{"id":34,"date":"2020-02-20T13:47:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T13:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/?p=34"},"modified":"2022-05-23T22:47:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T22:47:50","slug":"bike-commuting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/bike-commuting","title":{"rendered":"For New Parents Who Commute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Time of Transition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I welcomed my first child into the world on September 15, 2019. I welcomed my first Gazelle ebike into my life six weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My family and I live in the mysterious mountains of Santa Cruz County. We make our home in a small cabin off the grid surrounded by misty redwood monoliths. I work fewer than ten miles from home in downtown Santa Cruz, yet even before my son was born, I found myself driving most days.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love to ride my bike, but I don&#8217;t adore that final grueling hill up to my cabin. I&#8217;m active, but I&#8217;m not an Athlete (with a capital A). Most mornings, the thought of climbing that steep hill after a long day of work dissuaded me from getting on my steel-framed 1987 Bridgestone touring bike. In my heart, I saw myself as a daily bicycle commuter. In reality, I was far from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Arrivals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My son arrived, and the practical motivations for purchasing an ebike began to stack up. When was I going to exercise? Who was going to use the car each day? How would I build a long-term budget? Then the existential motivations hit. What kind of example did I want to set for him? Don&#8217;t I want to do my part to protect this planet for him and his future?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was enough to motivate me to visit my local ebike store,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/currentebikes.com\/\" class=\"rank-math-link\" rel=\"noopener\">Current eBikes<\/a>, in downtown Santa Cruz. A jolly fellow named Andrea, fellow cyclist and young parent, was my matchmaker for the day. He introduced me to several options, but I didn&#8217;t feel a spark. That was until I laid eyes on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gazellebikes.com\/en-us\/electric-commuter-bikes\" class=\"rank-math-link\" rel=\"noopener\">a Gazelle electric commuter bike<\/a>\u00a0&#8212; it was love at first sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"820\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/blog_image_1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/blog_image_1.jpeg 820w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/blog_image_1-300x195.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/blog_image_1-768x500.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commuter-Friendly Features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It had everything I was looking for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Removable battery for charging at work<\/li><li>Upright positioning better visibility on those dangerous mountain roads<\/li><li>Quick recharge so that I&#8217;m never stranded&nbsp;<\/li><li>Frame and tires that can withstand the variety of surfaces on my commute&nbsp;<\/li><li>Weatherproof so that I can ride it every day<\/li><li>Ready to haul a trailer for taking my son to day-care<\/li><li>Beautiful style to make me look like a cool dad<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Perfect Fit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I took it home that same day, and I haven&#8217;t once driven to work since. I&#8217;m proud of myself for taking steps to improve my personal health and wellbeing after becoming a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My son will see his dad getting on his bike &#8212; rather than into a car &#8212; each day. I don&#8217;t know what that will mean to him, but I&#8217;m excited to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gazellebikes.com\/en-us\/bikes\" class=\"rank-math-link\" rel=\"noopener\">Gazelle ebike<\/a> empowered me to kickstart my parenthood without making compromises on my health, family, or the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"CityZen T10 e-bike | Gazelle\" class=\"wp-image-51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat7_menan.jpg 1580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"CityZen T10 e-bike | Gazelle\" class=\"wp-image-52\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cloudinary.pondigital.solutions\/pon-digital-solutions\/image\/upload\/gazelle-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/CityZenT10HMBdeserttitaniummat18_menan.jpg 1613w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gazellebikes.com\/en-us\/bike-store\" rel=\"https:\/\/www.gazellebikes.com\/en-us\/bikes#page=1 noopener noreferrer\">View the Newest Models at Your Local Gazelle Dealer<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introducing Jonathan Hicken, our newest guest writer, and proud Gazelle rider. Read on for his perspective on commuting as a new father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,29],"tags":[23,27,21],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ebikes","category-rider-stories","tag-ebikes","tag-electric-bike","tag-gazelle-bikes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions\/859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazelle-blog.pondigital.solutions\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}