Riding Bikes

Happy Halloween! Fall is the perfect season to ride bikes.

I have an aunt who is a devout bicycle advocate. She and my 89-year old grandmother live in San Diego and, for them, bicycling is a way of life. They ride a tandem recumbent tricycle as their primary mode of transportation for all grocery shopping, appointments and getting my grandmother to and from her many classes (she still takes dance and acting classes every day of the week). My grandma also has a single recumbent tricycle with a straight back seat for when she's biking solo, which is my personal favorite to use when I'm visiting. And my fiancee, Andrew, prefers my aunt's sporty, low to the ground recumbent tricycle. We love taking long rides along the ocean on Highway 101 with my grandma and aunt on the recumbent tandem tricycle, Andrew on the sporty recumbent, and me on the straight back. Needless to say, we always attract quite a crowd!

In DC, I also love to bike. I commute to work on a hand-me-down mountain bike, but I'm in search of a bike that's chosen just for me. I'm thinking either a dutch bike or a mixed road/cruiser. I also bike on the weekends on the C&O Canal, Capital Crescent Trail and Rock Creek Park, which is in our backyard.

I've learned everything I know about about bicycle safety from my aunt, who has committed her life to educating people about bicycle safety. Below is the safety manual that she created. Happy cycling!

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