Hi! It's been over two years since I posted last. I'm not sure there's much use in catching up with everything that's happened since then, the basics are still the same. We live without owning a car, although I have a motorcycle that I use when I need to go farther or faster on my own. It's a vehicle I love but isn't the most practical when it comes to transporting the family so we still go back to driving a car on an as-needed basis. By not owning a car, I try to make that our last option, if nothing else works. Sometimes the everyday routine becomes mundane and that initial excitement I had when we first jumped into our car-free journey began to wear off. Except for a six-month period where I was commuting to a desk-job internship to finish off a degree in Recreation that was all-consuming for a few years, we have gone over 8 years without owning a car.
However, yesterday, I was re-inspired. Eight years ago, I was just starting my cargo bike story. I knew I needed a new way of life, I couldn't keep existing as I was--stressed, tired, out-of-shape, and fed-up with driving. I hate driving. I hate everything about driving. It drains your energy and eats away at your soul until you're a Road Raged shell inside a cage. That was my life before cargo bikes. I didn't want to be that person and I especially didn't want to be that mother, raising tiny children to be the same, to never know a different world. Cargo bikes gave me that alternative and it resonated with my heart in a way I can't describe. It's as if the world suddenly made sense again. We were experiencing the same existence but in a way that was such a reality shift. On a bike, the birds sing, the wind blows, sights and sounds and smells are all sharper and brighter, everything is clearer. That was the life I wanted to share with my children and once I experienced that, I knew I couldn't let it go. The idea that we could live without a car was scary at first and I sought help. Because we were still a rolling circus locally, most of that support came from online. I'd found my people, most of them through Liz Canning's (R)evolutions per Minute Facebook page (now Motherload: a movie, a meeting place, a cargo bike movement). These folks, understood my passion, my commitment, my stubborn need to pedal. They offered inspiration, tips, and hope in a world where that was often hard to find, especially when trying to shake off the ingrained car culture that infects our society, something so deeply rooted that people feel personally attacked by people who don't buy into the same views.
Liz began creating Motherload, the movie, around the same time we started our own cargo bike revolution. She crowd-sourced material from around the world and we sent in a few of our own clips. Yesterday, I was able to experience the final product of all her hard work and dedication to the cargo bike movement. It was as if 100s of people from around the world were telling our story. Familiar faces of folks who we followed and learned from were speaking to me again. They shared our struggles and our joys, they reminded me why we began doing this in the first place. Looking around the room at the new folks, the younger children, another generation of family bikers just starting out on their own pedal-powered journeys, gives me hope and inspiration again, at a time when I've been struggling to figure out what I'm doing and where I'm going. I am so grateful to Liz, to our biking friends, to our local community and those around the world, and the next round of passionate, committed, cargo bikers who will keep the movement rolling toward the future we need--a more sustainable, human, peaceful world.
However, yesterday, I was re-inspired. Eight years ago, I was just starting my cargo bike story. I knew I needed a new way of life, I couldn't keep existing as I was--stressed, tired, out-of-shape, and fed-up with driving. I hate driving. I hate everything about driving. It drains your energy and eats away at your soul until you're a Road Raged shell inside a cage. That was my life before cargo bikes. I didn't want to be that person and I especially didn't want to be that mother, raising tiny children to be the same, to never know a different world. Cargo bikes gave me that alternative and it resonated with my heart in a way I can't describe. It's as if the world suddenly made sense again. We were experiencing the same existence but in a way that was such a reality shift. On a bike, the birds sing, the wind blows, sights and sounds and smells are all sharper and brighter, everything is clearer. That was the life I wanted to share with my children and once I experienced that, I knew I couldn't let it go. The idea that we could live without a car was scary at first and I sought help. Because we were still a rolling circus locally, most of that support came from online. I'd found my people, most of them through Liz Canning's (R)evolutions per Minute Facebook page (now Motherload: a movie, a meeting place, a cargo bike movement). These folks, understood my passion, my commitment, my stubborn need to pedal. They offered inspiration, tips, and hope in a world where that was often hard to find, especially when trying to shake off the ingrained car culture that infects our society, something so deeply rooted that people feel personally attacked by people who don't buy into the same views.
Liz began creating Motherload, the movie, around the same time we started our own cargo bike revolution. She crowd-sourced material from around the world and we sent in a few of our own clips. Yesterday, I was able to experience the final product of all her hard work and dedication to the cargo bike movement. It was as if 100s of people from around the world were telling our story. Familiar faces of folks who we followed and learned from were speaking to me again. They shared our struggles and our joys, they reminded me why we began doing this in the first place. Looking around the room at the new folks, the younger children, another generation of family bikers just starting out on their own pedal-powered journeys, gives me hope and inspiration again, at a time when I've been struggling to figure out what I'm doing and where I'm going. I am so grateful to Liz, to our biking friends, to our local community and those around the world, and the next round of passionate, committed, cargo bikers who will keep the movement rolling toward the future we need--a more sustainable, human, peaceful world.
That teeny hand. My entire heart. This is what kept me going and made me the best parent I could be. These moments have been everything to me.
New Kidical Mass families! 
Our bike valets, their time donated by SABA, helped encourage more folks to bike over and kept our bikes safe during the screening. Photo: Goli Sahba
Venue donated by the Sacramento Hacker Lab. Perfect location!
So many of our favorite cargo bike families on the screen! Emily Finch will forever be one of the most amazing people I'm lucky enough to know.
Sharing some final thoughts with the group, this kiddo gives me hope for the future.
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