I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but um… we’ve been busy riding our bikes….
On a total whim, I got Anne an Oma for Mother’s day. She’s been coveting them for a long time and I always figured I’d get her one when we stopped hauling the kids around on the Xtracycles. But then the perfect candidate popped up on Craigslist (you do watch Craigslist for bikes every day, don’t you?) and those plans went out the window.
I just couldn’t resist. Continue reading
You’ve heard Anne and I prattle on about bike racks. They aren’t where you need them. They’re ugly. And even when they are in the right location, they need more capacity. Blah, blah, blah. Maybe that’s what prompted my buddy Bret to tip us off to a bike rack design contest in his neighborhood.
It seems those inspiring folks at Sustainable Ballard have come to our rescue with a contest to outfit key Ballard locales with locally designed, handmade, artisan bike racks. We’re already fans of Undriving Ballard, and Undriver License holders and can’t wait to see what develops here. As of now, racks are planned near the Ballard Library, Ballard Ave near the Sunday Market, Bergen Place, the Locks, and Market Street.
Posted in bikes, neighborhoods, Rack that Bike, seattle, sustainability
Tagged ballard, bike racks, bikes, design, seattle, sustainability, sustainable ballard
I would like to applaud all of the parents who are taking their kids to school by bike this month. You are all doing a fantastic job. Way to go! Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Human Powered Politics, kids, neighborhoods, seattle
Tagged bike-to-school, bikes, Family Cycling, kids, parents
We kicked off Bike to School Month in style this morning with a fantastic family-focused bike event at our elementary school. Judging from the turnout – easily more than 100 people – it seems there’s no better way to get families excited about biking to school than getting them biking at school. Of course a rare sunny (this spring in Seattle, anyway) Saturday didn’t hurt numbers. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, neighborhoods, seattle
Tagged Bike to School Month, bikes, conference bike, cycling, Families, Family Cycling, kids
I saw this video on Copenhagenize last week. Wouldn’t it be nice if biking to school in America was that pleasant? I love the shots of really young kids riding on their own. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, neighborhoods, seattle
Tagged bike-to-school, bike-to-work, bikes, Commute, kids, schools, seattle
I recently requested some bike racks for a fairly new commercial strip in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle. Over the past several years some “mixed use” apartment buildings have been built on NE 65th street. In addition to the two large apartment buildings, there are now four restaurants on the two-block stretch. And not a single bike rack. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, neighborhoods, Rack that Bike, seattle, shopping
Tagged bike parking, bikes, cycling, racks, seattle
I had some stuff to return to Patagonia today so I rode downtown after I dropped the kids off at school. Since I was riding downtown anyway, Tim asked me to take a detour to his office and drop something off that he forgot this morning. So I took the route he usually takes to work. Man he is right about Eastlake and South Lake Union. What a mess. It’s really hard to believe the city lets developers get away with randomly closing lanes on well travelled streets. Continue reading
Saturday was a beautiful sunnyish day in Seattle. The kind of day that makes you look forward to spring. The boys were off doing manly things so the seven-year-old and I had an impromptu girls day. I’m often accused of not being fancy enough for my daughter so I let her dress me that day – she was very excited that I wore something other than jeans. We decided Fremont would be a good destination for lunch and a little girlie time so we headed down the Burke-Gilman trail—my daughter riding side saddle and looking demure on the back of the Xtracycle. I was pleasantly surprised that we weren’t the only ones not racing down the trail decked out in Lycra—there were plenty of folks dressed in regular clothes using their bike to get where they needed to go. Right on. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle
Tagged bakfiets, bikes, conference bike, Dutch Bike Co, Fremont, seattle, xtracycle
I meant to post this before the Portland bike show but ran out of time. I was just going to let it go, but then I came _this_ close_ to crashing on the South Lake Union Trolley (SLUT) tracks on my way home tonight. So…
The Seattle Times is on a roll with cycling-as-transportation articles these days. I normally prefer the PI (mostly because the Times-owning Blethens are idiots obsessed with the estate tax), but these cycling articles in the Seattle Times are nice because they lack the PIs pathetic “Sound Off” public forums—normally a magnet for bike haters.
The article “New streetcar lines should be in center of road, council member says” reports that Jan Drago (and other council members) calling for bike-friendly future trolley development. Overall, good points were made. I must cross SLUT (south lake union trolley) tracks about four times on each way of my commute. It’s horrible. So far I’ve experienced no mishaps (knock on wood) but I have come close. Though the Xtracycles’ long wheelbase has saved my ass so far, I know it’s only a matter of time.
It’s quite obvious to anyone who has attempted to ride in SLU, that the city erred on the side of development (sidewalk boarding, even in the face of known bicycle hazards, was called for by Mr. Allen’s team and other property owners and approved by Mayor Nichols). As a result, bike advocates and now the council think the pendulum should swing the other way on future trolley development.
That’s a good start but it brings me to my beef with our beefy mayor. The article resurfaces a comment made by the Mayor in December where he said bike-trolley safety issues weren’t important. To me, this is the real story and calls into doubt the weight of this weighty mayors commitment to the Bike Master Plan.
In December, Mayor Greg Nickels complained in casual conversation that the bike issue was overblown. -P.I. article
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Mayor Nichols has, shall we say, “put on a few pounds” while in office. As someone who is always fighting against weight-gain, I normally wouldn’t say a word about this. However, in this case I think his growing chin count illustrates how the mayor isn’t qualified to speak on the cycling-safety issue. Those puffy cheeks and straining Dockers make it painfully obvious the mayor hasn’t been piloting a bike around the Seattle traffic infrastructure on a regular basis.
So Mr. Mayor, please do me a favor — when you feel the need to talk about how something is not a cycling safety issue just SHUT THE HELL UP.
You have at least one expert on staff. Let them fill you in on the safety angle. If you can’t trust your staff, consider these other options:
Please, Mr. Mayor, just do whatever it takes to keep your feet out of your mouth. Because until you make an effort to ride your talk and actually try cycling our pathetic infrastructure again, your opinion on cycling safety is worthless.
-Tim
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Human Powered Politics, mass transit, neighborhoods, seattle, traffic
Tagged bike master plan, bikes, commuting, politics, safety, seattle, signage, SLU, SLUT, tracks, traffic
I had plans to meet my friend at a park in Wallingford the other day. It was a pretty cold day in Seattle – 41 degrees and windy: the weather report said it felt like 28. We were undeterred by the weather, we just bundled up and got ready to go, despite the howling wind. The four-year-old said he felt like a snowman – he could barely move because I put three coats on him.
I had a thermos of hot chocolate and sandwiches for lunch – we were ready to roll. But just as we were walking out the door, my friend called to say they weren’t going to make it. It was too cold and her daughter didn’t want to go (in the CAR!!!). My son doesn’t take well to changes in plans, so we went without them. Our kids are out in the weather all of the time – this is Seattle after all – if you wait for a nice sunny day to go outside, you’ll spend 10 months out of the year indoors. Continue reading
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