Independence and Freedom, Courtesy of the Bicycle

Some of the ways riding a bike makes me feel independent and free: Competence and self-sufficiency: I can fix most basic mechanical problems that would stop me from going down the road. Not all, but I can patch or replace the…Continue Reading

The Bicycle and Women’s Independence

I’ve written about how riding a bike gives me a sense of freedom and independence. In celebration of the Fourth of July, here’s a round-up of items on the historical links among women, biking, and independence. First up, a video…Continue Reading

Thank Heavens for Kind Strangers and Transit

Ride #1 of 2024: Sunny, happy, delightful. Ride #2 of 2024: The reason I’m glad Olympia has transit. A few days after ride #1 I set off in the sunshine for a trip to a meeting with Lee Lambert, executive…Continue Reading

Bike Song Playlist: Tunes to Get You Rolling

No, I’m not talking about songs to elevate your heart rate while you work on your cadence. I’m talking about songs that celebrate the bicycle and riding for any old reason. What favorite would you add? Mark Ronson, The Business…Continue Reading

Why I Walk

This post first ran on my personal blog, BikeWalkBake Barb, where I’ve been chronicling my walking habits. Since I’ve been writing about multimodal transportation here, I thought I’d add the post to these archives as well. Walking, like riding my…Continue Reading

More Poems on the Bike Rack

“The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.” — Christopher Morley Those bicycle poems keep showing up. I rounded up a first post and within about two days spotted the next one. I don’t…Continue Reading

Riding Down Memory Lane: July

A wonderful month for riding, whether you head out early to avoid the heat of midday, bike to the local pool (what is this, a triathlon?) or ride down Main Street in a local parade. If you’re a fan of…Continue Reading

How Am I Going to Get There? Why We Need Each Other

Thoughts on why we all need a fully multimodal transportation system to support our independence and quality of life.

Reasons to Ride in 2023: A Forecast of Biking to Come

Some need no reason or reminder to ride; they simply do it. Some like to make a commitment of some kind, large or small. Some may be newer to riding and not yet know of the many fun and informal…Continue Reading

Give Your Power to Truth: What Story Are You Writing for Your Life?

I had the honor of delivering the closing plenary at the 2018 national bikeshare conference presented by the Better Bike Share Partnership and the North American Bike Share Association. This is a lightly edited version of those comments taken from…Continue Reading

Bike, Transit, Car: Three Transportation Perspectives from Seattle

An earlier version of this post compared my transportation experiences in Spokane. After living in a much larger population and a more urbanized environment for over five years, I wanted to revisit the topic of why you might find biking…Continue Reading