We'd sigh and roll our eyes dramatically as we cruised along, drily christening ourselves the Von Trapp Family Bikers. As in the Sound of Music. Keep in mind that we were only two kids and a few bedroom drapes shy of the full caboodle.
We were convinced that we had the only family in town whose idea of a fun Sunday afternoon involved falling into a line of two-wheelers. Actually, if memory of my hometown serves me correctly, purely anecdotal research supports this theory, as every other family was at home on the couch watching Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210.
So guess who's singing Do-Re-Mi out the other side of her mouth now?
Fact 1: For the past four and a half years, our family has owned one car.
Fact 2: We care about not polluting this here planet of ours more than really necessary.
Fact 3: We are mean parents who demand that our children get exercise and sunshine on a spring weekend.
Fact 4: We are the proud owners of not only a bike trailer ....
... but also a Novara Afterburner.
Just let me coo for a minute about our Novara Afterburner. I can fold it up and stick it in the back of that one car (okay, minivan) we own. Twice a week, I tote it to the kids' taekwondo dojang, where the Professor affixes it to the back of his own bike and uses it to bring our eldest home from his lesson in most kinds of weather. Just seeing him cruise along with a pedaling papoose on the back bring smiles from drivers and especially from fellow bikers. And remember, we live in Lance-ville. There are bikers a'plenty, and a nine year old needs to feel part of the pack sometimes.
I rode it with Lizey on the Funky Chicken Coop Tour on Saturday. I'm pretty sure we looked kind of adorable.
The Professor pulled Caroline in the trailer. Ian rode his own bike.
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9 comments:
:-)
(The Professor)
Very nice!! I thought I always heard NOT to wear flip flops when on a bike. . .
But what this made me think of is my copy of the book about the Von Trapps (signed by Maria herself)...the one I'm several years overdue to read that I managed to thoroughly love in 7th grade and know I'll love again once I delve into its pages.
ps...i left you a return comment...
The Novara is too awesome. Two little children get dropped off at school by their dads on those things, and I just about swoon with envy at a) how cool it would be to ride one of those things to school and b) how cool it would be to live so close to school that one could ride one of those things to school.
I have some old curtains if you would like to make uniforms for the family bikers :)
I too noticed the flip flops while riding the bike. . .that is a no no from what I hear. Your extra appendage is oh so cute!
If you like biking around Austin, you need to check out this latest post: http://www.austinfarmtotable.com/2010/04/will-ride-for-veggies-win-ticket-for.html
as the flip flop police scrutinizes your footwear, the cell phone police had to enlarge the picture to see what was in your right hand as you were driving, err, riding ...
Thong-style Chacos are my usual summer footwear (I bike 12 miles daily on my commute to and from work), and I end up with distinctive tan-lines on my feet by the time cool weather rolls around again. Close toed shoes might be better, but my feet get so sweaty and smelly. I don't think flip-flops are a problem for a careful rider, but it's probably a good idea to tell kids not to wear flip-flops on a bike because they ride hard and may not have good balance. I think shoe-laces are probably a bigger problem, though.
BTW, could someone please make us matching outfits from old curtains? I would so treasure a family photo of us on our bikes with such garb. :-)
Did you hear we won a chicken coop??? I'll be bugging you with chicken questions soon...
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