Biking and busing strategies (help plz!)

Apr4

We visit Issaquah about once a month for our orthodontist. I often skip blogging about it unless there’s something exciting and new involved (like adding the Bobike Junior kid seat in place of Bobike Maxi kid seat), but I try to document things more in April for 30 Days of Biking so here we are! Plus we mixed it up bus-wise a bit so this is also a good time to ask for HELP WITH STRATEGIES FOR BIKE/BUS ROUTING!

Here’s what I do:
I start with home-to-destination Google maps transit directions to see which bus(es) go closest to our destination. Often it’s a two- or three-bus trip so I try to find out if we can bike to the last–or at least the second–bus. Often this is the point of that bus’ route closest to home as the crow flies, but sometimes it’s less uphill or less busy-road-stricken for us to hit it somewhere else along the line. Or now that the light rail comes near us, it might be where light rail gets closest to that bus…though we haven’t been incorporating light rail with our multimodal travels much yet. THIS IS ONE SPOT I CAN USE HELP: I want to look at all the stops on a King County Metro or Sound Transit bus and I don’t think the websites show everything, just some of the stops (the timed ones?). When trying to hook up two buses and kids on bikes, I really want to know every single stop. So I pull out my iPhone and check on the OneBusAway (“The Open Source platform for Real Time Transit Info”) app. It seems silly to use both computer and smart phone to figure out my route.

Anyhow, today was a bit different because we ran an errand in Fremont on the way to the orthodontist. We usually catch a bus near home to get downtown where we can transfer to the 554 that takes us 16 miles to Issaquah. I didn’t want to bike back uphill to catch any of our usual buses (mostly for the sake of my nine-year old who was on his own bike, honest!) so I used Google maps transit directions to find an alternate first bus. I settled on the 62 at the corner of 34th and Fremont in front of Starbucks. Bonus: it’s right by PCC Natural Market (where kids get a free piece of fruit) so we grabbed some groceries on the way. Removing a kid from a seat and having to lock up two bikes is a bit more involved than grocery shopping on my own, but even so, bikes still make squeezing in extra errands so easy!

The kids have apparently been paying more attention than I realized and have become savvy bus riders because they suggested I check OneBusAway to make sure the bus was on time. So I checked and discovered it was running six minutes late. We had seven minutes to go a block and a half between buses so when we saw a bus 40 with DOWNTOWN on the display, I decided we’d hop on and figure out our stop once on board. This is way out of my comfort zone! I like plotting our trip the night before and hem and haw for way too long over various options. Thank goodness for smart phones–I spent most of the trip studying the 554 and 40 routes and chose the two stops that lined up best–close to each other, but not in the part of downtown where that close togetherness was down a very steep hill. But! Then I figured since we’d have quite a few extra minutes for our transfer we should do something more interesting than just riding one block of sidewalk. So we got off near the top of the 2nd Avenue protected bike lane and rode most of the way down it…a whopping half mile! It doesn’t connect to anything so I rarely take the kids on it which means it’s always a treat to have a kid or two on his own bike when we’re down here.

Turns out I was wrong about our timing (have I mentioned I’m not a pro at riding the bus?) because as soon as we got off the bikes, the 554 arrived. Usually I fold in my rear baskets and fold down the seat (like in my photo below of our trip back) but there wasn’t time! I even forgot to remove my water bottle, but that side-entry drink cage (the only one I could find that fits in the tiny triangle) held tight.

And then we were in Issaquah where the riding is great! It’s a flat mile from the bus stop to the orthodontist and Issaquah has a lot of double-wide sidewalks that are officially part of the Issaquah Trail System so we bike on those.

We usually eat lunch while we’re out this way, either sushi right next door to the orthodontist or Issaquah Brewhouse a block from the bus stop. Today we opted for the brewhouse. It’s a super kid-friendly place, with coloring sheet kid menus, a Duplo table (in the back section that’s usually closed during lunch, but they’ll let kids go play in it anyway) and several games (my guys always choose Battleship, and there are two sets of it). The kid meals used to come on Frisbees, but today they had regular plates. There’s also a dog menu (and that food comes on a Frisbee, too) so we’ll bring Pixie along come warmer weather when the outdoor seating is set up.

We left the bikes locked up and walked next door to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, one of our favorite places to visit. Despite being one of our favorite places to visit, we’ve never strayed from the front part before and I had no idea there was a back section with a fish ladder and many educational displays! Plus there’s a little playground just across the street. Wow!

But even better than all that, we were invited into the mysterious white trailer we sometimes see parked by the salmon ponds. They were piping in coho fry (babies), clipping their adipose fins, and counting them as they put flushed them out into a different pond. We didn’t get to do any fin clipping, but the kids got to pet them, name them, and put them down the drain. Extremely fun! And we’ll be on the lookout for Banana and Slimy the coho when they swim back up here in four years.

Then we biked a couple blocks (on the sidewalk) to the playground by the train museum, close to the bus stop. The water fountains were shut off (for the season, back on soon?) so we popped in the police station for the restrooms and to fill water bottles before we headed home. There’s a great display of police patches from all around the area inside if you’re into that kind of thing.

And there’s a great statue of an eagle trying to catch a salmon right outside that my kids love climbing on (always) and cutting themselves on (occasionally) while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Coming home we usually get off the 554 at Westlake Park and on nice days like today, stop at the playground for a bit. New this time was a little basketball toss.

Then just one block of street (and a BUS ONLY lane which is also OK for bikes) and half a block of sidewalk and we caught the bus that drops us off a couple flat blocks from home.

This last stop, as well as PCC to the first bus stop and the Issaquah Depot Park playground to the third bus stop are close enough that my passenger could run ahead so I didn’t have to deal with all the various steps of loading–I wore the backpack rather than pry open a rear basket and in this last case, popped the seat open to accommodate the bag of stuffed animals.

So we made it there and back just fine and had one of our best Issaquah visits ever, but seriously: give me all your bike+bus route finding tips and tricks!

Ride Recap: Kidical Mass April Fools’ Day Ride

Apr1

We had the best Kidical Mass April Fools’ Day Ride today, no foolin’! I haven’t started a ride at noon for quite a while, but it seemed to work well for a lot of families and we had a great turnout–39 at the start and 10 more joining us later. See my 40 photos here.

However, I didn’t plan well food-wise starting later than normal. I assumed first breakfast and second breakfast would be sufficient and didn’t pack any snacks since we’d have brownies at the start, doughnuts in the middle, and lunch at the end, but my younger threatened to die of hunger a few blocks after we left home. So we stopped at Solsticio, 1.4 miles from home, just in the nick of time! From there it was just another .7 miles to get to our start point.

We met up at Fremont Canal Park, by the dinosaur topiaries. I passed out homemade brown Es (get, brownies? We had real brownies, too, lest anyone be disappointed) and packets of doughnut seeds for the kids to plant around the dinosaurs. The idea was that we were planting next year’s doughnut harvest and we’d be rewarded with some of last year’s harvest upon arrival at Mighty-O Donuts in Ballard.

