What Does Your Family Think???

What does your family think of your life as a cyclist?

I'm mostly a city commuter and I know my dad is nervous that I am going to get hit by a car while I'm biking. I explain to him that more people my age are killed in car accidents than bike accidents.

My 7 year old suburban nephew thinks I'm cool cause I don't use my car often. He is quickly becoming a bike fanatic too!

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on May 30, 2010 at 2:10pm
My uncle is bike/train commuting from N. Cali to Palo Alto 3 days a week. And my dad is riding to Skokie or Park Ridge almost every day as well.

Go cycling family! I think I'm slowly getting less crazy to everyone. Well in summer at least :).
Permalink Reply by Bob Maher on May 30, 2010 at 8:53pm
They get it (sort of). More like they've come to accept it.

From just a few minutes post-womb until now, whenever there have been wheels involved I've wanted to 'Go Like Hell'. One of my first words was 'faster'. As a one year old I yelled it from the stroller. Seriously. Once I was on two wheels my desire to go fast was complimented with my desire to go far. There are felons who have served less time than the sum total of the weeks I was grounded for bicycling (way) beyond my boundaries.

My mom's a worrier. Not a bad thing; no matter where I am, at the start of each and every ride I hear her saying, "Be careful." And I am. However, she will never see the videos I made bicycling through the utter chaos that is rush hour Bangkok traffic.

Beyond my immediate family that sort of 'gets it' exists an extended family (and colleagues) that think I'm completely nutters. Why anyone who owns a perfectly good car would bike around the planet is beyond them.

But yet here I am. Very much not dead. And looking forward to my next ride.
Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on May 31, 2010 at 3:57am
My brothers and I were pretty much raised on wheels when not at the public swimming pool. Like everyone of our generation, we started on Sting-Rays, which were customized by each of us to reflect our developing little personalities, much like the fixed-gear culture of today. Brother Kevin moved to Saipan in 2002 to build a library there, and among the few things he took with him were a vintage Manta-Ray and a reissue Apple Krate. That’s how he got around on the island. Brother Bill is the serious cyclist in the family, though he’s been sidelined by injuries for a while. He came up during the Japanese bike boom, graduated from Panasonic to Miyata road bike, today rides a beautiful Basso –coming back to the glory of European bikes that charmed guys my age (my fantasy bike as a kid was the Peugeot PX-10). When I was five, we moved to the suburbs from the west side of Chicago and when I was twelve my parents bought me a green Schwinn Varsity at a police auction to replace the Sting-Ray I had outgrown. For me, this was what the first car is supposed to represent in the American mythology--the first taste of real freedom. I rode the Varsity thousands of suburban miles, on sidewalks and highways, to Pal-Waukee airport and to Woodfield Mall, and passed it on down the line of brothers when I left home. My parents were always supportive, used to a garage and later apartments filled with bikes, tools and parts, and somehow seemed to know that our injuries would never be that severe or irreversible. It was completely normal to them when Bill would ride out from Roger’s Park to Mt. Prospect in the 90’s and early 00's; or when Kevin shipped his bikes back from the Pacific and asked them to store them for him in the basement; and I get to bring my road bike in the house and keep it in a bedroom whenever I dog-sit for them.
Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on May 31, 2010 at 4:37am
I used to ride to get to and from work during summers way back when I was in high school. My parents seemd to think that was perfectly normal. This was in the suburbs of Maryland. And then, many many years later, when I started riding here in Chicago, they thought it rather odd. Of course, I was driving from Rogers Park to the prairie path and then riding the rest of the way to the west side of Wheaton. maybe it was the oddity of it being a partial bike/partial drive thing.

I stopped working there after my little one was born and became a city only rider. When I sold my car 2 years ago my mom thought it was nuts. My dad, who is a bit of a fitness nut, thought is was pretty cool though. Only now, after my riding for the past 6 years in Chicago, does my mom ever ask about how a bike ride went or say anything along the lines of "have a fun ride with the boys."

