After an exhaustive search for a good city bike for my son, I have concluded that kids bikes in general are in a sorry state. Either they are poorly constructed and will last only a year or two or they are overengineered and just not equipped for a city-riding kid.

By the looks of the offerings on the US market, it appears bike manufacturers think that kids mostly go off road and need mountain-type bikes, or that all kids need is a way to cruise around their cul-du-sac with no gears and just foot brakes.

But my family typically goes by bike year round and in most any weather. My son needs a bike that will get him to school and back with his stuff and not spew a line of wet road goo all over his back. He needs a bike that is comfortable to ride. He’s not careening down the side of a mountain -- he is getting around by bike in Portland like many other civilized citizens do.

We wanted to outfit Griffin with a bike that would support his love of riding, a bike that would inspire him and take him not just where he wanted to go but get him there in style.

Here's a rundown of the hard-to-find features we were we looking for:

- Upright riding posture
- The right gear ratio for hills and flats
- Disc brakes
- Chain guard
- Fenders
- Rear rack
- Integrated lights

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After an extensive search, I found that there are two viable options for getting a good city bike for your child.

The first, less expensive, option is to find a suitable, basic bike on sale and cobbling together accessories (these can drive up the cost) that fit a child’s bike frame.

A friend gave me the lowdown on how she and her husband put a bike together for her daughter along these lines. They couldn’t find anything out there that came close to what they needed, so they put it together themselves.

The Marin Hidden Canyon

They wanted a bike with 24” wheels and the right gearing to get up and down the Interstate hill to North Portland. No bike was just right, but several came close. They looked at the Gary Fisher PreCaliber, the Specialized Hot Rock and the Marin Hidden Canyon. They finally went with the Marin and found a year-end model on sale. They traded out the knobby tires for city slicks, added lights, fenders, a rear rack, and panniers. Through savvy shopping, they kept the price of the entire set-up down around $300.

One BikePortland reader found a bike for his son at a garage sale for $20, then hit the bins at the Community Cycilng Center and elsewhere for an affordable, practical, and "fast" bike.

Spotted this Batavus kids bike
in Clever Cycles last week.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The second option is to go with a bike that is fully outfitted at a more expensive up front cost, but that will ideally be passed down to a second child or hold its value for resale.

When we started our search, this is what we were after -- a bike that came with all the stuff we wanted. We looked at a ton of bike shops in Portland but none offered the all-in-one solution. We even considered getting our son a folding bike. But somehow that just didn’t feel like the right thing (even though from a practicality standpoint it was a brilliant idea).

The closet thing we found was the Trek FX, a good, solid, all-around bike for kids that is new on the market and has just now become available at Bike Gallery. It still didn't come with all the features we wanted, but it seemed the easiest to build on.

The Gazelle Shark

We were almost ready to put the hammer down and buy it when on a ride home from school we noticed a very cool kid's bike parked at a local school. It was a Gazelle Shark, imported from Holland.

I had heard about the Gazelle brand from BikePortland's reports on Interbike and was interested to check them out. I discovered online that Clever Cycles was starting to carry them in Portland.

The one potential downside is that the Sharks are 3-speed bikes. But my son has never dealt with gears at all, and I think this will be a big enough change for him right now. The gears are chosen for varied terrain, and should be fine for our most traveled routes in the city.

It is a spendy bike at $700.00. But it comes with everything -- and it’s an investment we think will hold value and give us some options for our younger child who will be needing a bike of her own in a few years as well. Of all the items on our ideal wish list, the only thing it doesn’t have is a bell, but I am sure we can figure that out.

What has been your experience with finding a good city bike for your child?

- A year ago we wrote about the stark difference between the kids' bikes available in Europe and the United States
- Want to learn more about bicycling with kids, from infancy to independence? Check out the rest of Marion Rice's Family Biking columns

Griffin and dad test riding the FollowMe.
(Photos © J. Maus)

My son Griffin is seven and has begun riding strong on his own bike (see my column about navigating that all-important first bike purchase).