Multi-use trail, proposed greenway, greenways!
Our ride was really great! We started out on the Burke-Gilman Trail and turned off at Hale’s Ales to get to NW 6th Avenue. The U-turny right turn onto 43rd from the Burke-Gilman Trail is a little tricky, so I think next time we’ll leave the trail one opportunity earlier, at 7th Ave NW and turn right on 43rd with a regular 90-degree angle.

I love the newish beg button for bikes to cross Leary Way here–it makes such a difference for biking into Ballard (photo below from using it in the other direction on our way back home).

We rode 15 blocks north on 6th Avenue NW, which is a proposed Seattle Neighborhood Greenway. It doesn’t have all the traffic calming of a built-out neighborhood greenway, but it’s a great street to use to avoid the Missing Link, which features very busy streets and lots of rail road tracks and isn’t a good place for a group of kids (or anyone!). It’s flat so most people ride through it anyway, but our pack all fared just fine on the slight uphill of 6th Avenue NW. It’s also covered with blossoms this time of year.

And from there we turned west on the NW 58th Street greenway. I love riding along Ballard’s first greenway with kids. It’s flat and calm. And it intersects Ballard’s second greenway! Here in Seattle we don’t have any other nice bikeways that connect (except for the 39th Avenue NE greenway and the Burke-Gilman Trail, I guess) so intersecting greenways is huge!

Stopping at Mighty-O worked very well. Everyone started in the Friends of Mighty-O Parklet boat while I ran inside to pick up the three dozen mini doughnuts I’d ordered online ahead of time. Then some families migrated inside for coffee and full-sized doughnuts and some stayed in the boat.

We backtracked a bit, going out of the way for the sake of controlled street crossing: 17th Avenue NW greenway to NW 58th Street greenway. We mixed things up by heading south on 14th Avenue NW which is a pretty big street, but with an island in the middle and it’s worth taking in the downhill direction since we can go at a reasonable speed. And it has a light for crossing Market. We biked five blocks of 14th before turning off at 53rd which crosses through Gilman Playground. Parallel streets are just as quiet, but cutting through a playground is always worth it. Then four blocks down quiet 9th and we were at Populuxe Brewing!

There was tons of room to bring our bikes into the patio, lots of outdoor seating and a huge annex (which I hear begins a remodel next week) with pinball and video games as well as a big-screen TV and lots of seating. On such a nice day (the sun was out for some of the time!) it was wonderful to be outside, though.

The food at Peasant Food Manifesto looked amazing (and others confirmed it was indeed so), but my littles weren’t adventurous enough for it so I headed down a few blocks to Giddy Up Burgers & Greens for kid burgers and fries. I hadn’t been there before and it looks great for kids: huge coloring sheets, lots of crayons, and little toy trucks!

Balleywood Creamery was at the brewery, too, and it was SO GOOD. There was a sorbet (peach this time) for my dairy-sensitive kid and I chose the not-too-hoppy caramel hop one. YUM!

We look forward to more sunny rides as the seasons change (finally!)

A Week in Minneapolis During 30 Days of Biking 2016

Mar31

Last spring break we went to Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have quite a few friends in Minneapolis, some of whom we hadn’t seen in quite some time and have been missing terribly, plus I was extremely excited to be in the birthplace of #30daysofbiking during #30daysofbiking! Win-win.

Flickr album: Minneapolis, Spring Break 2016 – 374 photos · 1 video

I’ve only been to Minneapolis twice–once during a four-hour layer returning to San Diego from a visit to my relatives in the Netherlands. On New Year’s Day no less! But it counts because Kristin picked us up at the airport and drove us into town to hang out. And once for John’s fall wedding during which I discovered as a [then] Southern Californian why looking at the fall foliage made me so anxious–I’d been trained from childhood to think “Poison oak! Get away!” when I see red leaves. I’m over that now, by the way.

Spending a whole week was AWESOME. We went everywhere and did everything. I wanted to make a big overlay map of my Strava recordings, but that proved too much work, so here’s (there -> to the right) a thrown together picture of my maps (click to see it bigger) that hopefully quickly show just how much we were able to get around.

Perennial Cycle
Super super huge thanks to Luke of Perennial Cycle for letting me borrow the shop Xtracycle EdgeRunner. And for inviting me to do an Urban Cycling book talk before the pastry ride. And for having such a cool bike shop! So many people admired the Xtracycle as we explored town. I hope some of those families find their way to Perennial Cycle and join the revolution. Perennial Cycle has lots of different bikes, like anything one could want to commute on, Brompton folding bikes, and the fat recumbent trike my kids can’t wait to grow long enough to fit on.

30 Days of Biking
I adore 30 Days of Biking! We attended several events and I got to meet 30DoB co-founder Patrick Stephenson. It’s a wonderful event and I highly recommend you sign up right now.

Bike trails
I knew ahead of time that Minneapolis is fairly flat so biking the two kids around was easier than at home, but what I didn’t know to expect was all the terrific bike trails! 83 miles of off-street trails according to this Hennepin County Metro Bike Trails Guide. In Seattle we have some multi-use trails which are great, but in Minneapolis we rode on bike trails with an area of separation and then a separate walking trail. No dodging around dogs on long leashes or worrying about surprising walkers in headphones. And the many trails go lots of places! I kept asking for confirmation that they were used as commute ways and not only for recreation. We utilized the to get many places, like friends’ houses, Minnehaha Falls, and Fort Snelling.

Nice Ride MN bike share
I didn’t ride a Nice Ride MN bike share bike, but it was fun to see them everywhere. They had just come back out from winter hibernation and everyone–even locals who rode their own bikes everywhere–were so excited about it and declared it the most reliable sign of spring. It was awesome to see a successful bustling bike share system in action (I write this on the day Seattle’s Pronto Cycle Share shuts down). We, uh, often used docked bikes for the kids to climb up for boarding the Xtracycle deck because like I said, they’re everywhere.

Recap of our week
I’m going to do a quick recap of our week of activities below, with miles per day and links to my Strava maps. Nowadays I have a Garmin Edge 520 that’s easy to record trips with stops, but last year I had a Garmin Edge 25 that was cute and little, but couldn’t be turned off at a stop in the middle of a trip to preserve its short battery life. It stopped working three minutes after the warranty expired, but I’m happy with this new, bigger one. I’m not one for riding fast, but it’s neat to tally how much I ride and it’s very helpful for exploring routes for leading future group rides.

Sunday, April 10, 2016
13.1 miles | map
We stayed with our friends Martin and Stacy (and two kids and one dog). Martin picked us up at the airport Saturday and drove us to Perennial Cycle to fetch the bike. I could have biked it home, but since I’d already biked through the kitchen early in the morning to up the bike with Martin’s truck (*gasp*) on Saturday so this was our first Minneapolis riding. Stacy asked my kids if they’d like to tag along to a birthday party at an amusement park type place so they ditched me for our first day of riding! But Martin and his eldest came along for the Sunday Social Cookie Ride and I even got to tow the kid and his bike a little bit :)

And we stopped at Behind Bars Bike Shop on the way home. Cool shop!

