It will shock no one that parenting is exactly as time-consuming and all-encompassing as everyone says it is. Between working full-time, dropping off and picking up at daycare, and the relentless weekends of keeping my lovable kid entertained while not letting them run head first into danger, my riding time has taken a sharp nose dive.
It was certainly a worthwhile trade-off for the miraculous experience of being a dad and not something I spent too much time thinking about. Then, our kid started at a new daycare around 13 months old. Our original daycare was just a short walk away, but the new spot was closer to a 15-minute drive. We had already been doing some family riding thanks to an e-cargo bike. Plus, the way things work out with morning and evening traffic, going by bike was routinely as fast, if not faster than driving.
I’ll be honest; it took some time to figure out the morning routine. Carrying a toddler, lunch bags, diapers, and blankets, all while pulling a cargo bike out, is up there with other parenting experiences that make you wish you had an extra set of hands (or two). But after a few weeks, it was to the point where going by bike didn’t feel any more stressful than taking the car.
Almost 10 months later, our bike commutes to daycare have become one of my favorite daily activities. This in itself is enough for me to make this endorsement, but I’m a data and performance nerd. This means I can’t help but analyze all the miles I ride. It’s a problem that I’ve decided to live with.
All totaled, riding to and from daycare twice a day, five days a week, has added a healthy five hours of ride time to my week. Sure, it’s in fifteen-minute chunks and on the e-bike, but time on the bike is time on the bike.
The younger, twenty-something bike racer version of myself didn’t count things as a ride unless Lycra was involved, and I pedaled for at least an hour. Having a kid does shift perspective in a lot of ways. But I’m also sharing this personal anecdote because many riders (myself included) have (or had) preconceived notions about what counts as a ride, and I’m here to tell you that if you’re riding a bike, it counts.
I know parents aren’t the only time-crunched cyclists out there, either. I also understand that not all of us live in places that easily accommodate taking up bike commuting. Whether it’s because of distance, lack of safe roads, or lack of bike storage/parking at our destination. I still want to endorse it for those who are considering it.
The extra three to five hours of riding per week have sometimes doubled my riding time for a particular week. Which my inner data nerd loves even if I know it’s not meaningfully contributing to my fitness. Still, as a cyclist, I’m happy to spend more time on my bike.
Test Editor Dan Chabanov got his start in cycling as a New York City bike messenger but quickly found his way into road and cyclocross racing, competing in professional cyclocross races from 2009 to 2019 and winning a Master’s National Championship title in 2018. Prior to joining Bicycling in 2021, Dan worked as part of the race organization for the Red Hook Crit, as a coach with EnduranceWERX, as well as a freelance writer and photographer.
