We’re kicking off Walk to School Month on Wednesday at our kids elementary school with some hot beverages and tasty snacks on the playground.
If you’re so inclined, and with a few modifications to the 7 day plan, you too can pull off a last-minute event. All you need is some enthusiasm, a few signs, some warm bodies and maybe some food and drink. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, Events, kids, neighborhoods, School
Tagged events, International Walk to School Day, kids, October 6th, School, seattle, walk to school
This is most likely the last year I’ll be able to shuttle two kids on the Xtracycle. (sniff sniff) I don’t know what Tim has been feeding them, but the wee ones have grown. They are simply getting too dang big to shuttle around.
And now they have friends.
And it’s not just their size, it’s their energy. They’re all squirmy and excited and silly. And they laugh and joke and eat lollipops. And sometimes they bonk each other with their helmets.
I have to say, I’ll miss this era. There’s nothing quite like hauling squealing kids on a bike.
But I know my Xtracycle kid-shuttle days are coming to a close.
And the kids must ride their own bikes to soccer practice.
(I promise to keep hauling the balls and cones until they are big enough for their own cargo bikes)
– Coach Anne
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, cargo bikes, kids, xtracycle
Tagged bike pool, bikes, coach, kids, soccer, soccer mom, xtracyle
As we’re wrapping up Summer 2010 (aside from 1980, the worst summer in 5 decades) and looking ahead to Fall, we still can’t stop talking about our terrible weather. Where did our glorious Northwest September go? (usually our favorite month of the year).
Despite the rain and clouds, we still enjoyed many fun times on the bike with family and friends. Check out the video we put together of Car Free Days summer riding.
When we watch the video we realize, it wasn’t all bad.
How about you? Tell us about your summer riding.
– Anne and Tim
Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, seattle, transitions
Tagged 2010, bikes, family, Family Cycling, friends, kids, summer, summer riding, transitions
(Video by Todd at Clever Cycles from Portland FoP)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Fiets of Parenthood” Event Will Celebrate Family Cycling
SEATTLE, Washington (August 3, 2010) – On Sunday August 15th, from 3-6 PM, at John Stanford International School (just two blocks from the Burke Gilman Trail in Wallingford), local family cycling advocates will present Seattle’s first Fiets of Parenthood Family Cycling Extravaganza. Meant to celebrate and inspire families going by bike, this free event will feature a kids’ bike skills race, parent/child family bike obstacle course, bike decoration station, “Gelato Bike,” and a bike raffle for a stylish cargo bike from Globe Bicycles, with proceeds to benefit Bike Works in South Seattle.
The organizers, local family bike bloggers Totcycle.com, CarFreeDays.com, and friends, find Seattle to be a delightful city to bike a la familia, and have been encouraging a burgeoning community of families using bikes for everyday transportation, through their websites and events like Kidical Mass, a monthly fun, law-abiding family bike ride to local parks and attractions. Continue reading
Posted in bikes, Events, extravehicular activities, family cycling, seattle
Tagged 2010, August 15, events, fiets of parenhood, seattle
This is our fourth post in our summer transitions series, How to transition kids from being cargo to riding their own bikes.
Sometimes parents use their kids as excuses when they (the parents) don’t want to do something. Come on, admit it, you do it too.
“We can’t make it to (insert destination or event) because Johnny is real real tired and cranky”.
Biking with kids is no different.
Parents use their kids as excuses all the time.
For us cargo hauling parents (or parents who want to be cargo haulers but haven’t made the leap yet) kids are a great excuse to continue hauling (or driving) them around. Continue reading
Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, transitions
Tagged "bike parenting", Family Cycling, kids, riding with kids, transitions
Learning to ride in Binaba by Mary Jane Cassady
Our friend, Tom, who is involved with the Village Bicycle Project, sent us information about a bike drive this weekend at the West Seattle YMCA.
Details below.
The Village Bicycle Project provides affordable transportation for Africans. People who own bikes can get more easily to school, to the market, their farm and health care. Bicycles reduce poverty and save time and energy. Millions of Africans do not have basic, reliable transportation–most rural Africans walk everywhere they go. 99% of Africans cannot afford cars, and public transportation is expensive and unreliable.
In Africa, a bicycle can make all the difference. The Village Bicycle Project is a Pacific Northwest-based organization that has shipped over 100 containers of bikes to Africa and has staff and volunteers in Ghana to receive the bikes and run local programs.
You can help by bringing your old bikes to the West Seattle YMCA
4515 36th Avenue SW, West Seattle
Saturday, July 31st, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
– Anne
Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes
Tagged bikes, bikes for Africa, donate, West Seattle YMCA
Tip of the day: crossing busy streets with kids
Crossing a busy arterial with two young riders is sure to rattle any normally calm, cool and collected parent. Many parents simply won’t do it: “Too many busy roads to cross where I live” is one of the most common reasons I hear from parents for why they don’t get around town on bikes with kids.
How do you get everyone across safely and keep what’s left of your sanity? Like everything else in life, it takes lots of practice. And you have to cross many intersections with kids before it becomes second nature.
We cross several of these intersections on a daily basis and have come up with a system that works for all of us and allows for safe crossing. Continue reading
Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids
Tagged bikes, city, neighborhoods, riding with kids, safety, traffic, transitions
Save the date for the Seattle version of Fiets of Parenthood: Sunday, August 15th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.
We had such a great time at FoP in Portland, we can’t wait to do it all over again in Seattle.
Location and all the other juicy details will follow in the weeks ahead.
Stay tuned, mark your calendar and plan on a super fantastic afternoon of family bike fun.
– Anne and Tim
Posted in bikes, Events, extravehicular activities, family cycling
Tagged bike events, Family Cycling, fiets of parenthood, fun, seattle, summer
This is our second post in our transitions series. The other day we talked about parents preparing to let kids ride their own bikes in the road. If you haven’t read the comments from that post, do it. You all have so much great insight to share.
Based on your comments, it looks like we’re all in agreement: When we talk about riding in the road, we’re not talking about a couple of kids racing each other around the block to blow off steam (not that there’s anything wrong with that). No, we’re talking about real mobility, car-replacement stuff: riding to the library, the local lake or pool. Grocery shopping at the store with the good cheese aisle and more. It’s fairly easy for younger kids to ride to a neighborhood play-date with parents. The next step is incorporating normally car-centric errands into longer rides with traffic. For most kids, or maybe more accurately, their parents, it’s that jump up to the next level that’s the big deal.
Continue reading
Posted in bigger than here, bikes, family cycling, kids, neighborhoods, transitions
Tagged bikes, community, Family Cycling, riding with kids, transitions
Car Free Days Kids (Summer 2008)
Our summer series about transitioning kids from being cargo hauled by parents to pedaling on their own power was born a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about luring parents back to bikes to get more kids riding. I loved all of the comments; they sparked such a rich discussion among parents and non-parents alike about riding with (or as) kids. Continue reading
Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, kids' bikes, transitions
Tagged Family Cycling, kids, kids' bikes, riding with kids, transitions
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
We LOVE to share our work, but the number of commercial sites using our photos (of our kids!) without permission, and/or non-commercial sites not following Creative Commons use and attribution terms is getting out of hand.
If you have questions about: allowed use of our content, need help understanding the Creative Commons link and license terms, want permission for another type of use, or need a quick refresher on the etiquette of photo use-and-reuse, please contact Carfreedays.com. Seriously, just ask. We're happy to help.
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 