Social biking

I hitched up the child trailer to the back of the X this morning and took both kids to the birthday party for a now 3 year old friend. It's a nice feeling to not feel winded or overly hot after about a mile. I did not bring enough layers for after I arrived - the party was outside - and was getting a bit chilly until I put on my biking vest and a borrowed hat.

Another discovery, I can flatten our child trailer quite easily while still leaving it very roadworthy. This makes it a lot easier to pull when our daughter is not riding in the back. When she is in the trailer, her weight adds momentum which helps push the trailer through headwind. When she's not in it, it sometimes feels like I'm pulling a parachute. I guess that could be useful for strength training, but it's really not helpful when I'm simply going to pick her up or after I drop her off. I did this trick for the second time this afternoon after my wife took our daughter home by car after she returned from a bird count this morning.

Last, my wife and I went out for dinner after dropping off our kids. It was really quite pleasant to bike together on a date without the kids literally in tow. 

Total riding today: about 3 to 4 miles.