Category Archives: xtracycle

I Pimped Her Ride

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Tim K | 6 comments

It’s a tired old title cliché, but really, what else do you call such an exercise in vehicular vanity?

Regular readers may remember Anne complaining about her bike being in for service last week. I tried to remind her that other people travel to shops and pay a mechanic to accomplish the work magically completed on her bike, but apparently even that doesn’t excuse said mechanic to remove saddle and Snapdeck from her main source of transportation.

To make up for the inconvenience, as I tackled some minor tuneup tasks and installed her honey Brooks B17-s Christmas present I threw in a few stylistic upgrades: Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bikes, buildin' the xtracycle, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, brooks, carfreedays, cork, custom, leather, rivenell, saddle, shellac, xtracycle

Smackdown, day 2

Posted on January 16, 2008 by Tim King | 4 comments

I woke to the crunching sounds of feet on snow; my early-bird neighbors apparently made an unusual choice to leave their cars parked in favor of foot or bus. Welcome to Seattle where an inch of snow provokes panic. I must have been a bit nervous about the weather myself — crunching pedestrian parades wouldn’t normally drag a morning hater like myself out of a sound sleep a full 40 minutes early.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, Commute, seattle, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, commuting, ice, metro, seattle, snow, traffic, weather, xtracycle

You deserve that treat

Posted on January 12, 2008 by Anne | Leave a comment

The best thing about running errands by bike is you can justify that cookie at the end of the day. We stopped in at the Dahlia Bakery after a day of running errands. I did manage to resist their famous coconut cream pie – which they sell in 4 different sizes including a coco bite for $2 – for those who can’t justify a whole pie. Mmmmmm. Maybe next time.

-Anne

In for Service

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Anne | 1 comment

Tim has spent the last couple of rainy days in the garage with the Xtracycles putting extra coats of polyurethayne on the snap decks and footies and installing my Christmas present – Brooks B17 Women’s saddle. It’s like having my car in the shop – I have to find alternative transportation.

Yesterday, the seven year old and I were all set to go to PCC – dressed for the weather with hats, gloves and coats etc. We were helmeted and ready to go. We went out to the garage to hop on the bike and found it apart. I didn’t know the bike was “in the shop” (I guess Tim and I should work on our communication). Bummer. Dinner guests were arriving soon so we had to _gasp_ drive to the store – no time to walk or take the bus.

I felt pretty dirty driving 1/2 a mile to the store – first time I’ve done that in months.

– Anne

1 Comment

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, shopping, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, biking, cycling, xtracycle

New Year’s Day ride update

Posted on January 1, 2008 by Anne | 4 comments

We had a great time riding to Golden Gardens today. The weather was great – (it didn’t rain), the pace was slow and the company enjoyable. We even witnessed some Christmas tree burning in the fire pits on the beach (yes, they really do burst into flames) as well as some hardy folks doing New Year’s Day polar bear swims in Puget Sound – Brrrrrrrrr.

Great way to start the New Year.

More photos here

– Anne

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, extravehicular activities, longbikes, seattle, sustainability, xtracycle

Tagged bicycle, bikes, cargo bikes, seattle, xtracycle

Buy Nothing Day Ride today – meet at Pike Place Market Pig at Noon.

Posted on November 23, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

It’s a beautiful fall day in Seattle. The perfect opportunity to ride off all that Thanksgiving eatin’. We’ll be there with the whole family – Grab your lunch, your bike, and meet us as we join the shopping hordes and NOT shop.

-Anne and Tim

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, consumerism, Human Powered Politics, kids, seattle, weather, xtracycle

Tagged , bikes, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, buynothingday, pike place market, rides, seattle, xtracycle

Xtracycle Stoker Stems

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

I covered stoker bars a while ago. That was a cop-out because the bar is the easy part. Almost anything will work (chopped off mountain bike bar, old BMX bars, Albatross, whatever). The hard part is mounting the bar in such a way that the passenger’s nose is not stuffed into the rider’s butt.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in buildin' the xtracycle, longbikes, shopping, wrenchin', xtracycle

Tagged bikes, building, cheap-ass-parts, components, ebay, parts, shopping, stoker, xtracycle

Family cycling

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Anne | 4 comments

Bike Portland ponders family cycling – is it the next big thing? Way to go, Marion, looks like fun.

Maybe in Portland, but Seattle has a long way to go. I’ve never seen that many bikes at either of my kids’ schools. Our schools are at the top of a hill – so that’s probably why ; – )

– Anne

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, longbikes, School, seattle, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, kids, neighborhoods, portland, School, seattle, traffic

Buy Nothing Day

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

For the past few years, Tim and I have silently observed Buy Nothing Day. I was very excited to read of an event (via Bike Hugger) encouraging active participation. Aarons Bicycle Repair, Seattle’s leading Xtracycle dealer, is leading a HOT STUFF Cargo Bike Ride to remind us all to get out of stores and onto our bikes.

I know we won’t be seeing Tim’s shopaholic sister there, but how about you? Does your city have an event? Tell us about it!

– Anne

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, consumerism, extravehicular activities, Human Powered Politics, longbikes, seattle, shopping, shops, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, seattle, shopping, Thanksgiving, xtracycle

I ♥ my Wald Front Basket

Posted on November 4, 2007 by Tim K | 10 comments

After date night, I attended an amazing lecture by Lawrence Lessig at Kane Hall. On the way home, when I should have been thinking about things like hybrid companies, government regulation, and our broken intellectual property system, I found myself moved to conduct an impromptu bike-basket photoshoot. As much as I wanted concentrate on Supercapitalism, etc, I was smitten by the beauty and function embodied in my Wald #585! Continue reading →