I took a solo ride on my road bike to meet some friends at the Panama Tea House this morning. I swung by the store for a couple items on the way home, but rather than take either of the cargo-carrying mamabikes, I wore my Tom Bihn Super Ego messenger bag which easily fit toilet paper, kleenex, and cough drops for Mr. Family Ride. I’ve previously only used for airplane carryon because it holds my laptop, many kid clothing changes, toys, and snacks. It wasn’t by design, but I just realized I’ve used four different bikes over the last four days (mountain bike/trailer in heavy snow, Big Dummy in slush, city bike for bus trip, road bike today). I hate to give the impression that it’s necessary to own multiple bikes, but it sure can be convenient.

The only problem with the road bike is that I haven’t taken it out in a while and the tires were very low. I was running late and the kids and Mr. Family Ride were watching me poke at the tires through the front window so I pretended they felt OK and took off, hoping for the best. I have to admit I haven’t pumped up my own tires since college. So there’s my bad-but-good example setting for the day: even someone as clueless and lazy as I can successfully bike with kids all the time. I’ll sooner remember which of Aaron’s cats is Schrader and which is Presta than be diligent in maintaining my tire pressure. If it’s not too late for New Year’s resolutions, I guess I’ve got one. There will still be plenty left for me to learn from the Bike Works Adult Basics Class once I have the time to take it. I can only imagine how fun today’s hilly ride would have been on hard tires.

In the afternoon the two-year old wanted to go for a balance bike ride so we went in search of snow and puddles. Schools have been canceled most of the week so the nearby schoolyard snowfall was undisturbed and made for some good crunching. It was so much easier to keep up with just one kid. Also easier to help push just one kid uphill when he got tired.