Bike Mom Tracy Morrison prefers to keep her minivan in the garage

Since Mother's Day, the impassioned bike fans at Pedal Minnesota (in partnership with Monopoint Media) have put on a project called Bike Mom.

Until early July, the project's aim is to encourage women, moms and kids to ride, ride, ride their bikes, while giving away massive swag ($10,000 worth!) from companies like Twin Six, Lazer, Schwinn and Chrome. To lead the project, Pedal Minnesota has also chosen eight Bike Mom ambassadors who embody the Bike Mom lifestyle. The project's ambassadors have blogged and tweeted about their experiences bicycling, from Mother's Day onward. They've also tested out bicycling gear with their families and reviewed them for Pedal Minnesota's website. Cool deal.

One such Bike Mom ambassador is Tracy Morrison, "a mom, a marathon runner, and a lover of dark chocolate," who lives in St. Paul with her husband, three daughters (Eloise, Esther and Astrid), and their cat. On her blog, Sellabit Mum, Tracy describes herself as "neither British nor a nun … Just a Midwesterner with a headache." Earlier this month, I asked Tracy a few questions about her Bike Mom life.

1. How did you get involved in Pedal MN's Bike Mom project?

I was contacted by them directly asking if I'd be interested. I'm a local blogger and write about family, fitness, local happenings, and other lifestyle topics.

2. What are your responsibilities as an ambassador?

I work with Pedal MN to share information from their website — from programs, posts, product reviews, and local activities. I also give feedback to them on certain products that I'm asked to try with my family that is related to biking.

I've always enjoyed recreational biking — and as a child of the '70s — it was our main mode of transportation as a kid. After taking several years off of biking while living in LA and traveling extensively for my job, I moved to Amsterdam and rekindled my love of biking as a main form of transportation.

4. How do your kids participate in your bicycling lifestyle?

My older kids now can head out on their own on their bikes and enjoy rides with their friends. It's their favorite way to hang out and get places near our home. We love family bike rides and are so lucky to live in an area with great bike routes both by path and dedicated bike lanes on our local roads.

5. What do you most love about bikes, and getting around by bike?

I love that it's just so easy to hop on our bikes and go just about anywhere. It's a great way to explore our communities, to get to know others, to enjoy fresh air, to get some exercise, and a way to enjoy time as a family.

Unfortunately, there's currently no way to live without our minivan. With three busy kids — we share in a lot of carpool duties with school and activities, and also we cannot forget winter and ice. But now that it's summer — we bike a lot more and would rather keep the minivan in the garage.