The question I get asked most often about our “biking lifestyle” is: How do you grocery shop on your bike? Do you shop every day? Can you really carry enough for a family of four? I think people can wrap their brains around getting from here to there, but dealing with the stuff is a whole ‘nother thing. It just seems too daunting. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, seattle
Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, grocery stores, seattle, shopping
Bike to School month was a huge success at our local elementary. We averaged about 60 riders every day–the bike racks were full and fence and gate locking was overflowing every day this month. It was certainly a beautiful sight.
A big thanks to Leslie and Clint for leading the effort – you did a great job!
Many parents joined their kids and pedaled to and from school all month. I talked to a few who said they were hooked and plan to get to school on two wheels from now on. Right on. Others say “they’ll see” if they can keep it up. I tried to encourage any parent who would listen to keep on riding. It’s so great to see the kids excited about riding and the traffic reduction around school was definitely noticeable. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, kids, seattle
Tagged Bike to School Month, Family Cycling, kids, seattle
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.
I just couldn’t resist. Continue reading
A quick reminder (thanks Janet!) that today is the annual Ride of Silence, Seattle edition. The purpose of the ride is to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding on public roads. So far, 285 rides in 17 countries are planned.
Seattle participants should meet at Gas Works Park (by 6:10 pm) to conduct a silent, easy-paced ride through downtown, the U-district, Fremont and other areas. Black (for riders killed) and red (for those injured) armbands are recommended. More rides are planned around the state. For full details, visit the Ride of Silence or Bicycle Alliance site. If you aren’t in Seattle, check the schedule for your nearest ride.
I plan to make at least part of the ride, assuming I can escape the office. Frankly, I’d much rather scramble to make time for the ride than explain white bikes to my children!
Curious about the ride? Check out this short PSA video:
-Tim
Posted in bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics
Tagged bikes, ghost bike, respect, ride of silence, seattle, video
You’ve heard Anne and I prattle on about bike racks. They aren’t where you need them. They’re ugly. And even when they are in the right location, they need more capacity. Blah, blah, blah. Maybe that’s what prompted my buddy Bret to tip us off to a bike rack design contest in his neighborhood.
It seems those inspiring folks at Sustainable Ballard have come to our rescue with a contest to outfit key Ballard locales with locally designed, handmade, artisan bike racks. We’re already fans of Undriving Ballard, and Undriver License holders and can’t wait to see what develops here. As of now, racks are planned near the Ballard Library, Ballard Ave near the Sunday Market, Bergen Place, the Locks, and Market Street.
Posted in bikes, neighborhoods, Rack that Bike, seattle, sustainability
Tagged ballard, bike racks, bikes, design, seattle, sustainability, sustainable ballard
I hope you are all ready for Seattle’s Bike to Work Day. Though I like my nice bike room (above), I’m hoping so many people ride that I’ll have to find my rack space elsewhere tomorrow morning.
It’s a good day to take the bike commute plunge. The weather is supposed to be awesome. Cascade Bikes, Starbucks, Group Health, and others are pulling out the stops—something like 42 Bike to Work Stations will be staffed tomorrow. Expect (possibly less-than-warm but) free Starbucks coffee, Powerbars or equivalent, water bottles, stickers, and some nice bikey camaraderie.
Even though I plan to swing by two or three commute stations conveniently located along my route, I realize it’s not about the stuff. Yeah, swag helps people get out, but the important thing is getting a butt load of riders on the road and in the public eye at least one day a year. Need another reason? Cascade does a count/census on Bike to Work day; consider a ride on Friday a way of “voting for bikes” with your wheels.
Big News: Mayor Greenhouse Gaseous Nichols is supposed to be at the Westlake Park commute rally. One wonders what kind of example he’ll set. I’m sure Greg plans to model a bike during the event, and maybe even roll down from City Hall. I’m doubtful, however, that we’ll see Hizzonor traverse the Swing Bridge and brave the less-than-relaxing trek from West Seattle. I’ve heard a few people say I’m a little hard on our mayor, so I’ll tell you what. If you do see him riding outside the Westlake-City hall radius—say south of Sodo—do let me know (grab a photo, too!). I’ll gladly take (most of) my snarky comments back.
Don’t forget it’s also Bike to School day. We’ve covered school biking events extensively so I’ll just say this: Encouraging your kids to ride to school (and showing by example) is the right thing to do.
Ride tomorrow. To work. To school. For errands. For everything.
Ride.
