Author Archives: Tim K

Seattle Ride of Silence Tonight (May 20)

Posted on May 20, 2009 | 3 comments

The Seattle 2009 Ride of Silence quietly rolls out from Gas Works Park at 6:30 this evening. The ride, if you aren’t familiar, is an international event intended to honor those killed or injured cycling on roadways.

I participated last year and was marked by the ride. It’s a rather eery experience when a few hundred normally chattery cyclists string out along the road for a completely silent, solemn parade. Other than the whir of tires, ratcheting of freehubs, or squeals of wet, longbike disc brakes (sorry about that), it really is a ride of silence.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics

Tagged advocacy, bicycle, bikes, Commute, respect, ride of silence, seattle

News Flash! Cars are expensive

Posted on May 6, 2009 | 26 comments

This just in: driving a car costs a whole bunch of money. Crazy as it may sound to all eight of our car-loving readers, puttin’ the pedal to the metal isn’t quite as cost effective as actually pedaling.

This according the American Public Transportation Association’s Transit Savings Report. They looked at what a car costs to own and run (the whole deal from buying it, maintaining it, parking, registration, insurance and more) and then compared that with what transit use would cost the same family.

The PI says in Seattle such a comparison nets a$10,483 savings for those chucking their car keys. And that’s for transit use. A bicycle switchover would probably fare even better. Pretty impressive.

Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in bicycle neglect, bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics, mass transit, sustainability

Tagged alternative, bike life, bikes, economy, money, transit

Transportation Forum + Bike to Work/School Kickoff

Posted on April 30, 2009 | 1 comment

I love commuting with my wife

Friday is a big day.

We kick off Bike to Work month (Tim) and Bike to School month (Anne and the kids). I’m pretty sure we’ll be blessed with clear (or at least dry) skies, so don’t delay the start of your commute season. Remember, this is Seattle—the weather can only get worse as we get closer to June.

If you find yourself downtown with a spare hour around lunch time, I’d recommend checking out the Forum, TOWN HALL: Visioning the Puget Sound Region’s Transportation Future. It’s part of their ongoing Friday Forums series:

Transit demand continues to skyrocket while operating revenues are plummeting. How do car sharing, walkable and bike-friendly communities, and transit work together to form a new vision for transportation?

You’re even bring your lunch so if your schedule can swing it—unfortunately, mine can’t— please share any good takeaways. From over here in the cheap seats, it looks like an interesting collection of speakers will be covering some major ground.

WHEN:Friday, May 1st, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
WHERE: Bertha Landes Knight Room, Seattle City Hall (on 5th Ave.between Cherry and James St.)

More info at the Transportation Choices Coalition website.

-Tim

1 Comment

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, Commute

Tagged bike-to-school, bike-to-work, bikes, bluesky, Commute, oma, seattle, transportation, weather

Could D.O.T. Secretary think bikes are for real?

Posted on April 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

I mentioned this on twitter last week, but I think it might be worth exploring in a little more depth here with our blog readers.

The US Department of Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood is blogging.

These days a blogging politico is no surprise. However, the things he’s saying have kind of caught me off guard (in a good way):

“Bicycling is an important factor in less carbon-intensive commuting”
“When I told the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit that “Cyclists are important users of America’s transportation systems,” I meant it.”
“And, when I wrote that “With DOT, bicyclists have a full partner in working toward livable communities,” I meant that as well.”

To cyclists, these statements are pretty logical. We get all of this and many of us have been saying the same thing for years. But the problem hasn’t been saying, it’s been the listening. That is, getting the Beltway to listen, and take us seriously (remember last summer’s anti-bike rant by N.C. Rep Patrick McHenry?).

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Pt. 3 Building a kid’s bike that doesn’t suck: Tires

Posted on April 28, 2009 | 12 comments

Continued from the series of posts: Kids’ Bikes: They suck and what you can do about it. I started this “series” back in Dec. and then sort of fell off track as things melted down at work. As we’re heading into prime kid-biking season I figured I should dust off the drafts and get the info out there where it might do some good.

It’s possible experienced wrenchers may find this a bit too detailed. If that’s the case, visit the flickr stream for quick some ideas and examples.

By far, tires caused me the most trouble during this project.

I like to think I’m a pretty savvy cookie when it comes to bike parts. I’ve been around them a long time — as a DIYer and a shop rat. And on top of that, I’m a librarian so I know how to handle a search engine. But dang, these 24″ tires are difficult.

Limited choices + confusing sizes

The legendary Sheldon Brown illustrated the problem quite clearly in the following chart: Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in bike lust, bikes, kids' bikes, wrenchin'

Tagged bikes, kids, kidsbikes, schwalbe, shopping, tips, tires, wrenchin'

Taking the new skis for a ride (with Paris)

Posted on April 26, 2009 | 4 comments

I recently scored a smokin’ deal on some telemark skis on craigslist. Because I harbor a special guilt about my addiction to making turns (pretty much the only reason we own a car is for getting to the ski hills, and I don’t even want to think about the massive carbon footprint of the ski industry), I sure wasn’t going to drive to SoBa to pick up the planks. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, cargo bikes, xtracycle

Tagged ballard, bikes, g3 craigslist, parishilton, skis, soba, xtracycle

Leaf-Blower Elegance in a Bike-friendly Package

Posted on April 1, 2009 | 14 comments

Oma Tanker As most of you know by now, the team at Car Free Days is involved in an outright crusade to drive less and ride more. So far it’s been great. We’ve been riding (our Xtracycles and Anne’s Oma, mostly) nearly everywhere we need to go.

