Doing the school run by bike – not quite yet

The thing with cycling with small children is they grow.

You think you’ve got the set-up organized, the rear seat works and everyone is happy, then suddenly they are too tall to fit.

I’m still struggling with the journey to school problem. We’re at the bottom end of a significant 12-block hill, with all routes being on roads shared with light traffic. What I would dearly love is a Yuba ElBoda Boda with my son sitting on the back hanging on. While I would love to make the switch to a cargo bike for most of our trips, that’s just not within our budget. As well as nearly impossible to find in Canada it seems.

Which brings me to our current family cycling solution. I bought an Adams Trail-a-Bike off craigslist for $100, and for longer, mostly flat trips than my son can manage on his own bike, it’s a good solution. It’s heavy, and I miss the rear seat for the lack of added weight (other than the 40-pound kindergartener of course). However when he’s pedalling as well, I can feel the propulsion. I like that he’s doing some work too, which takes the edge off his boundless energy when we arrive home and I’m knackered.

Further downside is I can’t fit a rear rack on my bike when the Trail-a-Bike is attached, and so my cargo is limited by what fits in the front basket.

So until my piggy bank is bursting, and then magically replicates a few times, I’m not sure I’ll be doing the school run by bike for a bit. Though, we have been walking up the Big Hill, and that seems to be working for now. The 25-minute journey one way, though, means I spend nearly 2 hours in transit doing the school run. Not ideal when I’m also trying to get some work done.