I Came to a Fork in the Road
This post is a lightly edited version of my storytelling at the 2017 National Bike Summit. Pedal Love founder Melissa Balmer organized several members of the Pedal Love Culture & Lifestyle Council to tell stories for the opening plenary session under the theme “Bicycling Makes Lemonade: A Tall Glass of Storytelling.” This story begins when […]
Personal Privilege and Biking: It Takes More than a Bike Lane to Start Riding (2016 update)
A 2012 version of this post appeared on this blog. I updated it in 2014 for the Washington Bikes blog. This is yet another light update with some “as of 2016” notes. The way I used to tell the story of how I started bike commuting, it was an infrastructure story: I started riding because the […]
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. […]
Seneca Falls Is in Long Beach this Year: National Women’s Bicycling Summit
If you read this blog you know it’s time: Time for as many women to be on bikes as men. Time for women to be represented equally in all aspects of the bicycle movement. Time for bike infrastructure, bike design, bike clothing, all to reflect the enormous potential to get women rolling. Time to register […]
We are Not the Enemy, Because there Isn’t One
This post sets up a bit of a debate with Bike Shop Girl’s latest in her “War with the Industry” series. Her title: We Are the Problem. The point her post makes: That the sport of cycling causes chaos and gets in people’s way and maybe cyclists shouldn’t expect to be able to do that. […]
A New Bend in the Road
Just over a month ago I had absolutely no idea I would be writing this post. My life was pretty full with a job I enjoyed, bike/transportation policy work as a civic volunteer, this blog, Belles and Baskets rides and coffee with Betsy, occasional shopping events to encourage more women to ride through the medium of […]
It’s Still Time to Take Action and Contact Congress to Support Funding for Biking and Walking
It’s been a heavy week on Bike Style with pieces on street funding, the importance of transit, and engineering. We’ll soon return to the regularly scheduled programming with its mix of ride reports, cute gear, shopping, and other topics in addition to policy. But this is important. As recently discussed here, select members of the […]
Picture It: Faces of Transportation Photo Contest
When I say “bikes” or “transit” or “walking” the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials may not be the first organization that springs to mind. But each year they sponsor a “Faces of Transportation” photo contest and this year’s themes provide plenty of scope to capture pictures of active transportation. Building the Future: […]
We Engineered Ourselves into this Mess. Now We Need to Engineer our Way out of It.
There’s a problem in our debates about how streets are funded, a problem that lies partly in the assumptions about who pays and who benefits, with a root cause in the effects of design on how people use a transportation network. I pay through several mechanisms for local streets and roads and consume far less […]
Who Really Pays for Streets? We All Do.
If I had a dollar for every time I either hear or read that “people on bikes need to pay for streets” I could put in bike lanes all over Spokane, it seems at times. I see it on Facebook. I hear it from people. I read it in the media from people who should […]
How to Be a Good Guy/Gal on the Street
This post that you should share with all your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, and personal conversation in (gasp!) real life was inspired by several influences. I’m modeling very directly on the first post so a shout-out to Anna North at Jezebel for providing inspiration and an outline to follow. Herewith, my source material, which […]