Monday, April 11, 2016
16 miles | map 1, map 2
Obvs we had to visit the Mall of America during our week. I deemed it a bit far for biking to. Plus it was freezing! I flattened my hair over my ears to keep them warm on the ride to the light rail station where we left the bike locked up for the day. The MOA was awesome even though the kids didn’t want to go to the aquarium or in the amusement park. The Lego Store, Brickmania Lego Store, and videos at the flight simulator store were excitement enough for them.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016
18 miles | map 1, map 2
First up The Bakken Museum: The Electricity of Life. Small, but so cool! The kids loved every single exhibit. Then we followed our friend James out to his house for a sleepover with his family (four fun kids!) through the snow! To quite Patrick in the Surly Brewing interview I linked above when asked why 30 Days of Biking is in April: “Because April is the confluence of all seasons. You could get a shock snowstorm. It could rain. It could be a perfect beautiful spring day with the birds chirping and the green leaves and the flowers blooming.” And indeed we got the full spectrum!

Wednesday, April 13, 2016
12.8 miles | map
The weather Wednesday was terrific so we spent the day at the park walking distance from our friends’ house after some sharing of kid bikes in the street out front. And we swung by the Spoonbridge and Cherry on our way back home. This was the only time things were a little tricky for biking due to some construction and busy roads. I probably didn’t take the best and more direct route from the bike trail to the spoon, but we made it just fine. I certainly see why Minneapolis is one of the best places for biking in the US.

Thursday, April 14, 2016
18.6 miles | map 1, map 2, map 3, map 4
We made it into St. Paul to visit the Como Park Zoo–via the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. I biked us through just to check out the deserted fairgrounds, but it also served the purpose of keeping us off busy Como Avenue, an unpleasant experience on our way back home.

We had lunch with Anthony Desnick, then director of Nice Ride MN where I got the inside scoop on Mississippi River Paddle Share. We’ll have to come back when the kids are tall enough to fit on Nice Ride MN bike share bikes so we can bike/paddle/bike!

Martin, Stacy, and kids met us by bike for dinner at Surly Brewing Co which has a wonderful waiting nook for kids, kid-friendly (i.e. spacious) seating both inside and out, and little bins of toys/puzzles for each table of kids. It was also the gathering spot for a #30daysofbiking ride so even though it was too late for us to go riding more, I got to meet Patrick!

I think this was also the first time my six-year old thought standing on the deck would be fun so that was a recurring motif for the rest of the week.

Friday, April 15, 2016
26.3 miles | map 1, map 2, map 3
I love that my older kid’s birthday always falls during Spring Break! Last year we were in Victoria and spent the big day camping, hiking, and dining on sushi and cake in town (with special police station tour two days later!) but this year he’s more into military stuff than police stuff so we biked to Historic Fort Snelling. It was a long, but awesome ride over. Martin advised us to stay on the east side of the Mississippi River until Minnehaha Falls, where we stopped for lunch waterfall oohing and aahing, and a playground where the Xtracycle got a ton of admiring glances.

The trail between the falls and the fort was pretty and woodsy and then a section alongside the highway. I kind of like highway-side bike trails–it feels like something built especially for bike access to a spot most people would only think to drive to. The last little bit was up a hill. A hill so steep I had to kick the birthday boy off the bike so I could make it up. I guess it’s good for a fort to be on top of a hill–better view of approaching enemies and all that. One hill in one week isn’t bad.

Note: it wasn’t yet Fort season. I figured we’d just ride over and explore around the closed grounds, but we got incredibly lucky and it had just opened that day for its first school group of the season and they let us in! The blacksmith made my birthday boy a nail and someone too official to be in period costume unlocked the gift shop/bar and gave the kids pins after he’d overheard we were special birthday visitors.

We met our hosts back in town for sushi birthday dinner and then cake at home.

Saturday, April 16, 2016
29.1 miles | map 1, map 2, map 3
Not that Fort Snelling wasn’t super fun on Friday, but Saturday was my day! We followed Martin to Perennial Cycle for a morning of 30 Days of Biking stuff. Music from Ben Weaver, giveaways and doughnuts from Banjo Brothers, and an Urban Cycling talk by me! I got to meet some friends in person for the first time and our friend, Tom, who recently moved to Minneapolis from Seattle was there on his Big Dummy.

Photo courtesy @hangsaroundthefort

And then we joined the Pastry Ride to a street fair (with bounce house!) and that was AWESOME.

We left the bounce house with Martin and Tom (and the kids opted to ride on Tom’s Big Dummy and there was no deck surfing) for more fun “me-type” stuff. First up we rode to Peacock Groove to meet Eric Noren and a bunch of amazing “deep custom” bikes.

And then we went to One on One Bicycle Studio where Surly Bikes was leading a big gravel ride that we didn’t take part in, but I enjoyed the bike shop (and adjoining cafe) and the kids got little grenade-shaped bike locks that they [obviously] love.

Then the bestest part of all the best parts and there were so many best parts to the week! All the old crew got together for a bike biking-with-kids brewery tour! For most of it we were six adults and six kids on bikes, but all told there were nine adults and six kids, some of whom I hadn’t seen since one of the weddings, five collective kids ago! I think Martin had mapped out five or six breweries, but we only made it to three before it was way too late to be out still. Community Keg House, Able Seedhouse + Brewery, and Bauhaus Brew Labs were also kid-friendly and adult-friendly. We all had the best time!

Sunday, April 17, 2016
9.8 miles | map 1, map 2
Our last day allowed some time to play before our flight so we met Tom and kids and James and kids at a park to get some wiggles out before our long sit–so that made for eight kids!

And then back to Perennial Cycle to return the Xtracycle because it was too big to hide in my suitcase.

In case I didn’t mention it already, WE HAD THE BEST TIME EVER.

It certainly helps having friends to show one around, but we did fine for our many trips where I just let Google maps tell me how to get from point A to point B. If you’ve been thinking about visiting Minneapolis, do it! And if you haven’t been thinking about it, add it to your list now. And tell me if I missed something I should have done so we’ll know for next time. I don’t know when we’ll be back, but we’ll be back for sure! And Minneapolis friends: please come visit us in the meantime!

My Cargo Bike is a Glorified Bike Rack

Mar29

My kids are nine (almost 10!) and seven and prefer to ride their own bikes most of the time these days. They weight about 65 and 55 pounds so they’re still totable, but I’ll admit I’m happy not to be toting them. However, I still always bring my Big Dummy just in case. It’s great having a bike that can carry both kids and their bikes. A year ago they were often tired and requested rides and I was quick to oblige because I’d hate to have them get grumpy about biking for transportation. And it seems to have paid off! They’re still happy to bike everywhere and only turn into passengers in case of injury. My nine-year old usually walks up the last uphill block home from the trail and is happy to push his bike…but I’d feel obligated to carry him up if he ever thought to ask. The last hill is always the worst hill, right?

Yesterday we rode 11 miles after school to go to chiropractor…and to happy hour sushi afterwards because it always helps to add a tasty incentive to an all-uphill trip. As we we were biking there I thought about how my poor bike is just a glorified bike rack these days. Here it is at the chiropractor:

But! Bike parking is very important. Three bikes is a lot to park even with a bike rack, but there’s no rack near the chiropractor so my 80-pound cargo bike with super sturdy Rolling Jackass centerstand isn’t going to tip over or get carried away so it’s a great bike rack.

