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Two Wheels to Happiness

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It was last week when my friend asked me for a bike ride. It was actually the best time of my life. I remember when I was only five years old when my dad bought me my first red bike. It was truly amazing! After that afternoon ride, I decided to buy my own bike. I make sure I choose the right one – I mean brand and quality and all. I’m planning to ride it this weekend with my friend. She said she knows a trail where we can follow.

The Body

Let me tell you more about the bike I bought. I actually choose a mountain bike since I love to hike those hills. I prefer to have a mountain bike because of its speed and durability. I decided to go for that cute silver color with black wheel rings and all. I made sure that all the bearings and wheels are intact and aligned right so there will be no hassles and all while we tread that forest track.

Unforgettable afternoon

The day of our bike tour arrived. It was a cool sunny day. We actually packed extra drinks and sandwiches. I tell you the trail was actually not that easy to follow! Sweat trickled down my forehead as we tread along the path. There were stony trails and some muddy ones but I was actually having a great time with my buddy.

The End of the Path

I tell you the end of the path was truly amazing! There was a clean spring river waiting for us there. I actually jumped from my bike and splashed water on my face and arms. I know my bike is looking straight at me as if thirsty; I splashed it with cold water as well. We spend the whole afternoon, munching our cold snacks and laughing with our heart out. It was truly a great afternoon. But hey it was just the beginning…

Two Wheels to Happiness

More Bike Adventures

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So the fun of biking with my friend continues every weekend. We make sure to packed extra shirts now since we actually got home dripping wet the last time we headed to that amazing forest trail. It was a cool afternoon when we parked our bike in the river side. We actually took off our sneakers and jumped in the river. I tell you it was so refreshing!

More Bike Trails

That river adventure was actually great but my friend and I are looking for more exciting trails which we can take during those weekends. So I asked my hubby that night if he knows some trails which we can safely take. He said we can take that old forest trail. He said it was still open and many are still taking that trail. It actually leads to a small hill. So that will be our next destination.

Advice

The following weekend I was actually surprise when my husband bought me a bike lock. He actually even bought a good brand. “Better be prepared than sorry.” He said before he kissed me goodbye. The bike lock was actually great. It was not hard to use and comes very handy.

The New Bike Path

It was already mid-afternoon when we reached the end of our bike tour. But it was fun. We both enjoyed the flower beds we saw as well as the small brook. We parked our bikes in the nearby dine in. good thing I have this new bike lock. Guess my husband has psychic powers or something! Glad he bought me this bike lock. Now I can have more fun indoor without breaking my neck while checking my beloved bike every two minutes.

PS: Thanks a lot to my friends at Dualvision to provide me with new website design and also hosting my site.

General

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New Year, New Question

Wow, I guess I wasn’t kidding about being a mama bear because I’ve seriously been in hibernation mode over the last few weeks!  We had a very merry (and bikey!) Christmas and enjoyed a full two-week vacation together.  Santa made Vivi her very own little fixie-styled balance bike and mama got a new bike, too!  Yay – can’t wait to get some pictures up once Red Rider is back from her check-up.

I spent a great deal of time over the break thinking about this challenge.  Though we are only two months in, it’s becoming fairly obvious that we’ve already answered the question we set out to ask: can a family of four in Orlando live on only 4,000 car miles.  Based on our experiences thus far, I think I can pretty confidently say: absolutely.  I think we are a good example of a typical family in the sense that our lives are busy and require a great deal of getting around: we both work full-time, we are active volunteers, kids at two schools, extracurricular activities, etc.  In spite of all this, we’ve been surprised how often we can bike and are discovering new bike possibilities nearly every week.

Mama Bear on a Mission

The more I try to get around Orlando by bicycle, the less simple riding a bike becomes.  I’ve enjoyed a great deal of freedom riding my bike–you have to love anything that makes you go “wheeeeeeee!” down a hill on a regular basis.  However, riding has also brought about a great deal of awareness.  It seems that so much, down to how and where you ride, becomes political.

Our Set-up Part I: The Radish

I’m always extremely curious about other people’s bike set-ups; I like to see what works for other people, particularly stuff tested out by other biking families.  When Jesse and I first considered diving into the world of kids-on-bikes, I went into an internet-searching frenzy.  Unfortunately, we don’t have any bike shops that carry cargo bikes and there’s no Consumer Reports for cargo biking.  Along this mode of thinking, I thought I’d post about our bikes.  First up is the Radish!

Peace, Love, Hope, and High School Students

‘Tis the season to be jolly and pretty much nothing makes me happier right now than my hubby’s amazing high school students.  My husband has been teaching at the same school for several years now and, since both my daughters have been enrolled in the on-campus daycare program, I’ve grown to have pretty high expectations for the students.  However, what I’m seeing lately blows my mind.

Month One Update

I’m happy to report that I have survived the first month of this challenge–yay!  Unfortunately, I still have a lot of room for improvement.  We put a total of 449 miles on the car in the first month; if we keep driving at this rate, we’ll be looking at 5,388 for the year–well above even the 25% goal.

After all, tomorrow is another day!

Alright–I’m going to mix things up a bit.  In a new twist on the Friday the 13th norm, I’m actually going to STOP freaking out.  I’ve spent most of this week kvetching and I’m ready to move on now (I’m sure this is wonderful news to my hubby).

I went out for a nice walk with Viv today and was sort of processing a SWOT analysis in my head.  Yes, my brain does strange things when under stress.  Since it would clearly be a bit too much geekery to actually write out a SWOT, I’ll just list some of my thoughts:

I love you Orlando, but we need to talk…

Orlando, I heard the news and I think we need to have a talk.  I love you, but this just isn’t going to cut it.  You’ve got to prove to me you’re willing to make a change!  I thought we had come so far together–and now there are kids involved!  Who stood by your side when people said that you’re nothing but a second-rate, wannabe metropolis?  This is the best you can do?

It was bad enough discovering that you are actually a set of triplets pretending to be one city or finding out that your unhealthy habits had left your arterial roads nearly permanently clogged.  But this…it’s enough to seriously test my commitment to you.

Wait, what am I saying?  No–this is for better or for worse.  I’m not like those other girls that said they loved you, thought they could fix you, but left as soon as the going got tough.  This love is for real!  I’m gonna’ keep riding your streets, Orlando–because I believe in you!  I know you can be better than this!   It’s okay–a lot of cities at your age do the whole “fast cars” thing, but you need to settle down now and start focusing on your family. I know you’re trying.  You’ve worked really hard on the trails and Baldwin Park was a big step for you!  But now is the time to step it up–let the world see what I see.

How did I get here?

Once upon a time, in a fit of unchecked idealism, I hatched up a plan in which my family and I would try to live on only 25% of the national average of vehicle miles traveled (VMT).  Then I decided to raise the stakes and make it an even 4,000 – less than 25%!!  Because this plan would require me to start commuting to work by bike, and said bike would also have to carry my daughter to school, I decided to apply to the Xtracycle sponsorship program. Imagine my surprise (and panic) when the wonderful folks at Xtracycle said, “We think that’s a good idea” and gave me a partial sponsorship!