Washington Counties Challenge: A Statewide Bikespedition To-Do List
Bike challenges motivate some people, while others say they just ride their bike to ride their bike. I ride my bike without needing a challenge to inspire me, but at the same time have fun with the sense of accomplishment that goes with checking something off a list (as with coffeeneuring, errandonnee, and 30 Days […]
A Bit of a Rant on Data
I’m a wee bit active on Twitter, where I find many resources, experts I can quickly question on a fine point of transportation policy or design, and inspiration. By now we all recognize the dark side as well — the ease and speed with which bad information spreads, particularly if it’s packaged with a catchy […]
Travel Takeaways: Policy Ponderings from a Long Bike Tour
A week after wrapping up the longest bike travel effort I’ve ever undertaken, what’s going on mentally, physically, and professionally? (since I took a vacation that relates to my work life) The policy aftereffects– Biking in a different part of the country gave me insights and ideas I can take back to work. The signage! The […]
Travel Takeaways: Mental Musings from a Long Bike Tour
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. I haven’t given myself that kind of complete break for that many days in years–possibly […]
Travel Takeaways: Physical Effects from a Long Bike Tour
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 I trained. Each day definitely left me knowing that I’d ridden a loooong way, and […]
Broken Elbow Style Is Sleeveless
On a balmy Tuesday evening in July I pedaled south along the Elliott Bay Trail en route from a meeting in Seattle’s Pioneer Square to my home in White Center. In a number of places along the heavily traveled multi-use path, the pavement has heaved up and cracked, creating hazards whether you’re riding or walking. […]
Seattle Streets Take Two: More Impressions of Seattle Biking
I posted some of my first impressions of Seattle bicycling right after moving here and riding just a little bit around the core downtown area. After nearly six months of bicycling and a few more miles (although not nearly enough) I thought I’d share a few more stories. My life is very low-mileage right now […]
When I Get Older: Why I Believe in a Multimodal System and Complete Streets
I’ve been dealing for over a decade with issues created as my parents aged, including transportation problems. My mother, who’s 90, has vascular dementia that has worsened over the past 12 years and my father is now showing signs of some type of dementia as well. One of the early triggers for recognizing my mom’s […]
Seeing with New Eyes
Taking up biking for transportation has given me the same experience that becoming a mother did. No, not endless anxiety, sleepless nights, and sh**—well, at least not too much of the latter—but rather the experience of learning just how much the world was designed not for you, but against you, by people who do not share your particular circumstances. […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Way Is a Great Street–Hypothetically, That Is
The new Martin Luther King, Jr. Way–the name for the extension of Riverside Avenue east of Division–isn’t open yet. So of course no one has ridden a bike on it yet. Hypothetically speaking, the light skiff of snow that fell in mid-December might have lured some wayward person on a bike to take a right […]
