Apparently driving is too dangerous and expensive for 16-year-olds to get their licenses as soon as they are eligible these days. State laws restricting driving, rising insurance costs, expensive driving schools, and safety are all reasons teens are waiting to drive according to the New York Times article run in the Business section last week.
“The national rate of licensed 16-year-olds dropped to 29.8 percent in 2006 from 43.8 percent in 1998, according to the Federal Highway Administration.”
School has been out all week for mid-winter break. Who fabricated that vacation anyway? I don’t recall a week off in February when I was young. I’d rather skip it and get the kids out of school a little earlier in June. But no one asked me. Continue reading
If I was by myself I would definitely ride up this hill. It’s a good one. (at 70th and the Burke Gilman trail). Continue reading
I had plans to meet my friend at a park in Wallingford the other day. It was a pretty cold day in Seattle – 41 degrees and windy: the weather report said it felt like 28. We were undeterred by the weather, we just bundled up and got ready to go, despite the howling wind. The four-year-old said he felt like a snowman – he could barely move because I put three coats on him.
I had a thermos of hot chocolate and sandwiches for lunch – we were ready to roll. But just as we were walking out the door, my friend called to say they weren’t going to make it. It was too cold and her daughter didn’t want to go (in the CAR!!!). My son doesn’t take well to changes in plans, so we went without them. Our kids are out in the weather all of the time – this is Seattle after all – if you wait for a nice sunny day to go outside, you’ll spend 10 months out of the year indoors. Continue reading
We woke to a dusting of snow on the ground and some news that schools were closing because of inclement weather. Unbelievable – I’m sure it was a decision some school administrators felt really silly about less than an hour after they made it – the snow hadn’t even stuck to the street in Seattle! Luckily our school had a scheduled day off so we didn’t have to change our plans for the day. We rode to grandmas house and spent the morning with her. While we were there we got another little dusting – still no big deal but fun nontheless. The three of us rode home through the snow flurries. As we approached the last hill before home, the 7 year old jumped off the bike and decided to run – a break mom always appreciates. It’s amazing what a difference 60 pounds makes. She also gets pretty excited when she beats me up the hill. And this time she got to be the photographer – got some good shots – not bad for a 7 year old.
-Anne
It’s fun to re-discover neighborhoods by bike. Sunday we took an afternoon jaunt down the Burke-Gilman trail with the kids. We’ve visited Ballard more frequently since we’ve been on two-wheels than we ever did in our car. Some of the things that make the neighborhood a bummer by car (lack of parking, long traffic light waits, and its misfortune of not being on the way to anywhere) actually make it more desirable from a pedal-powered perspective. It’s a 30-minute cruise from our house — far enough away to make it an afternoon destination yet close enough to make it doable with the kids on the back of the bikes.
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle, shops, xtracycle
Tagged "weekend outing", ballard, bikes, Family Cycling, kids, outing, weekend
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
Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, extravehicular activities, seattle, sustainability
Tagged bikes, cargobikes, exercise, food, Greenlake, kids, picnic, resolutions, seattle
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
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
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!
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Human Powered Politics, kids
Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, kids, presentations, seattle
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
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Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
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Car Free Days 
