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 and transit better choices than driving, once you make the mental shift. Seattle is currently […]
Success: April 2017 #30DaysOfBiking Is in the Bag
Telling people about my progress in sticking to a commitment definitely helps keep me on track. I saw that in 2014 when I set myself up to post a word and picture every day of #30DaysofBiking. I managed it in April 2013 and September 2011, another year that I made extra work for myself by writing a […]
Biking Is the Spice of Life
I have missed many things while driving for transportation thanks to a broken elbow (with recovery complicated by a frozen shoulder). To name just a few: Exercise (hello, +10 pounds) Sense of connection to my surroundings and the people along the way Flexibility — the ease with which I can change my mind, navigate to […]
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 […]
#30DaysofBiking 2015: I’m Rolling
So far so good for the annual 30 Days of Biking challenge. It’s April 8 and I’ve ridden my bike every day. That’s sort of a “duh”, usually, at least on weekdays since I ride every day either all the way to work or to the bus stop if I need to capture the email […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
We Get to Complete our Streets!
Kudos to the Spokane City Council for the 5-2* vote last night to enact the Complete Streets ordinance. A round of applause and a bouquet of locally grown flowers for Kitty Klitzke of Futurewise, who rallied the troops, circulated the petitions, and kept reminding us when to write, sign petitions, and go testify. More flowers […]
On a Roll with Betsy Lawrence: On Becoming a Late-in-Life Jock
This piece takes a different approach than our usual Q&A for the On a Roll with series. Introducing occasional guest blogger Betsy Lawrence: community college composition instructor, yoga teacher, and the founder of Belles and Baskets. What she doesn’t mention here that you should know: Her round trip to work is nearly 20 miles. I […]