-Tim
Posted in bigger than here, bikes, Commute, extravehicular activities, seattle
Tagged bike-to-school, bike-to-work, bikes, cascade, Commute, nichols, seattle
A fine SDOT crew was hard at work this morning as I headed into work. Yep, it’s one of the green lanes we blogged about last February. I’m still thinking the green is a bit of “Emerald City” gimick, but it sure looks nifty on a sunny day. Overall, I’m on the fence about their effectiveness, but this individual spot is probably going to get the thumbs up from me.
This lane helps in an odd spot where cyclists are forced off the Fremont Bridge deck/sidewalk and onto the street right where motorists—often feeling rushed and frustrated because they just waited for the drawbridge—need to make an immediate right. Unlike the new Dexter and Green Lake locations, I can imagine this effectively warning motorists that they are crossing a bike lane.
I’m still waiting to hear if the city is going to bother doing anything with the deadly Fuhrman/Bryce Lewis intersection at the University Bridge. I’ve already speculated that fears of admitting liability will keep city officials from acting there. I still hope I’m wrong, because this one needs attention!
Have you ridden any of these “lanes” yet? Lemme know what you think.
edit: added Green Lane Flickr set here
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Commute, seattle
As we’ve said, we took the One Less Car Challenge last fall. We sold our newish Saab, and got $600 in Zipcar benefits (among other things) in exchange.
It seemed like a pretty good trade. We didn’t drive very much, but wanted to keep the car around because, well, you know: “just in case.” The Zipcar benefits handled the just in case part and it was a lot easier to let go of the car, it’s sunk costs, and associated negative externalities.
We’ve yet to use the Zipcar benefits, as we drive even more rarely since giving up the Saab (funny how that works), but having the benefit made it easy to let it go. Continue reading
You know that new bike lane on 9th? The one the mayor scrambled to say they had been planning all along but didn’t mention until cyclists started protesting the SLUT? The one that is supposed to be way safer than riding near the trolley tracks? Yeah, that one.
Um, apparently not everyone got the safety memo. This was just one of three vehicles I saw blocking the less-than-Nichol’s-sized lane in a mere three blocks. Lots wackiness along this stretch of bike lane—cars parked over the line, doors flying without a care in the world and people swerving in and out of parking places. Finally, Lance’s old team colors put me over the top. I grabbed a photo and bailed.
As one might imagine, I’m not a bit impressed with the engineering or enforcement for this project. Judging from the still impressive volume of bike traffic on Westlake, I think most in-city riders have voted. 9th isn’t going to be worth the trip until such time the city can bother to enforce parking regulations more seriously around bike paths. From what I’ve seen lately, I’m not hopeful.
I met some Cascade Bike Club advocacy guys at trolley talk at REI in March. They say when 9th is done it will be really cool. But they admit it could take a while. For now I think I’m going to take my chances with Westlake. At least I know where the tracks are and I’m unlikey to get doored.
-Tim
Posted in bicycle neglect, bikes, Commute, Human Powered Politics, seattle
Tagged Add new tag, bike lanes, bike neglect, bikes, Commute, seattle, traffic
The first day of Bike to School Month went off without a hitch. This morning, my two kids enthusiastically pushed their bikes up all six hills. No complaints. I usually get at least oneten complaints out of the five-year-old. To which I usually reply, “please don’t whine so early in the morning”. I didn’t hear a peep out of him this morning. He even wanted to push his own bike up the hills. Even though we always go to school by human power – we regularly hoof it up the hills or take the Xtracycle, for some reason the kids knew today was special. They got really excited when they saw the first fellow cyclists riding their bikes to school. Their excitement grew as we got closer to school and saw even more cyclists. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to see the one rack and most of the fences and gates surrounding the playground completely packed with bikes. (the most I have ever seen at school).
Great Day. Hopefully the momentum will continue and we’ll see just as many bikers tomorrow and during the coming weeks.
How about you – did you ride to School/Work today?
– Anne
Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, seattle
Tagged alternative transportation, bike-to-school, bikes, kids, neighborhoods, seattle
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
We LOVE to share our work, but the number of commercial sites using our photos (of our kids!) without permission, and/or non-commercial sites not following Creative Commons use and attribution terms is getting out of hand.
If you have questions about: allowed use of our content, need help understanding the Creative Commons link and license terms, want permission for another type of use, or need a quick refresher on the etiquette of photo use-and-reuse, please contact Carfreedays.com. Seriously, just ask. We're happy to help.
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 
