Oh how the mighty have fallen.

(This is actually a photo of a spectacular scooter-and-skateboard crash yesterday, zero bikes involved.)

I remember how excited I was to finally have a kindergartner, lo four years ago now. We biked to preschool each and every day, and occasionally inspired other families to bike, too, but a ten-family preschool has nothing on a 400-student elementary school! We’d finally be a real part of National Bike to School Day, Cascade Bicycle Club’s school-based programming, and Safe Routes to School.

Being the Bike to School Mom was great fun. Each school in our district is different and I found a lot of help in the parent-run grassroots Walk.Bike.Schools! group started by long-successful Bike to School parents who didn’t want the rest of us to have to reinvent the wheel. I don’t think the group is active anymore, but there’s still good info to be found on the website if you’re looking to start or improve your program.

Bike to School doesn’t have to be a huge time investment and for those of us here in Seattle, the Cascade Bicycle Club Bike to School resources have developed in an amazing way over the last few years. Some schools have more support and buy-in than others, and while Bike to School isn’t an unofficial part of our curriculum as in some schools, I was welcome to come talk to the kids about Bike to School at lunchtime, hang posters, run bike rodeos, and lead bike trains.

And everything was awesome! Two years ago I was in the Bike to School Day spotlight by the League of American Bicyclists, a story later included in their year-end inspirational stories.

Last year was huge, too. Not biggest-in-the-city huge, but something to be proud of. And most importantly, everyone had fun.

Then this year I threw it all away. A parent sent a very upset email to me (and some PTA parents and the principal), disappointed about a monthly bike-to-school day, something new from our school’s sustainability chair this year. The actual complaints were kind of weird, with expectations of a scooter being used in the hall and at recess, but the tone was impossible to misinterpret. While I’m not in this for accolades, I’m really only in it to have fun and encourage others to have fun. Reading this email was decidedly unfun. I sent an apologetic email, of course, and acknowledged that axing the whole program was a valid suggestion…not that it was my decision to make, but I would indeed remove myself from the program. Basically I’m a big baby and I’m never volunteering for anything ever again (except for my non-bike-related school volunteer duties to which I’m fully committed.) I assumed/hoped someone else would take over, but apparently that didn’t happen because our school didn’t participate in Bike to School Day today.

I feel like I’ve been complaining a lot lately, what with sharing the shoe thing, the “Hey, gorgeous!” thing, and the mean email to stay out of Burien. I tell myself they’re learning experiences and my thinking them through publicly is my easiest way to process things and will help me react more gracefully in the event of a next time…and hopefully my unfortunate experiences help others in some small way. But am I just getting disillusioned and crotchety? I see it happen to friends. I don’t think so in my case. And we did bike to school today…

We don’t generally bike to school nowadays since we live two flat blocks from school and we can walk there in the time it takes the kids to locate and buckle their helmets. But today–even though I failed our school–we got our bikes out (well, two bikes, because my first grader didn’t want to pedal with his scraped knee from yesterday’s spectacular SKATETRON crash). We biked a mile uphill to Mighty-O Donuts (where I used to buy doughnuts for all the schoolkids) for a treat before school. We saw a big group of biking families gathered across the street, preparing to ride to nearby Cascadia Elementary. I was a little embarrassed to be seen without my own big bike train in tow. I was mentally chastising myself for being an overly-sensitive asshole when one of the dads shouted “I love your blog!” Well, damn. THANKS, CASCADIA BIKING DAD! You lifted my gloomy spirits and it was awesome seeing you out biking amidst the sea of happy kids and parents, and you made me realize I was happy to be out biking and doing what little I’m capable of doing for Bike to School Day this year.

I feel a tad bit the poseur with Red Tricycle’s 10 Cool Biking Parents Reinventing the Wheel being released today. I am honored to be included in such an illustrious group, but couldn’t it have published yesterday or tomorrow? ;)

I don’t know if this is a cautionary tale or just another complainy post, but keep doing what you’re doing, especially if it’s encouraging more biking! Any little bit counts, probably more than you even realize.

CycloFemme is a socially-driven grass-roots celebration of women on bikes. Our annual Mother’s Day ride unites riders, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or bicycle preference to share in the joy of cycling. We are of a growing community, for a growing community, and 100% volunteer-based.

Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in Cal Anderson Park (1635 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122)
On the grassy field north of the play structure. Facebook event

There are over a hundred rides registered around the world and they’re all a little different. Our Seattle ride is a collaboration between Familybike and Critical Lass and is a combo Kidical Mass/Critical Lass ride.

