#SpokesmamaProTip: 4 Family Biking Route Planning Tools

Not every arterial intersection has a beg button--knowing
where these are will take your ride from frustrating to fun

Do you remember the last time you navigated a foreign city, maybe in another country? You probably had a map, or someone gave you detailed directions to your destination. You may have looked at the transit or rail website, possibly even booked a vehicle or bought tickets ahead of time. Planning is pretty important when you're travelling, I find, especially with children. The same can be said for biking.

Particularly if you're just getting started with riding for transportation, planning your route can make the difference between a great experience & a lackluster one. If you're used to driving, or taking transit, following the same routes with your bike isn't generally a great idea if you want a relaxing ride. I know there are many cyclists out there who will brave the traffic on high speed arterials & highway shoulders, but I'm going to assume if you're visiting a family cycling site like mine you're not one of them.

Even if you have been riding this city regularly for a couple of decades, like me, you'll still benefit from a little planning when you ride with your kids. When I plan my routes, I don't just rely on my mental map of the city. Partly because of all the road work that's happening during the good weather right now, but also because the city has added so many cycling route improvements since I last rode through a given area.

Google is pretty good, but no substitute for the wealth of
mental maps you'll find among the family bikers of this city

1. My first stop is usually Google Maps. When you open the app or website, find where you can show different layers & choose the Biking one. This will overlay a network of green & brown lines that show you where the bike routes are. The green are paved & the brown are unpaved. Be forewarned, however, that Google just lays down a green line whether it's a neighbourhood bikeway (i.e. a traffic calmed road with no protected lane like Ontario Street), painted lanes, & sometimes protected bike lanes (like Dunsmuir, Hornby, the Seawall, etc). Another caveat--Google can be behind on the new infrastructure in your city, so it will occasionally tell you that you can't ride through places like parks or vehicle diverters, which is why step four below is important. The next step is to input the start & end points of your trip for directions & click on the Bicycle icon to give you cycling route info. 
2. Map it. Another option if you're concerned about riding with traffic is to check the PDF or printed bike map for your city. Tranlink has the entire Metro Vancouver area covered, but most municipalities also produce a city bike map (often a paper version that folds into a little pocket sized bundle) with details like where the steep hills are, insets with more information about routing around bridges, etc. These maps will generally also show the different levels of cycling infrastructure, from the all ages & abilities protected bike lanes to the painted lanes, to the sharrows on neighbourhood bikeways. This can help you choose which routes you'll be most comfortable riding.
3. Crowdsourcing information is sometimes the best way to figure out a route. Talk to other parents at your kids' school or daycare, your coworkers or friends who bike for feedback on your route. In terms of online sources for advice on biking with children in Vancouver, your best bet is the Vancouver Family Biking Facebook Group. It's a great place to find out where people like riding on with their kids, & why they choose particular routes. A great example of this is "The Watson Wiggle" which is a route we take all the time, zigzagging from 10th Avenue to 11th, across 12th where there's a beg button, to 15th Ave, then home on the St. George bike route. It avoids crossing Kingsway, which can be a bit dodgy at the best of times, & takes you past quite a few murals to boot! It's not a route that Google would tell you about, but it's a nicer ride & avoids going down & then up some hills.



Unforeseen road work can make a bike commute awkward

4. Test ride your route! If you're planning the ride to school &/or work, try a test ride on the weekend to see how the distance & hills feel. For a better sense of what the traffic is like, try your ride around the same time of day as you'll be commuting, if you can. Riding with a friend, coworker or spouse for your dry run might make you feel more confident in future as well.

Finding resources you like & doing a little work ahead of time is worth the effort, I promise. One last thing to think about is how fast vs. how fun. If you're like me, & you typically just want to get there as efficiently as possible, you're probably thinking about the most direct route. Until we build A LOT MORE protected bike infrastructure on high streets in this city, the most direct route usualy isn't going to be the most pleasant. Look for a route that minimizes hills & avoids high traffic areas. Google will give you a hill profile for your route if you click on the details after getting bike directions--this is super handy for riding with younger children on little single speeds or when you're hauling everyone by heavy cargo bike. Avoiding those hills can mean your route is longer, but much more enjoyable.

