A bummer in the car-free attempt. Although it is convenient to have my parents' car at pretty easy access, sometimes it's still too easy to fall back into familiar patterns, especially when the going gets a bit tougher. We had a birthday party to go to across town, 10 miles or so away. Jose was going to come along and he had never ridden out that way and was understandably nervous. The weather was wet and there is a section of the route that is not fun to ride along. I had done it before and was confident that it was fine but I wanted to make him comfortable and we instead just rode the three miles to my folks' and picked up their car. 

I was immediately bummed. We ended up being late to the party because we took our time getting ready, thinking that we were driving so we'd get there quickly. We would have actually arrived earlier if we had ridden. Then, we got stuck in traffic on the freeway, crawling along as people weaved in and around at dangerous speeds for the weather conditions. I will admit that it was nice to arrive at the party dry and not sweaty but we also arrived tense from driving and not exhilarated from biking. I just kept thinking "I wish we had biked." Especially on the way home, after eating so much yummy party food and seeing the clouds open up to the most beautiful fall day. 

I guess it's a good reminder of why we decided to go car-free. 

Jose did take the car to his parents' house in the Bay Area to celebrate his mom's birthday. It would have cost us $200 to take the whole family on Amtrak and since we haven't quite bounced back from "selling" the car, that wasn't an available option. The boys and I ended up staying home to avoid the cold that was going around their home. 

This morning, we did get a great ride to church with the BionX Breezer-trailer set up. That was amazing! At level 1, the BionX power basically offsets the weight of the BionX system. At level 2, the BionX was comfortably negating the weight of the trailer. At level 3, I was zipping along at 15 mph as if I wasn't weighed down by the human cargo trailing behind. I didn't actually try out level 4 because I decided I was comfortable with 15 mph as my max with the trailer, especially on city streets. It also drained the battery fairly quickly. I'm estimating a range of about 15 miles with the BionX and trailer. I do think that if the weight was distributed better, maybe sometime like a bakfiets or Mundo, the BionX would perform better, not that I'm complaining at all! 

At church, we ran into our friends who had ridden in as well! It's so fun to see other awesome family riders out and about. We had a great ride together on our way back, getting extra time to chat instead of getting in our cars and going separate ways (even if it's in the same direction). 

I wish I had had more energy to get out one more time today, but instead I was beat. The kids slept for about a half hour in the trailer after we got home. I think we all needed a quiet day in. 

So, we have the opportunity to add to our fleet (yes, again). We're not spending as much these days without the car to weigh us down so we have to make up for it somehow (spending it at my local, favorite bike shop sounds good). One option: Practical Cycle has a used rental Breezer Uptown, step-through frame WITH BIONX!!! It is a 36v, long-range battery with new warranty. The bike just happens to be my size, too. Kismet? Yes. Another option: buy another cargo bike. Jose would love, love, love a black Mundo. We already know that bike works for our family and it'd be great to cut out the trailer trading we have to do right now for kid pick-ups. However, we do have a cargo trike in mind to help my mom do more kid-runs, made by our favorite local cargo truck maker--John Lucas. 

I took the Breezer home today (perk of knowing the owner) and let the BionX rip. I cruised home at about 17mph. It was pretty amazing to get home so quickly and not be tired. It was still light enough to get Jose on the bike. He's original attitude was "I don't need electric. It's not necessary. I like pedaling. Etc. Etc." My thoughts are: There are going to be days that we are sick/tired/not able to ride as fast or as far as we need to. We might need to get somewhere looking like we didn't just bike there. Jose wouldn't budge. 

I heard him ride off down the driveway. "Woooooah!"

I knew he was sold. 

Sure enough, he came back about 15 minutes later and said "I'm sold."

The next thing to ensure is that we would actually be able to get the trailer attached to the bike. Chariot trailers use a skewer hitch. A BionX hub doesn't work that way. If we can get the ball socket onto the axle, we're good. If it can't carry the trailer, that doesn't help us much. 

Jose's already asked if he can take the bike with him to work tomorrow morning. Tim, I don't think you're getting it back. We might have to start cleaning out our shed now, too.