Guest Blog: Two Kids and their Bike Commute

• Posted on 25 September 2017
• By Guest
• Posted in Customer Feature, Guest Blog
• 0

View Point: how two kids use their bikes to commute to and from school in London, Ontario.

This week's blog post is contributed by one of our customers, who has been teaching her kids independence by having them ride their bike to school. They did a little Q&A for the blog and we published it in its entirety. We love this story so much, and hope it encourages other families to start a bike-to-school habit in their neighbourhoods.

This month our kids started to bike to and from school on their own. As a parent it is a leap of faith but we’ve been working up to this moment for more than a year and we knew they were ready. We thought their perspective as bike-to-school commuters might interest London Bicycle Cafe Blog readers so we interviewed them to get their perspective.

How long is your ride each way?

R: “Hmmmm - maybe 15 to 20 minutes depending on if we get stuck behind the train!”

What did you do to get ready to bike to school on your own?

R: We walked to school on the same route with our Mom and then switched to biking.

G: We had to learn how to ride our bikes really well!

What do you like best about biking to school?

G: You don’t have to wait for the bus before leaving school in the afternoon.

R: We have more time after school to get our homework done and do what we want.

What has surprised you about biking to school?

R: We have seen four blue jays and a fire truck.

G: We get to see the high school bus dropping off kids on its way back after school.

What do you dislike about biking to school?

R: It’s hot in the afternoon!

G: Sometimes my backpack is heavy.

What kind of equipment do you need to bike on your own to and from school?

R: A bike and a helmet. I’d like to have panniers to carry my backpack.

G: Gloves and a headband are nice for cool mornings.

What’s your plan if it rains?

R: Take a raincoat and pedal through it!

What do you do to keep yourself safe?

R: We don’t wear earphones while biking. And we have reflectors and lights for dark mornings.

What about when you get to school?

G: There is lots of room on the bike racks to lock our bikes and there is lots of room to store our helmets in our classroom.

How many other kids regularly ride their bikes to school?

R: Maybe 5 to 7 kids regularly ride their bikes. On a good day there might be 10 kids.

G: On a special “ride your bike to school day” there are 20 to 30 kids riding their bike to school.

Thanks to Sarah, R, and G, for the beautiful submission!