I had thought Sara added the Yepp Maxi rear seat to her gorgeous Dutch bike to move her daughter from the front to the back soon, but it turns out she’s started watching another little girl–and fetches her by bike! We met them at Phinney Market’s double-decker train table this morning and she had already cycled from home to her charge’s house and then to the cafe. She later cycled to her house and then back to the little girl’s to drop her off. What an awesome gig!
On our way home, I saw this new bike rack (?) on 45th, between Stone and Interlake. The wooden posts have been there, but the metal bars and little bikes are new.
Today’s miles: 9.1 miles April cumulative: 266.3 miles
With just the little kid in tow, I rode three miles up 8th Ave NW to the Crown Hill Value Village in search of bike supplies. I usually stick to lower Ballard and can never remember which streets to take go climb north. I’ve checked with Jen of Ballard Greenways and Loop-Frame Love and know to use 6th or 17th next time.
I thought crossing 85th would be a pain, but traffic was closed in one direction while a median strip was being installed. I guess the cars leaving Value Village don’t always mind the RIGHT TURN ONLY sign. I like the cut-throughs for peds/bikes/skateboards.
I found a new $2 basket for our red balance bike. This one seems pretty sturdy and should last a while. Two-dollar baskets aren’t cheap when one buys them repeatedly. I was also hoping to find a small bag of some sort to hang from my seat post handlebars to stow snacks and toys for the big kid. No luck, but while looking around on Etsy I discovered this very cool Bartender Handlebar Bag. Her M.U.T. (Multi-Use Tote) bags are very cool, too. Two more things to add to my wish list.
Other scores were a dog-covered kid tie and a dress to wear to Seattle’s first Critical Lass Ride (no fancy dress required): Sunday May 13th at 2pm, meet at the Ballard Library.
Today was quite cold and I tend to be ill-prepared on cold days that fall after warm days. The ride back to preschool was all downhill so I couldn’t give up my jacket and instead stuck my cold toddler in a spare shopping bag. It doesn’t work as well as it looks like it should.
Home from preschool is all uphill so I was able to share my jacket for the cold sweater-clad five-year old.
And I discovered the best distraction for cold kids is pausing to cluck at lawn chickens.
Today’s miles: 13.2 miles April cumulative: 257.2 miles
First up, the obligatory bike-loaded-with-groceries shot:
I still have trouble reaching my middle FreeLoader buckle because of the child seat, but that didn’t stop me from shoving four very full bags of groceries in my bags. There’s a half-full fifth bag back there, too, which I had to tie to the top of one of the securely stowed bags. I should always travel with bungee cords.
Today’s real excitement came after school when for the first time this year, another mom did pickup by bike. I don’t want to imply I’m at all responsible for her first two-wheeled trip to school, but I was still incredibly giddy about it. She lives even farther uphill than I and rides a Madsen bucket bike. Her preschooler recently upgraded from a 12-inch pedal bike to a 16-incher and can now make it up the hill, so that combined with the nice weather precipitated the big day. She biked her toddler and the kid bike down to school and we rode together to Wallingford Playfield–all the way uphill for me, and most of the way uphill for them.
It was eye-opening to ride separately from a little guy and I admit I’m in no hurry to worry about a separate biker on these busy streets. We altered our route slightly–turning west after crossing the Fremont Bridge to more easily use sidewalks to connect with the Burke-Gilman Trail. Once again, I am so grateful that it is legal to ride bikes on the sidewalk in Seattle because they used the sidewalk when we weren’t on the bike path.
Getting dropped block by block by a single speed 16-incher made me think about electric assist. I haven’t needed a boost yet, but I am awfully slow and in two years (I know, a long way off) I’ll probably need to coordinate a preschool and elementary school drop off and that makes me a bit nervous, timing-wise.
A third preschool friend met us at the park. She’ll be ferried around by bike soon, too, I expect, but today they came by car with kid bike in trunk. We moms talked about various kid seats and two-bike coupling systems while the kids zoomed around on bikes and balance bikes.
Truly an excellent day!
