Car Free Days

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

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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

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

Tagged bicycle, bikes, cargo bikes, seattle, xtracycle

Happy New Year and Ride Reminder (today!)

Posted on January 1, 2008 by Tim K | 1 comment

We’ve been a little lax about posting in the past week. You know how it goes — holiday time with the family and all that. I know riding more is going is a goal of mine for the new year (I try to stay away from actual resolutions because I suck at them) so maybe I should add “posting more” to the mix, too!

Our first opportunity is the New Year’s Day cargo bike ride, noon at Greenlake. If you are local, come on by. Folks will be meeting near the basketball/court baseball diamond. This is the side of the lake where you’ll find the big hole (formerly Albertsons) and kind of close to Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle.

If you can’t make this one, try start the year off with a ride, no matter how short. I’m sure lots of folks have resolved to exercise more in 2008. If you are one of them, remember that utility bike trips count as exercise and reduce car trips. So, instead of driving to the park, saddle up the kids and ride over for your swing and climbing structure session. Do you have some vices you want to hold onto for just another day? Then hop on the bike and cruise on over to 7-11 for that pack of smokes and a ~~2nd~~ 3rd bottle of champagne. It won’t seem so bad that way. And, if you are set on using the gym for your “workout” resolution, try riding there.

We’re going to try to step up the bike power in 2008. How about you?

Happy New Year from Car Free Days!

-Tim and Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, extravehicular activities, seattle, sustainability

Tagged bikes, cargobikes, exercise, food, Greenlake, kids, picnic, resolutions, seattle

Holiday Loop

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Anne | 2 comments

We took the kids to see Santa at University Village yesterday afternoon/evening. It started in the afternoon but ended in the evening but that’s a whole nother story that I’m trying to put behind me. Let’s just say Santa doesn’t have a very good process. The kids enjoyed it all and the four year old got to put in his Santa request for Beef Jerky so all is well.

After the Santa experience, we took the long way home through Candy Cane Lane. Ester is right on – I wouldn’t want all of that traffic clogging up and polluting my street every day for 3 weeks. I’m sure when the tradition started 48 years ago, people walked through the loop to enjoy the lights and decorations. Now, the few hardy walkers are overshadowed by the drivers. We couldn’t help but be annoyed by the drive throughers. They wouldn’t want to get out of their car, would they?

Happy Holidays and keep riding!

– Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle

Tagged , bicycle, bikes, christmas lights, santa, xtracycle

New Years Day Ride – Meet at Greenlake

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Anne | 2 comments

We had a great time on the Day-After-Thanksgiving ride from Pike Place Market to Gasworks Park.

Val shot us an email about the first ride of the year. Meet at noon at Greenlake near the basketball court and baseball diamond on the east side of the lake.

We’re planning to be there. This time I don’t think I’ll be able to keep Tim from loading up the bikes with everything we might need to keep us warm and fed. We have the space on the Xtras so why not? Live a little.

– Anne

2 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, extravehicular activities, seattle

Tagged bicycle, bikes, cargobikes, Greenlake, seattle, xtracycle

Tree Haulin’

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Tim King | 4 comments

You’ve probably seen about a zillion Christmas-Trees-on-Xtracycle photos already this year. I mean, everybody is doin’ it.

Said photos are usually cute and harmless and kind of fun to look at. For our sake, let’s hope that’s true because the CarFreeDay team is making it a zillion and two right here. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, extravehicular activities, kids, seattle, shopping, sustainability, weather

Tagged , bigload, bike, Christmas 2007, Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree Ride, kids, seattle, xtracycle

Hardwick’s – a good ol’ fashioned hardware store

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

We are lucky enough to live within biking distance to Hardwick’s.

“Hardwick’s is a family-owned and operated hardware store located in the heart of the University District in Seattle, Washington. Passed down through three generations, Hardwick’s is rich in family tradition. Grandfather Charles Dean Hardwick established the business as a secondhand store in 1932 after he lost his real estate company in the market crash. Starting with his own office furniture as the original inventory, Grandfather Hardwick’s business continued to thrive in the Depression era by including factory seconds and damaged freight from the Milwaukee Road and Union Pacific Railroad and by purchasing goods from the public….”

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, longbikes, neighborhoods, seattle, shopping, shops

Tagged , bikes, Hardware, Hardwick's, seattle, tools, xtracycle

30 Minute Load Zone

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Anne | Leave a comment

We parked in the load zone at preschool the other day and our four year old was very concerned we’d been there for longer than 30 minutes. He really didn’t want to get a ticket.

– Anne

Sharing the Love for Bike Transportation

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Anne | 2 comments

We gave a talk tonight at a company holiday party. One of the principals was really intrigued by our bike lifestyle and asked us to speak. We have both done our share of presentations for work, but never on a topic we are so passionate about. We really enjoyed pulling the presentation together, not to mention our fifteen minutes. We weren’t sure how we’d be received – It went well and we met some great people who were supportive of our ideas. And we might have inspired a few folks too!

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Human Powered Politics, kids

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, kids, presentations, seattle

November Stats

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Anne | 4 comments

I’m into stats. So I thought I’d do a wrap up of our family transportation stats for the month of November:

Total Number of Car Trips – 5

Number of Miles Driven – 25.5

Number of car-free days – 25

Longest car-free streak for November – 12 days

Family Record (set in September) – 22 days

Number of trips to the gas station – 0

Rainy Days in Seattle (According to the National Weather Service) – 25

Longest Ride with kids – Riding to the Pike Place Market and back the day after Thanksgiving – 12.8 miles

Most memorable ride – To the Arboretum via the center for Urban Horticulture with the kids. Good times. Lots of bird nests spotted.

Ride with the worst weather – Picking up the 4 year old at preschool in a torrential downpour. I couldn’t wait out the rain in my warm, dry house; it was time to get him so I had to go.

Last gas purchase – 8/31/2007

– Anne