Though he's making great strides with riding independently, Griffin still lacks the experience -- and sometimes the focus -- to ride on busy streets without causing his parents mild heart attacks. And though it's yet to happen, we do at some point expect him to tire out during a longer or hilly ride. We haven't had a foolproof backup plan for getting all of us and our bikes home in case of a meltdown.

The attachment is light weight
and snaps on securely.

The FollowMe is a new product designed to help parents bridge this transition period between when a child needs to be toted around on someone else's bike and when they're able to ride independently anywhere and everywhere. It's a device that attaches to the back of an adult's bike and can be folded out to hitch onto a kid's bike's front wheel -- and both adult and child can ride off together, with or without the kid pedaling along.

My husband and I borrowed a FollowMe from its local purveyor, Clever Cycles, for a five-day road test, from Thursday through Monday, riding with all possible configurations over a variety of city terrain.

Our family does have experience with ride-along bike attachments. For the past year, when he hasn't been on his own bike, Griffin has been riding mostly with his Dad using the Burley Piccolo attachment; prior to that we used the Novara Afterburner.

We have been very happy with the Piccolo (which Burley appears to have begun producing after a hiatus). It can be quickly attached and unattached, is very stable, handles turns well, and allows my son to shift through seven gears. We both like it much better than the Novara Afterburner, which often was a pain to put on, wobbled on the road and frequently shifted out of alignment.

Enjoying the ride!

Though it is a bit spendy at $399, we did find that FollowMe offers a perfect solution to our transitional challenges. Griffin can ride his own bike alongside his dad on quiet streets, and then ride attached to dad for trickier stretches. The FollowMe with Griffin’s bike on board feels very much like the Piccolo—very stable, securely connected and about the same weight. Without the kid’s bike, and with the arm and strut folded up onto the rack, my husband's bike felt just like it always does.

There’s a three-step procedure with the Follow Me for putting on or taking off the kid’s bike, which seemed cumbersome the first time but became quick and easy with repetition. Quick hard turns of more than 115 degrees might cause binding with the kid’s bike on board, but the only time my husband experienced this was when maneuvering the two attached bikes out of the garage; the issue did not come into play with actual road use.

Basically, the FollowMe is a great solution for that transitional stage when your child is becoming a sole cyclist but may not be ready to go it alone under all conditions. It's easy to use, lightweight, and does wonders for a parent's peace of mind. And I suspect it may allow a child to progress faster by not being restricted to short, easy rides on his or her bike or always being towed by mom or dad.

A reader contacted us with a dilemma -- she is about to have her first child, she doesn't own a car, and she travels primarily by bike. In preparing for her new life as a parent, she had some questions.

Is it safe to ride with a newborn? Is it legal? Are there important age benchmarks she should know about? She was particularly concerned about the impact of vibration on a child's brain development.

Unfortunately for this mom and many others, there is a distinct lack of information, research, or even observable norms with regard to child bicycle safety in the United States. Child carrying devices for cars are heavily regulated, tested, and their use and effectiveness researched. But bicycles are a whole different beast, and standards developed for carrying children at freeway speeds, in heavy car traffic, in enclosed vehicles with serious shock absorption simply don't apply.

The law is not entirely clear either. Here in Oregon, children under 16 are legally required to wear a helmet. For more on that law, I asked Caroline Forell, a lawyer at the University of Oregon. She responded,

Hau Hagedorn attends to
3-month old Hendrik
in a bike trailer.

"ORS 814.485 doesn’t say anything about how they go by bike – in a seat, in a trailer or in a bakfiets, etc. – but it does specify that the child must wear state-approved protective headgear when they are carried on a bicycle."

She adds that if a parent is caught carrying a helmetless child by bike, he or she "can be fined twice; once for the failure to have protective headgear on their child, and another time for endangering their passenger, by not having them wear the protective headgear." (ORS 814.485 and 814.486, respectively.)

This brings up a dilemma: It is legally required to put a helmet on your infant (no matter how small) but no helmets on the market are sized for infants. Not only that, but it may not be safe to put a helmet on them to begin with.

Kids of all ages love to ride
in front loading cargo bikes.