But wait, there’s more! Our friends at PUBLIC Bikes Seattle are sponsoring the event and meeting us at the park (starting at 10:45 a.m.) with coffee from Stumptown Roasters and doughnuts from Top Pot Doughnuts! They’re also financing a picnic for us all at the end of the ride! Also, our friends at local bicycle bag company Detours will greet everyone with flowers up arrival.

And do you need a quick tune-up before the ride? Call PUBLIC now for this amazing deal:

• $35 standard tune up available for folks who participate in CycloFemme
• Must call the shop to schedule: (206) 973-2434
• Available through 5/6
• Show your RSVP on Facebook to receive the discount

If you’ve previously read the event details, you probably think we’re riding to Seward Park. Surprise: change of plans! Sadly, Seattle Parks and Rec didn’t make May 8th a Bicycle Sunday and it’s just not nice enough to ride to Seward without part of Lake Washington Blvd mostly closed to cars. So instead we’re doing a loop–how convenient! We’ll start at Cal Anderson and end at Cal Anderson with a four-ish mile ride in between. Midpoint is Pratt Park where we take bicycle portraits and refill our water bottles (and I might have an additional surprise for you there!) I did some route testing today and I think this will be our route:

Open to any route-change suggestions if you see glaring problems. It’s not flat, but it’s not bad. And it’s just about all quiet streets and easy intersection crossings.

So instead we’re going to Madrona Beach! Alongside Volunteer Park, Interlaken, and the Arboretum. Google maps link to route and Ride with GPS link to route.

Additional things…

• Getting there: This is my favorite route to Cal Anderson Park. It’s the flattest-possible way, though if the kids are riding separately, I’ll probably stick to the sidewalk for the blocks of Eastlake. We’re going to leave from Wallingford at 9am and hopefully arrive to the park at 10am so there’s time to play and greet any early arrivers.
• Getting there part two: the new Capitol Hill Light Rail Station is right there! However, cargo bikes are more officially not allowed on board (we’ve all always known this, yet have also occasionally…and some families regularly utilized light rail with our big bikes during quiet times of day).
• We’ve had some questions about who is welcome to participate and I haven’t posted anything specific yet because I was figuring there would eventually be some verbiage from CycloFemme HQ I could use. No such luck, though there is this: “At the core of CycloFemme are the women, children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends who join us, support us and give this movement momentum. We ride together.” And our About Critical Lass page: “We don’t want to create any barriers to your getting out there so if you need to bring kids or friend who does not qualify as a ‘lass’ along, please do so!” So this ride is open to everyone because we wouldn’t dream of turning anyone away, BUT the focus is those who identify as female. BUT part two, it’s also a regular Kidical Mass ride at the same time and we want all non-female-identifying family bikers to feel completely welcome. Feel free to suggest better language if you find this confusing! Basically: come ride! And if you don’t identify as female, it’d be awesome if you could convince a friend who does identify as female to come out for the ride. This is a slow-paced social ride and a wonderful way to get back into bicycling.

Oh hey, it’s Bike Month! Formerly Bike to Work Month, leaving some of us to feel a bit left out, it’s now rebranded as Cascade Bicycle Club Bike Everywhere Month and is completely welcoming to anyone who wants to use a bike to get around.

I have been the captain of a family biking team for the Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge in the past, but I was a bit slow in getting registered and there are already other family biking teams! So considering we’re doing more family walking and family skating than family biking these days, I decided to make a more general team, Team Urban Cycling: Get to Work, Save Money, and Use Your Bike for City Living. If that sounds familiar, it might be because there’s an awesome book by the same title ;)

This team is for anyone and everyone in Seattle, though especially if you don’t have a workplace team you can join and like the idea of logging trips and miles and don’t mind being on a not-at-all-competitive team. We’re not in it to win it, just ride a little (awesome if this challenge inspires you to ride a little bit more than you normally would!) and record your trips. Each team can have 10 members and so far it’s just me, though I’m saving a spot for my friend Michelle. I think you can probably request to join via the link to the team page, but if not, just comment below and I’ll respond with a special invite link.

There are a ton of fun Bike Everywhere Month events, too. May 20th is F5 Bike Everywhere Day with Celebration Stations all over town (formerly Bike to Work Day Commute Stations) and June 3rd is the End of Bike Month Party at which I’ll run some fun kid activities.

