I am saving up for a bike. The boys and I usually walk to the garden, the park, library or to our friends' houses. I use a big double stroller to transport Avery, our 3 year-old, and all the cargo and family ephemera. Julian, 7, rides his scooter and walks. Walking is great, but SLOW. We  are perennially late because I estimate our walking time very optimistically! Also, I ration book choices at the library because I am very aware of the cargo capacity of the stroller- it's not great. 

Since we've moved into town, I try walk to our destinations whenever possible, both for the environmental/health/financial/FUN benefits, but also because my car is dying a slow and ugly death that has so far involved two transmission replacements. When I am sitting in my car at a stop light, I am never totally sure that my car will GO again when the light turns green. It stinks. I have been seriously (and, ahem, obsessively) researching bikes and cargo bikes, how families transport their kids and what's safe, gets good reviews and does not cost thousands of dollars.

The first bike I am looking at is a Madsen Cargo cycle. I think it would meet our needs and I like the way it looks. (I love the light blue, but would probably go with the black.)

I swiped this photo from the Madsen site, go there to see more.I also really like the xtracycle Radish though as it was the first cargo bike I seriously considered.

I swiped this photo from the xtracycle site, go there to see more.

In the Madsen's favor, I like the security of Avery sitting down in the bucket with a seatbelt instead of perched up on the snap deck of the xtracycle. (I think I would have to get some kind of seat to strap him in, he's not big enough to just hold on.) Also, tossing cargo into the Madsen tub seems less fussy than strapping everything into the saddlebags of the xtracycle. (I can picture my kids running away/running wild as I fuss with buckles and straps at the farmer's market...) BUT, I love the looks of the Radish and all the functional accessories that you can add to it. AND once my kids were bigger and riding on their own, the Radish would probably be more functional as a cargo-only bike. I could get hooks to attach Julian's bike to mine so if he gets tired and he can hop on the snap deck and ride for a bit. 

In fact, what to do with Julian is one of the things that I am most uncertain about in this switch from walking to pedaling. He is learning to ride a two wheeler, but is not road-ready yet. (I don't know if I'm road ready yet!) He would probably be dang heavy to just sit and ride in the back and he would not be burning off any of his extra energy- I would be doing all the work! I have researched the tag-a-long bikes and I am not sure about them, especially since I would have to attach them to a regular bike. I have one but it's an old Wal-Mart special that doesn't shift really at all. I have seen people attach a tag-a-long to an xtracycle, but I'm not sold on that set up. (Plus, where would Avery sit then?)

So. I am not really sure what to do, but it's moot at this point, I only have a couple hundred bucks in my bike fund! I have a big pile of stuff to list on e-bay and I am hoping that will add to my savings. Meanwhile, I am going to keep reading up on families who bike- here are a couple blogs I have been enjoying (they both had super-funny April fool's posts!!) 

Totcycle

Car Free Days