In Like a Lamb

March's lion has yet to rear it's head this beautiful sunny March 1st.  I'll look to the end of the month for it's golden mane in the form of a spring break snow storm.  We haven't had one in a while and I believe we're due.

We rode to school today!  All of us!  March 1st seemed like a good day to leave the car parked in the driveway.  It was a bit cold but it was warming up fast.  No hats under the helmets (in retrospect I could have used a head band but my daughter didn't comment on being cold so it all worked out :).  It all went quite well really.  Even considering I haven't had the big train (AKA: bike, tag-a-log, trailer) out since the fall.  We even made it to school on time, had time to play together and for me to get to the office by 9!  Not too bad.  Oh, and I had a big smile on my face too.  Fringe benefit!

On thing of note is that I made the "permanent" switch on the trailer for my son to ride in the center.  The two of them in the trailer together just doesn't work anymore.  He's 2 and she's 4 1/2.  It is too narrow and my daughter is too tall.  They are both normal to slighter sized kids.  We wouldn't have made it this far if they were big kids.  Something to think about if you are in the process of gearing up for family style bike transport.  It's a tough world really.  The best solution in my opinion is a bakfeits style box bike.  Second on the list would be an xtracycle.  If you just have one child and they are at least 3 or so then the xtracycle is actually a fantastic and affordable solution.  They get to sit on the back and there is plenty of room for cargo.  Having two kids really pushes you to a box style cargo bike.  I'm a big fan of CETMA cargo bikes and some day I hope to have one.  They are really a cargo solution for families and non-families.  Box bikes haul pretty much anything under 300 lbs or so.  The nice thing about a box bike is you can still put a tag-a-long bike on the back.  You can't do that with an xtracycle.  heck, you can put the trailer on the back of a box bike but I can't for the life of me think why.  If I ever get a box bike the first thing I'll do is sell the trailer and the xtracycle!  Won't need either of them again!

Anyway, happy March 1!