Pixie and I kicked off a super-sunny Bike Everywhere Month by biking 21.2 miles over 5 trips. The number of trips is a more important statistic than the number of miles these last couple years of the challenge so I’m trying to spend the time and log things correctly…I used to just add everything up and plug it in as one round trip. However, I did promise this is a non-competitive team so if logging things as just one trip a day is what it takes to make you want to play, go for it!

Saturday, April 23 at 11:00 a.m.
Husky Grind at Mercer Court (3925 Adams Ln, Seattle, WA 98105)
Facebook RSVP

Let’s get out on our bikes and celebrate Mother Earth! Pack a picnic and meet us outside Husky Grind at Mercer Court–it’s along the Burke-Gilman Trail just east of the Wall of Death (go early if you want to grab food at Husky Grind). We’ll be riding 5.5 miles, through the Center for Urban Horticulture which is easy-to-ride hard-packed gravel, just to warn ya. We’ll stop for picnic lunch in Magnuson Park (exact location TBD, but I’m leaning towards the amphitheater by the community center). If the weather’s not so nice, we’ll eat quickly and head back, but if it’s nice, we’ll hang for a while and then head back via the more direct route of all Burke-Gilman Trail, no gravel.

p.s. If you’re around April 16, there’s an official Earth Day celebration in the Magnuson Park children’s garden.

About Kidical Mass

Seattle Kidical Mass rides are presented by Familybike Seattle. Familybike Seattle is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit that decreases barriers to bicycling for families of all income levels. We believe that biking as a family increases our individual, family, and societal quality of life, while at the same time moving toward sustainable lifestyles and communities.

Kidical Mass is a fun, safe, easy-going, and law-abiding family bike ride for kids of all ages. It started circa 2008 in Eugene, Oregon, and has since spread to other bikey burgs, like Seattle! Our monthly group rides include a nice mix of experienced cyclists, and folks just getting started. We hope to educate bike-curious parents about ways to bicycle with children, help kids learn to ride safely in the city, and increase the visibility of family biking on Seattle streets. Kids are traffic too! All manner of bikes and high-occupancy velos are welcome.

Some Kidical Mass ride leaders are Cascade Bicycle Club volunteer ride leaders. Cascade Bicycle Club is the nation’s largest statewide bicycle organization and serves bike riders of all ages and abilities throughout the Puget Sound region and across Washington state. Cascade’s mission is to “improve lives through bicycling” through many programs including free group rides. For Kidical Mass rides led by Cascade ride leaders, all participants are required to sign a wavier and wear a helmet.

We’ve gone south to Portland four times with the cargo bike on BoltBus now, but this was our first time north to Vancouver, Canada! Lots of pictures below, but all the pictures on Flickr here.

Friday
Our day started with an 8:15 a.m. departure on Friday:

I didn’t realize our 10:00 a.m. BoltBus had started its journey down in Portland, Oregon, so it was already half full. Remember, if there’s not enough room for the bike, it doesn’t get to go…which means I’d either need to very quickly find somewhere safe for it and leave it behind or not get on the bus at all. Fortunately the driver saw my bike and instructed me to put it in the cargo hold before any of the bags went in. Phew! I’ve never had my bike turned away, but the possibility always makes me very nervous. Meanwhile, Amtrak Cascades only allows roll-on service to normal bikes, and boxed bikes must weigh 50 pounds or less so I’d need to separate my 76-pound bike into two boxes (assuming I knew how to take apart a bike and then put it back together). So once again, hooray for BoltBus making travel with a longtail possible!

The bus was full, but I was able to seat the kids next to one another and me right behind them. That ended up working very well–probably better than had I sat across the aisle from them. They happily chatted and drew and I just had to pass pencils and pens of the requested color forward every 10 seconds. And my seatmate had seven nieces and nephews and was happy to interact with the kids and chat with me. I was in the back row and at our 15-minutes stop in Bellingham, the kids had fun sitting in the way-back alcove:

I think I’ve noticed people sitting up there for the moving parts of the trip, and that would probably be pretty fun for kids. At ages eight and six the bus was a lot easier than our first time, but it’s still not as easy as the train.

Amtrak Cascade pros for travel with kids (and everyone?)

