Guest Blog Post: By The Williams Family

It sounds like a scene from a bygone era: a brother and sister set off on bicycles to school each and every morning, sometimes stopping at the public library or the ice cream parlor on the way home after school. For Denver residents Luella and Monroe Williams, this was the daily reality of their 2024-2025 school year.

Luella cycled about 700 miles this school year to Girls Athletic Leadership School, a couple of miles from home. She also biked to the climbing gym near school for team practice twice per week. But her commute was never boring. “It’s different every day; people are always doing different things. I like being out, getting exercise, and feeling the fresh air.” She wishes more middle school students would bike to school, but she understands the barriers. “Sometimes the cars are stupid, and I think about the things that are unfair in biking. Like, Grant Street has fewer stop signs, but no light to cross Alameda. So I take Sherman instead, which is slower with more stop signs, just so I can cross Alameda at a light. The Broadway light is long compared to the lights for the cross streets, so it prioritizes cars over me getting to school. On trash, recycling, and compost days, bins block the bike lane on Bannock.”

How do Luella’s parents respond to these concerns? “We know we have a choice: be part of the problem, or part of the solution. We support our kids bicycling to school, knowing there will be one less car on the road–and in the pick-up and drop-off line at school. It is scary sometimes, knowing that bicycling infrastructure and protection could be so much better. But we’ve assessed the risks for our family. Honestly, we don’t feel safer driving. Plus, we’ve seen the benefits for our kids from biking independently. They are more confident, regulated, and empowered by their daily commutes.” Keeping all of the bicycles maintained year-round takes work; in order for both kids to commute daily, they need to maintain a fat-tire bike for Monroe’s longer commute in the winter.

Monroe calculates that he cycled more than 2,000 miles as an eighth grader at Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School, more than seven miles from home. “It relaxes me for the day, so I’m mentally prepared for whatever comes. On the way home, I process the day.” His route has the benefit of following the Cherry Creek Trail for several miles. “It’s nice biking on the trail with other people. Feeling the weather and the air prepares me for the day. I have time to think!” Still, Monroe had to navigate obstacles and even extend his route to avoid hardships. “I had to take detours to avoid harassment from people in cars at a school I passed on my way home. Frequent changes in construction areas made it a little harder to get to school, but it wasn’t a big deal.”

Monroe takes a global approach to his commute. “It would be fun if more people used low-carbon transportation (walking, biking, or the bus) instead of so many people driving. I understand parents get scared and some people can’t bike to school, but there are so many ways to commute that are better than driving.” The benefits hit closer to home as well. “Biking is great for athletes who want to get more exercise, and parents get more time in their day.”

The Williams parents agree. “The time it takes to make sure the safety lights are charged and check the air, brakes, and chains each week is so tiny compared to the time we’d spend driving our kids to and from school every day. As a single-car family, it wouldn’t even be possible to drive our kids to their separate schools on time. Even if it were, it would take hours out of every school day. We plan so that if we get a call for help, which only happened once or twice the whole year, one of us can go. But even that requires less time than a round trip by car, and most of the time we’re free to do other things with that time.”

“Our kids’ bike commutes support the whole family. We’re happier. They’re happier!”