I posed this dilemma to Dr. Tord Alden of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He explained that having infants wear a bicycle helmet when they are reclined in an infant seat pushes the head forward, flexing the neck and tweaking the spine out of alignment, which puts the baby at risk for cervical trauma and even airway blockage in extreme cases.

The Bike Helmet Safety Institute (BHSI) (the helmet advocacy arm of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association) provides a comprehensive resource of arguments for universal helmet use, including a page on bicycling with young children. Voluntarily acknowledging that the issue is an "alarmist" one, BHSI recommends that parents do not take children under one year of age on a bicycle, primarily because of concerns about crashes.

Dr. Alden thinks the real issue is elsewhere, however. "I know biking is safe," he told me in an email.

"It's not about crashes at all, it's about the potential for repeated mild trauma to the brain because of bumps associated with everyday road conditions. What is undocumented is what is happening to the brain during the bumps. Think of the movement of a bobble head doll in slow motion — that’s what may be happening to the brain in the skull inside the infant’s head after some big bumps."

"Neurodevelopment is critical during the younger years. An infant’s brain is a bunch of neurons, uninsulated wires, if you will. During the first year the infant is developing the myelin sheath, which insulates the neurons and sets the stage for all the development and learning that the brain does next. If you had to pick a time when it is most important to protect the brain from excess vibration or bumps and jostling about it would be during that first year after birth."

But when exactly is it safe to ride with your infant? And what do parents do in countries where family biking is the norm?

For perspective on those questions, I asked two biking dads from Europe.

Juli Maus demonstrates the
baby-in-a-backpack method.

Micon Schorsji, a dad in Holland, said that the conventional wisdom over there is that it’s probably not a good idea to take infants by bike until at least nine months old.  “I remember that with both our daughters, we had done some trips by bike when they were younger than nine months. We used a Baby Bjorn carrier. But of course you are not very flexible with a baby attached to you and it felt a bit dangerous, so we used this carrier more for walking. Sometimes you do see parents moving their infants in a car seat installed in a bakfiets, but it’s a rare sight."

Mikael Colville-Andersen lives in Denmark with his two young children and is author of the blog Copenhagenize (where he frequently speaks out against helmet laws).

In Denmark, Colville-Anderson said, children must by law be secured on a bike, but laws do not mention age. "You simply don't think it about it," he said, unlike in the United States where bicycling is seen as a dangerous sport. "There are roughly 35,000 cargo bikes in Copenhagen alone. 25% of all families in Copenhagen with two kids have one. So the preferred way of transporting babies is in a cargo bike or, when they can sit, in a bike seat." These bikes, he added, generally have wide, soft tires which absorb impacts and vibration better than the bikes U.S. riders are used to.

Colville-Anderson added that safety doesn't stop with a helmet, citing a new study that found that you inhale more carcinogenic particles inside a car than on a bike path adjacent to car traffic.

Danica Maus took her first
trailer ride at about 4 months.

Meanwhile, in Portland, parents continue to navigate carfree transportation with the help of the limited information and cultural knowledge out there. Jeff Cropp, a carfree dad with a four month old, is still waiting a few months. "We have chosen to hold off until Colin is at least six months old, and probably more likely in the range of 9 to 12 months."

"We'd love to start riding as a family sooner," he added, "particularly since it would be the easiest and most convenient way to get places outside of our immediate neighborhood. However, there are too many unknowns about whether riding in a bicycle at this young of an age would be detrimental to his physical health."

[Publisher's note: This article is by our Family Biking columnist Marion Rice. Marion's last two columns have been about biking while pregnant. Today she talks about negotiating a first bike purchase with your child.]

Starting at about 10 years old, I can remember going everywhere on my bike with my group of friends on the weekend. We would pack lunches and take off for points unknown. Of course we would have to bring a dime or two to call home and check in with our parents during the day. Sometimes we would call to beg for a ride home after having biked a good 20 miles away.

For kids, like adults, custom touches are key.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Joining the family cycling pack or being able to go out on your bike with friends is definitely a rite of passage. There are many ways that bikes find children to ride them. If you are thinking about purchasing a new bike for your child this article is geared to help you navigate that process so your child gets the right bike and everyone has a good time.

