sv evi

We bike a lot here in Cuenca.

Riki bikes pretty much everywhere—he meets me downtown for breakfast, and I take a bus while he rides. He rides up in the mountains all around Cuenca. I mainly stick to where we need to go, and to the river trails because the drivers here are not very forgiving to cyclists. Riki has started going purposefully slowly in front of the cars when we cross roundabouts, and holding his hand out for them to stop. Tomu copies him. Riki also has been known to mean-mug drivers or occasionally yell at them in English.

We depend on our bikes for transportation to the kids’ school, to Tomu’s soccer practice (Jade decided after one week that she didn’t want to play on the team after all, but that she would join when she turned 4), and to the kids’ swimming lessons.

The chicken & the cat en route to school 

So it was a real bummer when our landlord called me one Monday in April and said that her son was coming by in an hour to pick up his bike, an old Schwinn that Riki had added a seat and stirrups to for Jade to ride on. 

The old trusty Schwinn

And later that week our friend Steph asked for her sweet mountain bike back, that Riki had been borrowing for a few months. So we were almost bikeless. 

On Steph’s bike with double baby carriers.

Selfie: Post rainy bike ride home from Parque Paraíso with my mom.

We spent some time combing GringoPost, Facebook Marketplace, and OLX looking for suitable replacements. We looked in the fancy mountain bike shops in town. I am basically a giant here, with very long legs, so it’s a challenge to find a bike that is comfortable for me to ride.

After a few weeks, we found a mountain bike for Riki with a tagalong bike for Jade and a seat for Luz that fits on the back of a bike, which solved half our problem. But we couldn’t find a bike to fit Luz’ seat.

The river trails can get muddy, and Jade gets the brunt of it on the tagalong bike. 

Our friend Adam went back to the States with his family for a few months, and we borrowed his daughter’s bike. Riki then figured out how to make the toddler seat work with the bike and voila! We can bike as a family again, with Luz riding in a seat instead of in the carrier. 

Apparently the bike seat is sleep-inducing.