Have a great ride & see you on the bike routes! & if you have any other route planning tips & tricks to share, whether for Vancouver, or other cities--leave them in the comments below!

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Bye Bye Baby Seat

Bye Peanut Shell, thanks for the memories!

This week I finally got around to something I'd meant to do for ages: removing the last baby seat from the Yuba Mundo. We bought our Yuba Mundo longtail at the Bike Doctor almost three years ago. At the time, we had one Peanut Shell seat on it for each kid. We soon realized Linnaeus didn't really need a child seat, being well past the stage of napping on the bike & fully able to hold on himself without being strapped in. So around his fourth birthday, we swapped the seat for a seat cushion, foot pegs & his own set of handlebars to hang onto.

Bronte rode in the remaining Peanut Shell for about two years, counting thousands of kilometres, taking many a nap. Until she decided she was far too big to sit in a baby seat. To be honest, we were really reluctant to let her sit on the deck on her own, unsecured, so we put it off & tried to convince her to submit to being buckled in as long as we could.

Then the Bakfiets sort of fell out of the sky (lucky 'barn find' on Craigslist that we had to do a lot of work to) & that was both kids' ride of choice due to the novelty of sitting in front in their own tiny living room, essentially. After a month or two, the kids started to realize that they could each have a cargo bike to themselves (aside from the parent who was pedalling it, of course) so they started riding on the Yuba again. Gradually, we started letting Bronte ride on the deck on her own, first on off road paths like the seawall, then short rides to preschool, etc.

So it was finally time to remove the last vestige of baby gear from our cargo bikes. I'm actually a bit nostalgic about it. We're at the point where all the baby gear is piling up: crib, baby chair, booster seat, baby toys, bike seats, but we're past the baby stage in our family. We need to pass this stuff along to the next family so it gets used, rather than just collecting dust in our garage.

The Yuba, all stripped down to haul "big" kids

So now, here we are with a sleek looking longtail. Well, sleeker than before, anyway--it's still more of a minivan than a sports car. Now carrying cargo with the bags or strapping things on to the rear deck will be even simpler. Towing bikes--which is one of the main advantages of a longtail bike over a bakfiets--will be much easier now without the legs of the baby seat in the way. Probably the biggest difference will be for carrying an adult passenger--it's a lot easier to hop on the back of the bike without a baby seat to get a leg around.

Another thing I got done today was to plan the next Vancouver Family Biking event. Join us April 16th for our third annual Easter Bonnet Ride & Egg Hunt! We'll be donning our craziest Easter bonnets, decorating bikes with bunnies & riding out to Jericho to find some eggs in the grass & have a picnic. You can find more details on the Facebook event page here. Please RSVP on the Facebook event page so we know how many treats to bring to the egg hunt.

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5 Tips for Buying Used Family Biking Gear

Sometimes you can score great deals used: like our bakfiets!

Living in Vancouver is expensive, particularly for families of young children. So it's not surprising that I get lots of questions on buying used biking gear at the ABCs of Family Biking workshops.

Buying used can be a great way to save money, to try something out without committing much money, & to get higher end gear than you could afford to buy new. We've bought family biking gear used & saved (literally) thousands of dollars.

Just like any time you buy used, there are a few things to consider so you get the best deal. Here are my top tips for buying used bike gear for family cycling:


Finding the gear

Used sporting good stores may have child carriers, though the prices are usually a bit higher there. There are generally lots of seats & trailers for sale on used sites or in online forums. If you are looking for something specific but you can't find it, post 'In Search Of' ads in large Facebook Groups, on sites like Craigslist, or in the Vancouver Family Biking group. You'll often get a hit because another family has been meaning to sell their biking gear, but they just haven't gotten around to listing it yet.

