30 April 2013

April #everydayonabike Review


April has been the most of the challenging month to ride of the year. I predicted that we could ride to school everyday this month. That prediction couldn't have been further from the truth. The weather was unpredictable all month - with three (THREE!) snow storms that all hit in mid- to late April. Odd stuff.

And yet, there were more photos posted to #everydayonabike this month than in any of the previous months! Here are the stats:

69 photos posted // 29 posted by me // 40 posted by others // 10 contributors
27 days on the bike // 164.5 total miles // approximately $36 in savings in gas

Thanks to everyone for participating this month, including Melissa at Her Green Life

@runbobbierun // @shaggybrownie // @simplybike // @thepirpirlexicon // @emfritz
@frauwein // @cathope // @mrsweichbrodt // @allmybrush // @whatwouldanedwear

I also have some firsts this month, including riding with a bike seat. Thanks to Simply Bike for the opportunity to use an iBert! I'll write a little bit about riding with a trailer versus a bike seat soon. There are positives and negatives to both arrangements. I also completed my longest commute yet - 7 miles one way. And it only took me about 35 minutes to ride, which isn't a bad commute at all - although I was TIRED!


I rode from northeast Denver to a meeting in southwest Denver (proper). I scheduled another meeting on the way home to better utilize my commute time. It all worked out really well and I was able to ride almost exclusively in bike lanes or on streets that are designated bike routes, which makes me a much more comfortable. I did have to ditch the bike trailer when I dropped Benny off at school, which isn't ideal, but at least I could lock it up!

final April ride, just after I picked the trailer up // May #everydayonabike image

I'm looking forward to more spring-time riding. Maybe May will boost more foliage and less snow. Here's hoping. Happy riding!

2 comments:

Simply Bike said...

Looking forward to reading your impressions of the iBert. We just pulled ours out again now that the weather's gotten warmer and I really love it. I agree: there are pros and cons to both systems. But what I've really missed is how interractive the bike ride is with C right up there with me. The other day, she even stuck her arm out and copied me in signaling -- soooo cute!

Looks like you did great for such a crappy month weather-wise. We've also had so much more cold weather than is reasonable for April. I also didn't make it anywhere near my 30 days of biking goal. Oh well, at least we got out there, right?

life's a bear said...

S., I'm actually having a hard time withe iBert. I like that Lila is close to me and she LOVES the seat. But I don't have much clearance so getting on and getting started continues to be a challenge - especially on any kind of a slope. I'm thinking it's my bike and not the seat.

Yes, at least we got out there! I have faith that at some point I'll ride every day of the month. It's been such an odd spring everywhere. Our grass is super green, which is good, but I'm over the cold!