Bicycle Coalition member Dave bikes with his two children to school and day care.

How long have you been biking to school?
I’ve been taking my daughter to some kind of school, pre-school, or day-care since she was one year old (and could 1st wear a helmet).

Why did you start?
We’ve been lucky to be in care situations that have been within a mile or two of our house. When we started, the distance was kind of too far to
walk in a reasonable amount of time (and still get to work), and too close to drive without feeling like we were killing the planet, wasting money, wasting gas, etc. The bike seemed like the perfect fit. The flexibility you gain is incredible.

What’s one fun story from your journey to school?
My chain was getting pretty old and worn and I just hadn’t gotten around to replacing it. It wound up breaking about 3 times in the course of about 5 weeks, luckily every single time after I had dropped off the last kid at school. One day, it finally happened. A block and a half from my
daughter’s school, the chain snapped right in the middle of an intersection. My daughter, the 1st grader said, “Uh oh”. My son, the pre-schooler didn’t really understand what had happened and kept saying “Go daddy! Go! C’mon dad!”. I was too frustrated to say anything, so my daughter walked beside me and my son got a “push ride” the rest of the way like royalty while continually trying to explain to me that I should be pushing on the pedals.

How does walking/biking to school impact your ability to get to work?
It fits in perfectly. I can drop each child off at school and be downtown in minutes, literally. With the changes to Market St., it’s not even
stressful, it’s like Sunday Streets every morning.

What advice would you give to other parents interested in walking/biking to school?
Try it! The kids love it, you’re not dependent on bus or train schedules, or finding, or paying for parking, plus, parents are always looking for some time in their day to get all the amazing benefits of exercise, it’s right there for the taking. You also get to spend time outside with your child every day, that’s priceless.