Today’s miles: 11.4 miles April cumulative: 244 miles
Today was glorious! I remember what summer is like now. So did everyone else–everyone was out on bikes and smiling uncontrollably. We loaded up the bike with beach toys and gear rather than balance bikes today (although I’m sure one of these days I’ll figure out squeezing on both–more bungees!) and headed towards Ballard. We ran into Flower Pedal Powered Family heading the other direction on their Big Dummy on the way. Seattle’s a big place, but I love when it feels small. It certainly helps matters to get around by bike–so much more to see this way.
We started out at the Pedaler’s Fair again, this time taking time to look around. We saw everything, though briefly. And I accomplished my two to-do items: I met Ann DeOtte of Iva Jean and creator of the Rain Cape. I’ve been meaning to submit some Seattle Rides to her site. Now that it’s sunny I hope to get my act in gear. And I talked with Tarik of T’s Leatherworks about his pink leather mud flap. In the four months I’ve had the Big Dummy, the cross bar at the back has picked up earthworms three times. Eww! No more of that. He still needs to add the metal rivets to the flap, but soon it’ll be mine!
I saw a cool light idea in the bike parking area. Of course it only works well if you have skinny tires that won’t obstruct the glow. It wasn’t her main rear light, it’s just for added pop. Plus it’s blue!
And parked outside was this homegrown recumbent:
Then we headed over to the Ballard farmers market where we found ourselves riding alongside the organizer of Messmann’s Messquerade Halloween Bicycle Scavenger Hunt & Costume Contest. He was riding with his toddler so I told him about the Seattle Kidical Mass rides in case he wants to balance his freaky riding with family riding. At the market I spotted an Xtracycle sporting a Madsen seat. Mix and match cargo bike parts! Love it.
On the way to the beach we met the owner of BoatHouse Cycles motorcycle shop. Turns out he does bikes, too. Yesterday we saw a loud motorized bicycle that sped by as fast as a car. I have a feeling that may have been his work. I showed him my motorcycle clock since it’s one of my favorite feature on my bike (but of course every feature is my favorite feature on the Big Dummy). I mentioned that several people have seen the baby seat fairing on my old bike and asked if I knew where one could get an adult-sized one. Good news: BoatHouse Cycles has built these before.
The beach was packed with no car parking spots, but still some room at the bike rack.
Golden Gardens is our favorite beach because it offers a view of the train tracks. Yesterday we only saw two trains (a freight train and the Amtrak Coast Starlight) so three trains today (Amtrak Coast Starlight, freight train, Sounder) was an improvement, but the best was yet to come–on the way home we saw a freight train engine pushing old hopper cars around. The bike path is right next to (and crosses) the old train tracks so we had an excellent view.
Then we noticed the old red engine missing from its usual parking spot along the missing link and soon saw it chugging along, too. I wonder if I’m the only biker to have waved at the Ballard Terminal Railroad (Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel owns the railroad and runs it just often enough to keep the rail line in working order and prevent the missing link from becoming part of the Burke-Gilman Trail).
The last bit of excitement came when I lost a flip flop on the ride up Stone Way. A kind pedestrian retrieved it before I had a chance to engage my center stand. I love my blinky pedals and that they’re grippy, but the grippiness doesn’t work well with flip flops. (Of course it’s the pedal’s fault and not the operator).
Today’s miles: 14.4 miles April cumulative: 232.6 miles
We had amazing weather and an amazing turnout for Kidical Mass today. I wish I’d counted participants–I think there were at least 20 families in attendence. Very impressive given the three day lead time.
There was a great variety of family bikes: two Madsen bucket bikes, two bakfietsen, at least three Big Dummies, two Xtracycles, front seats, rear seats, trailers, Weehoo iGo bicycle trailer, but my favorite was this Bilenky Viewpoint semi-recumbent tandem modified to carry an infant seat in the stoker position.
And several solo-riding kids…something our last Kidical Mass ride didn’t have (it also didn’t have as many riders in general given the less awesome weather that day).
We rode 2.7 miles, mostly along the Burke-Gilman Trail to the Pedaler’s Fair in Ballard. There were tons of people there and so much awesome stuff inside…but unfortunately the kids weren’t in a mood to explore the fair so we primarily hung out on the sunny sidewalk, eating snacks and watching the dogs (and vice versa).
