Bike lunch date and play date

While I kicked off Bike Month yesterday with a distinct lack of biking (and a car trip at that!), I finished April with three consecutive days on the bike.

Sunday morning I biked to church with Sir for the first time.  The usual timing of services there has not been conducive to biking with him, or really to bringing him at all, but for last Sunday’s ministry fair, they rolled the 8am and 10am services together into a single 9am service — perfect timing for biking there, socializing afterward, and biking back without danger of Sir turning into a pumpkin.

Monday I rode across town to meet Matthew for Gokul’s lunch buffet.  I biked there directly from a dentist appointment, and by “directly,” I mean I was feeling too lazy to backtrack to the route I usually would have taken into Forest Park or to put in the mental energy to figure out another alternative to riding on Hampton Avenue, the most direct route and what I would have traveled without question had I been in car, so I just biked the 2.5 miles north from Chippewa to Forest Park on Hampton.

Most of the time, I only use big roads for short, connecting stretches when I’m driving my bike, but this longer trip worked out quite well (which is rather what I expected when I made my decision).  I pedaled along quite happily in the right lane, while motorists had one to two other lanes to use.

I arrived in good time, and we enjoyed the delicious vegetarian Indian offerings before Matthew biked back to work and I continued on to an appointment.

Tuesday morning, Sir and I headed out bright and early.  We quickly covered the few miles to the playground in Tower Grove Park, where we spent the morning with a friend and her son (and saw another biking mama and son duo).  We also swung by Local Harvest Grocery, where my relatively small purchase of broccoli, rice, and celery pushed my cargo capacity to the max!

After biking in the heat on Monday and Tuesday and the slightly higher mileage of Monday, I didn’t mind a break yesterday, though I would have been just as happy to limit our outings to those we made by foot (the playground and the gym).  However, I’ve been meaning to get BUB in for a tune-up for a number of weeks now.  I’ve been loathe to do so, since it means using the trailer with my other bike, rather than our beloved front seat for Sir until BUB returns.

While a well-maintained bike is ALWAYS important for safety, I am extra conscious of it with a little passenger, so I bit the bullet, loaded BUB on the bike rack, and drove to the bike shop.  I could have BUB back as soon as this afternoon, but since I have another bike to ride, I’ll avoid the one-stop car trip and wait until this weekend when Matthew will be in the vicinity of the bike shop for gardening anyway.

As a final Bike Month note, local blogger Jessica at City in a Jar challenged herself to go car free for the month of May.  She’s inviting YOU to join her, even if for just a day, or heck, a single trip, where you try biking, walking, or using public transit.  So what are you waiting for?  Let’s ride!