There are so many things for parents to consider when purchasing a road worthy bike, safety, quality, price etc. The first road bike you get for your child ought to be something he or she will have for a few years and something sturdy and reliable enough to get them where they need to go safely, with or without you.

The way I see it, there are three components to buying a child a bike: the things that the parent cares about, the things the child cares about, and the way parent and child negotiate the purchase together.

The Things The Parent Cares About
As parents we care primarily about safety and quality. We want our child to have a bike that provides them a sturdy and safe ride and allows them to keep up with us at a moderate pace.

There's a bike out there for
every level and style of rider
(Photo © J. Maus)

The main thing is to avoid saddling your child with too much, too soon. We don’t want the bike to be too big or too small. Too many gears might not work for a young, inexperienced rider. Coaster (foot) brakes are easier than hand brakes for many kids.

Some bikes come with the ability to adjust the pedal radius to accommodate changes in the riders’ leg length. This is a nice feature if you want the bike to grow with your child.

Definitely make sure to get a good bike bell and front and rear light. You may also want to purchase fenders that fit the model you are buying so your child isn’t soaked after a ride in the rain.

It’s true; you get what you pay for. If you want your child’s bike to last more than a year, don’t buy a bike from a big box store. Spend the money and get something dependable that will last and still have some resale value or can be handed down.

The Things The Child Cares About
The things that matter most to our kids may not be at the top of our list, though we still care about them. For instance, I would not choose a bike in a color I didn’t love, and neither will your child. Be prepared to have this matter.

Kids don’t want a bike that doesn’t fit right and is scary to ride. There is a balance between getting a bike that fits them now and a bike that still has room to grow. If the bike is too small, you'll be shopping for a new one before you know it. If the bike is too big your child may feel uncomfortable on it and have trouble controlling it, which will not inspire the best riding experience for either of you.

Accessories are a great way to individualize and customize a bike. There are so many cool things out there for kids -- bike bells, horns, streamers, spoke cards, baskets, and fancy helmets. All of these things can help a child express their own personality through their bike and make it uniquely their own.

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Negotiating the Purchase Together
Some parents surprise their child with a bike and avoid this issue altogether. I think for children five and over, negotiating the purchase is a good learning opportunity and important part of getting a bike they will love, want to ride, and will take care of.

As the parent you are in control of the process and manage the decision, but that doesn’t mean that you decide which bike to buy; it means your job is to help your child decide which bike to buy. Some strategy and preparation can help make this joint decision go smoothly.

It feels good to have
a bike you love!
(Photo © J. Maus)

Do some investigating on your own beforehand. Find a couple of bike shops that you feel has choices you would be satisfied with. If you take your child into a store and you don’t know the selection, chances are they will find the one bike you absolutely don’t want them to get.

Get your child involved in the purchase. Before you go to the bike shop, sit down together and make a list of things each of you thinks the bike needs to have. Then star the items that are must-haves. At the bottom of the list make sure to write down a couple of things the child has complete control over, like deciding which bike bell to buy. Take this list to the store with you and use it to guide your discussion and ultimate buying decision.

Timing is important. Shopping with kids can be challenging even when kids are excited and looking forward to it. Make sure to start out when they are rested and fed. They won't realistically be able to be part of a negotiation if they are tired, hungry or would rather be doing something else.

Negotiating isn’t about winning or losing or reluctantly giving in -- it’s about getting to a place where both parties agree. If you feel like the process isn’t going well its okay to take a break and come at it again another day.

Once you have the bike at home, plan the maiden voyage together. Perhaps a fun short excursion to an ice cream store would be in order to celebrate. Your child can get used to how the bike feels and you can make any adjustments that need to be made for a smooth ride.

-- Read more of Marion Rice's articles here.

Angela Koch, 32 weeks pregnant,
pedals happily along SE Ash Street.
(Photos © Dan Liu)

Angela Koch is now 32 weeks pregnant, and she's still biking around the streets of Portland with a smile on her face. Her belly is significantly bigger now than it was back in February when I first wrote about her, and she's still doing great.

