The Daily Commute

For the last few years, when we went biking as a family, Rai and Ko have peacefully shared the small space that is the interior of a Burley bike trailer. By February of this year, however, they had finally outgrown the space. What used to be a tranquil ride to and from work for Ashe, towing the boys along with her, became a nightmare as the boys fought and screamed as each tried to claim some extra space and comfort inside the Burley. On hills, the tug and push of their convulsive battles nearly knocked Ashe over several times during each trip. So, we sold the Burley and started to look at options for larger kids. The first contender was the Weehoo attachment. It seemed promising but tilted too much around turns and left Koey screaming and crying. The Yuba and Xtracycle bikes were way out of our price range. For months, Ashe lost the daily bike ride she loved making and we were again a family that commuted by car -- not a sustainable option for us. Finally, as is often the result of diligent and persistent browsing on Craigslist, Ashe finally found a used Kona, extended bike. The price was right and the custom seating, fabulous saddle bags, and electric assist made this an irresistible option. Our new ride is pretty sweet. Ko did take a while to accept it but, now that he has, the boys have so much fun riding behind Dad! It sure helps to have Grandma's custom seat cushions, too! Today we took our first long ride around the city to test just how long that electric cell would keep assisting me on the more treacherous hills of San Francisco (see our ride map below). We made lots of stops along the way, of course, and even got some ideas on how to glam up our ride for future Sunday Streets events...  It was a big success. We are super excited to make our family commute together next Fall as we drop off Ko at preschool together and then continue to our school with Rai where the three of us will spend our days. Life couldn't be any more perfect!