Maybe some of the Betty awesomeness will rub off on your husband's bike in the car! :^) I've loved the responses to your post, and the bike bus might be workable. With 1000 students, there must be 1500 parents; if even 1% thought, "Yeah, I could try that," you'd have 15 kids. And... that would be a great way to identify people around you who might be up for a coffee break by bike.
These are the two things I would try in your situation: Initiate the bike bus thing with the school. Be the contact person. Suddenly everyone in school will know you as "the bike lady." - Limit your expectations - if you get no one join you, you are still advancing your goal - Initiate and follow up on conversations about bikes and bike riding. Basically acquaint yourself with anyone who ever rode a bike. - A possible outcome: you might make friends a couple miles away, and bike to their house for coffee once a week. Go to Starbucks by bike once a week at the same time. Mention this in your bike conversations. I'm certain you can ride back up that hill, but if you have to walk sometimes, walking is good. And... three: Download Strava or look at Google Maps and try to figure out a "labyrinth" route in your neighborhood. You can do a long ride in a small area, with a "goal" of riding the labyrinth. You will also go by every house and every street. Even if you don't see people, they'll see you. When I moved to Oregon, my son and I would ride to school every day, and several people struck up a conversation with "oh, I see you riding your kid to school every morning." I'd never seen them, because they were in their houses. So even without the "labyrinth" idea, I think there's something worthwhile in taking the kids for an afternoon ride to make an Etch-a-sketch shape in the neighborhood. That just sounds fun - print out a map, make a shape, follow the shape, enjoy it on Strava (or runkeeper, or Google Tracks, or whatever). You'll be seen riding, your 'rides to nowhere' will have an amusing component, and you'll just be riding. Good luck in your new home! Philip www.biketinker.com Limit your expectations, but you may be able to leverage that visibility into other bike-related relationships. Ideally, you might find another person a couple miles away that you'd like to have coffee with once or twice a week, and you could get there by bike. My perspective is totally different - until the last couple years, bike riding was a way for me to get AWAY from people. I'm still completely out of step bike-wise with the people around me, but I enjoy their company. Philip www.biketinker.com On Sunday, January 26, 2014 8:11:00 AM UTC-8, LeahFoy wrote: > > You guys have cheered me right up! I told my husband, "Babe, you oughtta > like these people even more than I - they've brightened my outlook and > spared you from listening to your wife bemoan her bike situation!" > > Addison: I live in Henderson. I hear Reno is nice; my husband flies there > when he has business with the governor. I think I saw some of your photos > from your lovely Reno once, and it truly looks to be a gem! > > There aren't villages on the mountain; but a few miles down it there are a > few businesses (CVS, Starbucks, Postnet, etc). I've often wondered if I > could get back up it on my bike; it's quite steep, but maybe without > kids.... > > Joe: Good job on 10 months! E-bike is a great idea! > > Michael H: Bike racks! Brilliant! I'm going to explore that option this > week! > > Andy from Pgh: my sister and her husband live in Pittsburgh and are > looking to relocate to Lawrenceville. They work in downtown law offices and > would become bike commuters! (They presently live downtown and walk > everywhere.) they have run into a very cool bikes-guy and talked a bit with > him about bikes and bike commuting, wonder if it was you? I sent them some > Rivendell stuff for Christmas to make their bike commuting easier. If you > have anything else to add about commuting in Pgh, please share! > > And to all of you who mentioned contentment in all circumstances, you are > certainly right. I am so blessed to have my little bike journey with my > boys and I am going to engage my senses more and try to savor each trip. > It's good to remember that everyone else does not have a perfect bike > situation either, but rather they are making the most of what they do have > and exercising gratitude on their way. Thanks again! > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