And today I was lucky (?) and my bike got a job after all! As I was thinking about the whole bike-as-bike-rack thing, my seven-year old crashed. It was a pretty exciting crash–he was riding ahead of me up the 39th Ave NE greenway because speed humps are for bunny hopping at high speed. We caught up to the recycling truck and as I hollered, “Slow down! The truck is going to stop suddenly!” the truck stopped suddenly and my little guy slammed on his brakes and skidded out on the damp road. He didn’t come close to hitting the back of the truck, but he was flat on the ground and done riding for the moment. I knew this because he marched over to my bike and climbed onto the deck as I assured the recycling truck driver that he was fine and no, there was no need to call 911. So I got to carry him the last mile and a half uphill to the chiropractor.

We still ride our tandem + trailer bike sometimes, but at the moment it seems to be more of a bike camping rig than an around town rig. The last time we took it out was for a less-than-one-mile trip to the grocery store, but on that day the nine-year old wanted to ride his own bike while the seven-year old wanted to ride the tandem with me so of course that all went horribly wrong and we’ll never take mismatched bikes again. I think we’d probably ride it a lot more if I didn’t need to carry it (it’s 57 pounds) up the flight of basement stairs to get it outside.

But back to today’s trip, I want to mention that it worked so well on separate bikes thanks to some great bike infrastruture. We live two blocks from the Burke-Gilman Trail–though we can’t head directly to the trail due to two busy street crossings and a too-steep (downhill) block. So we ride one block in a bike lane, jog a block on the sidewalk to the left to get to a crossing with stop signs (though one of two lanes in one direction doesn’t have a stop sign so I’d never let the kids cross there alone :/ ), and then one last block to the trail–but also on the sidewalk again because it’s too steep (downhill again) for the kids to be in the street lest they lose control. And then we wait (10 cars this time) for someone to stop and let us cross to the trail.

After three miles of trail we turn onto the 39th Avenue NE neighborhood greenway. That’s a lovely two-mile ride with a couple busy streets to cross, but totally safe for the kids to ride ahead of me between intersections. My seven-year old is starting to ride ahead through smaller intersections with my encouragement, but he tends to prefer to wait for me…or in some cases ride over the bike counter sensors seven times while he waits for me to catch up.

We have to ride six blocks of sidewalk at the end which is a bit of a bummer after having so much great street and multi-use trail riding beforehand, but it’s pretty amazing that we can get all the way to Wedgwood on separate bikes! This particular sidewalk has lot of narrow spots and driveways obstructed by fences and hedges so we are very slow and cautious. We’re all well aware that the sidewalk can be more dangerous to bike on that the street.

Heading home we stopped for happy hour at Blue C Sushi in U-Village. Parking lots are awfully dangerous to bike in, too, but we come here periodically so the kids are good at sticking near me and listening to me chatter about cars backing out of parking spots. My time-lapse video makes it look much scarier than it is.

U-Village got rid of my favorite bike rack near the tiny play ground, but it has lots of staples all around. And we even ran into friends!

Heading out of the shopping center on the west side has us on the sidewalk for one busy-street block and then for one quiet block because it’s too steep for us to be in the street. But then we’re back on the Burke-Gilman Trail! Perhaps someday they’ll add better bike routes into and out of the shopping center on both sides. It’s great having a place like this a tad less than two miles from home. We usually only visit for sushi, but today we also popped into the Amazon Books physical store to look at my book–woo hoo! And buy a copy of Lost Seattle (in English) since the kids are enjoying the Spanish translation at school.

U-Village also has ice cream, cupcakes, several Starbuckses, groceries, clothing stores, events, etc etc.

Westbound on the Burke-Gilman Trail is better than eastbound because the kids can ride the “velodrome” through UW–the little banked curb between the bike and ped sections. The Burke-Gilman Trail is mostly multi-use with just one big section, but these divided areas are nice.

Heading home from the Burke-Gilman Trail is a bit of an adventure. It’s a shame we live two blocks (as the crow flies, not as the bike bikes) from such a gem, yet we have to deal with uncontrolled intersections and/or sidewalk riding to get to and from it. It’s too steep to return home the way we came so we leave the trail at “the crazy intersection of NE 40th/NE 40th/NE 40th/NE 40th/7th Ave NE/Burke-Gilman Trail (oh, Seattle, your street grid can be so silly)” in the crosswalks and it’s a bit scary. Then we ride a few blocks of the sidewalk of 40th because it’s too busy for the kids to be in the street and stay on the sidewalk of 4th as we bike by school. That’s both because there’s no curb cut to get to the street, but also because we get spread out on such a steep street. My seven-year old either waits on the sidewalk at the top of the hill or carefully rides the rest of the way home on the sidewalk. I wouldn’t mind him in the street, but he prefers the sidewalk when he’s ahead of me here. Then I wait for my nine-year old to walk up behind me and the two of us ride home in the street.

Kidical Mass April Fools’ Day Ride

Mar19

Saturday, April 1, 2017
Noon
Fremont Dinosaur Topiary (N Northlake Way & Burke-Gilman Trail & N Canal St, Seattle, WA 98103)
Facebook event
3.8-mile route (route on Ride with GPS)

Remember the Google self-driving bike last year? That was cool!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t real (yet), but what I’m going to tell you next totally is:

We’ve partnered with Mighty-o donuts to sow their next crop of doughnuts. This season they’ll be planting along the ship canal where conditions are perfect for spring-time doughnut farming.

We’ll meet at the Fremont Dinosaur Topiary for seed sowing and hanging out for a bit before we head to the Ballard Mighty-o donuts for ripe doughnuts (from last season’s crop that grew in Discovery Park). One mini doughnut provided for each participant courtesy of the SKMAA (Seattle Kidical Mass Agritourism Association), but feel free to buy your own full-sized goodies…and if you have a Bicycle Benefits sticker on your helmet (available at Mighty-o if you don’t have one yet and want one) it’s buy one doughnut get one free!

Don’t be disappointed that nothing silly will have happened yet considering it’s April Fools’ Day–Mighty-o Ballard recently launched the Friends of Mighty-O Parklet boat. What’s sillier than a boat parked on the street? We’ll all crowd into the little boat for a group photo before feasting on doughnuts. Time to brush up on your pirate jokes (here’s our recent fave: “What has four eyes, four hands, and four legs?” “Four pirates.”)

After Mighty-o we’ll head over to spacious and kid-friendly Populuxe Brewing. The food truck is Peasant Food Manifesto and starts at 3pm. That’s a little too exciting for my own kids, so I might pop down a few blocks to Giddy Up Burgers & Greens.

30 Days of Biking
No joke here, 30 Days of Biking kicks off April 1st and it’s a wonderful event!

30 Days of Biking is a pledge to ride your bike every day in April and share your adventures online: #30daysofbiking.

There’s no minimum distance–down the block and around your basement count just like a 20-mile commute or a 350-mile charity ride. If you miss a day, no worries–just keep riding and don’t give up! It’s all for giggles, or as serious as you want it to be. What matters is that we’re all in this together.

Pledge to ride here and kick off the month in style!

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 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.

