BWA caught up with Iasee and her son by the Jean Sweeney bike racks. They ride a sweet Riese & Müller electric-assist cargo bike.
Reminder: Alameda Municipal has a pilot program for eBike rebates!
BWA: Why did you get a cargo bike?
When my son started school I wanted an alternative to driving him to and from school. He bikes himself, but his school was about two miles away and in the morning it’s hard to get him going 😂. So I needed some way to make this easy for both of us. And I didn’t want to drive.
BWA: Were you like a big biker before?
Not really. For 20 years I didn’t ride, but then he started biking and I started biking again just to keep up with him. And then when he started school I thought that there has to be a better way than driving two miles to drop him off. We have friends that have cargo bikes, so I started talking to them and looking online, and settled on this one.
BWA: Why did you go with electric assist versus an unassisted bike?
People say we don’t need electric assist in Alameda, but depending on where you’re going, there’s a lot of wind. Plus, with the weight of the bike and the weight of the kid or whatever cargo I’m carrying, it just makes it easier to have the electric assist. And I figured if I had electric assist I would actually use it more.
We have friends who don’t have electric assist and they just use the bikes for errands in a 1-2 mile radius. And I want to bike to Bay Farm, and be able to run all my errands around Alameda.
BWA: Do you find yourself mostly just going to school, or do you go to the grocery store and do other stuff by bike?
I do most stuff on this bike!
BWA: Are you the primary rider of this bike?
Yes. My husband has a regular road bike, but he uses this bike on the weekends sometimes. When we’re biking with my husband he rides his own bike.
BWA: how do you find biking around Alameda? Do you feel safe? Is it fun? Is it a little scary at times, or all good?
I mean this bike trail [Jean Sweeney] is very lovely. It’s a great addition. He’s at school at NEA and we’re in central Alameda, so this takes us directly to NEA. It works out perfectly!
But biking in the streets, it’s scary. One time we went down Santa Clara to run some errands and he wanted to bike by himself, but I was not comfortable with him behind me. So usually, if my husband is with us, we create a bubble around him riding in the street. But even then, I feel like it’s a little unsafe. We’ve had someone open their door as we’re biking past. I tell people, you have to be an active biker, you can’t be enjoying the sights. I’m constantly looking at parked cars to see if there’s a shadow on the driver’s side, to see if someone’s opening their door. It’s very active biking!
BWA: Have you had any actual accidents or mostly close calls?
Mostly close calls. People pulling out into the bike lane, people blocking the bike lane everywhere we go. My son’s always asking, “why are people blocking the bike lane?” And I’m like, “that’s good question …” It should not be okay.
Overall we feel pretty safe biking around here. I mean we have better infrastructure than even just a few years ago. And being able to bike all around Alameda is great. We’re very cautious riders, not people who blow through stop signs or red lights. There are a couple times when I’ve been at the crosswalk and I don’t have the capacity to reach over and press the pedestrian button. So I just wait until the light is green. And my son will ask “why didn’t you press the button?” It’s because it’s inconvenient, it’s hard to handle this bike and reach over and hit the button. I don’t know how we improve the infrastructure so we’re not struggling with that.
BWA: Any last observations or advice for somebody who might be considering cargo-bike life in Alameda?
I say test ride a bunch of bikes and just go for it. If you are [physically] able to bike, there’s really no reason not to bike around Alameda. Alameda’s the perfect place to bike – it’s really great, no real hills, pretty flat. And as much as we complain about the streets, it’s not as bad as other places.