Transporting six children by bike

[maryellen]

A year or so ago I saw a man transporting 'just' three kids and I was pretty surprised. One in a trailer, one in a child seat behind dad, and one on the handlebars. A mix of admiration and horror that he was brave enough to travel that way in downtown Manhattan. Alas, I did not have the presence of mind to take a photo.

[lph]

For some reason this made me think about my grandparents. When they were courting in 1922 they lived about three miles apart and saw each other only on weekends. He was a farmer and had work to do every day and couldn't walk the 6 miles round trip. I have a copy of a letter he mailed to my grandmother. It's kind of mushy.

It costs him 2 cents to mail it.


Veronica

Awww That's really cute.

[Crankin]

Unless you live in a city, or near the core of a suburban downtown, you can't walk, ride, or take transit anywhere, especially in rural areas. I suspect this type of lifestyle is more prevalent on the coasts, where there is more infrastructure to support it. I grew up in a "streetcar suburb," only 6 miles from downtown Boston. However, I lived on the edge of the town, so I wasn't within walking distance of any of the 13 village centers. As a 12 year old, I either walked about half a mile to catch a bus to one shopping area, or walked about a mile or mile and a half to catch a bus to the "center." I could catch the T (subway) from either of these locations to get me just about anywhere. I never saw my parents use public transportation, although we only had one car until I was about 5 or 6 and I do remember dropping my dad off at the train on Wednesdays, so my mom could take the car to the store.
Right now, I live just far enough that it is not a short walk to get to Concord center for an errand; at 3.8 miles, it's an easy ride, but I've done the walk a few times, and 8 miles is not a short walk. My goal is that in a few years, we'll move closer to the shopping district, which is flat , and more conducive to riding. However, I know I won't be going to the grocery store there, as I really dislike that store and go to the one in the next town, which is the same distance away (up a big hill to get there).
I definitely do not want to live in a big city, where you have the ability to get anything, at any time of the day, on foot. I would enjoy living near services, in a quieter environment.
I never took either of kids to the store, especially together, until they were close to 5-6 years old. It just wasn't productive for me and caused a lot of stress. Mind you, my kids were pretty well behaved, but they were kids. I went to the store on the way home from work every other Friday, with DH going on the alternate weeks. The kids stayed at daycare until I was done.

[hebe]

I don't think my knees would take all that weight, but kudos to her for doing it. I think it's great that there's one less SUV on the road. Perhaps she gets her groceries delivered? I know I do, it completely revolutionised shopping with a small child. I think she's fortunate to live somewhere where cycling provision is good enough to allow her to do that without feeling at risk and good for her for taking full advantage.

I grew up in a family without a car (and without any bikes or cyclists either). To tell the truth, I couldn't wait to be able to drive to be able to get around a bit better, but as I raise my own family I'm less and less keen on doing short journeys in the car. Yet it's amazing how hard it can be to ride a mile with a child trailer when your destination is through an industrial estate with every other unit some kind of lorry depot. The constant creep of towns and villages outwards does make it harder to find affordable housing that's within easy walk/cycling distance of shops, jobs, schools, doctors etc etc. Small Girl will be going to the closest school to us, which is just over a mile away - that's still quite a distance for a 4year old to walk (but at least is not through an industrial estate). The council for the county where I live has just agreed to re-allocate business development land to housing, which means more people living here and working elsewhere, so more car traffic.

[Grits]

There is a difference between doing something out of necessity and doing it by choice -and doing it with 1 or 2 children vs doing it with six. A lot of things are more manageable with a couple of kids, including taking a taxi!

She is choosing what is, in America, an extreme lifestyle. It doesn't seem that they use any public transportation. (The kids are used to never being in a car. They have never been to the shore because they are limited to 20 miles by bike). She is choosing to have no way to get all of her family anywhere at one time without some kind of special arrangements that it seems they have never made. I wonder how much of this came out of a desire to please her dad, who she didn't develop a relationship with until an adult, and also how her depression figures into it.

[shootingstar]

There is a difference between doing something out of necessity and doing it by choice -and doing it with 1 or 2 children vs doing it with six. A lot of things are more manageable with a couple of kids, including taking a taxi!

She is choosing what is, in America, an extreme lifestyle. It doesn't seem that they use any public transportation. (The kids are used to never being in a car. They have never been to the shore because they are limited to 20 miles by bike). She is choosing to have no way to get all of her family anywhere at one time without some kind of special arrangements that it seems they have never made. I wonder how much of this came out of a desire to please her dad, who she didn't develop a relationship with until an adult, and also how her depression figures into it.