Dalles Mountain 60 with Pixie

Mar15

Pixie and I just stumbled our way through the amazing and muddy experience called the Dalles Mountain 60.

Photo by Aaron K

Details from VeloDirt:

It’s ridden the 2nd Saturday in March, 10:00 a.m. roll-out from Holsteins Coffee in The Dalles.

This is the classic ride that started it all. By today’s standards it’s on the tame side, but that’s why this is a perfect introduction into the wide world of dirt & gravel riding. Take your road bike and learn how to pick a line through loose gravel. Just keep an eye on the weather, as winds in the gorge can make this a suffer fest and the beautiful climb up Dalles Mountain bakes in the sun (a great thing come winter time). Warning: access to the top of the Maryhill Loops is private property… The alternate is to drop down US-97, West/left on WA-14 ~1 mile, then right at the road for Stonehenge.

Details:
60 miles, ~30% dirt
GPS Route
Start/End: The Dalles
Services: The Dalles, Biggs
Tires: Optimal = 28-32c

I was really slow–here’s my Strava: 57.1 miles, 3,970 feet elevation, elapsed time 8:58:46, moving time 6:00:58. I knew going in that most people would ride cyclocross and road bikes and treat this like a race (or “sufferfest”); I’m pretty sure Pixie was the only dog along, I may have had the only bike with a kickstand, and my bike was loaded too heavy for me to lift…but it was great!

Pictures! See all my photos in my Flickr album: Dalles Mountain 60 – March 11, 2017 – 172 photos, 2 videos for the full experience. Ride recap (and a lot of overthinking about future gear) below…

We arrived at Holstein’s Coffee Co five minutes late and most of the 100 riders had already departed. This was fine by me because I probably would have felt a bit intimidated seeing all the Portland people on fancy fast bikes in more “serious” bike clothing. I’m curious how the fast people did temperature-wise. I was never too cold. And I had panniers to stow all my layers in during my spells of overheating. So there’s something to be said for a heavy bike and storage. One friend went out with only one of his two pairs of gloves and had to stop for a long time in Biggs Junction to thaw out.

The first gravel started about six miles in and started as a nice gradual climb, but soon got steeper and steeper (but maybe I was just tireder and should have eaten by then) and went on forever. I saw quite a few people riding back the other way and initially thought they were gluttons for punishment and wanted to ride up a second time, but in retrospect I think they were heading back either for timing reasons or frozen reasons. I recognized a friend from Portland heading down and she said she was following after a hypothermic friend rather than wait for an ambulance with him at the top of the hill. Eek.

I let Pixie run alongside me a couple times so she wouldn’t get bored. Also, even though she only weighs nine pounds, having an empty basket is nicer for hill climbing. Having a cheerful little dog pull you up the hills is nice, too.

I bumped into a couple friends from Seattle on my slow way up. This is Bock whom I’ve only ever seen on a fat bike:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him in long sleeves, come to think of it. He was contemplating turning back at this point because he wasn’t sure about wanting to do all the road riding at the end in the dark. That gave me pause. I really wanted to do the whole thing, but I was worried about my two friends in the rental car being done hours before me and having to wait. I figured they could find me another ride with all that time if it was a problem (we were driving 20 miles from The Dalles to Hood River for night two).

I had figured I’d ride the entire thing alone and had the Ride with GPS route saved on my phone and an external battery pack because my phone tends to conk out in the cold (I also have a The Plug but I never use it because I have to turn off my light and go 10 mph). However, I ran into four friends who had stopped to eat at the top of the first peak! Aaron with the yellow fenders is from Portland and we have a bunch of friends in common though we’d never met before. Wang, Mohawk Mike, and Mark I know from Seattle. They’re all quite a bit faster than me, but waited up for me (or stopped for snacks) repeatedly so I wasn’t alone after all. While it would have been fine riding alone, it was awesome riding with friends.

The highlight of the ride is the Maryhill Loops, a smooth loopy downhill run. Those poor fast riders had to ride them in drizzle and fog, but the sun snuck out from behind the clouds just as we arrived! Behold my three Seattle compatriots as three small specks:

And after that we saw Stonehenge. Yes, there’s a Stonehenge in Washington!

And shortly after that we crossed back into Oregon and stopped at the gas station in Biggs Junction, figuring it’d be quicker than McDonalds (and thank goodness, I haven’t been to a McDonalds even since before watching Super Size Me). I bought a sandwich despite having lots of snacks left and filled my water bottles with water from the soda dispenser. And peed. I was curious how pee breaks would work. Pixie was fine on the side of the road, but I was happy I didn’t have to go until reaching Biggs Junction.

I sent a message to my travel buddies to let them know how far back I was and planted the seed that if they were impatient and wanted to scoop me up from the road, I wouldn’t feel cheated since I’d already done the first big hill and the loops.

Soon after Biggs we found more dirt! Not gravel this time, but toothpaste-like sandy mud on Old Moody Road. I’m not sure I would have fared better had this been the first hill of the day, but given the long day in the saddle it was tough! I walked all the uphill parts. But it was beautiful! And I thought a lot about bike weight and packing while trudging along. I also checked for messages from the car crew when I had a signal. The passenger found a ride ahead of us and the driver was happy to wait. I have to admit once I suggested the possibility of a ride it started sounding enticing, but I’m glad I got to do the whole thing. Also, he got to meet a lot of people as they arrived to Holsteins after him/before me so that’s fun!

The full moon rose just as we got to the end of the gravel and followed us along Fifteen Mile Road. It was beautiful, but also a bit disconcerting as it masqueraded as a headlight during the occasional glance over a shoulder to see if there was a car back.

Speaking of cars, there were very few all day. We biked past a construction site on Old Moody and I saw trucks head out downhill after we had passed it, but our timing was such that we didn’t have to share the road with them (and two slow-moving trucks coming towards us wouldn’t have been a big deal). A few miles into the day, someone yelled at me to “Get on the sidewalk!” as I biked over the bridge all alone (I doubt anyone opted to ride on the debris-strewn sidewalk), but there were no other incidents and it was a lovely low-car-traffic route as a whole.

Shortly after moonrise I had to put Pixie in her backpack because she finally got fed up not being at the front of our pack (she’s a born pack leader, of course) and she was able to sit calmly in the backpack whereas the front basket just made her whiny. And this meant I hadn’t brought the backpack along in vain! That was with about 10 miles left.

So speaking of bringing stuff in vain, let’s look at all my crap…

Snacks

Chocolate peanut butter cups
Emergency bourbon
S’mores flavored Pop Tarts
Sriracha bacon jerky
[Trail mix (I left this behind)]
Three little chocolate bars
Teriyaki turkey jerky
Salmon jerky
Cheese bites
10 mandarin oranges

I had a lot of leftover food…but I like to share and I don’t like to worry about not having enough food. Plus I bought that sandwich at the 35-mile stop. In addition to that photographed above, I also had two little peanut butter tubs and a hot chocolate packet taken from the hotel’s Free Continental Breakfast I figured I could pass along to someone bonking on the side of the road. I guess I could have made do with half the peanut butter cups, only the salmon jerky, one chocolate bar, and two oranges (and the purchased sandwich).

