Leonie Riding to Daycare and Work - plan B - Carlton Victoria

MONDAY FEB 16 / 2015 / by Andrew Talati
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Leonie and Santos riding to daycare then work
 

On the Canning Street bike trail we met rider Leonie and her super cute passenger, Santos. Together they commute to daycare and work on a commuter bike accessorised to suit their day-to-day needs.

Dropping off Santos at daycare in the city before continuing on to work, Leonie covers about 4.5kms to St. Kilda each work day

Santos enjoying the ride to daycare

She’s been riding for her commute for about 6-7 years with Santos joining her at about 18 months old and before that his older sister would be along for the ride. And he loves it – he gets to look around, talk to people. While Leonie’s older daughter now has her own bike and sometimes rides to school, when it was her turn to go on the daily commute, she loved it too, often being so comfortable and relaxed that she would fall asleep on the way home.

With the bike trails, the commute from North Carlton to St. Kilda is pretty safe even with the extra special passenger Leonie has with her.

When commuting with her older child, Leonie had a lot of trouble fitting the bike seat and bags to carry everything they needed for their day but not with Santos. Leonie discovered Cargo Cycles in Collingwood – and with her Boda Boda Yuba cargo cruiser and the accessories – she can easily ride with Santos and all they need. She regularly carries her laptop, lunch, Santos’ daycare bag, and even a change of clothes for work.

Wet Weather Plan B

To be honest, we expected that the wet weather plan might involve a car or a tram but not for Leonie and Santos. If the rain starts she simply stops, wraps a raincoat around her little man and they continue on. Clear or wet, Leonie finds the ride commute quicker than driving and quicker than the tram. And she’s found the ride commute safer for little ones, particularly when it’s crowded.

Leonie and Santos riding to daycare then work in the Melbourne CBD

Added benefits of the ride commute

Since having children it can be hard to find the time to exercise but Leonie finds that riding to work is a fantastic way to get some. It takes her the same time as public transport and there are showers available in most buildings if you get hot and sweaty so give it a go.

Tips for the ride commute

Take your corporate wear to a dry cleaner near work. When clean, hang them up at work so there’s no need to carry them back and forth from home to work.

Buy work gear that doesn’t need much (or any) ironing so if you have to carry them they won’t get crushed.

We’d be interested to hear your tips for the ride commute – head over to our Facebook page and let us know. Why do you ride commute? What’s stopping you from doing the ride commute? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Read more about Leonie’s Boda Boda Yuba cruiser on our My Bikes.

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