• A dozen cars to walk through and get wiggles out!
• Dining car with food for purchase (and seating for change of scenery).
• So many potties! Including two very large handicapped stalls if you need to squeeze the whole family in at once.
• Soap and water in the potties (versus just hand sanitizer on the bus).
• Potable water in the dining car–our trip up was very hot and we drank all our water quickly (though this was my fault for not noticing the overhead vents! On the way home we put the air on and didn’t dehydrate, plus we found water fountains while crossing the border to refill–but there weren’t water fountains in the border-crossing room on our way up).

BoltBus pros

• Fast customs clearing at the border crossing.

Our BoltBus was ahead of schedule on the way up (and only 10 minutes late on the way down), and the border crossing was a breeze–we drove through the smaller Blaine border crossing so although we didn’t get a view of the Peach Arch, we passengers unloaded with all our luggage (bikes got to stay in the cargo hold) and clear customs in a private room. A train will always generate a much longer line of passengers than a full bus.

And the bus arrives next to the train station so that’s convenient!

We stayed with my friend Tonya, who also has a Surly Big Dummy (so we’re basically family!), who met us at the train station and guided us home. But before that, getting off the train we watched a guy pull a folding bike out of the cargo hold and he realized we’d met on a group ride in Portland in December. He was able to navigate using his smart phone without having to pay for an international data plan thanks to the Maplets app (which I’ve just now installed).

I was so excited to show the kids the Trans Am Totem on our way from the train station (they loved it, too):

We stopped at Terra Breads and met up with Lisa of Spokesmama because we family bikers like to flock together. My kids became fast friends with the rest of the flock and I was intrigued by the variety of bikes as we hung out in Olympic Village Square: lots of road bikes, fast tandems and slow upright tandems, a BMX crew, little kids on bikes, and clunky old commuters.

I packed pretty light for the weekend, but realized something: my kids are getting heavy!

I think it’s partly due to the fact that we don’t bike daily right now. School is two blocks from home and we walk (it would take longer to bike!), and we generally don’t leave home after school…though now that the time has changed and it’s light later, we’ll start to do so. And I only have the kids every other weekend and don’t choose to carry a bunch of dead weight on my cargo bike on my non-parenting weekends. But also: they’re getting heavy!

Tonya offered to carry a kid at the train station and they both said no because they’re shy little ornery things, but after cookies at Terra Breads, my six-year old acquiesced. Yay! (Of course then the eight-year old said yes, too, and it nearly turned into an all-out brawl, but I got them to agree to take turns).

Then we biked to the MOST AMAZING STORE: Landyachtz. I thought Tonya was making a joke about cars, but they’re a Vancouver-based longboard brand! Tons of demo longboards, indoor skate park, bike repair, fancy coffee, oodles of pinball machines (including The Addams Family, my fave!!!!), and outdoor patio with lots of seating.

Landyachtz is on the Adanac Bikeway (Adanac = Canada backwards) so there were few cars and lots of bikes, making it was easy to test ride as many longboards as we wanted to.

Saturday
Saturday was sunny! And cool. Big kid in the winter jacket was probably overly bundled and little kid in short sleeves runs weirdly warm, but I was just right in wool sweater and awesome new Canada v Mexico soccer scarf.

My big kid soon demanded his turn on Tonya’s bike and I was able to keep up with her and her son as we traveled along a terrific bike-friendly route across town. I visited alone 11 months ago and got to bike the excellent downtown Vancouver protected bike lanes with Tonya and Lisa so it was OK that we skipped any downtown action this visit. The traffic calming is amazing!

We soon arrived at Tandem Bike Cafe for my Urban Cycling book reading. The event was fun, and Tandem now has a copy of Urban Cycling in their library, or Vancouverites can purchase their own copies at Raincoast Books and MEC. And keep an eye on Spokesmama for a future giveaway.

Tonya secured a projector and screen for my presentation so of course we argued over who got to carry it home afterwards. She won and took the big screen, but at least I got the projector. (This is what cargo bikers do, we stubbornly fight over carrying all the stuff.)

We dropped the gear at home, did some kid- and bike-swapping and made for Plateau Park.

I got to see this park 11 months ago, but it was 99% done and surrounded by a fence. It was so great to share it with the kids this time.

Sunday
Sunday started grey and drizzly, but 42 people gathered for the Vancouver Family Biking Easter Bonnet Ride! Read Lisa’s #YVRFamilyBiking Easter Bonnet Ride Recap on Spokesmama.

The clouds blew away and left us with gorgeous blue skies, but it stayed windy along the water. Our route was amazingly pleasant with multi-use paths, bike trails, separated bike lanes, and quiet streets.

