Category Archives: bikes

Xtracycle: An Anti-Minivan for the Anti-Soccer Mom

Posted on October 28, 2007 by Tim K | 2 comments

Seats four in comfort. Check!
Cupholders? Check!
Loads of cargo Space? Check!
Room for the brother to bring his bike? Check!
Space for tailgating? Check!
Co2 Belching SUV/Minivan? Nah!!!!!!!!

We had a lovely Saturday at the six-year-old’s soccer game. It’s not exactly sport at this age, but it’s fun to watch. Dozens of these tiny three-on-three teams play at a time and the resulting parking frenzy resembles the UW Montlake lot the first week of fall classes.

No matter, we just cruise by the madness and park the SUBs on the sidelines like VIPs!

-Tim

2 Comments

Posted in bikes, extravehicular activities, neighborhoods, School, Uncategorized, wrenchin'

Tagged bikes, cupholders, kids, seattle, soccer mom, SUB, tailgating, xtracycle

Seattle Mayor Nichols Wants to Show You His Rack(s)

Posted on October 26, 2007 by Tim K | 6 comments

SDOT Photo

As we ride more (and more and more) around our fair city, I’m struck by how little the city does to accommodate the parking of our two-wheeled steeds. Racks are few and far between, but cars are welcomed on nearly every curb. It used to be, back in the day, this didn’t matter much because you could count on a nearby, sturdy, parking meter…

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6 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, neighborhoods, Rack that Bike, seattle, sustainability, xtracycle

Tagged bikeracks, bikes, governement, local, racks, seattle, transportation, xtracycle

BYOH: Bring Your Own Helmet

Posted on October 24, 2007 by Anne | 1 comment

My son had a friend over to play the other day. Usually when a parent drops their kid off to play, they leave a car seat so you can take the kid home in your car. This time, the mom brought a helmet. I didn’t ask her to. I didn’t even tell her I was going to bring her son home on the bike (in fact, I was planning to walk since we hadn’t talked about it in advance). She just assumed we would ride. And that is a beautiful thing. Maybe our bike lifestyle is catching on….

(BTW – the little boy loved it. I had a hard time getting him off the back of the Xtracycle. He wanted more. I bet he can’t stop talking about it at home – he’s probably begging his parents to get one right now…. A girl can dream.)

– Anne

1 Comment

Posted in bikes

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, friends

Do You Want Fries with That?

Posted on October 23, 2007 by Tim K | 7 comments

Nothing says cycling like a big fat burger, right? (uh, yeah…right, Tim)

So it follows that nothing says riding in the rain like a big Costco-sized bottle of ketchup-turned buddy flap (mud flap)!

I had big plans to make some fancy Rivendell-style tweed/leather mudflaps, but I went back to my reuse roots. Once I saw the flap-goodness embodied in that giant old ketchup bottle, I don’t know, I just couldn’t sit idly as it was sentenced to the big recycling tub.

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7 Comments

Posted in bikes, sustainability, weather, wrenchin'

Tagged bikes, buddyflaps, commuting, fenders, gear, rain, tips

Free Beer at Clever Cycles, Portland ?!?!

Posted on October 21, 2007 by Tim K | 4 comments

Sure, it’s not enough that they’ve got the coolest city-bike shop anywhere, or that they’ve managed to double the size of the shop in five or so months. No, they have to give away free beer, too.

It’s just not fair, I tell ya! Seattle needs some of this two-wheeled excess!
Seriously, if you get the chance, check out Clever Cycles, right across the street from the Lucky Lab in PDX …

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4 Comments

Posted in bikes, Blogroll, longbikes, PDX, shops, xtracycle

Tagged beer, bikes, bikeshops, citybikes, clevercycles, portland, retail, stokemonkey, xtracycle

It’s Fall

Posted on October 19, 2007 by Anne | 2 comments

Seattle fall weather has officially arrived. It’s windy, wet and on the downward spiral toward darkness. In a couple of weeks cars will start turning their headlights on @ 3:00 pm. This is the time of year Tim and I talk longingly of moving to San Diego. This morning I met my sister for coffee and I didn’t even think about driving. I just put on my favorite wool base layer and a shell and got on the bike and rode the 8 miles. So maybe I’m over the hump? Last fall I would have sheepishly gotten into my car and driven because I didn’t feel like getting wet. We’ll see how I do in a couple of months.

– Anne

2 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, seattle, weather, xtracycle

Tagged , bikes, rain, seattle, weather

Cycling Style

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Anne | 6 comments

(photo from Cycle Chic — Copenhagen Girls on Bikes)

If non-cyclists could get past the “cycling gear” barrier – do you think more people would use bikes as a mode of transportation? Maybe that’s the Tipping Point.

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6 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, traffic

Tagged bike style, bikes, boots, commuting, urban cycling

Streak Ends at 22 on World Car Free Day

Posted on September 28, 2007 by Tim K | 4 comments

Sept. 23, 2007: I should have posted this when it happened, but gosh I felt soooo ashamed!

Anne and I had a great run going with the Xtracycles — We parked our cars for 22 days and let our bikes do the talking. Grocery stores. School pickups. Play dates. Parent dates. All of it. I even delivered a bike box to FedEx via longbike. It felt good …

And then we drove… on World Car Free Day of all days!

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4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, longbikes

Tagged bikes, bus, carfreeday, cyclocross, global, local, metro, xtracycle

What’s your Walk Score?

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Anne | 5 comments

Enter your address and get your Walk Score. Ours is 74 – which is why getting around by bike and foot is a no brainer for us. We have a handful of grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants that are an easy walk or bike ride away. We also have parks, a library and community center which are close as well. Our kids go to local schools so their friends live in the neighborhood. That’s the main reason we bought our house – it’s easy to walk just about anywhere we want to go.

One of our parenting philosophies is to choose activities for the kids that are close enough to walk or ride to. I’m not interested in being a taxi service – driving kids all over town to go to karate, ballet (insert activity here). If the kids want to participate in an activity – it has to be in the neighborhood. So far it has worked for us – they don’t like riding in cars any more than we like driving them so we’re all happy.

-Anne

5 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, neighborhoods, seattle

Woody with the Xtracycle

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Tim K | 1 comment

Lest everyone think all Xtracycle owners are hipsters, earth muffins, or born-again yuppies, allow me to introduce Woody. We met Woody last week on one of our car-free errand days. I pedaled past his massively loaded rig on our way from downtown and just had to go back to talk to him.

His xtracycle is mated to a Giant electric-assist bike. He said he loves the Xtracycle because it carries everything he needs and gets him where he needs to go. He had 1507 miles on it since moving to Seattle. To me, Woody seemed happy, healthy, and suitably mobile. Evidence of the power of two wheels (combined with lots of cargo space).

Keep ridin’, Woody!

-Tim