Bike Utah Valley

Tonight we went to Provo. This is something of a rarity for my family as of late. It is partly because we try to avoid using the car as much as possible, and my wife hasn’t wanted to pedal the kids back up the hill, and it is partly due to the fact that we are trying to eat at home more. We used to go get a pizza and then head over to the arboretum at BYU to eat it and watch the ducks and turtles in the pond. Well, tonight we decided we were going to do it again. Only this time we decided to ride. I rode the bakfiets with the kids in it, and the wife rode her Trek FX. We left at about 4:30 and headed off to Provo to get our pizza. I live near UVU in the southwest part of Orem, and Orem city is just in the process of putting bike lanes on 400 West in front of Lakeridge Junior High School. We rode those over to the bike lanes on 1200 South and took them east to the University Mall where we skipped over a block to the trail along University Parkway. That trail takes you right down into Provo. From there we hit the streets. Freedom Boulevard took us to get the pizza, then it was up 700 North in Provo where we hit bike lanes again after crossing University Avenue. From there it was just a few blocks and over one to get to the park. Up to this point, everything went swimmingly, partly due to the fact that it was all either level or downhill. Dinner and the ducks and turtles were great. Having young kids kind of changes your thinking just a bit as you learn to see things with their eyes. To them, the world is a place of wonder and exciting new things. A duck waddling around can be the highlight of the day. Following our adventures at the park, we took off on the bike lanes on 800 North and headed back to Freedom Boulevard where we headed north and then left over to the Provo Macey’s grocery store. A few things at the store and then we hoped on the Provo River Parkway Trail which runs right by the store. From there it was a quick little jaunt over to the College Connector trail running alongside University Parkway and then it was a reversal of our course and home. It was a very relaxing and fun evening. My wife remarked that she was amazed at how fast it was to get from place to place, especially the grocery store, by bike. Faster than with the car was her comment. Tomorrow we are planning to go back to Provo to do some shopping at the farmers market. I don’t know who will ride the bakfiets this time, but it should be equally fun and rewarding. The kids enjoyed themselves as usual. The lesson we took away from this adventure is that the hill isn’t as bad as we thought it might be, even with two kids and the groceries in a big heavy bike like the bakfiets. I think we’ll start to do it a bit more. Somehow I need to figure out how to get an xtracycle so that we can carry even more home with us. Milage via Google Earth, 10.65. Have a great night! I know we will!

ps:  Sorry for the lack of a picture.  I’m working on it.