So this morning it was raining. And for a moment I thought, "hmmm . . . maybe I shouldn't ride the bakfiets to town for the first time in the rain." But then I realized that if I copped out now, there'd be nothing stopping me from copping out the next time I felt a wee bit anxious about taking the bike somewhere. And I've made a commitment to myself to only drive if I'm going further than 5 miles. And I had too much to do in town (and was running too late) to walk. So I got to ride the Space Pod version of the bakfiets for our maiden voyage (beyond our neighborhood). 
I picked the yellow color for the rain hood because I thought it would be the most visible on rainy days. It was certainly visible. Everywhere I went, I could feel heads turning. The most common comment (beyond "that's so cool!") was something along the lines of "does it float?" I thought everyone would think it looked wagon-like, but instead it apparently resembles a boat.
And the ride went really well! I felt confident riding in traffic and handling the bike was even easier than it was yesterday. It feels 100% natural now. It would probably feel odd to get back on my old bike; I may never ride it again since the bakfiets is so much more comfortable (I love the upright seating position! Wow).
We first headed over to the La Leche League meeting, and then I made a home visit to a new mom who was struggling with nursing her six-day-old. My friend Katie joked that I should turn the bakfiets into a sort of breastfeeding-help-on-wheels mobile. That does sound kind of appealing. I ended up staying for a few hours at the home visit until I was really sure that mom and baby were breastfeeding well, so Zeb completely missed his nap. Which meant that he got to have his first experience of falling asleep in the bakfiets! And it seemed perfectly adequate, support-wise. He just slumped over to the side, but he wasn't jostling around or anything (I hate it when he falls asleep in the iBert seat). We stopped by the bike shop on the way home to get a rear/side-view mirror installed. I had been feeling pretty naked without one. The bike shop guys were all quite impressed with the bike. They didn't think I was too crazy for having bought it (that was my fear), and said that it was clearly well made, and not gimmicky.
Then I loaded all three kids in and Lena hopped on her bike and we headed over to a potluck a couple miles away. This was my first experience riding uphill with the box fully loaded. I'm not going to lie; it wasn't easy. Riding on any relatively flat surface, I don't notice the weight (97 lbs. empty) of the bike or its contents at all, but hills are a different story. I had to be in first gear, and it was slow-going, and I was absolutely huffing and puffing by the top of the hill (and for the next 15 minutes while I tried to recover). But I never felt like I couldn't do it, and the bike never became unstable due to slow speed or anything like that. However, I may end up changing the title of my blog to "Totally Buff Mama" by the end of the summer.
This bike is already changing my life for the better in so many ways. I can't help but smile when I'm riding it. And all around me people are smiling when I ride past (I think it's a fairly comical sight). I can feel myself getting stronger. I can taste the freedom of being able to go anywhere (even in the rain) without a car, and it's just awesome.
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3 comments:
Glad to hear you're loving it, Lex. I'm Todd from Clever Cycles. About kids sleeping in the bak, in the first month of us owning a bakfiets, a year and a half ago, my then barely 4-year old boy undertook his first sleepover across town, 5 miles away. At 11 pm I got a call that he was crying to come home. It was about 35F and raining. I rode over in the bakfiets with a thick blanket lining the bak, and of course the rain canopy. By the time I arrived, he had fallen asleep. I lifted him gently in his sleeping bag and laid him down full-length in the bak, and we rode home in the cold silent night, lights ablaze in the rain. He never woke up! Here's another happy scene.
Another time, I was riding the bakfiets down a long grade in a drizzle (yep, it's Portland) and saw in the distance coming up the hill one of our customers, also a mother, with her crying baby aboard. Very slowly. I rang my bell and waved heartily in solidarity. Almost immediately she pulled to one side and put the bak on its stand. Mechanical problem? I made to stop and chat as she was climbing into the bak under the rain canopy with her baby. And there she began to nurse her. I was going to take a picture of this beautiful sight, but wasn't sure that would be OK, so rode on. It's a bike with an interior!
I have to admit, I'm a little bit jealous! But, of course am so happy for you and your awesome bike! We definitely will have to check it out soon, and you're totally going to be a rockstar after riding it all summer! :)
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