Category Archives: seattle

Xtracycle Date Night

Posted on February 24, 2008 by Anne | Leave a comment

Tim and I mixed it up a little bit on Friday night and rode up to Capitol Hill for dinner. It was the perfect ending to a great week in Seattle. We’ve had beautiful weather all week – lots of sun, warmer nights, no rain. We couldn’t ask for anything better in February. Continue reading →

I dream of an electric assist

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Anne | 7 comments

If I was by myself I would definitely ride up this hill. It’s a good one. (at 70th and the Burke Gilman trail). Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, extravehicular activities, kids, longbikes, seattle, xtracycle

Tagged BIG Loads, bikes, hills, kids, seattle, xtracycle

My Bike Commute = Daily City Immersion

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Tim K | 5 comments

One thing I like about bike commuting is the opportunity to experience more of my city. In the morning, I might see a single scull or kayak slip under the University Bridge, the rising sun reflecting on the Olympic range, or a familiar landmark partially obscured by fog.

Of course, the downside of such an immersion is a heightened awareness of Seattle’s runaway construction projects. I rant about the state of our roads because I’m all too aware of how poor they’ve become. As I daily dodge cement trucks, impromptu street closures, and poorly patched pavement—a victim of heavy equipment or new-utility runs—I can only wonder about the sustainability of Seattle’s current development choices.

In the morning, I worry if Seattle knows what she is doing. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in bikes, Commute, seattle, sustainability, traffic

Tagged bikecommuting, carfreedays, commuting, construction, development, seattle

Neighborhoods and Bikes – Fremont

Posted on February 17, 2008 by Anne | 6 comments

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 →

6 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle

Tagged bakfiets, bikes, conference bike, Dutch Bike Co, Fremont, seattle, xtracycle

Bike SLUT Issues Overblown, Says Non-Riding Mayor

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Tim K | 3 comments

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:

Give voice to regular bike commuters to discuss their traffic experiences
Seek opinion from the Cascade Bicycle Club
Copy what they are doing in Portland (everyone else is)
Even lean on the folks who are in the trenches.

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

More commute photos in the Car Free Days commute photostream at Flickr

3 Comments

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

Green Lanes Mean What?

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Tim K | 6 comments

The Seattle Times this morning published an article on Seattle’s effort to increase cycling safety by installing green lanes — we’re the Emerald City, get it –on four dangerous intersections: Dexter at Denny Way, both ends of the Fremont Bridge, and North 145th where the new Shoreline Interurban Trail meets the city limits.

The article goes on at surprising length about the dangers of the “right hook” accident, about Mayor Nichols’ plan to triple cycling trips, and of course, about how we’re keeping up with Portland on the bike safety front (we’re not) by painting these lines. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics, PDX, seattle, traffic

Tagged bikes, blue lanes, cycling, green lanes, safety, seattle, traffic, university bridge

Neighborhoods and Bikes: Wallingford

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Anne | 5 comments

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 →

5 Comments

Posted in bikes, kids, neighborhoods, seattle, traffic, weather

Tagged bikes, cold, doored, kids, neighborhoods, parking, parks, seattle, traffic, wallingford, xtracycle

Snow Day

Posted on January 28, 2008 by Anne | 3 comments

We woke to a dusting of snow on the ground and some news that schools were closing because of inclement weather. Unbelievable – I’m sure it was a decision some school administrators felt really silly about less than an hour after they made it – the snow hadn’t even stuck to the street in Seattle! Luckily our school had a scheduled day off so we didn’t have to change our plans for the day. We rode to grandmas house and spent the morning with her. While we were there we got another little dusting – still no big deal but fun nontheless. The three of us rode home through the snow flurries. As we approached the last hill before home, the 7 year old jumped off the bike and decided to run – a break mom always appreciates. It’s amazing what a difference 60 pounds makes. She also gets pretty excited when she beats me up the hill. And this time she got to be the photographer – got some good shots – not bad for a 7 year old.

-Anne

3 Comments

Posted in bikes, kids, seattle, weather, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, kids, seattle, snow, xtracycle

Now That’s a Rack

Posted on January 27, 2008 by Tim K | 4 comments

The Northern European-style lovefest continues here at Car Free Days. This time we’re ga-ga over a lowly bike rack blogged by Cycleliciousness, those Copenhagen Bike Culture bellwethers.

I’ve posted before on our shortage of good racks, and about the Seattle Department of Transportation’s rack request program. And while the program is admirable in scope, the aesthetics (and in some cases, security) of the designs leave something to be desired.

But this 2006 Dutch design winner (either known as the Airago or the Heklucht– feel free to correct me) squashes those issues by bridging urban art, emergency functionality for passing commuters and safe locking space for neighborhood velos.

I’m sure someone else can point out how the racks are cost-prohibitive (though if we are looking at cost per use, then our beloved cars, ferries, SLUT and the Sounder train would be off the table) or how they’ll require much maintenance in our rainy climes; or even how they’d be a liability issue because someone might stick the hose somewhere it doesn’t belong.

But this time I am not the cynic. I love it!

Since we can’t seem to solve all (any?) of our bike infrastructure problems with any speed, I’d be up for some token public spending on some only moderately practical, but very nice looking bike racks. Personally, I think they’d look mighty swell as the official rack for Paul Allen’s South Lake Union pet project (and as an added bonus: I could use them on my daily commute).

So, how about it Mr. Mayor?

-Tim

4 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bikes, Commute, Rack that Bike, seattle

Tagged art, bikes, Copenhagen, design, racks, seattle, south lake union, transportation

Perfect for the Spatially Challenged

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Anne | 11 comments

I had a brief period of panic outside of Trader Joe’s today. I guess I’m used to the two-Xtracycle Trader Joe’s runs. You really don’t need to worry about whether it’s all going to fit or not when you’re loading up two. Sometimes Tim and I even fill up a shopping cart and a couple hand baskets and still get everything on the bikes.

I tried to be aware of the one-bike issue today – I set up my six cloth bags in the cart (the number that normally fit in the Freeloaders) and filled up each bag as I shopped. I was pretty confident I had showed enough restraint to get it all on the bike. Then I went to check out. As I was re-bagging after the cashier rang my stuff up, I noticed my six bags were bulging.