Sep 29th, 2008
School days
In a previous post I mentioned the commute to Sylvia’s school. We were very lucky to find a great preschool (a Montessori school) right on the edge of our neighborhood. The school doesn’t have a proper parking lot—just enough spaces for the teachers. Outside the front door is a pull-through driveway, so parents pull up to the door, a teacher removes/replaces the kid from/into the car seat, and off they go.
At drop-off and pick-up times there’s a queue of at least a dozen vehicles. And about 90 percent of them are SUVs. (The other day, all the ones I saw were SUVs.) SUVs that are just sitting there, idling their gas-guzzling engines for five minutes (or even longer, since there are always parents who show up fifteen or more minutes early so they can be first).
So, yeah, I do feel a little self-righteous when I cruise up the driveway (it’s wide enough to accommodate two vehicles, so the half farthest from the door is wide open) on this setup, pick up Sylvia (the teachers bring her out as soon as I show up, probably because I’m easily recognizable as the only bicyclist), and zip on out of there in just a minute or two. We live just under half a mile from the school, and it takes me only five minutes to bike there, so unless the weather is truly horrid or we are running extremely late, I don’t see any reason why I can’t ride there.*
So far, Sylvia and I are really enjoying these little rides together. For some reason, getting her to school in the bike trailer feels a lot less rushed than getting her there in a car, so that’s helped a lot with the stop-playing-at-home-it’s-time-to-go-to-school transition. There’s something really nice about being outdoors early in the morning when it’s still pretty quiet out, too.
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*And I love my bike. It’s a 1992 Specialized Crossroads. It has a little bell and a wheel/human-powered light generator that I got at the Center for Appropriate Transport.
I love the way you get Sylvia to school! How very cool and smart. Being outside breathing in fresh air every morning is a great way to start the day. It’s like a little adventure for the two of you!
That is really cool! Hey, my old bike is a 1994 Specialized Crossroads! I need to get it rehabbed for use on crushed limestone trails.
What fun!
All right!
We didn’t own a car until Impera was over 2 years old. We did all our trekking around with her in a Burley. Bike trailers rock!
I’ve got a Specialized similar to that. Kills my back to ride it more than one day in a row per week or so. Back then, they were just glorified BMX bikes, eh? But, hey… Don’t let the old, grumpy guy get you down on your ride.
Picking up at my kid’s grade school is absolute chaos. Let’s just say that I hope these kids are getting the educations that their parents obviously didn’t. Total lunacy, I tell you.
Although we live about a half-mile from his school, we’d be golden on the way TO school on a bike, but the huge hill on the way back would not be so good — especially with a two-year-old in tow. Major, major bummer.
I still say that he should consider street luging to school. Kinda dangerous, though. ;)
Oh, my friend just started her Montessori teacher training in KY! She is absolutely loving it – I think it’s a perfect fit for her. I can definitely see a school like that being perfect for your family. I hope Sylvia is loving it! I can imagine she would – lots of creative fun, just like home! :)
I love that you two bike together to school. I always wished I were a better biker, but I have terrible balance so bikes scare the #$*% out of me. Oh, well. At least I like to walk….
Do you think you will be able to continue this transport method once the colder weather hits, with a lot of bundling up? Or will you have to resort to motorized vehicles? Either way, kudos for making such a healthy (both for you & for the environment) step! I hope it at least helps a little to balance out all those yucky SUVs…*shudder*