February #everydayonabike Review

Riding in February has been quite a trip! I have experienced beautiful days (wearing shorts, no less!), snow, ice, wind and just about everything in between. About a week ago, I thought I was only going to miss two days of riding due to weather and out-of-town trips. Then one snow storm hit. And then another hit two days later. It was warm enough to ride today, but the streets are still a bit treacherous.

I broke a few rules this month. To document two of my rides, I didn't post a picture of my bike. Rather, I posted photos of the destination (a fundraiser and a Valentine's Day party). But since I rode to those events, I figured it was OK. And, with the snow on the ground, I have improvised on the days when I couldn't ride. On Monday and Wednesday Lila and I couldn't ride to school to pick Benny up, so we opted to walk instead. And it was really nice. And it's not a bad thing to walk, so I figured I'd include one photo of our walk-instead-of-ride picture.

Despite the challenges of the weather, February was a great month to ride! Here's the review:

45 photos posted // 20 photos tagged by others // 25 photos tagged by me // 7 contributors

Thanks to everyone who contributed this month! Between January and February, 97 photos have been tagged, so I'm well on my way to collecting 365 photos in two short months. 

@runbobbierun // @shaggybrownie // @cathope // @familyride 

@emfritz // @simplybike // @ashleynicoleaddison

Congratulations to @runbobbierun for winning the $10 gift card to Whole Foods. Email me your address and I'll put the gift card in the mail for you!

In the next few days, I'll be profiling a committed #everydayonabike poster. And, I'll introduce the unofficial theme and drawing for March, so stay tuned.

Snowday Schmoday

I have a feeling that my #everdayonabike posts for the remainder of February are going to be pretty sparse. After experiencing a very mild winter so far, we were hit with a snowstorm on Thursday and another one today. We were able to take a family bike ride to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset before heading home.

Side note: Thanks so much to Casey at Life with Roozle for featuring #everdayonabike on her site this weekend! I've been "meeting" so many cool people through this challenge and I'm not even through the second month. Once the weather is more bike friendly, I hope to meet many more.

The snow started on Saturday evening and hasn't let up yet. It's the closest we've experienced to blizzard conditions all winter, but we still attempted some sledding. Lila made it down the hill three times and was ready to call it quits. Benny would have stayed much longer, but we bribed him with hot cocoa. No kid can resist hot cocoa.

After some much needed naps, Benny and I ventured out on his new snowshoes. He only made it to the end of the block, but seemed to catch onto the process pretty quickly. I walked back home with him and then set off on my own hike. The city was so peaceful this afternoon and it was a rare treat to be out by myself, save for a few people shoveling their sidewalks.

We finished the weekend with butternut squash (from the garden!) pizza. I'm a pizza purest (tomatoes, basil, mozzarella), so it was a little out of my comfort zone, but everyone else seemed to love it. Thanks to {never} homemaker for the recipe! Benny and Lila helped me make homemade brownies for dessert.

Typically we don't spend the entire weekend together as a family, but this weekend was a nice change of pace. Although I've been busy with work, I was able to clean the house and make a few decent meals. I was also motivated to finish preparing two lectures, which is something I typically can't get completed over the weekend.

It seems that a snowday was just what we all needed to slow down and recharge.

New Goals, New Bike?

Let me start with a caveat: I like my bike. It's a good bike and perfect for my biking habits. I ride anywhere from 2-10 miles daily - often pulling a trailer. My Cannondale road hybrid is comfortable and fast. Nate gave me that bike for my birthday nearly five years ago and couldn't have picked out a better fit.

However, as I'm biking more and farther (specifically farther), I'm starting to wonder if a new/used, faster bike would be more suitable to my needs. I'm clueless when it comes to bikes and their strengths/weaknesses. Obviously I know that I don't want a mountain bike, but I don't necessarily need a super fast road bike either.

I can schedule most of my meetings within a five-mile radius of my house. When that works out, I'm lucky. But, there's the matter of one of my long-term clients having an office about seven (hilly) miles away. Within the next few months, I'd like to incorporate a bike ride to our monthly meetings. Additionally, although this is only relevant for the next three weeks, the University of Denver is eight miles away. I would still like to ride to class at least once, but riding to and from a night class in rush hour in the dark doesn't sound appealing. So, I'm a bit stalled until I'm assigned a new class in the fall (hopefully).

That's where you come in: For those of you who ride, what would you recommend for slightly longer commutes? I'm hoping to find something used - either at our neighborhood bike shop or on Craigslist. But recommendations are certainly welcome!

February by Bike

Capturing the long shadows of winter // Riding Benny and Lila home from school with Bingo the Bear

Enjoying a new coffee shop away from home // Incorporating a bike ride with a date night

By and large, February has been a fantastic month to ride. So far, I've ridden every day but two (one day was too cold to ride and the other I was out of town). I've discovered that riding in 20-degree weather isn't so bad and riding at night isn't so bad either.

Don't forget, if you want to participate in #everydayonabike, just take a picture of yourself before, during or after a bike ride and post it on Instagram with the tag of #everydayonabike. Do it in February and you'll be entered to win a $10 gift card to Whole Foods.

Bike Nut

Have you noticed that I'm a little obsessed with biking lately? And that might be an understatement. Since starting the #everydayonabike challenge, I'm typically preoccupied in the morning with how I can get on my bike at least once a day (some days I'm able to squeeze in two or three rides). Today I rode to the post office. I didn't have to ride to the post office, but I'm glad that I knocked that errand out of the way. Then Nate and the kids got home at dusk. The temps still hovered around 55 degrees (in February!), so we went for a quick 2-mile ride before dinner.

You can't see my bare legs (you're welcome),
but I'm riding in shorts.  In February.

Having an obsession with bikes has also made me take notice of  stories and other bike-friendly things, like these two articles in The Atlantic Cities:

• You Don't Have to be Superhuman to Commute by Bicycle
• The Link Between Kids Who Walk or Bike to School and Concentration

It's nice to have validation other than my own personal smugness about this adventure. And that it can benefit my kids too, well, all the better.

More exciting news about #everydayonabike soon. Until then, don't forget to post your pictures on Instagram and tag them for a chance to win a $10 Whole Foods gift card! Show me your bike love this month.

Share Your Bike Love

Happy February! Share your bike love this month by posting a picture of your bike on Instagram by tagging it with #everydayonabike.

This month, if you post a photo for the challenge, you'll be entered to win a $10 gift card to Whole Foods. The more photos you post, the more times you're entered into the drawing! Happy, happy riding!