Category Archives: bikes

Xtracycle Reader (the video)

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Anne | 5 comments

By now you know that the Car Free Days family isn’t always prompt about posting to our blog. We have the very best intentions to keep it from getting old and moldy, but often life gets in the way and we push those blog updates aside.

We’ve officially taken procrastination to new heights. I’m more than a little bit ashamed to admit that this video edit is almost 4-years in the making: we’ve been saving this un-edited footage since August 2008. I started to edit it a few times but I just never got around to finishing it (kinda like Tim’s plan to finish his kid bike series). Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, kids, longbikes, xtracycle

Tagged 2008, bikes, kids, reading, seattle, summer, xtracycle

Bike to School Day

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Anne | 2 comments

7222292360_0bdf0728cb 128 kid bikes, add some parent bikes, 8 dozen doughnuts, much-needed coffee for the parents who don’t like to get up earlier than necessary, police escorts riding with the kids and blocking intersections with patrol cars = successful Bike to School Day.

We hope you enjoyed Bike to School Day and Bike to Work Day!

more photos here

– Anne and Tim

2 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, neighborhoods, School, seattle, sustainability

Tagged Bike to School Month, family, Family Cycling, kids, School

ATP (Alternative Transportation Project): Leave the Car at Home

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Anne | Leave a comment

Thanks, Jorge, for sending us this video!

The entire Car Free Days family enjoyed watching this whimsical video that’s a refreshing reminder of the fun involved in leaving our cars at home on occasion!

Happy Bike-to-School-And-Work-Day tomorrow!

– Anne

Motivating the Stoker

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Anne | 6 comments

We’ve been busy this spring getting ready for our Pacific Coast bike tour in July (even though we’d love to do the whole thing, we only have time for Seattle to SFO). We’re buying light weight camping gear, planning our route, getting the bikes set up and doing lots of tandem riding on the weekends. The whole family goes for at least one long ride every week – usually between 20 and 35 miles. We’ll slowly build up to 50 miles by the time we’re ready to roll out-of-town in July. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bike touring, bikes, family cycling, kids

Tagged bike touring, family bike touring, riding with kids, stoker, tandem, training

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Action is Afoot (and a-Bicycle, for that matter)

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Tim K | 10 comments

(edit:I’ve been told that a shared definition of a Neighborhood Greenway would be helpful for some readers. We’re working toward our “ideal vision” but in the meantime check out the “What is a neighborhood Greenway” section in this post by Sally Bagshaw for the basics. -Tim)

The Carfreedays family is jumping into the hotbed of Seattle Greenways grass-roots activism and joining up with our neighbors in NE Seattle on the NE Greenways project!

Greenways fit with the kind of riding we do (parent and kid-powered transportation), and c0uld really be the key resource for making it safer and easier for kids all over this city to skip the minivan and ride bikes or walk to school!

We don’t claim to be Greenways experts but we have some strong feelings, nonetheless. We’ve been riding around Seattle for longer than we’d like to admit. We know this city pretty well. We know the terrain and the people and the baggage that comes with both. And we’ve been avidly riding the streets of PDX on visits for the past five years or so. We aren’t Stumptown natives by any stretch, but we have more than a passing familiarity of what it feels like to ride the Green Streets of our fair neighbor. Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in bikes, Human Powered Politics, neighborhoods, seattle

Tagged bikes, greenways, Safe Routes to School, seattle, seattle neighborhood greenways

Grab a sitter, Shirley, it’s Pedal Party time!

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Tim K | 2 comments

What, you haven’t been to an afterparty since before you had the kids?

Lucky for you, our buddy Ryan, AKA Go Means Go, is throwing down his a 3rd-annual Pedal Party, an essential post-Expo opportunity to shed your Cascade-mandated yellow jacket, helmet and clicky shoes to slip into some sexy partywear (or at least some clean skinny jeans with a rolled up right leg) and SHAKE IT. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in beer, bikes, dates, seattle

Tagged afterparty, beer, bike expo, bikes, pedalparty

Family Bike Touring: Character Building on Wheels

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Anne | 5 comments

Yesterday I began a post about our summer bike tour. As the post progressed, I realized it was becoming bigger than just recounting our trip. It was more about the lessons we all learned. As parents, Tim and I want to teach our kids about character and grit, and bike touring is a great way to accomplish that.

(continued)

…How many of the character traits have I covered so far?

With two kids along for the ride, bike touring is even more challenging. Because bike touring involves some suffering and grit and our modern-day, middle-class kids aren’t accustomed to that.

Karen Fierst, a teacher who oversaw the character program at Riverdale, reflected in the aforementioned NYT piece:

“Our kids don’t put up with a lot of suffering. They don’t have a threshold for it. They’re protected against it quite a bit. And when they do get uncomfortable, we hear from their parents. We try to talk to parents about having to sort of make it O.K. for there to be challenge, because that’s where learning happens.”

Yes! I completely agree. Suffering is OK, it’s where learning happens. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bike touring, bikes, family cycling, San Juan 2011

Tagged bike touring, family bike touring, grit, success, suffering

Bike Touring with Kids (building character one pedal stroke at a time)

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Anne | 2 comments

Too many months have passed since we returned from our family bike tour last summer to justify a trip report. But I think just enough time has passed to allow me to reflect on the experience and look forward to the next one.

Last summer we loaded up Tim’s Big Dummy (with most of our gear), the tandem (equipped with 3 Ortliebs and a bucket pannier) piloted by Anne and the 8-year-old and the 10-year-old’s bike (toting her clothes, sleeping bag and thermarest) and pedaled away from our house on a sunny Saturday afternoon in August.

We ended up in the San Juan Islands 5 days later.

The family spent 5 more days camping, relaxing, reading, playing on the beach and enjoying the tranquility of Lopez and San Juan Islands. We then hopped on the Victoria Clipper and motored back to downtown Seattle (covering the same distance on the passenger ferry in a few hours that took 5 days on the bike).

The trip came to an end after a 5 mile ride back to our house in North Seattle on a quintessential Seattle summer evening.

Sounds nice, huh?

Recounting the trip in that manner makes it seem like a piece of cake. We pedaled, arrived 5 days later, hung out on the Islands for 5 days and took a ferry back to Seattle.

Truth be told, there was plenty of suffering mixed in as well. And some grit and definitely some character building.

This NYT education piece about education, failure, building character and ultimately success reminded me of bike touring.

(stay with me for a bit). Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bike touring, bikes, kids, San Juan 2011, sustainability

Tagged bike touring, character building, family bike touring, grit, kids

Brompton: Take it in? Or lock it up?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Anne | 18 comments

Tim and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to Bromptons.

When he rides the Brompton, Tim forgoes toting around a heavy U lock and frequently chooses to take the bike with him when he arrives at his destination. In a shopping cart, in the corner of a restaurant or in a waiting room at the doctor’s office, Tim’s choice is usually to tote and stash the bike. Continue reading →