Sure, at the end of a long day she's tired, and there are a few aches and pains (darn sciatica) -- but nothing that keeps her off her bike.

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However, as a result of the physical changes she has had some unique insights; "I have a fascinating sense of what it must be like to be a brand new rider. Because I'm so very slow and sometimes wobbly, I feel like I can empathize now with the folks who are out on the road for the first time. I understand the possible frustration and embarrassment they may experience being passed by regular, much faster riders, as well as the heightened sense of awareness of the speed and danger of motor vehicles. I'm not scared, just more aware."

And it seems bystanders are more aware of Angela too. A few weeks ago, Angela was riding along and someone called her "a fatty cyclist." "They clearly didn't realize I was pregnant," Angela says, "And I was hurt. But then I realized what a ridiculous thing it was for me to be hurt, and for them to make a judgment about my body whether overweight or pregnant."

Angela and her 6-year
old daughter Libby.

The bottom line for Angela is that she feels completely confident in her decision to continue biking. It has been a nice slow progression of changes to her current state. She didn’t just hop on a bike at 34 weeks into her pregnancy. She and her baby are already used to biking almost everywhere together. Undoubtedly, her fitness level will continue to help her have a healthy pregnancy and birth.

If Angela goes full term she is due on June 23rd. In celebration of her due date Angela has planned a Pedalpalooza ride she has aptly named "Celebrate Waterbreak" She fully intends to get there in style and on her bike and has invited other mamas, pregnant or not, to join her.

Here’s to a wonderful summer for all mama’s biking with a bump.

-- To contact Marion Rice, and to read her previous articles, click here.

[Publisher's note: This article is by our Family Biking columnist Marion Rice (bio). Marion previously wrote about how to deal with kids who don't want to go by bike. Today, she delves into the topic of biking while pregnant.]

It’s an early fall day in Portland and OB/GYN Alison Edelman is riding 6 miles through the city to get to work at OHSU. With the exception of the big (butt-busting) hill up Terwilliger at the end, her route is not especially challenging (there are bike lanes the whole way). But today, instead of biking up, she opts to take the tram.

BTA staffer Angela Koch -- shown
here riding into work last week --
is 20 weeks into her pregnancy.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Who can blame her? She’s 20 weeks pregnant.

Is that crazy? Normal? Is the baby at risk? I decided to delve into this a bit more, starting with Dr. Edelman.

When thinking about whether you should bike while pregnant, Dr. Edelman suggests that it’s really important is to talk to your physician to make an informed decision. "As a physician," she said, "we normally recommend that pregnant women don’t put themselves in a position where they might be at risk for falling or abdominal (stomach) trauma, like skiing, biking, soccer, etc..."

Dr. Edelmen went on to explain that after about the 12th week of pregnancy (most people consider 40 weeks to be full term), a woman's boney pelvic structure no longer protects the uterus. But despite the risk of injury if they were to fall, Dr. Edelman says some of her patients still opt to stay active.

So, if you're pregnant, should you stay off the bike?

"Biking is sometimes a hard call," she explains, "because it’s not something you associate with trauma. As your body changes, your balance is very different and depending on what type of commute you have and time of year, you may have changing road conditions that increase your chances of having trauma."

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As more and more women take to the streets of Portland on their bikes, it won’t be that unusual to see expectant moms with really big tummies navigating around. Angela Koch of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is one such mom. She's 20 weeks into her term and determined to use her bike as her main source of transportation, as long as it makes sense to her and her doctor to do so.

Juli Maus still rode at 8 months.

For Koch -- who also has two daughters ages six and ten -- her first trimester was terrible. "I was nauseous, exhausted and my husband had to get the kids to bed and to school. Since we are carfree there were added issues of transportation for my two girls."

Luckily for Koch, her husband is a bike mechanic so they have several different bike options to choose from. During our recent spate of snowy weather, she was concerned about sliding and losing control of her bike. To make the going easier, Koch said her husband installed some knobby tires on her bike (she also opted to take a bus once or twice).

In Dr. Edelman’s case, she felt comfortable biking until 24 weeks of pregnancy. For her, 24 weeks was a turning point because a fetus is not viable outside the uterus before then. "So if there's an episode or trauma," she explained, "that causes premature birth, we can't really do anything about it."

