Graphic of Intercity Transit System Map. Routes are color-coded to distinguish one line with 15-minute service from other lines that have 30-minute or 60-minute service.

Thank Heavens for Kind Strangers and Transit

Ride #1 of 2024: Sunny, happy, delightful. Ride #2 of 2024: The reason I’m glad Olympia has transit. A few days after ride #1 I set off in the sunshine for a trip to a meeting with Lee Lambert, executive…Continue Reading

Photo of folding bike with bags on back rack parked in front of giant metal sculptures of a banjo. In the background, stairs and escalator in front of glass walls and a high cement ceiling.

Setting My Own Pace

Bicycling offers a unique combination of attributes in the array of transportation modes: The ability to choose your pace while getting places efficiently. This came to mind as I pedaled slowly home from an appointment that I had pedaled toward…Continue Reading

Photo of a stretch of sidewalk with words stenciled in light blue: "I hope you see this."

Presented with appreciation for all who write poetry, and for those who have created eclectic poetry collections online and in print. This has enabled me to gather a second list of transportation poems to go with the bicycle poems. These…Continue Reading

Biking in Olympia: Earth Day Market Ride

On a slightly chilly, kinda grey, but not yet officially rainy Saturday morning, over two dozen riders trickled into the parking lot at Roosevelt Elementary. We were assembling at one of the starting points for Olympia’s annual Earth Day Market…Continue Reading

Peach e-bike in foreground with big medium blue handlebar bag, black pannier on back rack far side. Across the rialroad tracks and street, brick and glass building. Left side of building in orange metal, a face with words underneath Chief Seattle Is Watching. At right, building name in whit eletters, Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center.

#30DaysOfBiking, Days 15-26: The Twitter Story

Doing a blog post every day fell off the to-do list but that doesn’t mean I stopped riding. I’m rolling rapidly toward the end of the month with a nice mix of commuting, errands, and neighborhood noodling. Herewith, the last…Continue Reading

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

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

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