For the month of July, Jasper is serving as a training baby for the Northwest Montessori Institute's Assistants to Infancy class. This means that he gets to go to a beautiful prepared environment every afternoon, play with some teachers-in-training, stare at some other babies, shake rattles along to songs played on guitar and autoharp, learn to eat politely at a table, and generally have a great time. It also means that he and I have a daily commute, 2.5 miles each way on the Yuba.
The scheduling is tight. The observation period is from 1:00 to 3:30, and it takes us a little over 25 minutes to make the trip, as it is all uphill. Jasper can only go about three hours between naps before he melts down entirely, so in order to make class go well I try to let him sleep as long as possible beforehand, waking him at 12:30, changing his diaper, and putting him straight into the bike. This, of course, structures the morning as well: he needs at least a two-hour nap, so we have to be up by 8:30 so that he can go down by 10:30 and be successfully up at 12:30. He does great at school, attention hog that he is, and loves staring at the students who stare at him. But by 3:30 he's usually hitting his limit, and he invariably cries when I put him back into the bike. Every day so far he's fallen asleep in the bike on the way home, which I then roll into the shade of our front yard fig tree and get myself some much-needed lunch while I wait out the rest of the nap.
We've been doing it for nearly two weeks so far, and I love the routine. The rush out the door is frustrating, and I'd like to learn to do it more smoothly, but I'm really enjoying having so much structure in our days. Plus, having a standard daily commute is making me noticeably stronger-- before this, I'd go longer than 5 miles when we rode, but we weren't riding every day.
What I didn't expect is that, in spite of delegating Jasper's care durning the school period, I'm still not getting much other work done. It turns out that watching Jasper and the other babies play with help from their teachers is pretty absorbing.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
So Much Bike Fun
I'm sitting here watching Jasper play his new game: knocking toys across the floor and then wiggling his newly-mobile-but-not-quite-crawling self on after them. We're spending lots of time on crawling these days... and lots of time on the bike.
Pedalpalooza has been a blast so far: we went on the Kick-off Ride where we met a dad called Jasper who pedals his baby in a locally-made box bike, visited the grand opening party for Splendid Cycles and checked out some slick cargo bikes there, competed in the Fiets of Parenthood, led a handful of families on the Teddy Bears' Picnic Ride, did half of the Labyrinth Ride (called on account of my and Jaz's bad moods), pedaled around SE Portland learning about solar power options on the SE Solar Tour, pursued the perfect pie late into the night on the Epic Pizza Ride, and this morning went out for waffles and silliness on the Pajama Party Ride. Still to come: leading a group ride for our CSA's farm tours tomorrow, and on Sunday brunch with some friends followed by Sunday Parkways followed by the Multnomah County Bike Fair. Followed by sound slumber.
And how's Jasper handling all this bike fun? With the exception of the Labyrinth Ride, on which factors converged against us, he's been a really happy camper. He loves people, and attention, and he gets plenty of both on these rides, where kids are scarce and his rig is strange and remarkable. Facing backwards, he gets to stare at the people who ride behind us, who are usually obliging in making silly faces to entertain him. And he's made a new friend in Sarah's son Everett, who watched kept him entertained at the Fiets and pushed him in a swing on the Teddy Bear ride. Sometimes he just stares up at the trees as we ride. Unlike in his stationary life, when he gets tired on the bike he simply falls asleep (ok, sometimes there is crying between awake and asleep, but not much). And once asleep, he stays that way, sometimes for hours and hours. And then wakes up, cheerful and ready to play. A quick nurse, an on-board diaper change, and we're good for a few more hours of riding. The biggest problem is that these rides sometimes take a faster pace than we do in our everyday riding, and when the pavement is bad that can lead to a bumpier ride than he's used to. And that can result in some fussing and crying until the road smooths out again.
I've taken very few pictures, though there's lots of coverage over at BikePortland's Pedalpalooza page. Check our Flickr stream for shots from the Fiets of Parenthood and the Teddy Bear's Picnic. Featured are fellow bikey-parent bloggers Julian from Totcycle and Sarah Gilbert from cafe mama-- or rather, mostly, those bloggers' fabulous kids.
Pedalpalooza has been a blast so far: we went on the Kick-off Ride where we met a dad called Jasper who pedals his baby in a locally-made box bike, visited the grand opening party for Splendid Cycles and checked out some slick cargo bikes there, competed in the Fiets of Parenthood, led a handful of families on the Teddy Bears' Picnic Ride, did half of the Labyrinth Ride (called on account of my and Jaz's bad moods), pedaled around SE Portland learning about solar power options on the SE Solar Tour, pursued the perfect pie late into the night on the Epic Pizza Ride, and this morning went out for waffles and silliness on the Pajama Party Ride. Still to come: leading a group ride for our CSA's farm tours tomorrow, and on Sunday brunch with some friends followed by Sunday Parkways followed by the Multnomah County Bike Fair. Followed by sound slumber.