After 24 weeks, Edelman cites statistics showing that less than 25% of children born that early do well. "The thought of having a child for whom my decision impacted their survival and long term health wasn't justifiable to me."

Angela Koch.

But everyone has a right to decide on what feels comfortable to them. Dr. Edelman shared the story of a nurse in her office that biked until she was 38 weeks: "She was an experienced biker and felt confident in her choice to continue riding. She also did not have a drivers license so this was her mode of transportation and she did just fine."

Angela is now in the middle of her second trimester. Her belly is starting to get bigger, and she’s already thinking about switching to a more upright bike. She’s making sure she eats enough calories and protein and listens to her body. For Angela, being carfree is an expression of her ethos and an important part of her life but it doesn’t mean that she is going to bike everywhere all the time.

I’ll check in with Angela again in a couple of months and report on how she’s doing. In the meantime, if you have any words of wisdom, experiences you want to share or words of encouragement for women who are biking while pregnant, please chime in below.

-- To contact Marion Rice, and to read her previous articles, click here.

[Editor's note: This article is by our Family Biking columnist Marion Rice. Marion previously wrote about how to keep kids warm and dry on the bike. Today, she offers up her tips and thoughts about what to do when your little ones don't feel like hopping on the bike (which is something that I bet happens to all families at one point or another).]

Sometimes my kids say they don’t want to go by bike.

We do have a car and the mere presence of a motorized, temperature controlled cocoon creates the potential option for using it. I often wonder how other bike commuting parents deal with this and what they say to get their kids going when they don’t want to.

Explaining why we don’t use the car during the week and having my kids share in the power of not using the car has been rewarding, even on the rare days I have to plead the case.

On the days when my six year old has second thoughts about biking this is usually how the conversations goes:

Griffin: "Mom let’s take the car, do we HAVE to go by bike?"

Mom: "Well, we choose to go by bike because it’s better for our bodies and better for Mother Earth."

Griffin:"I really don’t want to"

Mom: "Griffin, today there is no reason we can’t take the bike, we always have fun and let’s just get out and go. We don’t need anything but our bodies to make the bike move and that is pretty powerful, if you want to ride on the Xtracycle or take your scooter instead you can."

Griffin: "O.k."

North Portlander Travis Wittwer and his three boys.

More often than not, Griffin complies and goes by wheel, whether it’s his bike, scooter or on my Xtracycle. Sometimes he gets on his bike in a bad mood, but shortly after taking off he perks up. We don’t yield and take the car unless there is a health or safety issue that would make taking the car or public transportation the wiser choice. Travis, a bakfiets-commuting Dad whose family also owns a car describes what he says to his children aged 3, 5 and 8 this way:

"My sons do understand that the money we don't spend on a second car, or even on driving the only car, is money we can use for something else. Not as a reward or token, we have talked about how money saved from not having a car or driving it around a lot is money that we can use for Disneyland.

For me, this works well as it supports the idea that life is about choices and you cannot have everything at the same time. It also helps my sons to understand sacrifice: we sacrifice the luxury of a car for the fun of Disneyland."

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Most often I pick my 2-year-old up from childcare with a snack to be eaten on the bike, French bread and a sippy cup of milk or juice. Usually she gets right on the bike and starts munching away. I ask her about her day and we have an enjoyable ride home. Every once in a while she doesn’t want to get on the bike and throws a fit. This has also happened on weekend rides doing errands.

Unfortunately, kids aren't always
this happy to go by bike.

The first thing I do when the meltdown is imminent is to hold her close. I wait quietly until she has calmed down enough to talk. This is sometimes hard especially if we have somewhere to be on a schedule or people are staring at my fitful child and I sitting on the sidewalk somewhere.

Once she has calmed down we talk about what song she wants to sing or what unique sight we can go see on the way home. She loves the hot tub you can see from the Broadway Bridge, especially when it's all lit up at night and glowing that aquamarine color (I agree it’s pretty cool). Lately, seeing all the holiday lights in the Pearl and in neighborhoods on our way home has been a huge draw.

