Biking to school is national news.
NPR ran a big feature this morning focused on how families in America have to schedule all their exercise, since day-to-day life includes so little physical activity and many neighborhood streets are not safe for kids to play.
So what’s one solution?
Lots of parents across the country have similar hectic schedules, with many spending more time in their cars to ensure their kids get enough exercise. But some are trying a different approach.
Martina Fahrner of Portland, Ore., is co-owner of Clever Cycles. You won’t find any Lycra in her shop; the bikes there are designed for everyday living. One of her favorites is a Bakfiets front-loader from the Netherlands. It looks a bit like a wheelbarrow with a bicycle attached.
“You can literally put eight bags of groceries in there and the kids, and it’s just so much fun to ride,” she says.
Fahrner and her family bike, walk or take public transportation everywhere. For them, exercise is something that happens as they live their daily lives, not something they schedule. Fahrner doesn’t even own a car.
The family biking movement keeps growing.
Comments
One response to “Must Listen: NPR features family cycling and biking to school”
I really enjoyed the contrast between the car family trying to be active and the bike family just living by biking. The story would have been much better if they talked to a family in L.A. biking. Last time we were there we saw loads of people biking on the side street. You don’t have to drive down major streets just to get around and it is nice and flat. We were very tempted to give up our rental car and rent bikes just because parking was a fiasco in itself.