In my work at Washington State Department of Transportation, where I’m Director of the Active Transportation Division, I put out an e-newsletter 2-3 times a month. If you subscribe (everyone welcome!) you’ll get two types of emails: A news round-up…Continue Reading

Side view of white cargo bike made by Urban Arrow with black front cargo box.

I’ve been developing this theory for a while now. The longer I ponder it the more I think it makes sense. Stay with me while I work through this line of reasoning: We’d dramatically improve transportation safety if we all moved…Continue Reading

We showcase our assumptions, biases, and default settings every day with the words we choose and the choices we present to others. Sometimes we can’t see it when we’re looking straight at it. Here, for example, is how not to wrap…Continue Reading

Day Three: Port Townsend to Port Angeles

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and can coast down them…. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motorcar…Continue Reading

Day Two: Mukilteo to Port Townsend

After yesterday’s mostly urban route, today’s very rural roads were a quiet relief — even more so thanks to the expert route advice of Island County planner Brian Woods. One of the reasons I blog about our travels is that…Continue Reading

Today’s riding had many of the experiences I appreciate about bicycling. The genuine health benefits of riding 8.5 miles to work. My ride to work gives me around 45 minutes of the 60 minutes per day adults should get, while…Continue Reading

When I started riding my bike to work I did so only on the days that I deemed “perfect” for bike commuting. Back then in the long-ago, this meant: No rain, no wind, no snow, no fog, no excessive heat, and…Continue Reading

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

Riding my bike for ten straight days on a touring vacation gave me physical effects, of course, and also some policy/professional thoughts and these mental takeaways. Getting truly away from everyday routines and geography creates the most vacation-y vacation ever.…Continue Reading

Someone’s Sweetheart

The kind of text you DO NOT want to get from your sweetheart: “Car turned left in front. Hit car. Bike effed up. Phys. OK. Going to work.” — Barb Chamberlain (@barbchamberlain) April 8, 2017 This text set my heart…Continue Reading