Open post
Kids and Parents biking on Slow Streets in Oakland

Neighborhood Bike Parades That Help Kids Learn to Ride Together

The kids bike parade is a way to let kids play, ride bikes together and learn to ride safely.  Children and adults make new friends and build community by bike. How did the bike parade start? Earlier on in the pandemic, we learned that COVID spread mostly through poorly-ventilated air. We tried to think of ways to still foster social interactions between children with a lower risk profile.  Our family and a lot of others have gone with their kids biking to spend time outdoors.   We started by turning a birthday party into a evening bike ride.  Kids had fun biking together and being able to see each other not on a computer screen! Parents got a chance to ride with their kids and others. Neighbors were treated to a lively mini parade.   A few parents loved the […]

Continue readingMore Tag
Open post
Riding with the kid in the rain

Making it fun: Gear for biking ourselves and our kid in the rain

Biking in the Rain with a Kid Our family doesn’t own a car, so when it rains we often have to still ride our bikes.  This sometimes can present challenges when riding with a kid.  The rain has returned, at least temporarily, in the Bay Area.  So we got out our waterproof outerwear for the rides to school and back.  Here the gear we use for biking in the rain. Biking Rain Gear (for the adults) I’ve been bike commuting to school/work for nearly 20 years now, and my bikes and gear have evolved considerably.  Here is my current setup for biking in the rain: On the Bike Fenders: I have the type that mount to eyelets on the bike and cover a lot of the wheel.  Some of the temporary solutions work ok, but it’s nice having more wheel […]

Continue readingMore Tag
Open post
Bridge bike ride

Bicycle infrastructure and riding with children

If you’ve been riding your bike for a while, you’ve probably heard some variant of “Get off the road!” coming from an irate driver more than a few times.  (There are a lot of links out there that try to answer the question, “Why do people shout at cyclists?”) Though it can be at best unpleasant to hear, I do wish that it was easier to ride on a dedicated path that’s not shared by automobiles.  Reducing the idea of bicycling to solely a recreational activity has made it harder for people to safely ride as a mode of transportation.  And without a network of routes to reach areas where people can ride bikes for recreation, people often need to put their bikes in or on their cars, and drive to a destination.  I think that many people want to […]

Continue readingMore Tag
Scroll to top