Our destination was the Wild rabbits of Jericho Beach because Easter! We only saw a couple bunnies, possibly because they sensed the eagle watching us all from a nearby tree.

After the ride we hit Granville Island. We visited the island five summers ago (by car), but the kids didn’t remember it. The spray park was open our previous visit and I think the play structure was different and bigger. Still awesome, though!

And then back to the bus. For travel away from Vancouver, one gets to BoltBus through the train station which is nicer than standing out on the street like in Seattle and Portland. Our border crossing was quick again, but our driver reminded us several times to have our papers filled out and worried aloud it might take a long time, so maybe it’s not always fast. There was also a border control agent who pre-checked all our stuff while we were waiting in line, looking for problems. It’s interesting how differently things work on one side of the border than the other. When driving in years past, I’ve been impressed by the signs to turn off engines and the convenient holding areas to move cars efficiently towards the crossing on the Canadian side versus the inching-forward traffic jam on the U.S. side. But it’s been a while so maybe it’s better now.

The 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. bus ride home was not as easy for the kids as the 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ride up, but we made it! Pulled in at 9:10-ish, loaded up at 9:18 and home a bit over an hour later.

All in all, an awesome time! We’ll visit again in the summer. But it’s tempting to travel by city bus to the train and borrow or rent a bike or bikes in Vancouver. We’ll see.

Links first:

• GoFundMe: Support G&O Family Cyclery
• This Save G&O page has other ways to give

Looking at photos of the damage to the block, it’s amazing that no one was killed yesterday. It’s all so incredibly sad and I feel for all the people affected.

Searching my blog for “family cyclery” I found so many posts. The shop–and the people of the shop (Davey, Tyler, Donald, Karl, and Forrest)–are big parts of our lives as well as for so many other members of the Seattle family biking community (and well beyond Seattle, too!).

I remember when Davey first told me he was planning to open a family-friendly bike shop. Had we not bumped into one another on the Burke-Gilman Trail I’m sure I would have grabbed him by the shoulders and shaken him as I shouted “WE’VE ALMOST OUTGROWN OUR TRAIN TABLE, YOU MUST LET ME DONATE IT TO THE SHOP! EVERY FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOP NEEDS A TRAIN TABLE!” As it was, I just shouted it while gripping my handlebars.

And Davey obliged me:

There’s a kid tucked in there, too:

Our first visit to G&O Family Cyclery was one of countless visits. I’ll admit I probably make more visits to say hello than for bike repairs. I’ve made many new friends in G&O, used it as a meet-up spot, and had a million wonderful conversations with other customers.

G&O is a huge part of the robust family biking scene in Seattle. Making it easy for people to test ride bikes and purchase bikes–not to mention be able to talk about bikes with kids in tow–is so important.

If G&O has touched your life in some way, even just through the stories of others being sent on their journey of family biking joy, please help save them.

Our Kidical Mass ride from the Ballard Locks to the Seattle Bike Show was great! We were about 26 humans and 1 dog on 20 bikes.

New this year at the bike show was an obstacle course for little kids! Bikes and helmets were provided, no need to bring your own.

 And a climbing wall!

And the same fun stuff from last year, like the zip line and pump track for slightly bigger kids.

   

 
Our favorite booths were all there: Familybike Seattle (full disclosure: I’m on the board of directors) with lots of cargo bikes to look at, chocolates to eat, and family biking information to absorb; Bike Works with a wheel to spin (Bike Works also ran the bike valet parking out front); and Pedalheads bike camps. OutdoorsNW had a lot of giveaways, free copies of the annual NW Cyclist issue, and a photo booth; Amtrak had junior conductor activity books, and my kids tell me the massage chairs looked great, but the lines were too long.

Morgan Scherer, Executive Director of Familybike, and I spoke on the main stage about family biking and had a good turnout.

Find Familybike at booth 1520, in the southwest corner, near the terminus of the zip line, and conveniently close to the potties.

There’s surely a bunch of other fun stuff I didn’t see in my 10-minute dash up and down every aisle. My kids’ goodie bags are full of candy, one apple each, stickers, and pins. As always, quite the haul.  

