Not long after we moved to Olympia I discovered the town has a poet laureate program, which is simply delightful. Sady Sparks, poet laureate 2019-2020, created poetry “maps” to guide people to various locations around town where they could find…Continue Reading

Photo of a short segment of faded red fence with Mardi Gras beads in bright colors hanging on it like garland. Behind it, a leafy green hedge and a light green house.

Riding Always Makes Me Happy. Yes, Always.

Be honest. If you drive regularly for transportation, how often do you get wherever you’re going and say, “Wow, that was such a great drive! It made me so happy! I had so much fun!” Sure, you might be glad…Continue Reading

Happy Holiday + Awesome Alliteration

I Absolutely Adore Alliteration. My fondness for that particular form of wordplay is possibly exceeded by the joy of coming up with a clever acronym, but not by much. Thus when I served as “guest prof” for #bikeschool* on Thanksgiving…Continue Reading

Day Twelve: Lopez Island to Anacortes

Tough to tear ourselves away from this tranquil little spot on Lopez! I fully expect to come back. We’ve been keeping notes on what makes for a great AirBnB stay and this one checked off almost everything people have done…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

A week after wrapping up the longest bike travel effort I’ve ever undertaken, what’s going on physically in addition to the mental and professional aftereffects? I did a reasonably good job of preparing myself physically for the trip and I’m really glad…Continue Reading

The Second Avenue stretch of SoDo offers so much for the bikespeditioning* shopper that I’m writing a two-parter. We started by parking our bikes in the rack made of bike frames by the west entrance of the Spokane Public Market, a…Continue Reading

Bike-Friendly Restaurants

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend in downtown Spokane. When she asked where we should go for lunch, I suggested two places–both specifically because they have a bike rack in front or within the same block. Now, I have…Continue Reading

“Did you bike here? Do you want to bring your bikes inside?” Now that’s something you don’t hear every day from a shop owner! What an auspicious start to Saturday’s Bikespedition to Carnegie Square: the collection of distinctive local shops…Continue Reading

Seldom do I need much excuse to ride my bike. Or to get something yummy to eat. Or to shop. (Should I ever have any hesitation about the latter, there’s always my dear friend Betsy the Enabler: “How about a…Continue Reading