Transit Diary: A mother of two shares a glimpse into her “bike-first” life

Transit Diaries is a series in which residents of Greater Washington track how they get around the region for a week, shedding light on what’s working well and not so well with our transportation system. Read past Transit Diaries. If you’re interested in writing a Transit Diary, please click here.

My name is Aileen Nowlan, and I live with my husband and two kids in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. We have never owned a car in DC. We get around primarily by bike, bus, walking, and car share. Since our kids are still little, our time is spent at playgrounds, pools, and friends’ houses. We are trying to get more ambitious on the weekends by exploring nearby beaches and hiking.

The summer is more challenging for traveling around the city. During the school year, we walk one kid to our local elementary school, and preschool for the little one is on the way to work for both of us. Two out of three summer camps were a 30-minute commute away, and neither was close to my office. It was quite hot, and on the weekend my husband was out of town, so I was getting the kids around by myself.

Our neighborhood is very hilly, and our bike-first life would not be possible without e-bikes. Two years ago I thought e-bikes were too expensive, and I wouldn’t have been writing this transit diary. We would have had to purchase two cars and park them on the street (we don’t have a garage). The e-bikes that expand access are longer, wider, and heavier than regular bikes, and are transformative for local economies.

Day 1: Wednesday, July 26

The heat was building, and the sun was strong today. When you drop down into Rock Creek to bike Beach Drive, the temperature drops ten degrees and the shade is delicious. I grew up next to a ravine similar to Rock Creek, and I have loved Rock Creek Park ever since I moved to DC. I enjoy letting my mind wander a bit as I bike, thinking more deeply, looking out for birds and wildlife.

For the height of summer and the depths of winter I try to get the kids in a trailer, not the longtail e-cargo bike. They are shaded and cooled by a breeze. I hook the trailer to a RadCity, which also has a kid seat and panniers, and a front rack. We recently switched from a Thule Chariot Lite to the Wike Premium Double Bike Trailer with suspension. It is taller and narrower than other trailers, so it fits growing kids. Wike also makes special needs trailers, pet trailers, and cargo trailers. I spotted an e-bike delivery vehicle on the way to the grocery store in Adams Morgan.

Total distance traveled: 30 miles

• Bike: 30 miles

Highlights and hitches:

With an e-bike with panniers or cargo slings, and especially with a trailer, the cargo carrying capacity is so good and the motor does all the work so I never worry about throwing more on there. On this day I moved a six-year-old kid, a computer, papers, a change of clothes, chargers, a towel, and swim gear. I bought groceries on the way home.

Riding Beach Drive is very efficient and invigorating.

In the middle of the day, I got a brake pad change. I find my e-bike needs service every 500 to 750 miles. The good news is, I have found a couple of mobile bike service shops, and the work takes about an hour. I expect we will see product improvements and more availability of brake pads specific to e-bikes.

Day 2: Thursday, July 27

My husband was out of town, so I had to get two kids to summer camp and preschool. I chose the Radwagon today since it doesn’t take as much room in my work bike storage room. One of the reasons I bought the Radwagon is that the battery is removable. Today, I charged the battery in the middle of the day.

People often worry about being sweaty when they arrive at work. For most of the year, I bike in work clothes. In the summer, doing 20 to 30 miles for the summer camp commute, I did bring a change of clothes. I was never sweaty from the biking, even on the hottest day. You make your own breeze. I got more sweaty in the block or so of walking, or waiting for a long light to change.

Total distance traveled: 38 miles

• Bike: 38 miles

Highlights and hitches:

One of the things a car does is provide a safe space to contain your kids where they aren’t going to get run over by other drivers. You have a second to putter around with bags, etc. It’s a socially acceptable movable playpen for a kid who can walk. We don’t have a garage. We have a shed, and we store the trailer folded up beside the bikes. When I need to use the trailer, I need to unfold it and hitch it up. It takes about two minutes. However, that is long enough for a kid to be hit by a driver. On this day, when I had two kids to get in and out the door, I went with the longtail bike, which is faster to load. One thing that would make the city more inviting to people with kids is safer shared “staging” or “puttering around” spaces, where you can take your eyes off your kid without fear. It is safer to have a kid unrestrained by the lions at the zoo than it is on a DC sidewalk; on the sidewalk you know a car could come by at any time and there is no separation or distance between the car and your kid.

Day 3: Friday, July 28

Today was an extreme heat day. I also had a meeting in Baltimore about urban heat islands. I had to be in Baltimore 45 minutes after summer camp drop off, and neither the summer camp nor the meeting were near public transportation in DC nor Baltimore.

