Tag Archives: bikes

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

2 Comments

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

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!

2 Comments

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

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, seattle, weather

Tagged , , alternative transportation, bikes, seattle, stats

$40 – One Car Free Date or a Vaccine Bike for Africa

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Tim King | Leave a comment

Our Danish friends at Cycliciousness drew our attention to a great holiday giving idea this year. Get this: A single $40 donation to UNICEF buys a bike (!) for health workers in developing countries.

From the US UNICEF Giving site:

Help reach parts of many countries that otherwise could be without regular support from health workers. Your purchase will provide a bicycle to help health workers reach vulnerable children in remote communities. Having access to a bicycle for a health worker or midwife can help increase the health standards of children in remote villages and communities in developing countries. A small price to pay for such an important gift!

$40 is all it takes to make it happen.

$40? That’s like one Car Free Date Night! Hmmm …. beers and a movie, or a bike? That’s an easy choice. For our next date, we’ll just do the car-free part and send the date money to UNICEF.

How about you? Can you imagine a better way to share the bike love this holiday season!

-Tim

Fun with Metro

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Tim King | 2 comments

photo by VEO: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veo/205556435/

I have this love-hate relationship with the bus. I love the idea of mass transit but hate Metro‘s implementation. I get impatient with all the stops. Why can’t we make people walk just a little farther, cut out half the stops and and speed the whole route up? Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, mass transit, seattle

Tagged , bikes, bus, mass transit, metro, seattle, xtracycle

Birthday Dinner and a Movie

Posted on November 24, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

Today was my 29th (wink wink) birthday. I had a great day. Our babysitter was out of town so we rolled with it as parents often do – dinner and a movie with the kids. I’m not big on fancy, in fact I’m a pretty cheap date, so it was perfectly fine with me. We rode to Dick’s for some nutritious burgers and shakes before the movie. Parked the bikes right up front and ate our grub like the rest of them – in our ~~cars~~bikes. After our nutritious meal, we were on to the movie theatre for an early showing of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Good flick for kids and adults – Natalie Portman is so cute and the movie was about a magical toystore, how could you not like it. After the movie, we went outside and bundled up for the ride home. Lots of amused looks from the folks waiting in line to pay for parking – ha.

Good times.

– Anne

3 Comments

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

Tagged bikes, burger joints, datenight, 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