    
    
    
   

I’ve been meaning to share a link to my friend Marley’s Bike Nicer Seattle campaign that she developed for the Connect Puget Sound: Big Ideas Festival. It’s an awesome concept in and of itself, but it’s also the perfect way to share the benefits I personally reap from riding with one of my favorite people. Marley embodies “bike nicer” and not everyone is as lucky as me and gets to spend time in person/in saddles with her and have that good nature rub off. Biking isn’t just about biking for me, it’s also about the wonderful people it’s brought into my life.

Not that I need a personal anecdote as an excuse to share Bike Nicer Seattle, but sadly, yesterday provided the perfect impetus.

Marley and I had a grand plan to ride my tandem together for Chilly Hilly on Sunday. She came by R+E Cycles’ Bike and Pike Expo on Saturday, where I was spending the day hanging out with a stack of my Urban Cycling books. I had already planned to ride my tandem to the event because it’s R+E’s brand, Rodriguez (scored on consignment from the shop!). Knowing Marley could come by for a practice run made the plan even better. Between taking expo goers on tours of the frame-building facilities downstairs, mechanics took the kidback cranks off and moved the pedals back down to the adult position so Marley didn’t have to contort to six-year-old height. The test ride was fun! I was a little nervous because I’m not used to anyone actually helping back there and therefore am not practiced at the constant communication required for tandem riding (“Shifting!” “Coasting!”).

But we mutually chickened out in a series of Sunday 6am text messages and rode our two Surly Stragglers instead.

And then the thing happened after having had a marvelous day filled with friends and talking to a lot of new people over the course of the day. I posted it to my Facebook wall and Instagram because those are great places to vent and/or whine and have friends commiserate. I am incredibly thin-skinned and easily discouraged and it helps me greatly to get support from my friends after the fact via social media. Even though it “worked” and I feel better, I share my experience here, too:

So Marley and I decided last minute not to ride the tandem today (we never got our costumes dialed in, we were a little scared about the high winds forecasted, and neither of us got a full night’s sleep). But Chilly Hilly was still a lot of fun!

…until I was waiting in line for the return ferry and three older guys in head-to-toe neon yellow made fun of me for my choice of footwear: “Ha ha ha, look at your shoes! So pro! You have the ‘best’ shoes of the day, ha ha!” Note: I had my rain jacket on so at this moment I did not look like a flight attendant (I like to travel with lots of snacks so I had a front basket full of cookies, pretzels, and beverages to share with anyone who was hungry…and offered to change seat assignments on return flights if necessary, because laughter is almost as important as snacks).

You know me, I think you should wear whatever you want to ride your bike, whether it’s a silly costume, a cycling kit, or what you were wearing already ( <- my personal favorite). I think EVERYONE should ride bikes. Because it’s SO FUN. I would never say anything to discourage anyone from riding bikes. There was nothing good natured about these guys, they just wanted to be assholes to me. I smiled at them and said I wear these shoes every day and find them great for biking.

What bothers me the most is the thought that maybe they harassed other people. What if those other people weren’t yet committed bicyclists and mean remarks by three assholes scare them off their bikes after today and steal from them the joy that bicycling brings. I wish I had shook off the sting of their words and said something about all getting along.

So I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, and wearing what I’m wearing, and next time (which probably won’t be too soon because most people aren’t assholes) I’ll be a little braver in my response.

I hate to lump people into two groups, but it’s hard not to notice striking differences in appearance at Chilly Hilly. The majority of people are in cycling-specific clothing and I feel for them when I see them in the ferry line hobbling around in what must be very uncomfortable shoes for walking. I don’t know much about the inner workings of Cascade Bicycle Club, but I am a volunteer ride leader and benefit from many programs the club offers. I have always assumed the “serious cyclists” who pay for most of the entries in the big rides like Chilly Hilly, STP, and RSVP generate the revenue that both puts on those rides and funds the things I think are the most important, like the Major Taylor Project and the educational programming that directly impacts me. So I’m certainly not going to be mean to those with deep Lycra pockets…though mostly because I’m not going to be mean to anyone!

Chilly Hilly isn’t a family-specific event, but it’s certainly family friendly. I rode it with one kid four years ago and this year I saw a few kids in trailers, on tandems, and on trailer bikes–and one superstar who pedaled his own 16-inch bike and retired to a trailer behind his dad’s bike when he couldn’t push on. For me, I’ll fully admit that since having discovered the relatively flat highway route to get to bike camping at Fay Bainbridge, I might never ride the hilly route with kids again. Maybe they’ll want to ride Chilly Hilly in the future and we’ll do it, but we are all primarily transportation cyclists and do things in two-mile increments, not 33-mile increments, so Chilly Hilly would be a very big deal for us.

