onemomtwokidsnocar

Our Xtracycle is here!!! I love it, so so much. It arrived a couple of days ago, and the first night riding was challenging - managing balance with three people on the bike was hard, especially up inclines. But I've gotten so much better since then, and I've decided that for now I will take the streets with their slow inclines rather than the beautiful but hilly bicycle trails. This bike definitely gives that 'Wheeeee!!!!!' feeling. Here we are on it, on our first ride. I know the 2 year old is not strapped in tightly enough - she was so terrified that it was all I could do to get her into the seat. Thankfully within half a block she was a convert and is now thrilled to go in 'red seat.'

And here is our rig on its own:

I was kind of horrified at how much this bike ended up costing. And I lock it with two locks *and* I have theft insurance for it, because otherwise I think I would be too jumpy to really use it to go everywhere I want to. But it is amazing. They say it is a great way to replace a vehicle and I get what they mean now. It is so much fun to ride, and I can carry tons of groceries and all our swim stuff in the panniers.

In related news I called my car insurance company and took my policy down to fire and theft, effective August 9th (I am driving my car in lieu of a rental to an out of town gig on August 8th). I can call and get the car back to driving status with 24 hours notice, but the kicker is that there is a 45 day period during which I am committed to keeping it at fire and theft. So I can't drive my car from August 9 until at least Sept. 24th. Which means I will have two weeks of being back in the swing of school and daycare to see whether I can go without the car entirely. I'm kind of freaked, kind of excited. Two weeks is definitely manageable. I *can* do it. Whether I will enjoy doing it, or be willing to do it for one nanosecond longer than two weeks, remains to be seen.