it's not worth buying unless you know you're going to use it. With all the snow this past year, our poor Dutch bike spent way too many months shivering in our garage unused. Second, we only have a one car garage. As our guest, we allowed our bike the comforts of our sheltered garage instead of either one of our family cars. If we were to consider purchasing a bike of our own, we would have to figure out a more permanent solution that didn't involve kicking a car out of our garage. Third, our children are already a bit on the big side for this model. If we were going to purchase a Dutch bike, we would have to go with a larger, more expensive model. Then, we would have to wonder how long it would be of use to our family. Once our children started riding bikes of their own in a year or two, would we need such a large bike any more? Fourth, I'm only 5"0' all. I can't reach the pedals at the bottom, so my riding these bikes have never been a viable option. We have never had a problem with this, but now that we must consider the value of the Dutch bike to our entire family, as opposed to whether or not we can get by on just the Dutch bike for a month, it becomes part of the equation.

Anyway, a part of me really hopes we work something out. Our family will seem a bit small without the Dutch bike.

Dutch Bike

The weather is finally cooperating on a more consistent basis to allow us to use the dutch bike. We're considering another car-free month for ourselves at the end of the summer. This time, it'll be to say good-bye to the bike we have grown so fond of over the past year. We were just thinking today that if we put a seat in the back for one of the kids, our entire family could ride the bike at the same time. It would be a bit of a workout for the driver, but I think my husband would be up for the challenge, provided we didn't have to go too far.

February Thaw

After spending a couple of months in hiding in our garage, the bike got to get out and stretch its wheels a little this past weekend. The roads were clear enough such that we could take the kids to church in the bike. Unfortunately, it seems our kids have grown a little over the winter and with their big chunky coats and the rain tarp on, they did a fair amount of jostling over space during their bike ride. Hopefully, when it really warms up and we can "let the top down", they won't have these issues. The good news is that the kids were really excited about riding the bike again. I think they've missed it.