Marley isn’t the only one with this big, yet simple, idea. A couple weeks ago, Surly Bikes shared this Don’t Be a Dick blog post. Surly is another organization I can’t claim to know much about. They seem to present a surly (duh) persona, but at the same time they’re also pretty lovable, as seen in Jules’s Our Own Two Wheels post. And they are one of the sponsors of the Women’s Bicycle Mechanic Scholarship program run by their parent company, QBP, that sends 16 women to UBI’s Professional Shop Repair and Operations Workshop (happening right now, this very second!)–including Kyla of Green River Cyclery and the Busted Bike Cafe whom I recently met and adore.

Phew.

Just to add a little levity, since I don’t really know how to cope without the shield of humor (I should work on that, too, I guess), I feel I should share a dirty little secret: I was wearing hidden cycling gear. I was in cycling shorts from my team kit (yes, I have a team kit…though I sometimes accidentally call it a “costume” and I LOVE when people are surprised that I own a kit) and a couple times my skirt blew up an inch too high and the bright blue peeked out. I was embarrassed and joked that I looked “too pro”. Of all the phrases to use! It had never occurred to me to wear my kit to Chilly Hilly. I wear it to races (I race cyclocross a couple times a year) and during the two times I went on training rides. This is half because I don’t want to misrepresent my team, Recycled Cycles Racing, if I’m not riding seriously (like on a city bike with a basket full of cookies) and half because I consider it special and only for racing (and training, were I to do that). So I guess I can laughingly consider myself superior to the yellow bullies because Chilly Hilly just isn’t a big enough deal for me to “kit up”.

And hey, I did get a little more “serious” in the evening when I donned cleated shoes (but cyclocross ones that are easy to walk in, not the hobbly road bike ones I’ve never experienced) and took my cyclocross bike to our annual team meeting where I picked up my new kit. YAY NEW KIT! Of course I mostly chatted with my teammates who have kids about family biking gear, but bikes are bikes are bikes. And people are people are people.

xo

p.s. I didn’t even share a clear photo of my shoes, nor describe them. It hardly seems important. But this is them:

I’m standing on my Surly Big Dummy’s FlightDeck before my recent trip to Portland.

I don’t know what brand they are. They’re from a long line of flats from the thrift store that fit comfortably and are close enough to black that I think they match everything (don’t worry, I outsourced all fashion information in the book). Oh, that’s another reason I was embarrassed about wearing my cycling shorts: they were my only non-thrifted item. Had it had been colder, I would have worn Vans or boots and socks, but that’s marginally less comfortable. And takes longer to get feet into when I’m late out the door and still have to go buy cookies.

Seattle Bike Show is this weekend!

Kidical Mass will ride there on Saturday.
Meet at the Ballard Locks (3015 Northwest 54th St, Seattle, WA 98107)
We’ll be inside the locks, on the Ballard side, watching boats (and near the potty!)
Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 10:30 a.m.
Facebook event page

Here’s the route.
The bits along Alaskan Way will probably be a combination of under-construction road and under-construction multi-use trail depending on both car- and foot traffic by the time we arrive.

Why should you attend the show?

1) There’s a lot of fun stuff for kids–see my hasty Kid stuff at Seattle Bike Show post from last year. That was the first year Seattle Bike Expo became Seattle Bike Show and it was already great, but I expect to see even more great stuff for families this year.

2) KIDS 17 AND UNDER ARE FREE. I think tickets are $12 (online they’re $12 plus a small fee) for adults.

3) Familybike will have a big booth this year (booth 1520) with lots of bikes to check out. Sign up to volunteer at the booth. It’s super fun and very easy–you just greet people as they read the very detailed tags on all the bikes. Kids welcome to volunteer at the booth with you.

4) I think the show is always the first opportunity to get OutdoorsNW‘s awesome NW Cyclist issue. Oh, I see this one will contain book reviews (hint, hint). [Update: the book reviews will be in the online edition only, but it’s still worth grabbing the print issue!]

5) But most importantly, come see Morgan and me talk on the main stage Saturday at 2:35 p.m.!

Family, Cargo & Utility Biking– by Morgan Scherer & Madi Carlson

Sat March 5 2:35 p.m – 3:10 p.m.