Would agree that choosing a particular lifestyle (and they are not poor since her hubby is a neurologist), vs. doing out of necessity is a huge difference and its possible effect on children's expectations. Much of what I described in my childhood of no car and using public transit, was no choice, and for SURVIVAL by my parents. Being poor really truly does temper a child's expectations and if a parent handles child's grumpiness without making it a huge deal, a kid just accepts it and knows parent(s) doesn't have money to have a nice car or a 2nd car.

We did occasionally take taxi...where the whole family piled into the car to go over to the other side of city for a semi-annual banquet or special event. That was about 2-3 times per year.

As for "limiting" a family's options, I guess it depends on what parents wish for their child(ren) and types of experiences they should have (vs. what children really want after trying out various activities for a certain time.)

I get the powerful feeling that the article about this family is abit slanted because we really don't know how often the whole family with the father, uses the car. The car used for the family may be more often than what we are led to believe. We are just hearing it from the mother's perspective.

Anyway, I am glad that cycling for mother has helped deal with depression, which can be real when one has several children (and with post partum stage). It benefits the family to have a happy, healthy parent. I see her with children cycling together like this ..may be only for a short time in life since her older children will eventually (pretty soon) want to break off and do their own thing/carve their own identity/space.

A whole family cycling together is truly only for a short time in life. Make it the very best time together and that is what she is trying to do.

[Grits]

Anyway, I am glad that cycling for mother has helped deal with depression, which can be real when one has several children (and with post partum stage). It benefits the family to have a happy, healthy parent. I see her with children cycling together like this ..may be only for a short time in life since her older children will eventually (pretty soon) want to break off and do their own thing/carve their own identity/space.

A whole family cycling together is truly only for a short time in life. Make it the very best time together and that is what she is trying to do.

I agree. It might be something she really needs to do now for her own mental health. I am curious about the dad, though.

[jdubble]

I met Emily yesterday at our neighborhood 4th of July parade, and was completely charmed by her sense of humor and immediate friendliness. I told her I've seen her biking with the whole crew up our street, and she asked where we are on on the hill - I told her we're near the bottom and she said, Good, then I haven't thrown up in your yard When not at work, her husband does bike with the kids as well - he has a Christiania cargo trike with a Follow-Me Tandem attachment.

We're fortunate to live in a very walkable/bikeable part of town - there are several grocery stores (as well as other amenities) within an .5 mile radius, including a Cash'n'Carry for bulk purchases. So yes, she does do the shopping by bike, just not necessarily with the kids in tow. There was a great picture on her twitter feed yesterday of the bakfiets filled to the brim with groceries. They do have a car, but it's not big enough for the whole family to pile into.

I try to use my car as infrequently as possible for close-by errands, and bike most of the time with my two boys on the Xtracycle or with one on the Follow-Me and the other on his own bike, but I bow down to Emily and her awesomeness!

[lovelygamer]

Just gotta say (I watch the show) this article was also featured on the Portlandia facebook site. ha!

[Eden]

I dunno.... I'm sitting here in my "inner city" neighborhood (I live walking distance from pretty much everything I need and biking distance from pretty everything... less than 1.5 miles to the middle of downtown) The only things I can hear right now are the birds and an occasional airplane or truck. I find it to be plenty peaceful.

I grew up in a similar area in Pittsburgh (a bit further from downtown but totally connected.... less than 2 blocks to the trolley)

Growing up my parents each had a vehicle (my dad actually drove for a living), but I never really caught the bug I guess... I used to walk everywhere when I was a kid, when I was about 14 I got my first real road bike and never looked back. I didn't even have a drivers license until I was 25, though my husband (who grew up in rural Maine) did, so I had auto transportation if I needed it. Right now we have a single vehicle, though if we did not bicycle race we could probably get rid of it and simply rent or do flex car for the occasional times we want to go somewhere very far away. I bicycle commute to work and DH takes the bus.

I like being connected though.... I can't imagine living somewhere where I couldn't walk to everything.

[Grits]

When not at work, her husband does bike with the kids as well - he has a Christiania cargo trike with a Follow-Me Tandem attachment.

Good! That would have been interesting information to include in the article. I wish my community was more bike friendly for families, even though I can't imagine ever committing to a car free life unless forced to!

[jdubble]

Oh, and she has since gone into Clever Cycles, a nearby LBS, to have the Nutcase helmet straps adjusted, for what it's worth. In my experience, those straps are so slippery and finicky, it's nearly impossible to maintain a proper helmet fit with them. I have to futz my son's Nutcase on a near daily basis and it drives me crazy. I'm hoping to replace it soon.

I hate doing helmet fittings at school on the kids with the all-purpose/skate style helmets - most don't have the adjusting ring with the knob in the back, and it's so hard to get them to fit properly. And more and more kids have them 'cos they're "cool". *sigh*