Do your homework online first

Maybe you've found an ad & contacted the seller. Do a little research before you actually decide to buy. Get the brand name & model of the product, Google it to find reviews so you'll have an idea of what issues it might have or what other parents liked & disliked about using it. Find out the maximum weight limit. Check the manufacturer's website to see if you can download the instruction manual & check to see what parts should come with it--mounting brackets & bolts for a child seat, all the parts of the hitch for a trailer. Knowing how much it costs new is important--child seats & trailers vary widely & you don't want to pay near new price for a used item. Find out where it's sold new & if you can buy replacement or extra parts like mounting brackets or hitches so you can transfer the carrier from one bike to another, or stroller add-ons for trailers.

A good example of what not to buy: rusty, needs tons of work

Check for damage

When you actually see the used product you're considering buying, look it over for any signs of cracks in the plastic or metal. Rust or bent frame parts are a bad sign too. Check that straps & buckles are functional; however, these can often be replaced or repaired fairly easily & inexpensively, so it may not be a deal breaker for you. Trailer wheels should spin freely & true (look at the wheel from the tire as it's spinning to see if it wobbles).

This post is mainly aimed at buying child trailers or seats. However, if you're buying a bicycle (or even a cargo bike), but are worried you won't know what to look for when you're inspecting it, Sidesaddle Bikes has a great service for this: Ride Review. You can meet the bike seller at Sidesaddle & have their mechanics inspect it thoroughly to find any issues, as well as tell you how much it would cost to repair or change anything on the bike. It's $25 for the full inspection, which will give you some peace of mind for riding with your family.

Test it out

Try to bring your bike with you to make sure the carrier will actually fit. A test ride will help you assess how well it works. If you can't install it, you can at least hold it in position so you get a sense of if the seat will work--if it's a front seat, does it hit you in the chest? Think about how you'll get on & off the bike & how the seat might impact that--front seats with a bar from stem to seat post will prevent you from stepping through your frame, rear seats mean you can't swing your leg over the back, with trailers that clamp onto the frame, check to see if that works with your disc brakes if you have them, or any cables that may come out of the chainstay (in the bottom of the rear triangle of the frame).

When a good deal isn't a good deal

I recommend spending as much as you can on the best gear you can get so that you'll have a better experience riding. It's tempting to save money on buying a big box store child seat for $20 on Craigslist, but they're not a great quality product (typically more flexy which impacts your balance when riding, & often the way they attach to the bike limits your use of panniers or affects how easily you can get on & off the bike. Having poor quality gear may end up turning you off family cycling, or at the very least mean that you have to replace it & spend more money in the long run.

Someone loves her MET kitty helmet

What not to buy used (Bonus tip #6!)

I don't recommend buying used helmets for kids. I won't get into the helmet debate here (for the record I'm 'pro choice' for adults) but since they're legally required for cycling in BC, you'll probably be buying one for your baby. You're very very unlikely to get into a crash with a child seat or trailer, but probably your baby will still be wearing the same helmet when they are a toddler & start riding their runner bike. If you've bought a used helmet, it can get brittle & become less effective in a crash or a fall. MEC sells decent baby helmets for $19--you don't have to spend a lot!

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid some of the pitfalls of buying used. Buying stuff for your child can be a bit nerve wracking, I know, because OMG you are entirely responsible for the health & well being of a small human being. 

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions for making the process easier. I'd also love to hear your stories of buying used family biking gear in the comments below!

This post is the second in a series of tips for family biking. Check out the first one in the series, all about Route Planning for Family Biking.

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Sign up for the Vancouver Family Biking Newsletter

test riding at the ABCs of Family Biking workshop

Confession: I am lazy. When it comes to promoting the Vancouver Family Biking rides & workshops, or sharing information about family biking in general, I tend to do it on Facebook. This is easy & the VFB Facebook group is an awesome little community of parents. But I also meet people regularly who aren't really on Facebook much, or even at all.