Other gear

Flat fixing kit (pump, two tubes, two tire levers, patch kit)
Multitool
Knog Milkman bike lock
Fish knife, zip ties, nail clippers (in case I had to remove my basket for the car rack)
Wallet
All my keys
Two water bottles
Two peanut butter tubs, hot chocolate packet (mentioned above)
ECOXGEAR EcoPebble Waterproof Speaker
Garmin
Lifeproof iPhone mount
All of Pixie’s food in plastic bag, lidded plastic dish for serving water/food
Long-sleeved merino wool bike jersey
Lightweight long-sleeved merino wool shirt
Four John’s Irish Straps (that I only used for the car bike rack)
RAVPower external battery/iPhone cord
Sunglasses
Safety pizza
Bandaids
More bandaids
Gum
Four quarters
Advil
DayQuil (I have a cold, but didn’t take any)
Two USB cubes
Power cord for Garmin/external battery/speaker
Five HotSnapZ reuseable heat pack

I didn’t need most of this stuff with me. Here’s what I used:

Both water bottles
Money
A very small amount of Pixie food that she ate out of my hand, not the container
Speaker
Garmin
iPhone mount
External battery
Sunglasses
Safety Pizza
Two Advils
One heat pack (for Pixie)

Of course I’d still bring the multitool and flat-fixing stuff. But I guess I could leave all that other stuff behind.

Bags

Pixie’s Atomic Cycle Werks liner and BYOBB (Bring Your Own Basket Bag)
Two small Swift Industries panniers
Timbuk2 Muttmover backpack
cargo net to hold Muttmover to rear rack

Obviously no Pixie would mean I’d have all my basket space for a sensible amount of snacks and minimal gear. Perhaps that would go in the BYOBB (many poeple use these for non-dog stuff, but mine has a special doggie head hole…but with a flap so I can close it for non-dog purposes). I think I’d still want a cargo net strapped to my rear rack because it would be convenient for quickly shoving clothing layers into. The handlebar mittens look big, but they’d go nicely onto the rear rack for too-hot periods. It’s tempting to try to “look the part” without fluffy handlebars were I to travel lighter, but it’s really nice to have warm and dry hands!

Clothing/#kitgrid

Bern helmet
Knit cap
Showers Pass Rogue Hoodie water resistant jacket
Portland Pogie handlebar mittens
Tank top
Ibex zip-up merino wool sweater
Defeet wool DuraGloves
Ibex El Fito 3/4 length wool bike tights
Rainlegs rain chaps
Hi-vis Defeet socks
SIDI bike shoes

I think I did OK on clothing. I have a thinner (but too large) rain jacket, but I need to re-waterproof it before I bring it on a ride like this. I need to re-waterproof my rain chaps, too, come to think of it.

Stuff I left in the car

Atomic Cycle Werks hip pouch
IKEA shopping bag
Abus bike lock
Back Alley Bike Repair MEOW cap
Jandd shark handlebar bag (I would have attached this to my basket for easy snacking, but I loaned it to a friend)
Swimsuit (never used…Pixie couldn’t come down to the hot tub)
Vans
Friday and Sunday clothing, pajamas
Endura shoe covers I decided were overkill
[And toiletry kit, but I forgot that at the hotel in The Dalles]

It was nice having somewhere to stow this stuff! Other than the bike lock it wasn’t heavy, but it was bulky. If I do this again, I’ll want to be able to stow stuff again.

So that’s that! Any gear suggestions, both for traveling with dog and without are welcome.

Kidical Mass video shoot 2.0 to G&O Family Cyclery 2.0

Mar6

Update: Date is now TBD, but it’ll be soon and it’ll be on a Sunday. More soon!

Did you hear? G&O Family Cyclery’s new, permanent shop is open! It’s easy to find as it’s just two doors north of the temporary, post-Greenwood-explosion location (which was just across the street and a block north of the original location) and Kidical Mass is going to partake in a pedaling parade to party with our pals. We’ll start at the park in Green Lake and ride to the shop in Greenwood:

Date TBD
10:00 a.m.
Green Lake Community Center (7201 E Green Lake Dr N, Seattle, WA 98115)
Facebook event page

Details:
10:00 a.m. Gather at the Green Lake Shade Plaza (arch east of the community center)
10:30 a.m. Off we go!
11:30 a.m./noon-ish Arrive to G&O Family Cyclery 8558 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

Our 3.6-mile route will have a great mix of bikeways: over a mile of Green Lake Trail, a teensy bit of sidewalk to get uphill through the tunnel under Aurora, bike lanes, regular quiet streets, and neighborhood greenway quiet street. All bikes welcome! But the mile up Fremont Avenue is a slightly uphill slog so be warned and we’ll take rest breaks as needed.

Also, this is take two of the G&O commercial video shoot so there will be a video release form to sign in addition to the regular ride waiver.

Once at G&O Family Cyclery, we’ll take some time to congratulate our friends and check out the shop, and then head a few doors down to kid-friendly Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery/Munch Cafe for those who want lunch.

For those who want to ride back with the group, we’ll coordinate timing on that and roughly follow the same route back (but note, Green Lake Trail is counterclockwise only).

G&O Family Cyclery Greenwood Blast Anniversary Party
Hey! Big fun event at G&O nine days before our ride:

March 9, 7pm until around 10pm.
Reduced Price Vegan Hot Dogs from Cycle Dogs!
Other Snacks!
Music!
Celebration!

Biking to Walk the Battery

Mar5

We had several little tastes of sort-of open street events today and it was great! Per the Open Streets Project: “Open streets initiatives temporarily close streets to automobile traffic, so that people may use them for walking, bicycling, dancing, playing, and socializing.” Here in Seattle we have Summer Parkways and if you can, get to Portland for one of their amazing Sunday Parkways. Or, of course, hit the original and bestest open street: Ciclovía in Bogotá. Anyhow, today was nothing like any of those, but getting a little dose of closed-to-cars streets is always a treat.

We had a nice 5.5-mile ride to the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel, but you’ll notice a jog as we encountered the Fremont Sunday Market (I always forget about avoiding that block on Sundays!) for our first open-but-not-open-to-pedaled-bikes street event. I really like the new flexipost-protected bike lanes between the Burke-Gilman Trail and Fremont Bridge, but they’re closed for the market on Sundays.

But before that we had a nice bit of Burke-Gilman Trail, and after that Ship Canal Trail and Westlake Bikeway–all wonderful spots for kids riding their own bikes. My two kids were on their own bikes and my friend Amy was on her Xtracycle EdgeRunner, carrying her kid and towing his single-speed bike, hoping to let him ride a bit on the way back.

We took Dexter between the end of the Westlake Bikway and Bell Street Park (or as I like to call it, Bell Street Park for Cars, because no one heeds the arrow signs and turns off after a block). I don’t like taking Dexter Avenue on weekdays because the the paint-buffered bike lanes make them the perfect width for idling Uber private taxis. Weekends are better, though there are still several construction spots where the bike lane disappears. HOWEVER, today was the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k (“Not a Race, It’s an Experience‎”) so most of the blocks of Dexter we biked were closed to cars! It was glorious. Plus we were going against jogger traffic so we could smile at the racers.