Fortunately, photographer Russ Roca of The Path Less Pedaled was set up outside, taking bicycle portraits so I was able to do that, even if I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the fair. The little kid thought it was funny to look away from the camera (toddlers!!!), but the big kid and I had discussed the photo last night so he was on board with a rare smile for the camera. Usually he just barks.
Courtesy Russ Roca
Nine of us (three moms, six kids: Big Dummy + two balance bikes, Madsen bucket bike + big kid bike, bike + double trailer + iBert baby seat) continued along to Golden Gardens beach to keep the party going. I made the obligatory, “Wow, there’s no parking!” statement as we rode by the crowded parking lots. The bike racks were fairly open when we arrived, but they filled up over the course of the day. The nice weather brought a ton of bikes out. We even saw the Velomobile banana bike zoom by down on the street while we were on the final stretch of the Burke-Gilman.
A pack of very nice hipsters were leaving the beach at the same time as us. One of them said “Yay bike!” about my rig and I overhead another one call my bike the sickest thing he’d seen all day on account of it being a bike carrying other bikes. They passed us on the way out and we watched curiously as they performed hipster bike aerobics. It would have been even more impressive if they were fixed.
A bit farther down the trail, this shiny guy passed us. I saw him earlier in the day entering Pedaler’s Fair and had already decided he was the most interestingly clad character of the day (though the “Yay bike!” guy had very short and tight cut-off jean shorts on).
I made the mistake of cutting through Gas Works Park on the way home. It’s a lovely scenic detour from the trail, but today it meant stopping to do a bit of hill balance biking. The kids suddenly weren’t tired anymore and pushed their bikes all the way to the top of the hill…though the first trip down didn’t end too well when the two-year old happened upon the sole dip in the hillside.
But he brushed himself off and they were soon up at the top again, this time sticking to one of the paths down around the south face of the hill. We started discussing staying for a picnic dinner, but then the kids fell out of agreement on which path we should take. I went back to fetch the mamabike while they sped off in different directions. I feel lucky that I’ve never had to deal with varying kid trajectories before this. I was able to keep them both in sight for most of the trek up the hill, but of course the one minute I rushed up the south side was the scary north side minute for the little guy (naturally, he was the one who decided to go rogue). So the kids proved too tired and grumpy to stay for a picnic after all, but it was cool to be at the top of the hill with my bike. I didn’t ride it the whole way, but I think I could…so I’ll have to try again. Maybe tomorrow.
Today’s miles: 15.1 miles April cumulative: 218.2 miles
I snapped this picture as we set out today because I was worried it might be the last we saw of Chinook Salmon. Fortunately, he came to his senses after a block of riding behind the bike and happily rode in the front basket.
And his rear perch gave me a great idea of where to put our final Pedaler’s Fair poster:
While hanging our second-to-last poster at Stone and 45th, we ran into Victor on his Xtracycle. He’s just replaced his Xtracycle kit and WideLoaders and was using it to carry two heavy potting soil bags. I mentioned I want the narrower Xtracycle RunningBoards at some point and he pointed out he’s been saved from being doored a couple times by them. It pays to be wide.
Our destination today was Phinney Market Pub & Eatery for lunch and the double-decker train table. I was touched that the five-year old set up the BIKE ROUTE sign because last night he declared that he wants “everything to be cars and trains only!” He meant decor, not actual transportation, so I’ve got a decade before I really need to worry.
The weather was nicer than I’d expected so we went across the street to Woodland Park where I discovered a bakfiets! We parked next to it, creating a cargo bike parking area. Later I saw two more family bikes–a road bike with trailer and road bike with rear kid seat–but they didn’t have kickstands and therefore couldn’t join us on the grass. Both bikes leaned against trees at the periphery.
I thought we were done for the day, but the kids weren’t quite playgrounded out, so we stopped at Wallingford Playfield on our way home.
This allowed me to see the temporary markings for the Greenway at 43rd, crossing Wallingford Avenue.