Getting the Vancouver Family Biking email list actually up & running is my way of reaching out to a few more people. Whether or not you're on Facebook, if you'd like to receive emails--maybe once a month?--about upcoming Vancouver Family Biking events, possibly some links to other interesting content, here's your chance!
 

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5 Tips for Family Biking Route Planning

Taking a slight detour to visit the "Chicken Channel", our neighbourhood coop

In the ABCs of Family Biking workshops, there is just so much to talk about that we can't possibly cover every single topic in detail. So I've decided to do a series of blog posts delving into the nitty gritty of these family biking topics.

At the first of our workshops, something that many parents brought up was that they were worried about the safety of riding in traffic with their babies & toddlers. Though we have quite a few kilometres of fully separated bike lanes & paths like the seawall in Vancouver, you will encounter car traffic when you're riding in Vancouver. But mapping out your route can really make a big difference.

I have been biking with my children for more than five years now, but I still usually plan out my route when I'm going somewhere new. An example of when I didn't: I recently decided at the last minute to ride from kindergarten dropoff to Staples on Broadway at Birch. I decided to just wing it & ended up crossing Oak at an intersection with no lights, which required some assertive vehicular cycling. Then I had to zigzag through some streets after nearly getting sucked into the black hole of navigation that is Shaughnessy. It all worked out fine, but it just wasn't the usual smooth, relaxing ride.

For families who are new to biking with their tots, this little bit of preparation is even more important. Knowing where you're going & how exactly you're going to get there under your own steam can go a long way to making it a better experience.

So here are my top five tips for planning our your family ride:

1. Google Maps Bike directions. I use this quite a lot when I'm planning my route to a new place. Both the mobile & the desktop version will give you suggested routes with estimated time it will take, plus details like the elevation gain of the route, so you can pick the least hilly path when you're hauling that extra 20, 30, or more pounds of children on your bike. A caveat: Google Maps isn't perfect so sometimes it's worth zooming in on the satellite images to double check if there are lights at any major arterial roads you'll be crossing.
2. Let Google navigate. Mobile Google Maps has the GPS navigator option. Just turn on your location settings & input your start & end points & then click on the blue arrow to have Google tell you when & where you need to turn. Works best if you have a handlebar mount for your phone, but you can still listen if the phone is in your purse or pocket.
3. Grab a map. The City of Vancouver's bike maps, as well as the Translink cycling maps for the municipalities of Metro Vancouver are handy too. You can download the PDFs & zoom in on your phone if you want access to a map without using data. The paper versions are very portable, folding up to business card sized--great if you don't use a smart phone.
4. Follow the Bikeways. Plan your route to include traffic calmed bikeways, along roads with lower speed limits (like those around parks & schools), seeking out separated lanes where you can, &crossing arterial roads at intersections with bike buttons. Though your route might not be as direct as taking main road, it makes for a less stressful ride, generally, when you take, say, 10th Avenue rather than Broadway.
5. Stop & smell the roses. Being able to pull up onto the sidewalk & take a look at something for a minute is one of the big benefits of cycling. If you have time, try to plan your route to allow for a quick stop for the kids. It could be to peruse the books at a little library in your neighbourhood, or to watch the goings on at a construction site along the way, or maybe past one of the spots where you know there will be interesting mushrooms or flowers growing. One of our favourites is to visit the chicken coop when we take an alternate route home from school.

Some day, there will be a lot more cycling infrastructure in this city & we'll be able to just jump on bikes & not really plan so much. But until we catch up to Holland (trust me, I'm working on it!), taking a few minutes to figure out the most comfortable route will make your rides more fun.

Have you got any other tips you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

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CycleHack Talk: Barriers to Family Cycling

Friday I had the pleasure of speaking at CycleHack Vancouver. I was invited to talk about the barriers that biking families face. The goal of the event is to bring makers & idea people together to address some of the barriers that stop people from biking.

I thought I'd share a written version of what I talked about here.