Those of you adept at reading through the lines, however, have probably noticed a little discord along the way. There was our son’s brush with hypothermia on the New Years cargo bike ride. There were challenging logistics for a 10pm wedding reception in Auburn. And we still get grief for the 50″ Plasma we scratched the crap out of hauling it home from Costco on the Xtracycles. And yes, the hills. Always the damn hills.

In many cases, my friends, pure people power isn’t the only answer.

We’ve dabbled with the idea of powering our Xtracycles with a Stokemonkey. Everyone we know who’s used one loves it. And Todd at Clever Cycles is a total peach. Really, the Stokemonkey is a perfect product, save one major shortcoming: They run on electricity. Franky, we just can’t condone the wasteful use of electrons wondering if perhaps a salmon got trapped behind a dam or a seagull met its demise at the blade of a wind turbine.

Though people can overlook such negatives, we at Car Free Days like to think our moral junk is of a stiffer quality than average. So that’s meant schellping our damn kids up the damn hills on our damn bikes with only our damn legs to thank.

Until now…

Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, buildin' the xtracycle, consumerism, gas, Ha, safety gear, sustainability

Tagged alternative transporation, april 1, april fools, e-bike, motorized bike, oma, seattle, xtracycle

SXSW Adventures: Bike Hugger Mobile Social Ride

Posted on March 25, 2009 | 2 comments

As I mentioned, I was in Austin last week at SXSW. While there, I had the good fortune to participate in the Bike Hugger Mobile Social Ride and BBQ. Anne and I are fairly regular participants in Seattle-area cargo rides and so I thought it would be fun to check out the dynamic of a mixed tech-texas hybrid event.

The day dawned like any other in Seattle. Wet, cold and dark. It wasn’t actually raining so I was raring to go. One problem: we weren’t in Seattle and the Austinites aren’t quite used to gray skies and wet roads. Though roads dried by the time morning SXSW sessions finished, it was only their 3rd day of rain since summer or something. I’m thinking this had to have an impact on the number of riders , yet the turnout was impressive (somewhere between 100 and 150) anyway. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bike lust, bikes, In other Cities

Tagged austin, bikehugger, community, mobilesocial, sxsw, sxswi, texas

SXSW Adventures: Large Guy, Small Bike

Posted on March 20, 2009 | 3 comments

large-guy-small-bike I went to the South by Southwest Interactive festival (SXSWi) in Austin last weekend for work. While there I was lucky enough to score a loaner bike from our friends at the great Austin bike blog/magazine: Austin on Two Wheels.

Oh, and this wasn’t just any beater… it’s was a sweet Azor Transport all the way from Holland (via our pals Dutch Bike Seattle—small world)! Anyway, as you can tell from the reflective Panda snapshot, the bike was a tad small, but that sure didn’t stop me from having an excellent time riding it all over Austin (side note: how freakin’ cool is the Internet when other bloggers loan you their very own bike, just ’cause you’re a fellow bike-life blogger and long-bike rider?).

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, cargo bikes, In other Cities

Tagged austin, bikehugger, bikes, cargobikes, mobilesocial, sxsw, sxswi

This just in: January 1 Cargo Bike Ride is on!

Posted on December 31, 2008 | 6 comments

2008 Opening Day Ride

We just received word from the Grand Pallet of Cargo Bikes, Val. The traditional Seattle Cargo Bike Opening Day Ride is a go:

Yep, this has to be the shortest notice ever, but it’s on for 1/1/09. Meet at noon at Greenlake, cruise to Golden Gardens, and light some fires to celebrate the new season.

These winter cargo bike events are as much about standing around eating, drinking, and telling lies (“so there I was riding down 5th Ave and that damn SLUT pulled out in front of me. I was fully loaded down—I had just picked up a an old toilet, two double-hung windows, and 10 gallons of paint from Second Use in South Park—and wasn’t sure I could stop in time. So I did what any Xtracycle rider would do—I took a deep breath and bunny-hopped the mofo while flashing a big smile to the driver and tourists as I cleared the roof”…) as they are about actual riding.

So plan to dress warm, bring some hearty food (expect flames of some kind for heating food and souls), your preferred beverage(s), and your sparkling personality. Heck, last year folks enjoyed a Christmas tree bonfire on the beach; you could even bring your tree if so inclined.

To get a feel for the event, check out our photos from last year. The carfreedays.com crowd had planned to be on our way out of town the morning of the 1st, but this event is forcing us to revisit our plans: we hope to stick around and at least make ride (though we may have to save the food and the lies for next time.

Hope to see you there!

-Tim

Edit: PS: Last year we met near the pool/community center — right by the outdoor basketball courts on the Gregg’s Greenlake Cycles side of the lake. I’m guessin’ that’s where we’ll gather again.