Car Free Days

Car Free Days is Clinging to a Bikey Summer

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Tim K | 4 comments

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 →

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, extravehicular activities, Human Powered Politics, longbikes, seattle, summer, sustainability, xtracycle

Tagged ginger ninjas, music, seattle, tour bicycle music festival, xtracycle

Hey fixie hipster trick bike riders: You’ve been schooled!

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Tim K | 12 comments

In Seattle, as in many other cities, a fraternity of tight-pantsed, butt-crack showing, truckers-wallet toting fixie riders often gathers to work on fixed-gear bike tricks. These range from the newbie skill of the trackstand (also practical in traffic), to riding backward, to wheelies, to wheelies with handlebar spins, and so on.

Some of it is pretty impressive and fun to watch. If nothing else, the beer-fueled wipeouts can be entertaining. But after seeing the following video (via Wend), I should now say the tricks used to be impressive and fun to watch because these two riders just cranked the impressiveness meter to a whole other planet.

About the only place the hipsters can still compete is tight pants and wallets on chains. If you’re into the fashion of ass-crack and/or truckers’ wallets the video may disappoint, but for bulk of the cycling world still trying for their first track stand, prepare to be wowed. (The whole thing is good, but definitely watch from about 2:30 on)

-Tim

12 Comments

Posted in bigger than here, bike lust, bikes

Tagged ballet, bikes, fixie, gymnastics, tricks

Used Bike Inflation?

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Anne | 8 comments

Median price, First 50 items for sale on Craigslist 8PM PDT 8/13/09

via Freakonomics blog

This Freakonomics piece made me chuckle. I’m pretty sure we’ve visited a couple of those used bike shops in Portland and were shocked by the prices as well.

In our quest to get more people to use bikes as transportation, we’re constantly telling people to check craigslist. We also tell people they can get a commuter/grocery getter for around $100. Am I telling lies?

How much for a decent used commuter bike in your city?

– Anne

8 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes

Tagged bike prices, inflation, used bikes

Xtracycle Bike Camping (with Kids)

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Anne | 7 comments

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 →

7 Comments

Posted in bike touring, bikes, kids, summer, xtracycle

Tagged bike camping, bike touring, family bike touring, Family Cycling, kids, San Juan Islands, summer, xtracycle

Hotpocalypse

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Anne | 22 comments

photo courtesy of Cliff Mass Weather Blog

We’re wilting up here in the Northwest. After a week of warmer than usual weather, we broke the record today and surpassed 100F. It’s definitely too HOT for us!

Just last week I read about New Yorkers and Floridians who are unplugging their air conditioners to save energy and some cash. Meanwhile, we’ve had one week of hot weather in the Northwest and stores can’t keep air conditioners on the shelves. Continue reading →

22 Comments

Posted in bikes, seattle, weather

Tagged heat, Northwest Weather, riding in the heat, seattle

Reports from the Field: Another Local Xtracycle

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Anne | 11 comments

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.

James W emailed us this morning and passed along photos of his Xtracycle, the Green Moose, he built up with his son. It’s a beautiful build. We’re glad you contacted us, James, and look forward to seeing you out on the road! Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in bikes, longbikes, xtracycle

Tagged community, Green Moose, local, seattle, Xtracycle Build, xtracyle

New Light Rail and No Parking, What a Concept!

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Anne | 10 comments

Columbia City station on Seattle's Link light rail from rutlo on Flickr

Sound Transit is launching it’s starter light-rail line from Westlake Center to Tukwila tomorrow.

Today’s Seattle Times reports that some would-be light rail riders are upset by the lack of parking around the light rail stations. According to Rick Sheridan, SDOT spokesman, this was done on purpose.

“Light rail was meant to be fed by people taking the bus, walking or biking,” said Rick Sheridan, spokesman for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). “It was not meant to be fed by cars.”

Sounds like a great opportunity to promote cycling. One mile is a doable bike ride for most people. Let’s hope people get inspired to give cycling a try since they won’t have any place to park their cars. Go ahead, buy a beater bike and ride it to the light rail station.

Does anyone know if they put in adequate bike parking?

I’d love to hear from some South end readers about what you think of this topic. The Times has 329 comments at this time, so it looks like a hot one.

– Anne

10 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Commute, neighborhoods

Tagged light-rail, parking, seattle

Riding, Pedaling, Everyday Cycling, What do you call it?

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Anne | 36 comments

Awhile back, Tori over at Gracie’s Wrench asked for suggestions for a new term to describe cycling as transportation or everyday cycling. “Commuting” usually refers to going to and from work. “Riding” usually refers to sport riding. What do you call everyday cycling? I read all the comments to her post, and quite frankly, none of the terms really spoke to me. Not in the same way “commuting” does.

I’m looking for a good one (maybe two) word term to describe using a bike to go to the store or to get coffee or out to dinner.

Does anyone have a good one?

– Anne

36 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Everyday Biking, shopping

Tagged cycling, everyday biking, everyday cycling, words

Summer

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Anne | 5 comments

Heading Home from the Farmers Market

Summer in Seattle is in full swing. We’re taking advantage of a streak of near perfect weather by drinking a few of Tim’s Mojitos , swimming and kayaking in the lake, enjoying backyard BBQs, visits with out-of-town friends, staying up late, reading lots of books and neglecting our blog.

Here are a few photos of our summer adventures so far. I hope you’re enjoying your summer too!

– Anne

Tim's famous Mojitos, always worth waiting for

3rd of July Kayaking on Lake Washington

Jim Needs an Xtracycle

4th of July Neighborhood Bike Parade

Bounty from the Backyard Raspberry Patch

17lbs of Backyard Raspberries

5 Comments

Posted in extravehicular activities, neighborhoods, summer

Tagged carfreedays, seattle, summer

I like Riding Because….And I Thank My Dad For It.

Posted on June 21, 2009 by cfdgirl | 13 comments

This post was written by our 8 year old (and typed by her mom. Hunting and pecking 400 words would have taken a really long time!) It was her idea, and these are all of her own words. Happy Father’s Day, Tim! We love you.

My Dad is the one who taught me to ride my bike without training wheels.

In the summer, we used to go down to our spot at Magnuson, it was a steep grassy hill by the tennis courts. Dadddy drove me down there with my bike, it was usually only me and daddy. I would coast down the hill, try and steer and while I was steering, I tried to see if I could use my brakes while doing it. We would stay there all day. The only time I got hurt was when I was going down the part of the hill that I usually didn’t go down, I tried to steer, except my bike fell over. The back of my knee was out so I scraped the back of my knee.

I didn’t want to ride my bike again. But my dad convinced me to keep riding, and now I’m a good rider. I think it is because I did not give up. And If I gave up, I may never feel the joys of riding. Continue reading →