#30DaysOfBiking: Final Week

Yet anothpreschooundo on the streets of Vancouver!

#30DaysOfBiking didn't seem like too much of a challenge when I signed on back in late March, since I have been biking as my main form of transportation for most of the last 16 years. However, it was still a nice little push to get me out the door & onto two wheels on soggy days where I might have taken the bus or just stayed in usually. A good reminder that while rain makes riding less enjoyable, it's still not that big a deal. We don't melt!

I kicked off the last week of #30DaysOfBiking with a seriously bikey weekend. Friday I went to Tandem Bike Cafe as well as the usual preschool runs. If you want to read more about that funky little cafe, here's my review of Tandem (8km). The weather was a bit iffy, but we didn't get too wet. We arrived home from preschool just as it was starting to rain, & mere seconds before a hailstorm.

My favourite pic of my kids so far: in a bobcat

Saturday we biked the kids to the Ocean Concrete Open House on Granville Island, & then home again for lunch & Bronte's nap. Then I zipped off on my own to the Athlete's Village, to head out on one of two big rides organized by my friend Tonya for fellow family biking blogger Madi Carlson's visit to Vancouver. We biked to the Museum of Vancouver, then Locarno & back to the Village, ending up for dinner & drinks at the Flying Pig, popping over to Crackle Creme on Union Street for a creme brulee dessert. I put in quite a few kilometres that day: 38 total.

Sunday was again sunny & gorgeous. I got up a bit early & met Tonya & Madi on Union Street again for a leisurely Stanley Park Seawall loop ride, with a stop at Musette Caffe downtown. Then we met up with a few other members of Vancouver Family Biking to ride to the last day of the Hastings Park Farmers Market. Some of our friends invited us to La Casa Gelato on the way home, where Bronte had her first ice cream cone: chocolate bacon flavour. By the time I was home, I'd biked 42km. I admit, I'm feeling it a bit. 80km in one weekend is a bit more than I'm used to & my butt was wishing I'd worn padded shorts or got a better saddle.

Monday Oliver took Linnaeus to preschool in the morning, so I only rode there & back once (2km). The next day I didn't get on my bike until 9:30pm when I ran out to grab something from London Drugs before they closed. I realized when halfway there that I'd forgotten my bike lock, so I turned around to go home. I realized that by the time I picked up my lock & went back, the store would likely be closed (under 2km).

Meeting up with friends for a morning ride.

I managed to get to London Drugs the next evening, despite again forgetting my lock & having to go back for it. (5km) Thursday was day 30. I'd intended to take the kids out to a park, but by the time we were allawake & close to ready, it was lunch time, then nap time. I squeezed in a quick trip to the library to pick up a book on hold & hit Dairy Queen on the way home (4km).

My total this week was 101km, 80% of that on the weekend. The entire month's total came out to 293km--so about 10km (35-40 minutes) per day if you average it out.

During the month, I learned that my kids are still very tolerant of rain, as long as they're dressed warmly enough. They'll put up with getting a bit soggy on a quick trip knowing that a warm house & dry clothes await us in just a few minutes. I was reminded that unless I'm riding more than ten minutes in a torrential downpour, my longish jacket & gumboots are enough rain gear. Another thing that I was reminded of during #30DaysOfBiking is that riding my bike with friends on a sunny day is pretty much the best thing ever. (& so is the hot chocolate at Musette Caffe!)

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