Bike me

Tomorrow I am buying a bike! For months now I've had this internal (and sometimes external, which is kind of scary) conversation with myself that goes something like this:

Me: If you really want to make a difference, you'd buy a bike and ride it.

Me: But the hills! The hills! It's too hard.

Me: Suck it up, whiner. Think of the thighs of steel you could have. The fresh air, the role modeling, the familial bonding!

Me: But with two kids...how do you do it? Not to mention the helmet hair...

Me: Sigh. And you had such potential.

Well, after countless such conversations (and a few therapy sessions) I've found my bikey place. I have embraced the bike, accepted the hills and solved the two-kid issue. My bike of choice (from River City Bicycles): the Specialized Sirrus Sport, designed for women on the road. It's lightweight, which is good for towing a 3-year old on a tagalong and two bags of groceries up the hills. I'm teaching my 6-year old how to ride safely on the street now that the training wheels are a long distant memory. My hope is that we'll be biking to school in another month, as well as our local farmers market and the new food co-op that will be coming to my neighborhood this summer.

I really feel like this is one of those big turning points...overcoming a long-held notion that I simply can't do something. It gives me hope that one day we simply can become a one-car family. I was delighted to discover the new Car-Free Family column that BikePortland.org has started. It's written by a bike-commuting mom of two little kids, and I eagerly await her advice and insight.

How about you? Ready to hop on two wheels in the name of clean air and better health? (Or just for fun?)