When it comes to family cycling--especially with kids under six--barrier is all the stuff they require. They need enormous amounts of stuff to leave the house: diapers, wipes, extra clothing, snacks, drinks, toys, blankets, even a potty, sometimes. So deciding to bike to your destination, rather than driving seems like a crazy idea.

I've learned that biking is often faster than driving & it's totally possible to live car free with a family. But it's still tough for families to get started--figuring out gear--front seat? Rear seat? Trailer? Cargo Bike?--feels like information overload.

 try to help people overcome these barriers in a few different ways. First is my blog: I write reviews of gear, tips & hacks, upcoming events & recaps of rides, all about how we make transportation cycling & carsharing work with two little kids, & how cycling is awesome.

Second, I organize Vancouver Family Biking group rides. I think that recreational cycling is the "gateway drug" to transportation cycling. I hope by coming on our rides & chatting with other people, families new to cycling will be inspired to get groceries or go to their next appointment by bike.

Third is listening, providing advice, & connecting people when I can't answer a question. Much of this is in the Vancouver Family Biking Facebook group. This group is a great little forum where parents ask questions & share information on things like rain gear, taking transit with bikes & little ones, cargo bikes, and so on.

Fourth, my friend Tonya & I organized the Mount Pleasant Family Biking Festival last year to celebrate family cycling & showcase real family biking setups. We had over 25 families in the show & shine, talking about their seats, trailers, & cargo bikes, as well as offering test rides. We're doing it again this year Stanley Park, bigger & better, on September 24th--stay tuned for more details!

Fifth is education: Tonya & I are providing five workshops on the ABCs of Family Biking this summer, funded by the Vancouver Foundation's Greenest City Neighbourhood Small Grant & supported by prize donations from bike shops & Modo.

There are still a lot of other barriers that I come across that I'd love to see some solutions to this weekend. Here's my list:

Obviously I talk to a lot of families with all the work that I do & the number one barrier I hear people talking about is fear. Riding in & around vehicle traffic with your baby on your bike doesn't feel safe. & when your kindergartener starts riding on their own like mine did a couple of months ago, it's a whole other level.

Another safety issue comes up when using front or rear child seats on a bike. According to my research there's a very very small chance of being injured riding in a seat on parent's bike. It's getting on & off--that's where injuries happen. When it's just one parent balancing a regular bike with one or two children on it mounting can be really difficult.

I've solved this by getting two cargo bikes that have bombproof wide double kickstands. But not everybody has the budget or the space to get a cargo bike.

Front seats don't impede rear panniers, but weight limits are lower, so around three or four years old, you'll need to move your child to a rear seat. Rear seats are often on the rear rack, not usually compatible with panniers. With the weight of groceries, or whatever else you're carrying, plus a kid on the bike, you get the balance problem I mentioned before.

This bike has some cool seats that work great for a four year old & a seven year old. But kids at top of the percentiles for weight & height don't fit seats that will hold them securely. A toddler who still falls asleep on the bike needs to be strapped in but could be past the weight limits of a baby seat. Then there are special needs kids who are older but still need more physical support or restraints--there are few options for these kids & none that are affordable.

Just like anyone who bikes, security is a big issue with family biking, Where it differs though is when you have a cargo bike with a front basket or a child seat on the front. These bikes don't fit well into many of the bike racks around the city. Then there's the issue once all the kids are riding on their own bikes. Locking up one bike not too hard, but locking up four to six bikes means that one parent might be carrying their weight in locks.

The last barrier I'll talk about is storage. When you're going from one store to another or running errands, you can't really leave stuff on the bike, like your tool kit, water bottle, coffee mug, kleenex, diaper bag, grocery bags, or purchases, so you have to drag it all inside when you lock up. My bakfiets has an accessory I can order to create a lockable trunk under the child bench, but that's not really an option on longtail cargo bike or 'normal' bikes.

That's my list! Keep in touch on social media, visit my blog for information on the family biking festival, links to the Vancouver Family Biking Facebook group, & the workshops. Thank you for listening & I look forward to hearing about the Cyclehacks inspired by tonight's talks!

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