May is Bike Month–Halfway Through!–202 miles

This is one of the publicity shots from our new (and awesome) professional futbol club, Sacramento Republic FC. I was lucky to join in the ride (although I’m apparently not very photogenic), and also had a blast riding to the inaugural match ! The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) had two large bike valet stations to service all the riders. It sure was nice to be able to ride to and from the stadium and avoid all the bummers and fees that go with driving and parking. So FC and the Rivercats BOTH have shown themselves to be bike-savvy and supportive of cyclist fans. Maybe the Kings will come around, too…maybe.

So MAY IS BIKE MONTH is halfway over, and it’s been a lot of fun.  We’ve been doing a lot of to-and-fro school riding, grocery shopping, sightseeing, riding with friends, and more.  In addition to getting shirts and buttons and the like, it’s been encouraging to see more and more people riding, as well as to see conversations about cycling-related infrastructure concerns gain a little more traction here in the Capitol City.

Also, it’s been especially good for me to have another reason to kick my own rear end back into gear and ride more.  The past couple months I’ve been giving in to excuses to stay home or even (gasp!) drive the old horseless carriage.  I’m glad to say that I’ve already eclipsed my May mileage total from last year, and we’ve got almost half a month left to go.  Here’s the breakdown:

Total miles I’ve ridden in May (as of 5/17): 202

Miles I’ve ridden with kid(s): 173

Miles baby boy has travelled: 153

Miles big sisters have travelled or biked on their own (combined): 139

Days I’ve ridden and haven’t driven (except to go out of town): 15

I have a handy-dandy graphic that I’m updating to track our daily progress, by the way (it’s at the top of the right sidebar).  I hope you all are having a great bike month!

May is Bike Month–Week #1…85 miles

Week 1 of MayIsBikeMonth is in the books, and it’s been fun, refreshing, encouraging, beneficial, and probably a whole host of other adjectives, too.  I’ve been logging miles (as part of team TINY HELMETS) and keeping a tracker of days I haven’t had to use a car, as well (it’s on the right sidebar of this here blog).  The kids have logged a good amount of miles thus far, too, albeit mostly on the back of my Mundo (which, I guess, involves some work on their parts).  Here are some highlights from the first week:

Loading up on water, granola bars and buttons at the Energizer Station by the bike trail entrance downtown with Elle, Laurie and the kids!

Enjoying the new bike racks installed at McClatchy Park for the kickoff of the Oak Park Farmers Market!

One of the cool things about Bike Month is seeing local businesses actually support cycling. Yellowbill/Magpie, in addition to using a cargo delivery bike, also hooks up riders with discounts on tasty treats. Plus, they catered the big kickoff event at Fremont Park. Thanks!

Kidical Mass (1 of 4 this month!) was a blast as we rode from Belle Coolidge to Fairytale Town. Our little guy is a big fan of Humpty Dumpty, so it was quite fortuitous he was there!

Here’s our commuter group from Oak Park. We had about 20 cyclists meet up to ride to the gathering at Fremont Park, and it was really cool to ride with that many locals, even if it was pretty early.

We had a lot of big morning rides this week, and Little Guy got a wee bit sleepy on Monday…I love how comfortable he is on the bike, and he’s the perfect cycling companion, asleep or no.

If you haven’t logged miles or joined a team, yet, I assure you that it is really easy. And you just may win some sweet prizes and make some new friends and find your next favorite cycling destinations, to boot.

Kidical Mass Special Bike Events for Bike Month!