28 September 2010

Italian Moms on Bikes

Since my friend is still looking for her replacement "mom's bike", I thought I'd post all the mothers (and fathers!) we captured out cycling in Italy.
 When I saw these bikes waiting outside the bakery I knew there would be a family of cyclists nearby.
 Sure enough, ten minutes later I heard the older child happily chatting with her mother as they safely cycled through the walled city of Orvieto.
 This mother in Florence has both of her children on her way into town on the dedicated bike lane along the river.
 This mother and her daughter were navigating the piazza near the Duomo in Florence.
 This family was parking near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

 Riding as a family in Villa Borghese seems to be the thing to do on Sunday. Bonus points if you bring a picnic lunch!
Some cyclists even appear to get their start on the safe walkways in Villa Borghese.
This little girl was enjoying her lollipop as Dad cycled home along Via del Corso, which was closed to traffic several times while were were visiting.
This little girl was quite relaxed heading off somewhere with her mom and dad. I even caught her yawning!

You're unlikely to see a little girl balancing on a bike like this in Boston!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

neat! out of curiosity, if you had to guess, what was the general distribution between front/toptube child seats and rear rack seats?

Charlotte said...

I would say that it's still 60-70% rear rack seats, but that still means there are more toptube seats than in the US. I don't know, but I think the little ones get to heavy for the toptube seats and have to go on the back eventually.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

That is a nice collection of family biking riding photos. Fortunately I live close to a connected grouping of city, county and state parks and get to see such activity otherwise I would think it non-existent here in the U.S.

cycler said...

Oh, these pictures make me miss Italy. Something about the pavements and the roll down gratings is instantly nostalgic for me. Not to mention the colored plaster that is so evocative of certain cities.

I tried to convince my brother of the merits of a top tube, but his son is already growing too heavy for a rear mount seat. OTOH, biking seems to be his favorite "passive" activity, so there's hope that he'll be the next generation of cyclist!

She Rides a Bike said...

Wonderful shots! Looking at them makes me feel happy to a part of something beautiful and elegant, even if not able to do so in Italy (yet!).

Anonymous said...

Barely a brain bucket in sight on the wee ones :(

Charlotte said...

Anonymous,
Isn't it fascinating to visit other cultures?

Lovely Bicycle! said...

love the one with the girl yawning!

Steve R said...

Ah, Via del Corso! Roma!

2 evenings of my honeymoon strolling on that fine street. The passegiatta, it's called: in the evening, everyone strolling in their finery. Lovely, just lovely. And all in the service of style.

Sigh.

(So that means they've been closing the street to traffic for at least 15 years.)