Join Morgan Scherer, Executive Director of Familybike Seattle, and Madi Carlson, renowned author of Urban Cycling for an engaging talk on the magic of cargo and family biking! Hear real-life stories of what it takes to “go by bike” without giving up the perks of having a car…spontaneously picking up free furniture at the side of the road, “car”pooling with the kids, heading out for vacation, and more! These two cargo and family biking mavens will lead you through the joys and humorous travails of getting around Seattle by bike, with kids and stuff (lots of stuff!).

Ms. Scherer has been creatively biking her family around Seattle since 2000. She started with a recumbent bike and trailer, added an electric assist motor, and moved through a variety of contraptions from there; including a tandem with a trailer-bike, and numerous others. . With all that experience, equipment, and a desire to change the world by bike, Ms. Scherer started Familybike Seattle with the first Family Bike Expo in 2007. Familybike Seattle has grown each year, and now includes a sliding scale rental fleet, workshops, Kidical Mass, and advocacy.

Madi Carlson has been family biking since the moment her older child turned one, in 2008. A passionate family biking advocate, Madi loves leading group rides like Kidical Mass, a fun monthly family bike ride and shares family biking information and stories through her Family Ride blog. She is also the author of “Urban Cycling: How to Get to Work, Save Money, and Use Your Bike for City Living” (Mountaineers Books), an easy-to-navigate manual for bike commuting–including commuting with kids.

I’m not going to put this on the Cascade calendar since it’s to a non-Cascade pay event, so if you are waiver averse, come along!!

We have a dog!

WE HAVE A DOG!

Welcome to Team Family Ride, Pixie!

We used to have a dog, and I posted about biking with Bettie a few years ago: dog on the family bike. But she died a year and a half ago and being the change averse person that I am and having spent the last dozen years assuming Bettie would be our last dog ever, I’d been slowly working up to the idea of opening my heart to a new dog. And I’ve been working on negotiating pretend future dogs with the kids–because we are not getting six St Bernards, sweetie.

You may have noticed we’ve been biking around with a couple dogs since Labor Day. We’ve spent most of the last four months trading off dogsitting Marley and Pixie who weren’t getting along at their common home. We all hoped it was a temporary feud, but the time apart, help from a dog behaviorist, and anxiety-calming medications didn’t seem to do the trick so Pixie became an official member of our family five days ago.

Pixie likes riding in the front basket. I stick our old doggie bed in there, and put a baby blanket on top of her (or picnic blanket if it’s raining), and then put a cargo net over the whole thing with her head sticking through one of the holes.

I also have a doggie shoulder bag that I can put in the front basket (the mamabike, the tandem, and my Straggler all have front baskets) or on the mamabike’s FlightDeck.

I can even fit one kid in the back seat with her–here’s my friend’s kid keeping Pix company:

And Thursday we added a new dog biking method: the trailer! My little kid was home sick from school, but up for a little trip to the grocery store so I bundled him into the trailer with four blankets and Pixie.

She snuggled in for the ride, but explored the trailer once we parked. So maybe future trailer rides should have a harness involved to keep her secure. Unfortunately, Bettie’s old harness doesn’t fit Pixie. Pixie is a bit smaller than Bettie, but has some dachshund in her (and her previous family says Miniature Pinscher, too, but she seems more chihuahua-like to me) so her waist isn’t where our old harness expects it to be.

I brought the shoulder bag so I could bring Pixie in with us. No, dogs aren’t allowed in grocery stores here and it’s not OK just because everyone brings dogs into grocery stores here anyway. (Yes, really. Something about Seattle and everyone bringing dogs into grocery stores.) Just this once to help tend to the sick kid.

The only problem with my plan was that after shopping I couldn’t fit the small bag of groceries and the empty shoulder bag into the trailer’s cargo compartment. So I wore the bag. Just like empty trailers are easy to drag around, empty doggie purses are fine to wear draped awkwardly across one’s body…but I definitely wouldn’t want to ride with ten pounds of dog in the bag.

I think our systems work well enough, but there are some cool products out there.

That Swift Paloma Handlebar Bag on my trailer-pulling road bike attaches via a KlickFix adapter that can also hold a doggy carrier or the DoggyRide Cocoon. If either of those also fit snugly in some or all of my front baskets, that’d be awesome. The Timbuk2 Muttmover Backpack is adorable, but I’m not sure Pixie would like being stuck on my back.

I’ll probably just stick with what we have unless I see something free or cheap, but please do let me know in the comments if there’s another small-dog-on-bike product I should be aware of!