Biking While Pregnant

I am now three weeks away from my due date. We get asked two questions very regularly:

1. Are you still biking?
2. How are you going to get around after the baby comes?

Yes, I am still biking. Just yesterday I biked about five miles to the science museum and back with the kids. Most people seem very impressed by this news, but seriously, don't be impressed for the following reasons: a) I bike very slowly, b) Tommy rides his own bike frequently now, which takes 60 pounds off my regular load, and c) It's actually easier to bike than to walk at this point. I waddle around while walking, but I can sit up tall and forward while biking, which is actually pretty comfortable. Plus, biking is built-in low-impact exercise that makes me feel good for the rest of the day.

33 Weeks

And, let's be honest, we are only biking 2-3 days per week now. As the weather gets colder and wetter and it gets dark earlier and earlier we tend to bus and stay home more anyway.

37 Weeks: Big Belly!

Tommy biking home from a homeschool group activity. This kid is the BOMB! He beats me up all the hills.

So, on to the next question about how we are planning to get around after the baby comes.

Our plan is simply to walk and bus everywhere we need to go. We are not planning to buy a car at this point. We looked into it, weighed our options, and decided that we simply just don't want a car. Period. It's not a matter of finances anymore, though the savings are sweet. Carfree living is a lifestyle we have come to love and value. We have been carfree for nearly three years now and we see no reason to get a car at this point. If we lived further out from the city we would probably consider it, but since we live right in the city with a bus stop right in front of our apartment building and at least two other major lines within walking distance, we see no reason to.

I have a friend who put it this way: "You can always get into more debt." If we find that carfree living isn't possible with a baby we'll go out and buy a car. Simple.

Biking will be out for the most part for about one year. The baby can start riding on the bike when she can hold her head up with a helmet on, which will be somewhere around 11 or 12 months old. Ben will continue to commute to work via bike and we will continue to do our grocery shopping with the cargo bike as well. (Just on the weekends now so one of us can stay home with the baby.)

Our next task is to get this baby to come out and play. Stay tuned...