Category Archives: bikes

Seattle Ride of Silence Deserves our Respect

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Tim K | 6 comments

Heading out with a small group on the 2009 Ride of Silence

As I mentioned, Wednesday was the 2009 Ride of Silence. Having been impressed by last year’s numbers and the diversity of participants, I was really looking forward to paying my respects by riding with an even larger group this year.

Upon arriving at Gas Works Park, it was quickly apparent that I was a bit optimistic. In fact, riders were so sparse, my first thought was that I missed the roll out and had showed up at a Cascade evening group ride. Last year’s rider count was in the mid-hundreds (Wednesday’s ride leader mentioned “600” in past years), this year I counted 43 or 44 riders TOTAL.

I’m just going to come right out and say I’m really disappointed by Seattle cyclists. While other cities had growing numbers of riders, Seattle fell flat (Portland drew about 75 for their 2009 ride). Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bicycle neglect, bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics, traffic

Tagged community, politics, ride of silence, rides, seattle

Seattle Ride of Silence Tonight (May 20)

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Tim K | 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

Our Hood Ornament Girls are Ready for Spring

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Anne | 2 comments

Spring has sprung in a typical Seattle way these past weeks, one day it’s 70 degrees and sunny and the next it’s 50 and raining. We’re not putting our winter clothes away any time soon.

However, my daughter decided last week that our girls were getting a little hot in their winter wear and they were ready for spring. The dolls’ outfits were not at all appropriate on sunny days. They got outfit changes last week. They are definitely ready for spring now!

Even if we changed them too soon, they are just dolls, they’ll be just fine.

– Anne

2 Comments

Posted in bikes, kids, kids' bikes, oma, weather

Tagged bike hood ornament, bikes, clothes, dolls, fun, kids, weather

With Kids, Sometimes We Ride on the Sidewalk

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Anne | 15 comments

Bike to School Month is in full swing. The racks have been full this past week despite the rainy weather. This hardy group of riders doesn’t mind biking in the rain. Way to go.

The increased number of pedalers around the school means a few biker, non-biker conflicts. We’re learning from each other and need to keep an open dialog so we can live harmoniously on the shared streets and sidewalks.

One recent conflict surrounded whether or not bikes belong on the sidewalk. In King County, bikes are allowed on the sidewalk as long as they follow the rules of the road and the sidewalk. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, kids, neighborhoods, School

Tagged bike-to-school, bikes, sidewalk

News Flash! Cars are expensive

Posted on May 6, 2009 by Tim K | 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

Ten Days with the Madsen Kg271 Bucket Bike

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Anne | 15 comments

Warning. This post is loooong. Tim and Anne co-wrote it. Singly they tend toward verbosity. Together? Oy. Maybe grab a cup of coffee or beer before you start.

Probably the best thing about this little bike blog thing is all the great people we’ve met. Folks like David and Stephan from Dutch Bike, Marge (who we’ve yet to physically meet, but I’m sure we will some day), Marcus and Elliot from Austin on Two Wheels, Val, and more. It’s been a great ride.

One of our newest blog buddies, George loaned us his Madsen KG271 (you know, the long bike with the big bucket on the back) for a 10-day testing stint.

Full disclosure: George is friends with the owner of the company and asked us if we’d give his own personal Madsen a try and share our impressions. He didn’t ask for any sugar coating, and it’s a good thing. Tim’s not real good at being sweet.

Over the course of a week and a pair of weekends, we both had the opportunity to ride the Madsen as part of our daily routines (where we normally ride our Xtracycles and Anne’s Oma), as well as on a couple special-purpose, made-for-Madsen adventures. Tim picked up bags of compost; Anne transported three kids home from school. We even had some of our bikey neighbors take it for a spin. Overall, the idea was to see how this one bike (in one size, shared by two people of very different size) could fit into this bike life we’ve built for ourselves.

Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bike lust, bikes, cargo bikes, kids

Tagged bikes, cargo, cargobikes, kg271, Madsen Cycles, opinion, review

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

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Tim K | 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 by Tim K | 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

Getting Ready for Bike to School Month

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Anne | 4 comments

It’s hard to believe a whole year has passed since we planned our first ever Bike to School Month at our local elementary school . I feel so much older and wiser this year : ) Continue reading →