Despite all of the bicycle and bakfiets love running rampant through our house in the past few months, I had still been having a very hard time getting my Love (aka Lena, my wife) to catch the biking bug. Lena is an especially athletic person, and she's also especially concerned about the environment (she's currently a grad. student in the Forest Resources department, hoping to learn how to save the forests and our planet), so I found her lack of enthusiasm for biking to be especially puzzling. Once Bakfietsy Rose arrived, and I immediately realized how much more comfortable biking was when riding on an upright, Dutch-style bicycle, I knew that this could be the answer for Lena.
On Thursday morning, we went out on a mission to get her a bit of an early birthday present (she'll be 31 in August) and buy an Electra bicycle. The Electra bikes are made in the USA, but they are styled after Dutch bikes in that the rider sits upright with the pedals in a slightly recumbent position. The bike shop we visited had just the Electra we'd been hoping for, and we happily strapped a beautiful, orange, 7-speed "Townie" to the bike rack and drove her home. Lena was amazed at the difference in the riding experience as compared to her old mountain bike. Here she is, trying out the new love with Zeben in the ibert seat (which is a perfect fit on the Townie).
Because of the slightly recumbent pedal position, Lena can touch her feet to the ground even with her legs the correct distance from the pedals. This, along with the upright seating position and the cushy saddle, have helped her to cross the line from biking-resistant to biking-eager. And I couldn't be happier with that outcome.
So, just when we thought our naming woes were over, we have a new bike to name. So far, we've been calling her "Tangerine Jane," but nothing is set in stone just yet. We had a great time riding over to my mom's house for a 4th of July cook-out yesterday. It was so great to look over at my Love and see her smiling while riding her bike. Now we really are a happy biking family.
7/5/08
A New Love
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5 comments:
what a pretty bike! I am contemplating getting an electra...I'll have to talk to Lena about her new one!
Nice to get out and about as a family. We're hoping to get another bakfiets at Xmas so that we can share the school run, but it'll mean we can share the load when we have another baby. At the moment, we end up "negotiating" who gets stuck with an MTB. It's amazing how quickly the sit-up-and-beg position makes you a convert.
BTW, If you want some "flat-foot technology" for the Cargobike, Todd came up with a novel use of the Brompton seat pin extender:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleverchimp/1429704016/
We ordered ours a week ago, but it's yet to turn up. We're going to invert it, as my wife is 5'2", so anything we can do to bring the seat height down is all good.
I love my Townie. I just got one at the end of June. I wish I lived closer to my office so I could ride it to work. I do use it for all my errands in my small town I LIVE in on the weekends. Plus when I get in from work during the week, I grab my helmet and start tooling around my town finding new places. My bike makes me smile and I love it.
For what it's worth, we've now fitted the brompton seatpost extender. It's okay for £10. It's only a slight difference - bit more room for your knees, and the seatpin doesn't need to be so high. Can't say it feels like my feet are any flatter when I stop. If you didn't feel happy on a bakfiets before, I can't see this would change things for you.
While I can't get my feet totally flat on the bakfiets, it's still nothing like riding a regular bike. I don't have to get off of my seat when stopped, my toes are able to support the bike, and I feel quite comfortable. Thanks for the tip, though!
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