Tag Archives: oma

Transportation Forum + Bike to Work/School Kickoff

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Tim K | 1 comment

I love commuting with my wife

Friday is a big day.

We kick off Bike to Work month (Tim) and Bike to School month (Anne and the kids). I’m pretty sure we’ll be blessed with clear (or at least dry) skies, so don’t delay the start of your commute season. Remember, this is Seattle—the weather can only get worse as we get closer to June.

If you find yourself downtown with a spare hour around lunch time, I’d recommend checking out the Forum, TOWN HALL: Visioning the Puget Sound Region’s Transportation Future. It’s part of their ongoing Friday Forums series:

Transit demand continues to skyrocket while operating revenues are plummeting. How do car sharing, walkable and bike-friendly communities, and transit work together to form a new vision for transportation?

You’re even bring your lunch so if your schedule can swing it—unfortunately, mine can’t— please share any good takeaways. From over here in the cheap seats, it looks like an interesting collection of speakers will be covering some major ground.

WHEN:Friday, May 1st, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
WHERE: Bertha Landes Knight Room, Seattle City Hall (on 5th Ave.between Cherry and James St.)

More info at the Transportation Choices Coalition website.

-Tim

1 Comment

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, Commute

Tagged bike-to-school, bike-to-work, bikes, bluesky, Commute, oma, seattle, transportation, weather

Leaf-Blower Elegance in a Bike-friendly Package

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Tim K | 14 comments

Oma Tanker As most of you know by now, the team at Car Free Days is involved in an outright crusade to drive less and ride more. So far it’s been great. We’ve been riding (our Xtracycles and Anne’s Oma, mostly) nearly everywhere we need to go.

Those of you adept at reading through the lines, however, have probably noticed a little discord along the way. There was our son’s brush with hypothermia on the New Years cargo bike ride. There were challenging logistics for a 10pm wedding reception in Auburn. And we still get grief for the 50″ Plasma we scratched the crap out of hauling it home from Costco on the Xtracycles. And yes, the hills. Always the damn hills.

In many cases, my friends, pure people power isn’t the only answer.

We’ve dabbled with the idea of powering our Xtracycles with a Stokemonkey. Everyone we know who’s used one loves it. And Todd at Clever Cycles is a total peach. Really, the Stokemonkey is a perfect product, save one major shortcoming: They run on electricity. Franky, we just can’t condone the wasteful use of electrons wondering if perhaps a salmon got trapped behind a dam or a seagull met its demise at the blade of a wind turbine.

Though people can overlook such negatives, we at Car Free Days like to think our moral junk is of a stiffer quality than average. So that’s meant schellping our damn kids up the damn hills on our damn bikes with only our damn legs to thank.

Until now…

Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, buildin' the xtracycle, consumerism, gas, Ha, safety gear, sustainability

Tagged alternative transporation, april 1, april fools, e-bike, motorized bike, oma, seattle, xtracycle

First Ride on the Girlfriend Rack

Posted on January 13, 2009 by Anne | 10 comments

He kicked me off when we got to the hill

Girlfriend Panda

I pedaled down to Lower Queen Anne today and met Tim for lunch. Instead of making the trek to the restaurant on foot, we took my bike.

I let Tim pilot since I’ve been looking for an excuse to take a ride on the girlfriend rack. Super fun. Tim reports that the Oma handles way better with a passenger on the back than the Xtracycle. He was even able to take some Panda shots while he was riding. And I managed to do the jump-on with out tipping us over. Now that’s stability! The Oma was made for carrying a friend.

Happy January!

– Anne

10 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, dates, oma

Tagged carfreedates, girlfriend rack, oma

My New Red Basket Rules

Posted on June 10, 2008 by Anne | 10 comments

Tim spent a couple of hours last weekend lovingly painting my new front basket cherry red. It looks great. Tim, you do good work– and you’re the best. Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bike lust, bikes, oma, shopping, sustainability

Tagged carrying stuff, oma, Red Basket, shopping

Mother’s Day: Oma for a Momma

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Tim K | 11 comments

Anne's new Oma

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but um… we’ve been busy riding our bikes….

On a total whim, I got Anne an Oma for Mother’s day. She’s been coveting them for a long time and I always figured I’d get her one when we stopped hauling the kids around on the Xtracycles. But then the perfect candidate popped up on Craigslist (you do watch Craigslist for bikes every day, don’t you?) and those plans went out the window.