Today’s miles: 4.4 miles April cumulative: 203.1 miles
Very boring biking day today. One of the kids puked throughout the night so we bagged our plans for the day. I had hoped to take them out for a bit of fresh air at some point, but we never made it out the door. I finally took the beach cruiser out for the two-block (each way) ride to Rancho Bravo. I realize I should put a drink holder back on this bike. I also realize I shouldn’t refer to 9pm as “late night.”
Here’s hoping the other kid doesn’t start puking tonight!
Today’s miles: 0.4 miles April cumulative: 198.7 miles
The kids and I rode over to The Building today to meet up with Jesse of A Rebalanced Life and collect some flyers and posters for distributing and hanging. I have to admit that I thought we’d find an abandoned building with Ryan of Go Means Go hanging out, cutting up flyers, but it’s the Swift Industries headquarters. I liked the plethora of cool bikes. One had a Sweet Heart Sprocket. Want! The kids were most intrigued by the dogs, Odin and Loki.
Heading back to the Burke-Gilman Trail, we spied the Bicycle Doctor van and admired the stickers blanketing the back. The kids liked the WHO RESCUED WHO? dog paw sticker best.
Our first poster-hanging stop was Theo Chocolate where we put a poster outside and some flyers inside. I also bought a $5 Bicycle Benefits sticker which will net me tons of savings around town (and other towns). I didn’t buy the Single Malt Scotch Ganache in my photo, but wow it sounds good!
Heading home I got to use the new sharrows at 43rd and Stone Way. I didn’t think I’d ever need them since I ride the bike lane on the right side of Stone all the way up, but half-way up the hill today the two-year old said he needed a bathroom so we quickly crossed over to Big Tree Bikes. Bike stores are often very convenient for mid-bike-ride potty breaks–they usually let you bring your bike in so you don’t have to lock up and this one even has a very clean bathroom (not what I expected, I have to admit). And then we rode a couple blocks up the sidewalk to the bike-and-ped-friendly crossing.
I wanted to staple posters along 45th to let my fellow Wallingfordians know about the fun event, but all the phone poles are metal! We even struck out at Molly Moon’s Ice Cream who wouldn’t take flyers because they are paperless. I can appreciate that, but it feels like we didn’t earn the sorbet we consumed. We put one up outside Mosaic Coffee House and will go back out with tape and alert the masses tomorrow.
Today’s miles: 7.7 miles April cumulative: 198.3 miles
A film crew came to the house to interview us for part of a video to be shown at the Cascade Bicycle Club Bike to Work Breakfast next month. I have no idea how they’ll do it, but they seem to think they can edit together useful stuff around my stumbling, sweating (interviews are scary!), and a loud two-year old. I will say that while I love my Cascade Cyclist of the Month December 2011 interview and feel it paints an accurate picture, I focused more on what the bike does for our family and the community and not so much how it feeds into my laziness and cheapness.
The biking part was fun. It was grey and cold and we didn’t hit any especially scenic spots (such as South Lake Union Park, the Elliott Bay Trail, or the Ship Canal), but we filmed on the Burke-Gilman Trail and a lot of the Dexter separated bike lane. I thought it was most exciting chasing the van up the hill (don’t worry, only one bike overtook us and they were able to move into the car lane and stay out of the way). They also put a GoPro camera on my handlebars aimed at me, on my helmet aimed at the kids, and on the stoker bars aimed at the kids.
We took a couple laps around the Seattle Center’s International Fountain where, despite the cold temperature, teenagers ran around in the spray. Two even slunk up to the camera, trying to get discovered.
Our final destination was Easy Street Records to pick up the new Caspar Babypants album. It’s preschool Spring Break so our day wasn’t as bike-to-schoolish as it could have been, but I think our segment will still appeal to potential riders with school-going kids.
Today’s miles: 9.9 miles April cumulative: 190.6 miles
Our big weekend left me worn out so today’s ride for 30 Days of Biking was a short one–just to the doctor for the newly five-year old’s annual checkup. I love that the building has a bike rack right by the door, but even a normal-sized bike would block the walkway from one of the two small parking lots if inserted straight in a slot so I parked sideways at one end.
On our way home we saw four new sharrows where 43rd crosses Stone Way, part of the new Neighborhood Greenways network. Yippee!
Today’s miles: 2.5 miles April cumulative: 180.7 miles
Family Ride 