Photo of a path through flat, empty land with hills and pinkish clouds in the distance ahead. Text on the photo: “If you are in a bad mood go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.” – Hippocrates

Walking Poems

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” –Steven Wright Walking comes up so often in poems it’s nearly a cliché. Poems inspired by taking a walk. Poems about things noticed on a walk. Odes to walking, the original…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 man and two children with darker skin walking down a dirt road lined with trees on either side. All 3 are wearing dark shorts and light-colored shirts and the sun is shining. At the bottom, text with a quotation from Ram Dass: We are all just walking each other home.

Why I Walk

This post first ran on my personal blog, BikeWalkBake Barb, where I’ve been chronicling my walking habits. Since I’ve been writing about multimodal transportation here, I thought I’d add the post to these archives as well. Walking, like riding my…Continue Reading

Photo of prize ribbons made of chocolate, wth a big 1st prize ribbon in the middle and smaller circles marked 2nd and 3rd on either side.

You know the word as a suffix after some prefix telling you how many events are included (if you remember your ancient Greek prefixes, that is) or something else about the competition: biathlon, duathlon, triathlon, pentathlon, heptathlon, decathlon, aquathlon. Whence…Continue Reading

In foreground, sitting on a wooden table-top in soft lighting, white coffee cup with drawing of a turquoise upright bicycle and the words "Life is a beautiful ride". Background soft focus of kitchen with appliances.

Sharing some (and by no means all) of the articles that have caught my eye over the past few weeks since the March 4 Transportation Reading Round-up. The quoted snippet from the article gives you a takeaway even if you…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

Side view of white cargo bike made by Urban Arrow with black front cargo box.

I’ve been developing this theory for a while now. The longer I ponder it the more I think it makes sense. Stay with me while I work through this line of reasoning: We’d dramatically improve transportation safety if we all moved…Continue Reading

What it means to buy local: Close-up from a sign in Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane. 1) You kept dollars in our economy. 2) You embraced what makes us unique. 3) You created local jobs. 4) You helped the environment. 5) You nurtured community. 6) You conserved your tax dollars.

I took a shot at the February biking challenge posed by @gypsybug on Chasing Mailboxes: the Errandonnee. Complete at least 7 different types of errand by bike and at least 30 miles and you’ve succeeded! In addition to living a pretty…Continue Reading

Po Campo Loop Pannier in "Free Bird" fabric with a laptop inside.

Errandonnee 2013: Winter Errands by Bike!

The DC area blog Chasing Mailboxes has issued a great February biking challenge: The Errandonnee. Complete at least 7 different types of errand by bike and at least 30 miles and you’ve succeeded! Funny thing is, I’ve become such a…Continue Reading

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