When we first started the No Impact experiment, Michelle made it clear that, if I thought she would ride a bike in Manhattan—or even worse—let Isabella ride on the back of one, I was cracked. Then we went by train to my hometown in Massachusetts for Christmas—a concession we made to plans arranged long before the project began—rented bikes so we didn’t have to get around by car, and Michelle and Isabella loved it.
In the mornings, during that week, Isabella would wake up and walk around my mother’s house holding her arms up in the air and shouting “bike riiiiiidddde.” If her demand wasn’t met—like the day it was pouring rain outside—she bawled her eyes out. We came back to New York and lived in fear every time someone rode past on their bike that Isabella would become hysterical that she couldn’t join in. Michelle’s resistance to the bikes began to erode (with a caveat that I promised we’d never ride on the busier streets).
Well, a couple of weeks ago, with spring coming, we were jaunting around the Sunday flea markets (because of the don’t-buy-anything-new rule) and we found a 5-speed, circa ‘76, screaming red Schwinn that Michelle adored. Sold. Then, on Craig’s list, I found a great second-hand kid’s bike seat, and Sunday morning I rode my bike over to Roosevelt Island and picked it up. Isabella is excited beyond belief: “Bella ride in dat!”
We’re hereby a family of second-hand bicyclists. Not only am I kind of proud that we managed to sort ourselves out without buying anything new, but the prospect of our No Impact summer without travel no longer seems so bad. We’ll be able to get to the beach after all. Bike ride!