Despite being a self proclaimed expert in the realm of "biking with little ones," the one chink in my armor is that I've managed to log almost all of my miles in the sunny streets of Southern California. When we moved to Montana we were graced with two months of absolutely dreamy weather. Where I'm lacking real expertise is staying active and busy as a bikey-family in the winter.
It's honestly hasn't been that hard, being a full time commuter in Montana. I've biked in negative teens (Fahrenheit), blizzards, heavy snow and ice. Those conditions don't intimidate me anymore.
But - I'm still not quite sure the best path for getting the little man out. We do have a Burley Bee -which I suppose I could insulate the heck out of and load him up with a hot drink in a sippy cup. Maybe I'm over thinking it. I don't want the winter to beat us completely. I'll get serious about getting out as family in the winter - but I wanted to throw it out there to you guys. Have you seen any clever ways to get the little ones out on a bike in the winter?
Friday morning I saw a parent with her little one (probably 5-6) on a trail-a-bike, on their way to school. The little gal looked pretty content, and was just in normal winter garb. My guess though is that if kids aren't helping with the pedaling, they are more prone to getting chilly.
How do you deal with winter time if you are interested in getting your family out on a bike? Have you seen any creative solutions? In the meantime, I'll have to focus on solutions that don't involve me adding another bike to the fleet... for now. Check out the Shuttle Bug from Joe Bike below. Awesome.
a blog about parenting, kids, bicycles and city adventures
5 comments:
David, a blog worthy of adding to your reading list is fellow Bozeman cyclist/parent Cherilyn:
http://www.bike-bliss.com/2011/01/bike-ski-sled-unbeatable-new-years-day.html
I'd suggested she do the same with your blog also.
Cheers,
Sam
oh, awesome sam. thanks for the connection!
While I haven't gotten my act together to start a blog about it, I try not to use my car if it doesn't involve more than 20km (16 miles) of driving or helping out a friend in an emergency.
Since we live in Calgary, I frequently bike below 0 fahrenheit. I usually have an extra sleeping bag in the bin of my CETMA cargo bike and I make sure skin is well covered when it gets cold, but honestly the worst temperatures are around freezing when there is lots of slush and heavy snow or soft ice.
coldbike - thanks for the tip! glad you found the blog. would love to hear any other insights you have about winter biking.
We're getting our bikes out again for another the best road bicycles for spring biking around town.
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