She still doesn't really understand it but is resigned that her only daughter continues to lead a life that she absolutely cannot fathom. My parents are great though in supporting my boys riding. They contribute gear for my older son who commutes to high school and this summer they are buying a bike for the little one (almost 4 now). AND...they understand that this is to be a training wheel free bike as he has been balance biking for the past 2 years.

My parents do own bikes and ride for leisure. They understand the enjoyment of riding and the idea of riding for fitness. They mostly do not understand the choice to not own a car and to use a bike as primary transportation.

As for my husband and children.....my husband is supportive. He does not ride but used to. He does not understand though my interest in geting more involved in the bike community. My older son loves to get about by bike...I have successfully won him over to it! And my little one....he thinks bikes are the best way to get about and is excited that some day he will ride his own bike on the roads too.
Permalink Reply by Sue Clark on May 31, 2010 at 5:08am
I think my mother is somewhat worried for me. But she's also happy when I bike down to see her, like when I met her in Hammond a few weeks ago for a pre-Mother's day brunch. After I go to see her she always wants to put the bike in the car to go wherever I'm headed next (her place, train station), but I'm usually pretty good in convincing her that that's just not necessary.

I've got a brother who does a lot of recreational rides, so he and I do some riding together in the summer.

My other brothers just think it odd. My 17yo neice wonders why expend the effort where there are such a thing as cars in the world.
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on May 31, 2010 at 5:55am
I haven't noticed this topic before. Very interesting to read so many responses similar to my own experience.

Growing up in a sprawl everyone drove so I know what it's like being the odd man out. In High school I refused to take drivers education seriously and never did the instructor part. Instead I spent the money for the instructor and insurance on a CD, tshirt and a new brake pad. I told my mother then that I will never have an interest in driving and it's been a sticking point with my family. But after about 10 years of watching commute at all times of the year they got used to it and now I've convinced my brother that biking in our hometown isn't as bad as he thinks.

I'm actually thinking about getting a license now because I may have a job opportunity visiting the middle east that will require some driving.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on May 31, 2010 at 6:02am
ooo, tell us about this job!

Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! said:
I'm actually thinking about getting a license now because I may have a job opportunity visiting the middle east that will require some driving.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on May 31, 2010 at 7:01am
Spencer, did you enlist???

Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! said:
I haven't noticed this topic before. Very interesting to read so many responses similar to my own experience.

Growing up in a sprawl everyone drove so I know what it's like being the odd man out. In High school I refused to take drivers education seriously and never did the instructor part. Instead I spent the money for the instructor and insurance on a CD, tshirt and a new brake pad. I told my mother then that I will never have an interest in driving and it's been a sticking point with my family. But after about 10 years of watching commute at all times of the year they got used to it and now I've convinced my brother that biking in our hometown isn't as bad as he thinks.

I'm actually thinking about getting a license now because I may have a job opportunity visiting the middle east that will require some driving.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on May 31, 2010 at 7:09am
My poor Mom said i went to college to learn how to ride a bike. Any time i came in banged up from a crash, she'd ask me. "Are you going to quit now?" My brother is bemused, my sister who lives near SF and is sour on cyclists due to CMSF and bad behaviour on the part of the Marin co. Racing fraternity, keeps her general opinions of cycling to herself from me, except to ask if maybe i'm getting a bit too old to be racing...

Got a drivers' license on my 23rd birthday and drove solo to Boston the next day (too far to ride in the time i had...)

i drive, yeah, but i think i get more miles in on the bike.
Permalink Reply by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on May 31, 2010 at 2:51pm
After nearly 50 years of riding under my butt, my family is surprised when I decide not to ride. I think my folks were more concerned when I was working in South Africa than when I was riding. Even after getting my ass bounced off a Lancer, they ain't phased.
Permalink Reply by Daniel Villarreal on June 1, 2010 at 1:56am
Haha, My family is always freaked out that I ride my bike in the city. They ask me all the time "Why don't you buy a car?"
Permalink Reply by Caitlin on June 1, 2010 at 4:39am
My family is still fairly bemused that anyone would choose to ride in big, bad Chicago. That being said, they're all in agreement that not having my southern self behind the wheel of a car during the winter is better for all concerned...

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