All A Matter Of Perspective

So the xtracycle is complete.  We took it to the park over the weekend.  One of those gorgeous winter days that feels like spring.  We had a picnic.  We played without jackets on.

So here's the interesting thing.  The kids were absolutely ecstatic about riding.  Neither the trailer nor the tag-a-long have ever elicited a response like the ride to the park.  They were a chatter the entire way there pointing thing out, commenting on how well they could see around them, how nice it was to be riding...um, we ride all the time kids....a point that seems to be lost on them.  I don't know if it is the novelty of the "new" ride or the ride itself but time will tell on that suit.

I picked my daughter up from school on Monday on the xtra and zoomed to the pool.  Much nicer than the tag-a-long ever was.  A bike-geeky moment ensued.  "look daddy, she has the same bike as us" one of her class mates said as we loaded up.  Our school has a nice representation of utility bikes.  There were three lined up Monday.  In the summer I've seen 5 or 6 at a time.  A sight to warm my heart. As far as I'm concerned we should sell the trailer and tag and get another utility bike.  Weather is the only bugbear.  The trailer for all that I don't like about it does provide a dry (mostly) environment for the kids.  It's also warmer.  What is one to do?  I don't have the capacity for the thought process on that one.  I've always been of a mind to just say "it's raining".....we all know that ain't going to cut it in the long run.

Anyway, the "new" bike is well worth it.  I actually have had the whole thing for quite some time but it's been in the rebuild pile for a couple of years.  My son is still a bit young to ride alone on the back so it hasn't been an issue yet as it were.  Now he keeps asking to ride the xtra.  Maybe we should bag the trailer...

Bicycles Excepted

For all my grumbling about having to drive the car when the roads are too crummy to put the kids in the trailer/tag-a-long train I have to admit that I really don't have anything to complain about.  Despite the few days a year we have to (or choose to) use the car I bet I get to ride the kids around over 90% of the time.  Not bad really.  Today was one of those crummy road days but crummy enough that school was closed.  So was the university, the county offices and a whole host of other stuff.  The snow was brushing the tops of my gaiters when I carried my bike to to the road.  The streets were pretty much mine on the way into the office (hey, don't I get a snow day too?).  It was one of those magical snow storms that come in slowly, dump a ton of fluff and then depart rather quietly.  The temperatures have stayed right about freezing so once the roads and walks are cleared they pretty much stay that way.  It was a day of exceptions.

It is has been a good reminder that the bicycle-centric (or maybe it's better to say low impact or something like that since it's really more than the bike) nature of our life is still an exception.  Even in the bicycle heavy town we live in we're still kind of seen a freaks.  It's heartwarming to me when I drop my daughter at school to see how many other families ride for transportation but then again, when the weather gets crummy the attendance, shall we say, gets light.  There is another family that I see on a pretty regular basis and even on days when we use the car.  They have a nice Kona Ute set up with wooden seat on back and they seem to be on the same wavelength as us.  It's nice to know we're not alone.  I often think of them when I pull the bikes out in the morning.  Sometimes it serves as motivation.