Family Pedals

In celebration of Bike Month, I am releasing a bonus episode! Bloomington's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, Beth Rosenbarger, joins me to talk about how she started bike commuting, her role in the City, and details about Bike Month--both locally and nationally. I hope the episode inspires you to participate in your community's Bike Month and connect with other cyclists. And if you're local, be sure to come to the Ice Cream Ride...

Gillian Burgess and I chat on Episode 19 all about family biking in Arlington, Virginia. She shares both how she became involved with her city's Bicycle Advisory Committee and how she started hosting Kidical Mass rides. She is a wonderful example of how important (and doable!) it is to get involved in your community. See below for links to all of the bikes, organizations, and resources we mentioned:

• Find Gillian on Twitter
• Bakfie...

Aaron Powell is the owner of Bunch Bikes, formerly known as Urban Tribe Cargo Bicycles. We first chatted in late February, but I held off on releasing the episode until now so he could share the new company name and the reasons behind rebranding. I love that Aaron saw a need for a different type of bike in the American market and went out and created a company to fill that need. You’ll hear how he started biking for transportation,...

Today I’m welcoming my friend Leslie Lilly to the show. She and I met through a group she created in Austin: Babes with Babes on Bikes. Every week, the group would ride to park or other kid-friendly attraction. It was a great way to explore the city and meet other like-minded families. You’ll also hear about her family’s experience spending a year living on the road, exploring the States by bike. If you’re like me, by the end you’l...

Kerry Waldman has been riding and working on bikes for most of his life, and now shares that passion with his daughter through their cargo biking adventures. Last year Kerry created the Cargo Bike Republic Facebook group--a judgement free place to ask questions and share inspiration about family biking. It's a group for everyone in the cargo biking community--the families who ride them, the companies that create them, and the mecha...

Natanya Bittman joins me for Episode 15. She and her husband are exploring the feasibility of selling their second car and being a one-car family in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. To make that change possible, Natanya is using a bus/bike combination to drop her son at daycare and take herself to work. I love her enthusiasm and determination, and hope you are inspired by her story. Check out all the resources we discuss below:

• ...

Last year the Maceira family went from two cars to one. After a positive experience with that change, they sold their second car and are now living car-free in Roseville, CA. Jessica joins me on the show to share how they are faring one-month into the adventure. We chat about how and why they made the switch, what has surprised her most, and what her three kids think about the new lifestyle. If you've been wondering what the first ...

My friend Savanna joins me to talk about biking with her two young boys, how electric assist has changed her biking life, and the work of the Yellow Bike Project--a community bike shop in Austin, Texas. It's where I first learned how to adjust brakes and an amazing place to learn how to fix your own bike. Here are links to all the great resources Savanna mentioned in the show:

• Cetma Cargo Bikes
• Park Tool
• Big Blue Book of Bicycle ...

Yuba Bikes founder Ben Sarrazin joins me for Episode 12. He shares what inspired him to create the company, how the bikes have evolved over the last decade, and his thoughts on cargo biking both here in the States and abroad. I know there are many Yuba owners in the Family Pedals community (my family included) and I hope you enjoy learning a little more about the company and the person who started it.

• Yuba Bikes
• Bicycle Mobility ...

Bill Brodegard joins me in Episode 11 to share how his family's "bike year" is going. Last spring they sold their car and committed to the adventure of a car-free lifestyle for one year. He talks about what he has discovered through the project, whether they will continue once the year ends, and his theory about how life is like slicing tomatoes.

• The Bike Year
• Check out their homemade, duct-taped bike ...

Rachel Jonat, founder of the Minimalist Mom blog, joins me for Episode 10. We chat about her experience with active transportation in very different locations: Vancouver, on the Isle of Man, and now in small town British Columbia. She illuminates the unexpected benefits of cycling in a smaller city and the ways in which active transportation is supported differently there. Below you'll find links to everything we mentioned in the s...

Dave Cohen, the founder of Vbike, joins me for Episode 9. We have a wide ranging discussion that covers Vbike origins and role in the community, how electric bikes can help mitigate poor infrastructure, ways bike shops can cater to a wider clientele, the dangers of automobilism, and how biking can engage our senses and create a deeper sense of connection to the world around us. If you are interested in hearing more about the concep...

Lindsay Bayley is a planner for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. She joins me on the show to talk about how she became car-free, how parking policies affect livability, and how to get involved at the local level to support active transportation policies. See below for all the resources we discussed in the episode.

• The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup
• Victoria Transport Policy Institute
• Charles Marohn from...

Elsbeth is back for another episode, this time talking about her business--Four Star Family Cyclery. She shares what they do (cargo bike rentals! mobile service! no mansplaining!), why she started the business, and what it's like to be a woman in a male dominated industry. Be sure to listen all the way to the end to hear her thoughts about the freedom her family's gained from the limits of life without a car.

Check out the shown...

Elsbeth Cool was car-free for years in Chicago before becoming a cargo bike enthusiast and now owner of Four Star Family Cyclery. In this episode she shares how she went from walking and using public transit to riding all-year round. We have a great conversation about the evolution of her biking set-up, her advice for biking through the winter, and how she handles the curiosity and judgment that comes with biking as a family. Tune ...

Lisa Corriveau--aka Spokesmama--joins me for Episode 5 to talk about living car-free in Vancouver, British Columbia. She shares how she started cycling, how her family uses car-share, which cargo bikes she prefers, and how she advocates for active transportation both through her work teaching cycling classes and as a member of Vancouver's Active Transportation Policy Council.

To find links to everything mentioned in the show, he...

Mark Stosberg joins me for Episode 4. He lives a car-lite life in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife and two kids. In addition to riding all over town, he regularly goes bike camping with his family, including a ten-day tour of Southern Indiana in the summer of 2016. He is writing a book called Let's Go Family Bike Camping that will include stories from his many trips, detailed gear explanations, and tips for making these adventure...

My friend Caitlin Macklin joins me for Episode 3. She is a parent, teacher, and active transportation enthusiast living in Austin, Texas. We discuss how she's learned to be flexible and creative when facing physical injuries that have kept her off her bike, how she created a car-sharing arrangement with another family down the street, and how she moved her schoolhouse to its new location via bicycle.

I would love to hear your f...

In episode two I interview Chris Wharton. Chris and his family live in Gilbert, Arizona--a suburb in the sprawling Phoenix metropolitan area. A few years ago he sold their second car and began incorporating more utilitarian cycling into his everyday life. We touch on a variety of topics including:

• How and why they became a one-car family
• How he travels with his two kids by bike
• How he has fostered a love of cycling in his chil...