And how's Jasper handling all this bike fun? With the exception of the Labyrinth Ride, on which factors converged against us, he's been a really happy camper. He loves people, and attention, and he gets plenty of both on these rides, where kids are scarce and his rig is strange and remarkable. Facing backwards, he gets to stare at the people who ride behind us, who are usually obliging in making silly faces to entertain him. And he's made a new friend in Sarah's son Everett, who watched kept him entertained at the Fiets and pushed him in a swing on the Teddy Bear ride. Sometimes he just stares up at the trees as we ride. Unlike in his stationary life, when he gets tired on the bike he simply falls asleep (ok, sometimes there is crying between awake and asleep, but not much). And once asleep, he stays that way, sometimes for hours and hours. And then wakes up, cheerful and ready to play. A quick nurse, an on-board diaper change, and we're good for a few more hours of riding. The biggest problem is that these rides sometimes take a faster pace than we do in our everyday riding, and when the pavement is bad that can lead to a bumpier ride than he's used to. And that can result in some fussing and crying until the road smooths out again.
I've taken very few pictures, though there's lots of coverage over at BikePortland's Pedalpalooza page. Check our Flickr stream for shots from the Fiets of Parenthood and the Teddy Bear's Picnic. Featured are fellow bikey-parent bloggers Julian from Totcycle and Sarah Gilbert from cafe mama-- or rather, mostly, those bloggers' fabulous kids.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Feits of Parenthood and Teddy Bears' Picnic
Pedalpalooza is coming. Pedalpalooza is coming! Pedalpalooza! Is coming! And family cycling will be making a showing.
There are LOTS of events (like, pushing 300) planned for this 2.5 week festival of bikey goodness, starting this Thursday. But we're associated with two.
FIRST: Feits of Parenthood. A week from yesterday, at Clever Cycles (SE 9th & Hawthorne). Here, the fabulous Sarah Gilbert describes the event:
SECOND: The very next day, Sunday the 13th, Dave and Jasper and I will be leading a low-key family ride starting at the Abernathy School playground at 12:30. The theme is Teddy Bears' Picnic, and we'll have a crew of stuffed friends along for the ride. We'll stop at a few parks and playgrounds, do some picnicing and playing, and generally have a silly good time.
If you're in Portland and ride with young kids, we hope to see you! If you don't ride with your family yet but want to know how it's done, or if you don't have kids yet but plan to ride with them when you do, we hope you'll come out! If you'd like a low-stress way to introduce your family to riding together, you should come join us! And if you're child-free and love it, but want to hang out with a bunch of parents and kids on bikes (because we're awesome, and kids on bikes are adorable) we'll see you there!
For the whole Pedalpalooza calendar, see here: Pedalpalooza 2010 Calendar
There are LOTS of events (like, pushing 300) planned for this 2.5 week festival of bikey goodness, starting this Thursday. But we're associated with two.
FIRST: Feits of Parenthood. A week from yesterday, at Clever Cycles (SE 9th & Hawthorne). Here, the fabulous Sarah Gilbert describes the event:
To ride a bike with your children is this: a continuous unfolding of joy and a workout like no other. Nowhere does creativity and ingenuity and the soaring free spirit of the bicycle combine with such (literal) blood, sweat and tears. Fiets of Parenthood is a celebration of that: part time trial, part demonstration of skill, part showoff, part hilarity.There will be a family bike obstacle course inspired by Julian's genius thread over at Totcycle. There will be kindercross and parent-child figure cycling. I'll be talking with a couple of other mamas at a workshop on cycling while pregnant. There will be SolPops and Trailhead Coffee and snacks from Madison's Grill. Crafts. Bike decorating. An opportunity to fondle a whole array of family biking setups. Should be fun!
SECOND: The very next day, Sunday the 13th, Dave and Jasper and I will be leading a low-key family ride starting at the Abernathy School playground at 12:30. The theme is Teddy Bears' Picnic, and we'll have a crew of stuffed friends along for the ride. We'll stop at a few parks and playgrounds, do some picnicing and playing, and generally have a silly good time.
If you're in Portland and ride with young kids, we hope to see you! If you don't ride with your family yet but want to know how it's done, or if you don't have kids yet but plan to ride with them when you do, we hope you'll come out! If you'd like a low-stress way to introduce your family to riding together, you should come join us! And if you're child-free and love it, but want to hang out with a bunch of parents and kids on bikes (because we're awesome, and kids on bikes are adorable) we'll see you there!
For the whole Pedalpalooza calendar, see here: Pedalpalooza 2010 Calendar
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Folks, Part One
My parents came to visit at the end of April. It was the Stumptown Comics Fest, and their buddy Brig is a cartoonist, so they all came up to make a Portland-y, comic-y weekend of it.
We've gotten good enough at getting around town car-free that when our visitors ask, as my folks did, whether they should rent a car for their visit, we say no. We prefer not to use one if we don't have to. Getting the car seat into new cars is a pain. So get a hotel close-in, we'll get you on a bike, and we'll all have a better time.
