What does Family Biking look like for you? Show us!
By Jeff Wetzel
I’m the official “Family Biking” person here at WABA, as the Family and Youth Education Coordinator. “How do I do this thing?” is a question I get a lot. Answers often turn into a conversation. This thing might be teaching a kid to ride, finding the best bike for a child, or hauling kids to school by bike. There is no one-size-fits-all answer—it really depends on where you are riding, the age and ability of the child(ren), your budget, and more.
To help illustrate the many, many great ways to bike with your family, we are curating a series of Family Bike Portraits from across the region. We want to see and hear what “Family Biking” looks like for you, whether you’re in Capitol Hill or Bowie or Herndon. Got trailers and child seats? Box bikes? Kids pedaling on their own? Mom or dad scoping out a new ebike? Whether you ride from your front door to school or hitch bikes to a car and drive to a safe trail to ride with an aunt or uncle, your story is important.
We’d love to hear your stories and see your photos.
Below is what Family Biking looks like for me. We want to hear from and share what it looks like for you. A paragraph or two along with a few pictures won’t capture the entirety of your story, but will let people see some of your experience. If you are willing to share your Family Biking Portrait, send a brief description and a few photos to youth@waba.org. We plan to share them over the course of the next year.
I live with four girls between the ages of 6 and 11. They can all ride their bikes comfortably for 20 minutes without complaint, and do well with slow neighborhood streets in Northeast DC, but we take the sidewalk on busier roads. They all have their own bikes, but often ride in our box bike when I need to take them further, faster, or along places that I’m not comfortable having them ride. (Read about our 20×20 Campaign to bring safe places to communities across the District here)
We take up a lot of space when we ride the sidewalk, but Michigan Ave in Brookland is not safe for them to ride on. | Ocupamos mucho espacio cuando viajamos por la acera, pero Michigan Ave en Brookland no es segura para ellas. 
Sometimes it’s not everyone finding a joke to be funny. | A veces ni todxs piensan que la broma es divertida. 
Sometimes it looks like me hauling a lot of stuff to mom’s office (including our leftover pizza for lunch) whilst they all ride their own bikes. | A veces mi ciclismo familiar es cuando llevo un montón de cosas a la oficina de mama (incluyendo nuestras sobras de pizza del almuerzo) mientras todas ellas montan sus propias bicis. 
Sometimes it’s being able to take them on a quick 15 mile round trip to see history happen and take advantage of living in our nation’s capital. | Y otras veces podemos disfrutar de vivir en la capital del país y llevarlas en un rápido viaje de 15 millas para ver la historia ser escrita. 
Sometimes it looks like a long trail of ducklings stretched out behind me. | Y a veces parecen una línea de patitos detrás de mí. 
Often, it looks like joy. | ¡Pero muchas veces, es pura alegría!