I picked up a carshare car, which is parked a five-minute walk from my home. I drove to preschool drop-off, summer camp, and then Baltimore. After the meeting, I did the reverse. I thought the car would create a bigger difference between outside and inside temperatures. My kids were still quite hot for the 10-minute drive home.

If I hadn’t been going to Baltimore, I would have biked on the sidewalk on Massachusetts Avenue NW. That allows you to keep moving and stay in the shade. The shade and short lights that are good for people on bikes are also good for people walking.

Total distance traveled: 95 miles

• Car: 95 miles

Highlights and hitches:

It would be great to have more availability in car shares. Walking five minutes in the heat with two kids was fine, but not fun. We have car vests for car travel. The big kid walks, I carry the three-year-old, and I can carry what is functionally two car seats along with all of our belongings. I would like to see car shares within a three-minute walk, but that would likely require more people using them.

Day 4: Saturday, July 29

Today was very hot and sunny, and I had two kids to tire out. We walked with the stroller to the local pool. The trailer converts to a stroller. It’s surprisingly easy to push, even over bumpy sidewalks. I added a small grocery purchase on the way home. It’s odd that at the pool there has a curb cut, but a parking spot right in front of it, so the kids had to get out while I bumped the stroller down the stairs.

Total distance traveled: 1.5 miles

• Walking: 1.5 miles

Highlights and hitches:

Our power went out during the windstorm that took down the trees in NW. I charged both bike batteries the day before. One bike can charge devices via a USB port. Luckily, I didn’t have to test it as an emergency backup option since the power came back quickly.

Day 5: Sunday, July 30

Today was still hot and sunny, but I wanted to leave the house at least once. I found a festival at Franklin Square. I took the Radwagon with two kids from Glover Park to Q to 15th Street to K Street NW. I took M Street back to 28th Street NW to get through Georgetown.

I am not sure I would have gone to Franklin Square with kids if I didn’t have an e-bike and a relatively low-stress route. On a hot day, I don’t want to wait in the sun, with cars blasting hot air as they pass us, to catch a bus on non-peak frequency.

Total distance traveled: 7 miles

• Bike: 7 miles

Day 6: Monday, July 31

Today marked a total change in scene, route, and stress level. Today was the day that people picture when they think “there is no way I could bike for regular errands.”

It was the first day at a new summer camp, this time in Arlington. I biked the Radwagon to Rosslyn, around Arlington Cemetery to the north and west, along Washington Boulevard to Columbia Pike, then Penrose in Arlington, then home. Rosslyn is a tease! A beautiful, wide bike path for a second, but good luck if you want to bike through the center of Rosslyn. Much of my time in Arlington was on terrible crossings of what felt like highways, where the angle is bad for visibility.

Of course, M Street and the Key Bridge are also difficult. I took ten different approaches to get on and off the Key Bridge, with a goal of 35th and Prospect. Drivers hate bikes on M Street, even though the cars are stopped or going three miles per hour. The sidewalks are too narrow and crowded to bike in Georgetown. A protected bike lane just between the bridge and 34th or 33rd, and a two-way bike lane between M and Prospect on 33rd or 34th would do a lot to get bikes in and out of that pinch point.

Total distance traveled: 11 miles

• Bike: 11 miles

Highlights and hitches:

First day going to a new destination. Very stressful.

The first time to a new place is far worse than the third time. I wonder how much people’s response to biking is comparing doing something for the first or second time on a bike to doing a route for the hundredth time in their car.

Day 7: Tuesday, August 1

After white-knuckling it yesterday, I tried another approach to getting around Arlington Cemetery. After the Key Bridge I took the Mt. Vernon Trail around Arlington Cemetery to the south.

Mt. Vernon Trail is shadier than the path on the north and west side of the cemetery, but bumpy, covered in gravel, or both. Some places were so bad that I was quite concerned about popping an inner tube.

The folks driving into the Pentagon and Arlington Memorial Bridge gave reassuring full eye contact and a nod and came to a full stop for me as I crossed the cycle path.

Total distance traveled: 13 miles

• Bike: 13 miles

Highlights and hitches:

Google Maps biking directions were wrong. They don’t know the Washington Boulevard sidepath connects to the south. I had looked at the Bike Arlington PDF and just kept moving. I have a phone display holder on the Radwagon for when I go to a new place.