We weren’t allowed to bring our bikes to the event we were attending, but walking Walk the Battery was still awesome! It was put on by Aaron Asis & Project Belltown, details here:

Walk the Battery is part of the b’End Tunnel public art initiative intended to celebrate the Battery Street Tunnel, in its final years of service. This event, entitled Walk the Battery, will temporarily allow the general public to share a one-of-a-kind walking experience through this ‘auto-only’ public passage–at the threshold of a new downtown waterfront.

“Walk the Battery is opportunity for the public to physically access a unique piece of Seattle’s infrastructural history – past, present and future. We hope this walking event inspires new conversation about the history, legacy and fate of the Battery Street Tunnel”

I couldn’t tell from emailed communications how the walk would work–I was worried we’d walk through the tunnel one way and then have to circle back on sidewalks of busy streets, not ending up near where we parked the bikes. But I was wrong and we just walked back and forth through the tunnel and it was short enough and exciting enough that the kids didn’t complain of tired legs once. (We don’t do a lot of walking and my seven-year old barely made it the first mile when we did part of the Womxn’s March on Seattle.)

The out-and-back meant we ran into all our friends and the kids had double the chances to find treasures. The best score was a Thai coin dug out of some hard-packed junk at the north end of the tunnel. There are also several sharp metal bits and pieces lovingly stowed in my bike’s cargo bags, but I was allowed to throw away the squished and very dirty lipstick tube that was presented to me as my special treasure.

I hope other kids (and adults) had as much fun, yet also managed to stay cleaner. My guys rubbed against the sides of the tunnel and given that it’s normally home to car traffic, it’s dirty.

Heading home we had a couple car-free blocks of Bell Street. This was particularly great because Bell Street is one way and there isn’t a comparable street in our towards-home direction. I have high hopes the One City Center plan will fix that someday, but today we took the Bell Street sidewalks to Dexter.

The Hot Chocolate 15k/5k street closure was over and the north-bound Dexter bike lane is riddled with big road seams and a long closure so we did a bit of side street zig zagging (route home here). We found some cool streets this way, but they were pretty potholey and my seven-year old wiped out in one of them. Thank goodness for cargo bikes! I collected him and his bike onto my Surly Big Dummy and carried him until he felt up to riding again–close to home before the big hill, phew.

p.s. it was very cold today and I can’t wait for winter to be over! The kids were all troupers, but we all experienced frozen extremities. Thankfully there was barely any drizzle and the wind (one of the Bell Street street-closure barriers blew into an SUV in the middle of an intersection!) didn’t last long–or at least was only down in Belltown.

Summer week in Portland

Feb17

We spent a super-fun August week in Portland on an e-assisted Douze cargo bike front loading bakfiets style kid hauler provided by Clever Cycles. They have a lot of family/cargo bikes in their rental fleet, but I wanted “The one Elle had and liked so much!”

Photo by Cory Poole

All the pictures: Portland, OR – August 18-24, 2016: 223 photos.

Thursday, August 18 – 8.2 miles

One nice thing about bringing a bike to Portland is that we have wheels to get to and from the train- or bus stations. We generally take the bus once a month to visit the orthodontist 20 miles away, but we bring bikes so we don’t have to walk a mile or add a second bus transfer. So we’re not the best walkers…especially with luggage. This trip went as expected: walked across the street to catch the bus (easy peasy), then walked a few blocks to the train station where we had the obligatory discussion and investigation for stairs and elevators locations. One kid currently won’t use elevators and I wasn’t about to lug the big wheelie bag down a long flight of stairs so we worked out a plan together (of course interrupted by a helpful stranger letting us know the location of the elevator and my explaining that we were just accommodating the non-elevatoring kid, but thanks!) and split up. Always a fun little adventure and something I always forget is going to crop up. In Portland we had to walk a bunch of blocks from the train station to the bus stop and just missed the bus…but it’s a high-frequency line (does Seattle have that??) so we only had to wait 10 minutes. However, those 10 minutes involved a very curious bee and lots of screaming. And it was really hot. And then we walked two blocks from the bus stop to Clever Cycles and we all survived!

The kids ran straight for the Lego table while I test rode the bike with Leonard, perpetual employee of the month. He’s a stuffed dog my kids have loved since meeting him five years ago during our very first visit to Clever Cycles and if he ever disappears, my firstborn probably stole him. Pic from our first visit to Clever Cycles:

Nihola test ride

Then I test rode with the kids and they complained that the small box was cramped. It was, but I love riding a bakfiets when in a flatter-than-Seattle city so there was no chance of me swapping for a different bike. p.s. Douze makes three sizes so don’t worry if you’re in the market! And anyway, adding the luggage after they said they were cramped made them appreciate what room they had. Like most things in life, it’s all relative. I grabbed a Yuba Cargo Strap (psst…there’s a hidden cargo strap theme for the week) from Clever Cycles to attach the bag and we were totally fine for the half-mile ride to our Airbnb.

We ate dinner in and since it was only 7pm, we headed back out so I could show the kids Tilikum Crossing: Bridge of the People, the largest car-free bridge in the United States. I’ve been down to Portland a few times without the kids recently and have crossed the bridge countless times, but this was their first time. Super fun!

And then we joined the Thursday Night Ride for the first half hour. I saw a bunch of people I know and was surprised to see a few Seattleites! Turns out there were a bunch of people in town for the International Open Streets Summit. There are always a lot of amazing bike things to see in Portland, but I think the most amazing sight tonight was the guy with the parrot and Pomeranian on his bike.

Friday, August 19 – 10.6 miles

We attempted to start our day with second breakfast at Slappy Cakes (griddles built into all the tables–so dangerous, the kids love it!), but the wait was too long so we hit the playground in Laurelhurst Park to kill enough time until Bricks & Minifigs opened. But first, speaking of killing things, the e-assist went out! At the bottom of a hill! Less than 24 hours with the thing and I was smitten so I sucked it up and begged the kids to walk uphill for one block as I pedaled up and we went about our day with plans to return to Clever Cycles in the afternoon. Portland is fairly flat, but any incline is noticeable with an unassisted cargo bike (I can appreciate any and all hills on my Big Dummy, for instance), so I was relieved we were uphill from everything else once we got up that block.

Let me tell you about Bricks & Minifigs: bins of used Lego bricks sold by volume! Tons of individual pieces ($3 seal yay! $9 pig I will never stop calling “The $9 pig, ugh”)! Current sets! Retired sets! Party rooms! Apparently they’re building one in Seattle!

Oh, and Fred saw me post on Facebook that we were here so he came by to say hi. So easy to pop around the corner from work when you’ve got your bike at your disposal.

After lunch at slightly lower elevation, we hit Clever Cycles while the kids played with more Legos and I swapped the e-RAD mid drive Douze for one with a BionX. Pretty similar, though I thought the e-RAD felt more powerful. But the BionX has a boost button for picking up speed from a stop, which is great for getting going through an intersection since the e-assist doesn’t kick in until you’ve started moving. Extra helpful with a heavy cargo bike.

