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#BikeDiary A bit on the rationale:

Many reasons, but the big one is the climate. I have a venerable ~20yo stick shift Honda Civic. It won't last forever. When it stops running, what replaces it?

The Civic gets 25-35mpg. I drive it ~4000 mi/yr. Casual research & quick estimation suggests suggests that the sunk carbon cost of just •manufacturing• a car is approx the same as driving the old Civid for another •decade•. Replacing the Civic with •any• car — even an EV! — has a massive climate cost.

#BikeDiary It seems like the best thing I can do for the climate here is to keep driving my gas-powered Civic while working to make it so that when it finally dies, I'm barely using it and don't feel like I need to replace it.

In short: the goal of this cargo bike adventure is to move from a two-car family to a one-car family.

#BikeDiary One week in: I •love• it. It’s just…so cool. I'm hard pressed to think of the last time something introduced this much joy and life into my daily routine.

I got the model with the cushy seat in the back, and it transports my daughter quite comfortably. Her first several times riding on the back, she couldn't stop squealing with glee — and still does at least once per ride.

People do go on about their cargo bikes and their e-bikes. I totally get it now.

#BikeDiary My traditional bike is an aluminum frame cyclocross (a Redline, lovely bike), and it's nimble, quick, light, spritely. Riding feels like going for a run or skiing; if it’s a car, it’s some sporty little thing.

The Tern is none of that. People sometime say “minivan,” but that’s not quite right. It’s a station wagon. A really elegant station wagon.

@cxj Eventually!