They were only in town from Friday late to Sunday midday. They took the MAX from the airport to the Lloyd Center Doubletree, where the con was being held. We met up with them Saturday morning at a restaurant in walking distance of the hotel, then walked around Broadway a bit before heading back to spend the morning comic-ing. By lunch we were pretty done with the main exhibit hall, and while Brig had some workshops lined up, the rest of us were ready to do other things.
I rented them each a Brompton from Clever Cycles from mid-Saturday to mid-Sunday, and so headed over with Dave after lunch to pick up the bikes. I think Bromptons are about the ideal rental: they fit everybody, you can keep them safely in your hotel room when you're not using them, and they're strange-looking enough that they turn on end any performance-oriented hang-ups you might have about "being a cyclist."
We put two bikes on the Yuba:
And one bike on the Steamroller:
And rode them all up to the hotel.
That evening, we rode bikes to dinner a couple of miles away. It felt great being out in the city with my folks: me on the giant mama bike, everyone else like little ducklings on the tiny Bromptons. I had talked them through Portland-style bicycling beforehand (use your signals, use the bike lanes, take the lane when you need to) and then was calling out instructions from behind: left turn! Right turn! Stay out of the door zone!!
Dinner was tapas at Toro Bravo and was fantastic. We ate outside and, for the first little while, parked the Yuba with sleeping baby on the sidewalk by the table to keep an eye on him. When he woke, we moved the Yuba back down to the conveniently-located bike corral and continued with dinner. Good service, great food & drink, and you can't beat the company.
The next day, we planned to bike until it was time for them to go home. We met up for breakfast at Voodoo Too and then went down to the river to do the Waterfront Park/Esplanade loop. After that we headed east up Salmon to visit the Hawthorne district, did some shopping at Powells, and then cruised back to return the bikes at Clever Cycles. We walked from there to the food carts at 12th & Hawthorne for crepes and then put them on a 70 bus back to their hotel, where they would pick up their luggage, hop on the MAX, and fly home.
I think what I loved most about this visit was how ordinary it was. Aside from the bike rental, everything we did was part of my normal life (though, not ordinarily all in one day). Because of that, I felt like we got to show my folks how we really live here, and how fun and easy and simple life with bikes (and without cars) can be.
Turns out, we made an impact. Stay tuned for The Folks, Part Two.
We've gotten good enough at getting around town car-free that when our visitors ask, as my folks did, whether they should rent a car for their visit, we say no. We prefer not to use one if we don't have to. Getting the car seat into new cars is a pain. So get a hotel close-in, we'll get you on a bike, and we'll all have a better time.
They were only in town from Friday late to Sunday midday. They took the MAX from the airport to the Lloyd Center Doubletree, where the con was being held. We met up with them Saturday morning at a restaurant in walking distance of the hotel, then walked around Broadway a bit before heading back to spend the morning comic-ing. By lunch we were pretty done with the main exhibit hall, and while Brig had some workshops lined up, the rest of us were ready to do other things.
I rented them each a Brompton from Clever Cycles from mid-Saturday to mid-Sunday, and so headed over with Dave after lunch to pick up the bikes. I think Bromptons are about the ideal rental: they fit everybody, you can keep them safely in your hotel room when you're not using them, and they're strange-looking enough that they turn on end any performance-oriented hang-ups you might have about "being a cyclist."
We put two bikes on the Yuba:
And one bike on the Steamroller:
And rode them all up to the hotel.
That evening, we rode bikes to dinner a couple of miles away. It felt great being out in the city with my folks: me on the giant mama bike, everyone else like little ducklings on the tiny Bromptons. I had talked them through Portland-style bicycling beforehand (use your signals, use the bike lanes, take the lane when you need to) and then was calling out instructions from behind: left turn! Right turn! Stay out of the door zone!!
Dinner was tapas at Toro Bravo and was fantastic. We ate outside and, for the first little while, parked the Yuba with sleeping baby on the sidewalk by the table to keep an eye on him. When he woke, we moved the Yuba back down to the conveniently-located bike corral and continued with dinner. Good service, great food & drink, and you can't beat the company.
The next day, we planned to bike until it was time for them to go home. We met up for breakfast at Voodoo Too and then went down to the river to do the Waterfront Park/Esplanade loop. After that we headed east up Salmon to visit the Hawthorne district, did some shopping at Powells, and then cruised back to return the bikes at Clever Cycles. We walked from there to the food carts at 12th & Hawthorne for crepes and then put them on a 70 bus back to their hotel, where they would pick up their luggage, hop on the MAX, and fly home.
I think what I loved most about this visit was how ordinary it was. Aside from the bike rental, everything we did was part of my normal life (though, not ordinarily all in one day). Because of that, I felt like we got to show my folks how we really live here, and how fun and easy and simple life with bikes (and without cars) can be.
Turns out, we made an impact. Stay tuned for The Folks, Part Two.
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