ChiWhoBike #95
This is our Urban Arrow, and we’ve had this since we moved to Chicago. I use it to get my kids around, and sometimes even the two kids and my mom. So it’s our two wheels, but, like an SUV on two wheels.
When we came to Chicago, we had a car with us. And my husband said ‘we’re gonna get rid of the car’, but I was a little unsure about it. Then, a month in, I met this family on a neighborhood playground, and I saw a bucket bike there. So I, of course, asked them what it’s like, biking in Chicago, and I asked, ‘Do you also have a car?’ And when they said they don’t have a car, that was a shocking moment for me. I was like, they have kids the same age as ours, and they can just live in the city without a car. So that really got me thinking, and within two weeks we decided, okay, we’re gonna sell our car.
Some of our friends grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and then moved to another city that is very car-centric. So they never experienced what a walkable city is like, what’s it like to really bike, not for exercise, but for everyday use. I think visiting us changed their perspective about the city and their way of living. When they go back, they sometimes will get bikes, or start seeing urbanism, and we’ll talk more about, ‘yeah, why can’t you have bike infrastructure where you come from?’ There needs to be a change there too. We need to demand this not only in Chicago, but everywhere. We need to have these options and the freedom to choose our mode of transportation.
In winter, my kids are influenced by seeing other kids, the older ones. They have the chance to bike through winter, because every Friday we do the Nettelhorst Bike Bus. And on the bike bus they’ll be like, ‘Oh, it’s cold. We’ll just sit in the bike.’ But sometimes when they see older kids have mittens on, are biking and having fun, they feel like they don’t want to miss out. And next week, they say, ‘I think tomorrow we’re gonna bike.’ Kids get inspired by each other, and seeing other kids can do it, they know that they can do it. Sometimes they’ll be in the bike with their blankets and everything, and are very toasty in there, but if they want to be tough and bike outside, I encourage that.
