A Bicycle Built For Five

Ever since we announced the pregnancy, people have been asking me, "so how are you gonna fit FOUR kids on your bike?!" I had been wondering the same thing. It turns out that the solution actually wasn't that hard to come by. And I came across it quite accidentally when I was trying to figure out a new way to winterize the bike. Todd and Martina, from Clever Cycles, hooked me up with an old dutch kid bike seat of theirs that snaps right on to the back rack of the bakfiets.

Poor Zeb was sick with a fever,
and thus still in pajamas for our trial run.

My original plan when buying it was to use the seat as a place for Zeb to sit (well-bundled) while Luke and Jaz were underneath the rain/wind/weather cover (since it really was too crowded under there for all 3 kids). But by the time the seat got here, Bakfietsy Rose was already snowed-in inside the garage. Still, I knew that the seat would have a purpose someday. And while lying in bed theorizing about it one night, I realized that putting Zeb on the back rack would free up space in the box for another kid.

I'm not completely sure yet about how it will work, but I know that people have put infant car seats in the front of their bakfietsen before, leaving space on the back bench for older kids to sit. In the Netherlands, they actually sell car seat attachments for the bakfiets, so that infant car seats can just click right into place in the box, just like how here in the US, people click them into their cars. I'm doubtful that I'd be able to import something like that, so I've got to figure out a different way to secure baby #4 in the bak. If any blog readers/bakfietsen owners have found a solution that they'd like to share, please do so in the comments section. I'd love to know what has worked for other families.

I took the kids for a quick spin just to see how it felt having Zeben's weight on the back of the bicycle.


It didn't make nearly as much of an impact as I had expected it to, but I could certainly feel him back there. And Zeben loved it, despite the limited view of my behind (in a grass-is-always-greener kind of way, he's always been envious of other toddlers sitting in bike seats on the back of their parents' bikes). What was surprising was how shockingly out-of-shape I felt just biking a small one-mile loop on flat ground! That was pretty depressing. I'm hopeful that it won't take me more than a couple of weeks to get my biking muscles back once I'm able to really start biking again.

the snowy bike path

The rail trail is the only safe way for us to get across the river (to everywhere we need to go), and unfortunately our town has decided that plowing the trail in winter is not a priority. Other towns around us do plow the bike paths, and it's a bit of a heated topic. Cross-country skiiers enjoy skiing on the snowy version of the path, and bring up the argument that perhaps the path's purpose is more for recreation than transportation. It seems to me that there are plenty of places around here to cross-country ski, while the rail trail is the only place for bicycle traffic. And that using a bicycle for transportation is like recreation and transportation all rolled into one!

Regardless, the snow will melt soon enough and we'll be back to bustling out the door earlier in the mornings in order to have time to pedal our way into town. On our bicycle built for five!