(File photo)
Overlook neighborhood resident Olivia Rebanal was one of 27 Portlanders who kicked off a month on a Low-Car Diet Monday at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
The Flexcar-sponsored program aims to, “show local residents that not owning a car, or downsizing by a car, is more than possible in cities such as Portland with numerous transportation options”.
For Rebanal, who has two young children and job in NW Portland, one of those options was to go by bike. Carting her two kids around town on two-wheels presents challenges, but as a fit, experienced bicyclist who is committed to riding instead of driving she was up for it.
Until yesterday.
Rebanal is one of the founders of UrbanMamas.com, (a blog and online community for local moms) and she shared her harrowing first day on the Low-Car Diet with her readers.
She attempted to run errands, get to work, and cart both of her daughters all over town (which included a trip to Sellwood Park) with a family bike train of: single bike, tag-along, and trailer.
Doing it all by bike would be tough, but Rebanal decided it was the best option:
“I could take transit or walk, right? But, I thought about it. This is the summer time. The girls have a different place to be every day. Our schedule is varied as we romp around and enjoy summer concerts in this neighborhood and that. Having a vehicle, albeit a web of bikes, seems like the way to go.”
“Panting and sweating” down the Springwater Corridor, she began to have doubts about being a “biking family” and weighed her options:
“I thought: maybe we just CANNOT be a biking family if we are riding with just one parent and two children. A double tag-along? They don’t seem to make them (too unsafe!). A family tandem with the front sized for a parent and the rear sized for a child? Cha-ching! We’re talking $2,000, minimum!”
And then things got worse:
“CRASH. BAM. BOOM. I felt something slip loose, then I saw my sweet Philly and her tag-along, separated from me and my bike. Her tag-along had come loose, and she had landed on her side, and she was skidding along, her body as the friction to slow…I tossed my bike to the side and ran to them.”
For some reason no one stopped to help:
“…in the middle of the Esplanade, while bikers of all sorts zipped passed us from every direction. Bikers in lycra, bikers in khakis – no one was stopping to help a mother, her bleeding child, and her crying second child. I shouted at the Willamette: “WHY IS NO ONE STOPPING FOR US??!”
Eventually she made it home, but now Rebanal has her doubts that her bike is an adequate family vehicle option:
“Tomorrow, we’ll take the bus…As a family, we love to bike – all around town and even beyond. We are second-guessing whether family biking can be a reality on a day-to-day basis…We hate to turn in the bike, but I think we’ll have to give our wheels a rest for a bit.”
I share this story because I know some of you will have some advice and encouragement for the Rebanal Family. Let’s hear it!