The trials of commuting with kids

[d_douglas]

All I can say is: 'ouch'.

We have moved continents and our lives are still in transition after 2.5 months being back in Canada.

My high-rolling wife stayed at home with our 1 and 2.5 year olds since returning home while I rode to work every day in beautiful, sunny, mostly cool summer weather. She starts a new job in two weeks, so we needed to find some caregiving arrangements for our kids.

Well, this has come to an abrupt end. We found daycare spots for both of them and they started full time at a daycare not too far from my office, by chance.

From one day to the next, I have gained 100lbs in towing weight! It has been three days now and I can feel my muscles and joints aching from the added load. It is kind of fun (the older one is hating being away from her mom, so plenty of tears leaving home, a bit on the road, then a deluge at the daycare) but will soon become pretty grinding once the wet, miserable weather of the 'Wet Coast' sets in in the next month or so.

This will either make me very strong or destroy me thanks to my lack of fitness while pulling a lot of extra weight up some long, subtle inclines!

Does anyone else have good stories to add? Cheerleading for lil old me?

[67-59]

Only advice I can give is...enjoy it while you can.

In the blink of an eye, they'll be headed off to college, and you'll long for the "good old days" of your group commute.

This from the parent of an 18-year old who started college on Tuesday. What I'd give right now for the "hassle" of having to rock her to sleep every night....

[snah]

No personal stories to add, but a buddy of mine goes year round and built his own trailer.

[brando]

I hear you. They need to stoke! I'm on a Bike Friday Tandem traveler and when my youngest starts going to kindergarten next year, I'll be trading up to a triple.

[Matt-H]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/7422629250_e0555db997.jpg

http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-car-this-mom-does-it-all-by-bike-73731

Hang in there. Anything is possible!

[rwsaunders]

Roger what 67-59 said...leaving our oldest behind at school last week was one of the most trying things that we have ever had to do. You are definitely super stoked for your child as they enter an exciting period of their lives, but you are simultaneously crushed as the angst of separation becomes reality.

Let us know how you make out. That one photo of the "Duggar mobile" was too much.:cool:

[buldogge]

Put the little one up front in an iBert, and in the Spring (depending on height) put the older one on a trail-a-bike/tag-a-long.

Alternatively, consider an Extracycle.

Also, what kind of bike are you using?....I much preferred to pull the trail-a-bike with my Sampson Z7 Ti than I did with my '68 Raleigh Super Course (park bike, 35s, Porteur bars, fenders) or modified Rockhopper (Fat Franks, fenders, etc.)...I think a lighter roadbike really helps here!

-Mark in St. Louis

[wombatspeed]

Yes, you will feel the added towing weight in your legs for a while. However, it can also become your 'secret training'. Pulling trailers with kids up the steep hills of Ithaca, NY did wonders for my fitness especially in the late fall. Other riders would ride less as the days got drearier, rainier and snowier. But the trailer towing gave me an edge in the late cyclocross races.

Of course, the days when it rains or snow don't encourage you to go out with a heavy trailer. But once you get out of the house it's all good!

two more observations:
1. when it gets below 20 degrees it can be harder to keep your youngest one warm. A full body down suit worked for us.
2. When it's above 40 degrees a tandem/triplet is the best child commuting tool ever! If you can afford a tandem then get one! An old Burley steel tandem can be had for relatively little money (I paid $500 something) and is all you need. Though now that my kids are older (5 and 7) they also enjoy flying around on our road tandems...

Anyway, enjoy riding with the little ones!

[wombatspeed]

A Kona Jake with a 50/39/26 triple and a 32 in the back got us up any steep hill. Though, even with that gearing it's not going to be easy if you have sustained climbs of 10%.