délectation

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~ Ernest Hemingway

During the warmer months, we are rarely indoors. My kids spend most of their time running about the neighborhood and, since they have become proficient cyclists in their own right, hopping on bikes and pedaling to the nearby park or pool. The new found freedom that accompanies a set of wheels has made for some small-scale panic attacks on the part of Dennis and I (like the time that Henry took $5 from his father's wallet and pedaled without consent to the Dairy Queen down the street, or the time Midori took off with her friend, Luna, absent any permission). Without question, however, t he bicycle is the preferred mode of transportation in our home...and with good reason:

According to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle.

Bike commuting is an ideal solution to the need for moderate physical activity, which can be practiced five times a week. A 130-pound cyclist burns 402 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour. A 180-pound cyclist burns 540 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour. (That is assuming you are not trailing two kids, two backpacks, a violin, four dolls, a toy car, a box of figs and some acorns. Adjust your burn accordingly.)

With that in mind, a day of Furuta Family Bike Commuting:

Never let your four year old set up the bike trailer. Spatial reasoning.

Your friends can help ready you. >>>>

The standard Saturday Morning fare: A vegan Tamale from the Boulder County Farmer's Market, followed by a snack on the ride home. Handfuls of Palisade Cherries.