Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Family Affair

Got a new bike toy recently. April has been hinting about wanting a bike-mounted child seat for a while now. I'm not a big fan, but she really wanted one and did the research and even went and got it. All I had to do was install it. Do I enjoy an excuse to drop everything else and work on a bike? You bet. The bike is a little clunky and heavy with the seat attached, but it comes off easily by means of a sliding quick-release. If we wanted to we could even mount a second rack and quick-release on one of my bikes to swap the seat between rides.

We took it for a test spin after installation. It was nice for me because if we ride as a family that has usually meant I will be pulling the Burley with Sylvia. The little one has been a bit finicky over the past few months (she is two, after all) and has revolted against the Burley from time to time saying it is "too bumpy." She really likes the bike seat though. I think she is expressing that in the photo below.

We ended up at a playground where more cute photo ops awaited ...

April has already used the seat to get Sylvia to the babysitter several times. I even ran the seatpost up on her bike and picked Sylvia up with it one day. It is not too bad really; it balances the weight nicely. Sylvia enjoys having the view and she even does a little backseat driving reminding Daddy when there is a car coming on a cross street. Overall the seat appears to be a good addition to our collection of kid and cargo toting bike devices. With the new one coming in March I'm certain we will get a lot of use out of the bike seat. My goal (and partially our shared goal, I think) is to be a 90+ percent car-free family. I'd say we're 70 or so percent now. Here's a recent write-up of a car-free family of five. I work with Martin and he is a die-hard four season commuter. We'll see if we can get there. There are a few tricks to learn and some lifestyle changes to be incorporated. It's a worthwhile challenge though.

And, finally here is one of those gems that appears when you have a free-spirited two year old in your midst. Sylvia loves to play dress up. This is a particularly eclectic outfit she's assembled, crowned by my Surly cycling cap. Couldn't have staged it better myself!

3 comments:

Blogstyle said...

I thought for once you were going to have a post where Sylvia had pants on the entire time, then you have to throw in that picture at the end. She'll be a hoot at parties in college.

Patch O'Houli said...

Trust me, I've considered the grim future for a concerned father. It's funny, when I uploaded it I didn't even notice she was sans pantaloons, as the French might say. What can you do?

cvo said...

that daughter of yours sure is brave.

but I guess i'd trust a seat installed by you..

have a good weekend buddy.
if you get a wild hair, come down for the weekends cross race.

we'll put ya up.