{"id":59036,"date":"2019-06-11T07:05:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T14:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=59036"},"modified":"2020-05-22T12:57:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:57:11","slug":"my-kids-turned-me-into-an-electric-bike-convert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/my-kids-turned-me-into-an-electric-bike-convert","title":{"rendered":"My Kids Turned Me Into an Electric Bike Convert"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my oldest child, Nora, now 4, was an infant, I was adamant that having a baby wouldn\u2019t prevent me from riding my bike around town like I\u2019d always done pre-kids. I live in Tahoe City, California, a lakefront mountain town with stellar bike paths. Our summer traffic can be thick, so riding a bike is key to getting to places like the grocery store, the coffee shop or the lake on a crowded summer day.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I did what any smart, outdoorsy person who\u2019d just had a baby would do: I got a <\/span>Thule Chariot<\/span><\/a>, with the <\/span>bike attachments<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>infant sling<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>smallest helmet<\/span><\/a> I could find, so I could tow Nora snugly in her carriage while I pedaled all over town on my commuter bike. It was a win-win: I\u2019d get some exercise; she\u2019d get a nap. We were both happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years later, my husband and I had a second kid, a boy we named Otis, and I did what any smart, outdoorsy parent who\u2019d just had a second baby would do: I sold my one-seat Chariot and upgraded to the double-wide, <\/span>two-kid Thule Chariot<\/span><\/a>. I dragged my toddler daughter and infant son all over town behind my bike in that contraption: to the farmer\u2019s market, the library, the playground.<\/span><\/p>\n

But then, they started to grow, as kids do. They got heavier. One day last summer, when Otis was nearly two and Nora almost four, my husband, Dan, took the kids to the park, a couple of miles away over a decent-sized hill, via bike. When he got home, he looked utterly exhausted. \u201cI don\u2019t know how you pedal them up that hill,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need an e-bike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I flat-out refused at first: I didn\u2019t need an electric motor to get me up hills, I insisted. That\u2019s what my legs were for. I\u2019ve been a bike rider\u2014a triathlete, a mountain biker, a bike commuter\u2014for my entire adult life. I was a cycling purist and I wouldn\u2019t cave to the <\/span>e-bike frenzy<\/span><\/a>. I get that some people love e-bikes, but they weren\u2019t for me. Or so I thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

One day, Dan showed up with a <\/span>pedal-assist e-bike<\/span><\/a>. (Apparently he\u2019s as stubborn as I am and wouldn\u2019t take no for an answer.) He attached the Chariot to the e-bike, and I loaded the kids and zipped around the neighborhood with the ease and energy of a bullet train. I was converted in five minutes flat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A bike-friendly family. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Megan Michelson<\/p><\/div>\n

With the new e-bike, instead of just riding to the nearest park, I could go on a tour de parks. I could buy a watermelon and a jug of milk and a six-pack of beer at the store and not worry about the heft of hauling it all home. Instead of driving to the pond five miles away or to the kids\u2019 daycare, like I usually did, I could ride the e-bike there instead, saving gas and spending more time outside. Now, on weekends, I load the kids on the e-bike, ride to a trailhead, and we all go for a hike to a rock overlooking the lake. The kids love the speed of the e-bike; I love the ease of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, a single mom friend of mine posted a picture of herself hauling her two young children on a standard long-tail cargo bike. I texted her a picture of my e-bike and suggested there was an easier option. \u201cMeh,\u201d she wrote back. \u201cI like the challenge.\u201d And I get that: As parents, we need to squeeze in exercise when we can and it feels good to work hard and show our kids that we\u2019re strong. But here\u2019s the thing: Parenting is hard enough, and biking with your kids doesn\u2019t have to be one of the difficult moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

I love e-bikes so much, our family just got a second one, a cargo-style ride where both kids can sit behind my saddle on their own secure seats instead of in the trailer behind. It\u2019s more streamlined and still has a basket up front for groceries, school backpacks or sand toys. Dan now rides our first e-bike to and from work, while our cars sit essentially undriven. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m certainly not alone in the parent-who-tows-children-via-e-bike club. I recently called another friend, Colleen Valenstein, who moved to a house atop a steep, mile-long hill in Jackson, Wyoming, and who brings her two kids\u2014ages 1 and 3\u2014four miles each way to daycare and other outings on her <\/span>Yuba Spicy Curry Bosch Electric Bike<\/span><\/a>. She rides every day from April to October, until there\u2019s too much snow to bike, and in the year she\u2019s owned her bike, she\u2019s put 1,100 miles on it. That\u2019s more than 1,000 miles that she\u2019s not driven her car. That\u2019s many hours of spending time outside, in fresh air with her kids. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving kids and living on a big hill meant that if I didn\u2019t get an e-bike, I probably wouldn\u2019t be biking,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now, when the weather\u2019s good, we\u2019re on the bike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn More: How to Choose an Electric Bike <\/path><\/svg><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When my oldest child, Nora, now 4, was an infant, I was adamant that having a baby wouldn\u2019t prevent me from riding my bike around town like I\u2019d always done pre-kids. I live in Tahoe City, California, a lakefront mountain town with stellar bike paths. Our summer traffic can be thick, so riding a bike […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":59043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1127,1846,727],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-59036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycle","tag-cycling","tag-e-bikes","tag-latest-posts"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/my-kids-turned-me-into-an-electric-bike-convert","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"My Kids Turned Me Into an Electric Bike Convert","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/my-kids-turned-me-into-an-electric-bike-convert","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/my-kids-turned-me-into-an-electric-bike-convert"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/PhotoCourtesyColleenValenstein3.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/PhotoCourtesyColleenValenstein3.jpg?fit=4032%2C3024"},"articleSection":"Cycle","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["cycling","e-bikes","latest posts"],"dateCreated":"2019-06-11T14:05:41Z","datePublished":"2019-06-11T14:05:41Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T19:57:11Z"},"rendered":"