Category Archives: bikes

Summer by Bike: The Video

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Anne | 8 comments

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

8 Comments

Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, seattle, transitions

Tagged 2010, bikes, family, Family Cycling, friends, kids, summer, summer riding, transitions

Fiets of Parenthood Seattle: HOT HOT HOT

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Anne & Tim | 19 comments

We’ll admit it. We were worried. When the mercury climbed above 90 on Saturday, we were pretty sure most everyone would call in “hot” and go to the lake instead.

Hey, that’s what we would have done.

But still, what were we going to do with four freakin’ gallons of Grade-A gelato, 120 spoke cards (note to self: don’t print the date; you can re-gift them later), and enough Slow Race Silly Bandz to outfit the entire 2-4th grades of the John Stanford School? Continue reading →

19 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, family cycling, kids, seattle, summer, weather

Tagged bikes, family, family bikes, fiets of parenthood, fop, xtracycle

Fiets of Parenthood Seattle, Sunday Aug 15th

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Anne | 4 comments

(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 →

4 Comments

Posted in bikes, Events, extravehicular activities, family cycling, seattle

Tagged 2010, August 15, events, fiets of parenhood, seattle

It’s not you, it’s me

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Anne | 13 comments

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.

Billy can’t make it up all those hills so we can’t bike to school (translation: there is no way in hell I’m getting my a** on a bike and riding up all those hills with Billy)
Billy is scared to ride a bike (translation: I’m scared to let Billy ride a bike)
Billy is too out of shape to ride (translation: I’m too out of shape) this one is stretching it a bit…who says their kid is out of shape? ; -)

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 →

13 Comments

Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, transitions

Tagged "bike parenting", Family Cycling, kids, riding with kids, transitions

Send your bike to Africa this weekend

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Anne | 6 comments

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 36^th Avenue SW, West Seattle
Saturday, July 31^st, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

– Anne

6 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes

Tagged bikes, bikes for Africa, donate, West Seattle YMCA

Look Both Ways

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Anne | 13 comments

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 →

13 Comments

Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids

Tagged bikes, city, neighborhoods, riding with kids, safety, traffic, transitions

Fiets of Parenthood, Seattle Style

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Anne | Leave a comment

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

Transitions: What does your neighborhood say about your (kid’s) riding

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Anne | 4 comments

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 →

4 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, family cycling, kids, neighborhoods, transitions

Tagged bikes, community, Family Cycling, riding with kids, transitions

Transitions: Am I ready for my kid to ride?

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Anne | 20 comments

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 →

20 Comments

Posted in bikes, family cycling, kids, kids' bikes, transitions

Tagged Family Cycling, kids, kids' bikes, riding with kids, transitions

Bikes, Beers, and no Cars. Coming soon to a trail near you (assuming you live in Madison, Wisconsin)

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Tim K | 5 comments

A restaurant owner in Madison wants to create a low-impact, seasonal eatery smack dab in the middle of the local human-powered trail system. Entry to the proposed eatery would require walking, skating, biking or … whatever. Just no cars allowed.

Described as “a hobbit hole meets the American Players Theatre meets a 1950s National Park recreational area,” the “Badger Den” would be a “bike-in” bar and grill open from April through October.

The best part about it is they don’t even have permission to use the space. Instead they are launching a little PR campaign (which I’m now helping, if Seattle PR does any good for a business that is yet to exist half-way across the country) to build public support so the city will have to approve the plan. And it seems to be working:

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the cafe would be consistent with what the city has been doing to encourage bicycling. “I think it’s fascinating idea,” Cieslewicz said. “We’d love to work with him on it.”

Ha! I’d like to see more of this action-based planning here Seattle.

Overall the plan sounds lovely to me, though I’m a little ho-hum on the idea of bringing in supplies via golf cart. If they are really serious about this as a no car thing, how about using some cargo bikes instead?

Read the actual article for the full scoop. And if you’re planning to open one of these somewhere along the Burke (though the Sammamish River Trail is probably the more pastoral choice), let me know when to show up with my mug and tree-stump chair!

-Tim