I also have to admit -- I keep emergency chocolate in my Xtracyle bag. I think that we all can use emergency chocolate every once in a while and she doesn’t just get it when she throws a fit. I am aware that I don’t want to reinforce having fits by giving her chocolate and so far the judicious use of it has worked for me.

What do you do when your kids don’t want to go? How do you handle it? More advice and ideas from everyone is much appreciated...

-- For more of Marion's Family Biking articles, click here.

This article was written by our Family Biking columnist Marion Rice. For previous articles in this series, and for links to other articles and photos on family biking, check out the Family Biking Page.

A warm and dry kid is a happy kid.
(Photos © J. Maus)

We may be enjoying an Indian Summer here in Portland, but cold, wet weather isn't far away. I'm here to tell you that even when the weather gets nasty, it's still no problem getting around town on your bike with your kids (even if they're not covered in a trailer or bakfiets).

In addition to making sure your bike lights are working and your fenders are installed, it seems like we are all trying to get creative about how to keep ourselves and our little ones warm and dry.

Here are a few tips and product suggestions that might help your family.

For Babies and Toddlers

Tuffo's Muddy Buddy is a
great outer layer.

Wet Weather Gear:
Last year, I discovered the Tuffo Muddy Buddy (retails for about $30). This is a super, all-weather one-piece suit for children 12 months - 4 years old. Worn alone it�s great for spring and fall wet weather riding. In cold weather, the suit leaves plenty of room for fuzzy fleece pants and a jacket underneath. You can get the Tuffo Muddy Buddy at Clever Cycles (908 SE Hawthorne).

I made this poncho to fit around
my daughter and her seat.

The DIY Route
Since I have a child seat on my bike, I've been looking for something that would keep the seat and my child dry. I decided to retrofit a rain poncho by sewing a placket in the bottom to hold a shock cord which synches up the poncho around the sea. Then I sewed in a reflective triangle on the back. So far it works great and the whole thing cost me about $34.00.

Sunny Cold Days
I always keep our wet weather gear in my Xtracycle bags just in case, but often I just bundle my 2-year-old Gleneden in her jacket and fuzzy pants and then tuck a baby blanket around her into the seat. That gives her a bit of extra warmth and coziness.

All tucked in and toasty.

Keeping Little Hands Warm
Talk about a challenge! Last year, I couldn�t figure out how to deal with keeping the mittens on my daughter. No matter what I tried, they would inevitably get dropped on the road. One morning, I met another mom who gave me a great suggestion; just attach a string to each mitten and pull it through the sleeves of their coat -- brilliant!

Older Kids

Focus on the Face and Neck
My 6-year-old son Griffin hates to get cold. He simply won�t go on the bike unless he is warm. He has rain pants, a good raincoat, rubber boots, warm gloves and a great black facemask made from fleece and lycra (found at REI). He refers to it as his "Ninja Bike Stuff".

Becky Mellinger, a fellow cycling mom, has also purchased a balaclava to keep her daughter's face toasty (we tried a scarf but they were bulky and difficult to manage). Children�s balaclava sizes are hard to find, but the sales person at Bike Gallery told Becky to check out the Descente brand. They run small, and found one that works well for her 6-year-old daughter.

I hope these ideas are helpful. Remember, biking in the wet and cold (and even snow) is not too bad once you're prepared. On the other hand, don't feel like you've got to dress for an ascent up Mt. Everest just for a ride to the store or to school (check out this story on Copenhagenize to see what I mean).

I know there are many more great product and cold weather tips to share. As always, please post your questions, suggestions, and share your experiences in the comments below.

[This article was written by our Carfree Families columnist Marion Rice. For previous articles in this series, and for links to other articles and photos on family biking, check out the Carfree Families Page.]

My kids love it when I pick them up on the bike with a cold drink and yummy snack in hand.

The Sippy Cup Tether in action.
(Photos © J. Maus)

But it can be challenging for toddlers to hold a sippy cup and a snack while riding on the back of your bike.

What to do?

I have devised a simple Sippy Cup Tether and instead of making millions on the idea, I am giving all of you the open source plans to make your own (see below for instructions)!

