Like
many cities, San Francisco’s roads are narrow & parking is less than
abundant. Like many European cities, the
norm here for cars appears to be small & eco friendly.
I
estimate 25% of vehicles on the road are one of these 2…...
Meanwhile, San Francisco has several elements making it THE perfect biking city – moderate climate year round, loads of bike lanes & a laid back, almost overly conscientious (“you go first”, “oh no, I couldn’t - you go”) drivers.
The bike lanes are well used.
However,
the exhilaration of blowing by a line of 20 cars waiting for a light &
liberation to find easy parking comes at a price – HILLS!
(if the street is steep enough to require stairs, we avoid it on the bike ride!)
Hard
enough to get up solo, but hauling a kid on a tandem would require a level of
leg strength & grit I’m just not sure we have
Enter
– the San Francisco version of the mini van!
We
tried this electric assist bike a few months back – it was love at first
ride. Load up with over 140 pounds of
kids & backpacks and we can still breeze up hills thanks to the bike’s ‘super
boost’.
Our
20 minute car ride to school has turned into ~25 minute bike ride full of
encouragement and smiles from strangers along the way (so far I’ve gotten loads
of “good mornings”, a “you GO girl!” and a “I brake for bikers!” shout out).
Based
on the number of ‘kid & cargo bikes’ on the road, we are not the first one to
discover the joy of a van/bike commute
Even a 'SUV/ bike' - 2 baby seats AND a kid trailer…..
Even a 'SUV/ bike' - 2 baby seats AND a kid trailer…..
Here’s
to fresh air, camaraderie on the ride & sharing the road
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