The Wagner family didn’t set out to make a statement about saving gas or the importance of exercise when they started doing their errands by bike. But when Matt, his wife, Megan, and children Kate (11), Frank (8), Henry (4) and Mary (2), pedal around Northfield hauling as many as 14 bags of groceries, it’s impossible not to notice. It all began when Father Denny Dempsey, the family priest (an avid cycler himself), challenged Matt to drive part of the way to his downtown Minneapolis job—and commute the rest of the way via bike. After that, Matt, and then the rest of his family, got hooked on two-wheeled transportation. —Myrna CG Mibus
So you got the whole family involved?
[I was] impressed with the savings on gas and downtown parking, and by how much better the exercise made me feel. Just about anywhere in Northfield we need to go is less than three miles from our home. I thought, “We could just bike this!”
That must be quite the task to get everyone ready to go.
The family works together quickly and efficiently to get on their bikes and are ready in about the same time that it would take to get everyone loaded into our Suburban. Kate and Frank push their bikes out of the garage and check their gear. Almost before Megan has her bike ready to go Mary climbs in her trailer and waits to be buckled up. And as soon as I get my bike out, Henry has his helmet on and climbs onto his “trail-a-bike,” hooked behind mine.
What kind of precautions do you take when on the road with family?
[We take] great precautions to be safe, work together as a family unit, and follow the rules of the road. We wear helmets and each bike is outfitted with front and rear lights and “slow moving vehicle” signs for visibility. En route we use basic voice commands to keep the group together, signal our turns, and follow traffic rules just like any other vehicle on the road. Perhaps the biggest challenge to safety is drivers who, in an effort to be nice, will signal for us to go when it’s not our turn or will stop in the middle of an intersection when they shouldn’t. They mean to be helpful but the best thing is for drivers to treat bicycles like any other vehicle.
What do you think the kids gain from this?
Bicycling challenges can also be viewed as opportunities to talk to the kids about decision making, about choosing options that are safest. Because whether on a bike now, in a car later, or in some other aspect of life, those sorts of decisions will come up in everybody’s lives. The big picture is I hope that the kids are making a lifestyle choice that they will take with them. Finally, there are the benefits of family time, exercise, and stress relief. We get on our bikes, we bike to the grocery store and back, and everyone feels better. It’s just a great way of integrating exercise for everybody.
