A couple of weeks ago the ten-year-old and I had the immense pleasure of riding with and being interviewed by Benji Perrin for the Bike Commute (part of KBCS One World Report).
The Bike Commute:
brings us interviews on wheels…bike wheels. Producer Benji Perrin discovers what inspires and drives interesting people to do what they do both on and off their bikes. It tells their stories and ideas amongst the sounds of the streets while cycling throughout the Puget Sound. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, family cycling, kids, seattle, xtracycle
Tagged 91.3, Benji Perrin, Bike Radio, bikes, Families, KBCS, One World Report, radio, the Bike Commute
This is most likely the last year I’ll be able to shuttle two kids on the Xtracycle. (sniff sniff) I don’t know what Tim has been feeding them, but the wee ones have grown. They are simply getting too dang big to shuttle around.
And now they have friends.
And it’s not just their size, it’s their energy. They’re all squirmy and excited and silly. And they laugh and joke and eat lollipops. And sometimes they bonk each other with their helmets.
I have to say, I’ll miss this era. There’s nothing quite like hauling squealing kids on a bike.
But I know my Xtracycle kid-shuttle days are coming to a close.
And the kids must ride their own bikes to soccer practice.
(I promise to keep hauling the balls and cones until they are big enough for their own cargo bikes)
– Coach Anne
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, cargo bikes, kids, xtracycle
Tagged bike pool, bikes, coach, kids, soccer, soccer mom, xtracyle
Now that our kids are getting older, they don’t always ride on the back of the Xtracycles. They are both confident road riders and are quite capable of riding their own bikes. But, sometimes they take a ride on the Snapdeck. Usually because it’s night or we’re traveling farther than they think they can ride or our destination requires pedaling on busy roads or they just feel like chilling on the back of the bike with a book.
When they choose to be a Snapdeck passenger, I usually tell them to wear running shoes. Cause even the most seasoned Snapdeck rider needs to get off, stretch his/her legs and take a little run from time to time:
– Anne
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, xtracycle
When the already short Seattle days end at 4:18 pm (the earliest of the year!), the window for an after-school tree-gathering-family-bike adventure is small.
We tried to grab the kids right after school, bundle them up in extra (or is it Xtra) layers and hustle our way over to the local summer berry stand/temporary pumpkin patch/Christmas tree oasis while the feeble sun still shone.
Though we did our best to make our selection in the waning light and hightail it home before everyone turned into a Popsicle, it wasn’t meant to be. Not to point fingers, but damn, those kids are picky. I think we liked it better when they didn’t get to vote. Instead, we shivered up a storm while we picked up, fondled, and rated what seemed like every Noble Fir on the block. I finally stepped in with fatherly veto power to break a three-way tie (no surprise to anyone who knows me: The winner was $11 cheaper) and get us on our way with a minimum of bloodshed.
Then it was on the bike for a should-be-quick trip home in the dark. And Did I mention it was cold?
Hell yes. We even resorted to ducking into a Starbucks for cocoa and cider so the kids’ little piggies could thaw out before the final leg home.
Said Fir now sits in a bucket, hydrating in preparation for its month on stage in the lights. And me? I’m already over the voting scandal and looking forward to the fourth anniversary adventure.
More photos here
-Tim
I’m a little behind on my blog / RSS reading (like 6-9 months, oops) so maybe this one has been all over the Inter-Webs. But even if it has, I don’t care. I love it and I’m posting it here anyway.
Nate Byerley, CEO of Xtracycle, spent some time filming his daughter Davis and their commute to school on a PeaPod (child seat) -equipped Xtracycle. The result is the perfect video to share with anyone who wonders why children should be transported by bike.
Watch and then answer me this: Have you ever seen such joy (“I see a kitty! … Scream with me!”) from ANY child strapped into a video screen-equipped mini van or SUV?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Bikes are better!
Thanks Nate!
-Tim
An Every Day Adventure at the Bicycle Music Festival
We just returned from a day of family Xtracycling. If you’d asked where we were going when we left the house, we probably would have mentioned something about the Bicycle Music Festival. Sure that’s where we were headed, but in reality we were out for a dose of every day cycling adventure.
In the course of an hour or so on the bikes we picked up the youngest from a play date, helped a friend install a basketball hoop, took some photos, stopped at the library, saw a ton of boats and houseboats, took some more photos, and picked up some excellent free stuff on the road near said houseboats (some BRAND NEW Ikea LED lights plus some high-quality nickel-plated light fixtures with sconces that will go nicely in our bathroom. SCORE!)!
And that was just on the way to the music festival. Continue reading
Faster, the Night is Catching Us
It feels like Summer is fading around here.
Quickly.
Maybe it’s the way it changed from tank-top weather to sweater weather in about two hours this afternoon. Or maybe it’s the way I’ve decided that lights are now a prudent addition to my evening commutes.
Whatever the reason, the Car Free Days family is feeling some serious pressure to do something, anything, fun in the last couple weeks of summer.
Luckily for us, the Seattle bike scene has stepped up to provide some pretty family friendly, bike on music action this weekend. Continue reading
For those of you who were wondering, no, the heat wave hasn’t lasted three weeks. We’ve just been lazy bloggers of late!
We recently returned from a fantastic short bike camping trip with our kids. Tim and I haven’t been bike touring in 15 years. Not sure why, I guess we just haven’t made it a priority. Our kids are now old enough to carry some of their own weight (both on and off the bike) so we decided to give it a whirl.
Huge success.
Our destination: Lopez island in the San Juan Islands, a classic Northwest bike tour. The San Juan Islands are touring gems, and for good reason. Scenery is beautiful, the ferries make it fun and convenient to shuttle between the islands, people are friendly, and if you choose the right islands and the right route, the hills aren’t too bad. Best of all, once you’ve unloaded from the ferry and lets the high-speed hordes roar past, you’re free to roam on relatively traffic-free roads. Continue reading
Posted in bike touring, bikes, kids, summer, xtracycle
Tagged bike camping, bike touring, family bike touring, Family Cycling, kids, San Juan Islands, summer, xtracycle
James W and kids on the Green Moose (photo courtesy of James)
Tim and I blather on and on about bikes and our adventures on the blog and we love to hear from people who find some of the info useful.
Posted in bikes, longbikes, xtracycle
Tagged community, Green Moose, local, seattle, Xtracycle Build, xtracyle
Tim has been combing craigslist for the past six months looking for some inflatable kayaks that we can haul to the lake on the Xtracycles. We used to own sea kayaks before we had kids but sold them a few years ago. Loading and unloading the kayaks on the car and driving a mile to the lake was never worth the effort for us and we didn’t use them that often. It wasn’t that hard for us to let them go.
Still looking for a way to escape the beach crowds during the warm summer months, inflatables that can be hauled on the bikes seemed like a good solution for our summer boating needs. These inflatables aren’t going to get us to the San Juans, but are perfect for floating around the lake with the kids on a hot day.
Continue reading
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
We LOVE to share our work, but the number of commercial sites using our photos (of our kids!) without permission, and/or non-commercial sites not following Creative Commons use and attribution terms is getting out of hand.
If you have questions about: allowed use of our content, need help understanding the Creative Commons link and license terms, want permission for another type of use, or need a quick refresher on the etiquette of photo use-and-reuse, please contact Carfreedays.com. Seriously, just ask. We're happy to help.
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 