Tag Archives: bikes

Is “Liking” Riding & Walking Good Enough?

2012 Bike to School DayThis week everyone is talking about the Danish study linking walking and biking to school with better concentration.  Kids + walking/biking + education = hot topic, right?

The story has legs and is making the rounds on Twitter,  Facebook, blogs, and news outlets. Everywhere we click (at least in our admittedly bike- & walk-centric world), we see a link to the study.

You’ve seen it, haven’t you?

Like many of you, we get excited about these articles and want to pass the on to our network of friends.

Click! Like! Share! +1!

The resulting flurry of retweets and likes is a good thing, isn’t it? “Hey look here’s a great story. Let’s share it with our friends!” We click and make a difference. And then …. nothing.

For all their worth so many of these stories fade quickly, replaced with the next alt-transpo buzz (like … “e-bikes are coming and they are going to change everything!”). Continue reading

Cargo Bike Old Farts

how we rolled in 2003, san francisco

I really enjoyed reading Todd’s latest post. Especially the retrospective and the Clever Cycles back story.

Todd and Martina have been riding Xtracycles since 2001. I knew they were cargo bike early adopters, but I hadn’t thought about the chronology or the details until I read the post. Continue reading

We’re back: “I miss our trip”

Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 6
Our Pacific Coast Bike tour is O V E R . We’ve been back for a while now but it’s taken me this long to process the trip and figure out what I wanted to say about the amazing experience of riding 946 miles in 22 days with 2 tandems and 2 kids under 12.

Can I just say Wow and leave it at that? Continue reading

Pacific Coast Bike Tour

Testing DIY stoves Our Home for the Next Month

We’re getting ready to head out on our  Pacific Coast Bike tour. We still have lots to do to get ready for the trip but we’re slowly making progress. Gear is piled up around the house, the new tent has been seam sealed and we’re slowly checking items off our to-do list. Even if we have to stay up all night, we’ll eventually get everything done and be ready to roll out-of-town. Departure may be a few days later than we planned, but that’s OK. Continue reading

Check out Davey’s Blog

IMG_3301One of our favorite bikers in Seattle has become a family biker and he now has a new blog. And I must say, he’s on fire. Davey is single-handedly putting us old and lazy bloggers to shame. I love his writing and his playful humor, be sure to start at the beginning.

We always enjoy running into Davey on the road. He takes the time to stop, say hello, chat for a bit and share funny stories. I leave these impromptu meet-ups with a smile on my face and just a little more hope for humanity. Davey is good people. Continue reading

Xtracycle Reader (the video)

Xtracycle readerBy now you know that the Car Free Days family isn’t always prompt about posting to our blog. We have the very best intentions to keep it from getting old and moldy, but often life gets in the way and we push those blog updates aside.

We’ve officially taken procrastination to new heights. I’m more than a little bit ashamed to admit that this video edit is almost 4-years in the making: we’ve been saving this un-edited footage since August 2008. I started to edit it a few times but I just never got around to finishing it (kinda like Tim’s plan to finish his kid bike series). Continue reading

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Action is Afoot (and a-Bicycle, for that matter)

(edit:I’ve been told that a shared definition of a Neighborhood Greenway would be helpful for some readers. We’re working toward  our “ideal vision” but in the meantime check out the “What is a neighborhood Greenway” section in this post by Sally Bagshaw for the basics. -Tim)

The Carfreedays family is jumping into the hotbed of Seattle Greenways grass-roots activism and joining up with our neighbors in NE Seattle on the NE Greenways project!

Greenways fit with the kind of riding we do (parent and kid-powered transportation), and c0uld really be the key resource for making it safer and easier for kids all over this city to skip the minivan and ride bikes or walk to school!

Bike Train to Bryant ElementaryWe don’t claim to be Greenways experts but we have some strong feelings, nonetheless. We’ve been riding around Seattle for longer than we’d like to admit. We know this city pretty well. We know the terrain and the people and the baggage that comes with both. And we’ve been avidly riding the streets of PDX on visits for the past five years or so. We aren’t Stumptown natives by any stretch, but we have more than a passing familiarity of what it feels like to ride the Green Streets of our fair neighbor. Continue reading

Grab a sitter, Shirley, it’s Pedal Party time!

What, you haven’t been to an afterparty since before you had the kids?

Lucky for you, our buddy Ryan, AKA Go Means Go, is throwing down his  a 3rd-annual Pedal Party, an essential post-Expo opportunity to shed your Cascade-mandated yellow jacket, helmet and clicky shoes to slip into some sexy partywear (or at least some clean skinny jeans with a rolled up right leg) and SHAKE IT. Continue reading

Riding with Tweens

IMG_0032

Mother/Daughter Panda

We’ve been getting some flak these days from our 10.958 year old about our lack of car. She’s entering those tween years: asserting her independence and trying to blend in with everyone else. And this whole bike thing sometimes cramps her style.

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but you kind of stick out when your family rides bikes instead of riding in cars.

Continue reading

Fall Basket = Smiles

Fall Leaves

I followed a cyclist down Eastlake the other day. We yo yoed for a few miles as we both climbed and descended all the hills heading North. He passed me, I caught up, he pulled way ahead, I caught up again.

The only reason he kept getting so far ahead of me is he was running red lights. As in, not–even–a–question the light was red, it was R E D. Continue reading