Then we visited Books with Pictures for comic books and to visit owner Katie Proctor, who is wonderful for a lot of reasons, but I find most notable for the awesome wooden boxes on her Yuba Mundo longtail cargo bike for holding an infant carseat. The store is new, this was my second visit and the kids’ first. Apparently the block was an auto body shop before so there’s no curb, just a block-long driveway. Which means no bike racks yet, until the curb goes in. But this is Portland so I bet that will happen soon. And the building is pretty and modern with AIR CONDITIONING which was really nice on this hot day. Katie arranged the front display with books all set in cold or watery places. How fun!

Dinner was at McMenamins Barley Mill Pub with kid menu and bike corral (I guess most Portland restaurants have bike corrals next to them now so it might not even be worth mentioning) via a spin around Ladd Circle because there are two cute dog sharrows.

Saturday, August 20 – 16.7 miles

We started our day with a visit to New Seasons Market which is sort of like Seattle’s PCC Natural Market, but with much better bike parking and this one by our AirBnb had a dog corral!

Then we visited Rivelo so I could get a couple John’s Irish Straps because they’re the best small cargo straps and I keep giving mine away because they’re too cool not to share.

And then the main event: Kidical Mass!

It was extremely hot out so our group was small: we three on our Douze, Ginger with her visiting sister and one of her two kids on her Circe Helios tandem bike (from Clever Cycles) with Burley Piccolo trailer bike, and Cory and daughter on their longboards.

We had a wonderful ride and ended at a water park, thank goodness!

After parting ways with friends we paid a visit to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center train museum. This used to be our main reason for visiting Portland, but it’s been years since we were all about trains. It’s conveniently across the street from Rivelo so we still often end up near it, even if we don’t go in. The old engines are all inside and there are potties, drinking fountains, tables and chairs for snacking at, and couches by the train tables and fans so it was a great escape from the heat.

We meandered home via the grocery store and a few murals. This sort of bike makes it particularly easy to stop and check out mural after mural without the kids getting impatient.

“What’s my dream? To work at Burgerville just long enough to learn the recipe for the secret sauce.”

Sunday, August 21 – 9.4 miles

Sunday was the Southeast Sunday Parkways open streets event and IT WAS AMAZING. There were so many bikes (and our two skateboarding friends) out and wonderful activities at all the parks. The kids did rock climbing, bunny petting, and bounce houses, we stopped in at a house party, I tried a BIKETOWN bike share bike.

We biked most of course, starting at Laurelhurst Park and making our way clockwise around to Colonel Summers Park. It was everything an open streets event should be, and a lot bigger than Seattle Summer Parkways and Seattle Bicycle Sundays. Not only was it longer, better attended, and packed with more activities, there were no cars! The Seattle events are more sort-of-open streets events with too few volunteers and inattentive police officers keeping some of the cars out. A friend told me that Portland originally had a similar system, but now uses construction traffic controllers who love getting waves and thank yous at Summer Parkways versus less grateful feedback from people in cars during their usual gigs. It’s really worth a trip down, and we’ll try to visit again for one next summer.

As we rested at Colonel Summers Park, getting a last bounce house bounce session in and watching everything get packed up, I watched another group of families quickly pack up to hit the road so they could be home before the cars were allowed back. It was a good reminder that not everyone feels comfortable biking on roads shared with cars and how important these events are.

We did a little more sharing car areas on our way home and visited the Burgerville drive through since bikes are allowed!

Monday, August 22 – 22.1 miles

We started our day at Slappy Cakes–no wait on a Monday!

Then we visited OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) which is always fun, and nice for hiding from the heat, it turns out.

After OMSI we headed back across the Willamette for an appointment at the Islabikes Fitting Studio so my seven-year old could try out the Pro Series. He’s in between sizes so he zoomed around on the smallish 20-inch model with flat bars, but didn’t want to try the too-big 24-inch since he doesn’t like drop bars. We’ll stick with the regular series, but the Pro Series is super cool for more serious riders than us.

That wasn’t quite enough kid biking, though, so we checked out the Lumberyard Bike Park. My seven-year old LOVED it and quickly made friends with a regular and they disappeared for an hour while I stuck to the warm up track (me on foot) with my more cautious nine-year old. It’s mostly indoor, but there’s an outdoor section the little kids explored and when we couldn’t locate them at the end of our hour, I discovered there’s a basement area, too. I don’t think I ever want to try it, but the kids had a blast.

Tuesday, August 23 – 21.2 miles

First up was another bike shop visit–Metropolis Cycles–and another cargo strap purchase–Surly Junk Strap this time. But we were really there because the kids decided I needed a bell and Metropolis was on the way to Dawson Park which was on the way to lunch with friends at Hopworks BikeBar. BikeBar is awesome for kids and adults alike. Lots of outdoor seating, as well as a little play kitchen. And there’s a stationary bike out front for powering the restaurant…though kids aren’t supposed to pedal it (shh!).

Then I took the kids up Rocky Butte to see the awesome view. I’d been up once without them when I was visiting town for the Urban Cycling book signing party at Clever Cycles. I was on my Straggler with a borrowed kid that time.

We hadn’t been up Rocky Butte long before the kid who isn’t currently willing to pee on trees needed to visit a restroom so I examined the map on my phone and we rushed down to nearby Glenhaven Park. Had I not been on the awesome e-assist bike I would have whined a little, but I figured we could easily bike back uphill after the potty visit. As it was, we ended up hanging at the playground for a long time and went straight from there to ice cream with friends.

I’m sad to see The Maple Parlor is closed because it was terrific! I particularly liked that you pay up front and then pile on the heavy toppings–no weighing involved. It’s right on Hawthorne, providing good people watching and Dingo of Olive & Dingo: Portland’s Favorite Clowns cruised by on his tallbike.

I took advantage of having a box bike for our last stop of the day and left the kids idling outside while I picked up to-go sushi.

Wednesday, August 24 – 0.7 miles

I crammed kids and luggage onto the bike for breakfast at nearby Tiny’s Coffee before returning the bike to Clever Cycles. Kath was a dear and carried my suitcase on her bakfiets while Kelley walked with us. This was just a few blocks to the bus stop, mind you, but you’ll remember we’re not accomplished walkers so it was plenty. It was great to have company.

In closing

What a trip! HUGE THANKS to Clever Cycles for the use of the Douze. We were able to cover 90 miles over the week and go everywhere and do everything! I’m eagerly waiting for winter to be over so we can plan another visit. Obvs, Portland is visitable in the winter and we do that, too, but I want another visit like this one.

Seattle Kidical MASSIVE 2017

Feb11

Save the date for global cuteness: Kidical MASSIVE is Saturday, September 16, 2017

It’s the third annual Kidical Massive ride!! Join us as THOUSANDS of families around the country go for a bike ride together. We’ll be showing that “Kids are Traffic Too” and that cities that plan for family biking are more livable, sustainable, profitable, and FUN!

Details (and theme!) are TBD, but we’ve already got a Facebook event set up if you want to RSVP.

Two years ago we had over 200 participants on our ride as we kicked off Ballard Summer Parkways. Read the recap here.

Last year we attended the Unveiling Party at Cascade Bicycle Club and enjoyed FREE CAKE AND ICE CREAM. Read the recap here.

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.