For kids who are old enough to ride their own bike (or even on a tag-along or tandem), I don’t recommend that parents encourage them to have a snack on the go; kids need to be in control with no distractions. In that case, it’s better to have your snack before you ride or, find a nice place to stop and do it picnic-style.

Snacks keep kids happy.

But for little ones -- like my 2 year old Gleneden -- she's content to have me hand her a wax paper bag (which are 100% biodegradable) with something yummy in it and have access to her sippy cup tethered to the bike seat.

Why tether it to the seat? A flying sippy cup can be a hazard to you and others. And why not? It’s easy to do and will give you that secure feeling knowing that your child can't ditch their cup overboard (which we all know some toddlers take great delight in).

To go along with the drink, try these easy, yummy, transportable, earth and waste-friendly snacks...

Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwiches

• Peel an apple (or not depending on your kids taste)
• Cut it in rounds, I can usually get 4 sandwiches out of one apple
• Put a bit (not too much because it spreads when hot) of peanut butter in the center of the apple slice and cover with another apple slice of the same size.
• Place in a wax paper bag
• Enjoy!

Highly Transportable Healthy Snacks Great in Wax Bags:

• Rice Cracker Mix
• A French Baguette (my kids routinely chew on hunks on the bike)
• Baby Kosher Dills
• Hard Boiled Egg
• Smart Puffs
• Pirate Booty
• Raisins
• Craisins
• Tamari Almonds

How to Make a Sippy Cup Tether

Materials:

• Get about a yard of ¼ inch diameter shock cord at a mountain shop
• Get two double feed cord locks
• Get one small carabiner

Directions:

1. Put one end of the shock cord through one hole of the double feed cord lock.
2. Put the other end of the shock cord through the other hole and squish the cord lock together to make it easy to pull the shock cord through. Stop when you have created the right size hole to make a snug fit around the sippy cup.
3. Put the long end of the shock cord through both holes of the other double feed cord lock to create a loop for your carabiner.
4. Attach the carabiner to the loop and secure the sippy cup tether somewhere to your bike.

What are your family's favorite, on-the-bike snacks? Share them in the comments below.

And, if you've got questions about the Sippy Cup Tether, I'll be happy to answer them in the comments. See you (and your family) out in the streets!

[This article was written by our Carfree Families columnist Marion Rice. For previous articles in this series, and for links to other articles and photos on family biking, check out the Carfree Families Page.]

Some of you may wonder what this post has to do with family cycling, but I assure you it has everything to do with family cycling and the particular challenges women bikers face.

That said, most days getting on my bike is not a chore. As the post office says; rain, snow, sleet or hail (as long as anyone of those things doesn’t make cycling with my daughter unsafe), I’m biking.

But the one thing that can get me off my bike is that damn time o’ the month, if you know what I mean.

Yes, I am a mom and the lovely fluctuations of my body, in part, enabled me to have two awesome children -- but now I'm done having kids. I don’t mean to rant, but the monthly personal oil change is messy, often leaky and the uncertainty of it all definitely puts a damper on my cycle commuting fun. I currently work from my home so it’s not like I have to dress up to get to the office, but if I did, the potential for getting there in an embarrassing state might be enough to force me back into my car until the worst days were over.

Angela Koch of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance wonders about the impact of this monthly visitor on women bicyclists. She says, "You know, no one has really talked about this, but I definitely think it’s an issue. At least for me, I'm especially distracted when I'm standing to pedal with 100 pounds of kid, trailer and gear behind me, but all I'm worried about is the view for the cyclist behind me. It's not like I can stop and do something about it - I have to keep right on going and hope for the best".

My friend Olivia Rebanal says, "My husband is always amazed that I can’t seem to predict how prepared to be for whatever comes my way. It just doesn’t work that way, every month is different".

O.K., so I have deemed an elective hysterectomy too irrational but anything that interferes with biking on the order of magnitude of menses could do with some group problem solving. So, all of you out there that can speak from personal experience please offer your ideas, advice, product reviews etc. to keep all of us bike sisters happily on the road.