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Bus to the mall, train in the mall

Two Thursdays ago my son didn't have school so I decided to take him and my daughter on a trip to the Southridge Mall in Greenfield. We also wanted to visit the nearby used kid-stuff store "Once Upon a Child" to look for some new shoes. We didn't have the cargo bike so our only option was the bus. Even if I had had the cargo bike though, I probably wouldn't have used it for this outing. I've biked to Southridge Mall before and the route is not pleasant. It's long (~9 miles) and mostly stroads .  The bus that gets us to Southridge Mall is the MCTS #76. The nearest stop is about a mile from our house. This is probably further than many people would go by foot to get a bus, especially when traveling with children, but little trips like this are routine now. My son is getting a little big to sit in a stroller, but he rarely objects. Someday he won't physically fit, but for now, a stroller is just the fastest way for the three of us to take quick trips. I c...

Buses in Every Direction, Running in One

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Point-to-Point A bonus of public transit is it helps build "point-to-point" runs into my daily life (a run where your start and finish are different, as opposed to an "out-and-back" or loop). Last Thursday I went downtown to do some shopping, and rather than "just bike', I did the ol' run 'n' bus. It's always fun to run a route I always bike, like seeing an old friend in a new role. And because I don't like running home with pounds of books and breakable jars, I decided to run the first leg. Also it's downhill. (Slightly). The point-to-point run lets running become transportation. I have a mission ("go from house to downtown") and my own two legs can accomplish it. It's satisfying. To the point where the only way to explain such satisfaction is by appeal to evolution. Our ancestors ran like this. They ran...to go somewhere. To end up somewhere else. Maybe they also ran in loops sometimes, hamster on a track, just to sta...

Not Cargo Bike - cargo stroller!

Cargo Bike Sunday, Feb 8th, I retrieved our Cargo Bike from the bike shop. I had brought it in because snow and slush pushed the belt out of alignment. Another owner of the same model cargo bike remarked that they had encountered similar issues in the snow. Going forward, I will not ride the cargo bike on days where there is a lot of snow and slush in the streets. A little limiting, but nothing tragic. On February 9th, I took my kids to the Domes for the afternoon. This is normally an easy route, but snow in bike lanes and on the Hank Aaron trail made it less pleasant. Unfortunately, we were almost hit by a car twice, once on the way there, once on the way back.  By the time I got home I was very shaken and decided to take a break from riding the bike with the kids. I felt very unwelcome on the roads. Kindergarten Commute This past week I continued to bring my son to kindergarten with a combination of bus and jogging stroller. Starting this year, the #33 doesn't run between 9AM and...