Day 8: Wednesday, August 2

A break from Arlington, as I stayed in DC for an in-person meeting in Dupont Circle. I took the RadCity with just a three-year-old on the back, and no trailer. I wore a dress so I could head straight into my meeting.

Total distance traveled: 5 miles

• Bike: 5 miles

Highlights and hitches:

I realized there are “undershorts” for adults as well. Now I bike in skirts and dresses.

Day 9: Thursday, August 3

Today was day three to a new destination, and I finally felt confident and calm. I took the Radwagon from Glover Park to Penrose, in Arlington, and back.

Today, for the way back, Google Maps suggested going straight north to Clarendon, then to the Custis Trail. NO idea why this was the first time this route was suggested, but it was very pleasant and safe. I had a new respect for Arlington – some speed bumps had lovely cut-throughs for bikes, and good bike boxes at lights. Lots of CaBi stations. Youngsters on bikes without an adult in sight.

Back in DC, I walked the bike (with throttle assist) up the incredibly steep sidewalk on 35th Street from M to Prospect Street. The bike could handle it, even with a passenger seated, but people park their cars so far in as to block the sidewalk (whether for bikes or pedestrians). It felt like a demonstration of how the technology is there, and a few more nudges in our use of space are still needed to make people on foot and on bikes feel welcome.

Total distance traveled: 11 miles

• Bike: 11 miles

Highlights and hitches:

Since the e-bike motor means I don’t have to work very hard, and the cargo sling sets can carry so much, I bring rain jackets every day. I wasn’t worried when it started to rain. We pulled over and put on jackets.

Day 10: Friday, August 4

Today was a day of travel! Light rain was predicted, so I took the RadCity and the trailer. I took the Key Bridge, through Rosslyn, and rolled along my new favorite side streets in Arlington to summer camp. During summer camp, I bought groceries on Clarendon Boulevard for dinner for seven adults and seven kids.

I had a nice chat at a light in Arlington with a guy who rolled down his window and said his wife used to e-bike two kids into DC every day. It’s nice to look people in the eyes. It feels like I am connected to people, that I could see if they are in distress, that we could smile and recognize the regulars.

After summer camp and lunch at home, we got right back rolling all the way to Takoma Park for a medical appointment.

This was the only day I was a bit worried about range. I started the day with 9/10 bars on the battery. Charged two hours during the day. Ended with 4/10 bars. I maybe could have made the whole day without charging, but didn’t feel like trying.

Total distance traveled: 30 miles

• Bike: 30 miles

Highlights and hitches:

The city thinks of paths as nice to have, not must-haves. A massive tree on the Klingle access path to the Rock Creek bike path was not cut and moved, a week after the storm. I detached the trailer, picked up the bike, then the trailer, and reattached them. I still made it to the appointment on time.

Final tally: 15 trips

Mode	Number of trips	Modeshare (rounded to the nearest whole number)
Walk	1	7%
Bike	12	80%
Car	2	13%
Total	15	100%

Reflections

It is safe to say I covered a lot of ground by bike in the District and Northern Virginia.

I love chatting with people and looking people in the eye. It’s nice to see your kids develop a sense of direction, and learn how rain puddles turn into clouds and back again into rain. I was on time or slightly early every time I biked. I knew exactly when I would arrive, and I arrived content and energized. On the day I drove, I was scared and stressed; late for the meeting and then early for summer camp pick-up.

Some days, the weather required a bit of preparation before leaving the house, and some days were tough because I was going to a new place on a route with a big gap between ambition and implementation of low-stress, connected bike routes. There were places where the bike parking needed to be adapted for e-bikes. I don’t want to block the whole sidewalk. The bike that can do the summer camp and groceries, and the three-wheelers for the elderly and disabled, take up more space than analog bikes. There was no day when the e-bike couldn’t handle the hills, cargo, distance, passengers, and weather, or when biking made me sweaty or late.

Seeing the difference between Beach Drive and some “bike paths” in Arlington, it’s clear that bike-friendly trails and roads are nice roads for everyone. They are shady, incentivize low speeds, and are quiet. I saw time and again that having me on a bike made roads faster for everyone. Many roads are not two-way roads anymore since SUVs are so wide. Cars do the dance of idling and dipping sideways. I can pass a car going in the opposite direction and keep a street moving.

Someone in this city who doesn’t bike and will never bike depends on me to pay taxes to cover their Medicare and Social Security and buy things that support the value of their investments. They depend on a few people who might be kids now, but who could grow into adults to fix their homes, make food, and be home care aides. The more we are safe and free to develop our potential without driving, the better it is for everyone.