Moving Planet Seattle

Saturday was the Moving Planet Seattle Event. The theme was transportation, so it was fitting that folks met around the city for group rides to Lake Union Park. About 20 of us met in Ballard for the ride, including three families.

Our trail-a-bike.

A kindred spirit had an Xtracycle.

A tandem bike completed the set.

Our fearless leaders set the pace in the awesome, traffic-stopping conference bike from the Dutch Bike Company. This beast is mighty, but slow and a tad too wide for the trails. So, we took a traffic lane and made a slow parade to Lake Union Park, with enthusiastic waving and bell-ringing at passersby. Once there, the group dispersed to explore the different events, though we did run into each other throughout the day. Metaphorically speaking, that is.

The conference bike in all its glory.

The Center for Wooden Boats had wooden sailboats for kids to play with on the boat pool. Spencer was so excited to see the boats, that I could barely get him to leave long enough to lock up our bike. We probably spent 20-30 minutes there.

I was more excited to see this bike, which looked suspiciously familiar....

After looking around for likely suspects, I took a deep breath and asked "Hey, are you the Family Ride blogger? I recognize your bike." Yes! It was Madi from Family Ride, who was friendly, charming and  happy to talk about bikes, boats and kids. She asked if I'd been on some of the Totcycle rides, because I looked "sort of familiar". After a minute, she realized that she'd seen us here on the blog. That, my friends, is the kind of fame that blogging can bring you! 

Jennifer and Madi, who both looked "sort of familiar".

Spencer eventually had his fill of the boats, so we wandered off to see more sites. Along the way, he was caught by the plastic bag man. The costume was made from 500 bags, but he'd lost a few along the way. Kids just couldn't resist trying to pull them off. At least, my kid couldn't. And I did make him stop and give them back.

There was a great kids' craft table, which spawned many masterpieces. A fish doesn't need a bicycle, unless, of course, it's a bicycle powered by cocktail umbrellas.

I was delighted to run into my friend Arvia. The folks at the family bike expo talked her into taking the kids for a spin in this:

I tried it out as well. It was reasonably easy to pedal, at least on flat pavement, but quite tricky to turn. It has an extremely wide turning radius and you end up leaning over ridiculously far. It felt like I was about to fall over, but it's really quite steady. Not exactly a practical bike for most people, though. 

Some bikes were made just for fun:

More crazy bike-like objects.

Oh, yeah, there was also a rally:

Mike McGinn, Mayor of Seattle

We listened for a while, but when Spencer tried to take a nap in my lap, I knew it was time to go. All in all, it was a great event on a beautiful day. The organizers did a good job of combining fun, family activities with real activism and awareness, a tricky thing to balance.

Critical Lass 7: New Southern Bike Lanes

In summary, the new bike lanes are pretty sweet...
and we're really excited that they connect up all the bits of
previously-disconnected bike infrastructure on the south side of Edmonton...
but you'd like to see some photos, right?

We first attempted this ride on the last Sunday of August,

but too few people were able to make it, so we rescheduled for yesterday.

Laura and Angel

We waited for about 25 minutes at Century Park,

L-R: Laura, Angel, Emma

then we were off.

There were shiny shoes

(mine)

and fabulous lace tutus.

Karen and Robert

We crossed the LRT tracks,

admired a cool tandem while we waited for the lights,

(sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet)

and started counterclockwise around the loop,

opting for the road instead of the under-the-power-lines multi-user path for the first bit,

and stopping only so our littlest attendee could be given more crackers.

The section of the route south of 23rd Ave has just been repaved to fix the potholes, 

and is still awaiting paint.

The city has put these awesome signs up all along the loop.

Millwoods' sharrows could use signage like this, too.

Several sections, like this one, could potentially put you in the door zone of parked cars, so stay alert!

The area has a couple of big parks with playgrounds in them, several schools, 

and a mix of single-family housing and apartment-style condominiums 

(in addition to the big transit-oriented complex at Century Park),

and a fire station! Sadly, the brave uniformed guys had other things to do than flirt with us.

Our route circumnavigated the area of strip-mall shopping and grocery stores, 

but we did see evidence of it. 

It was cool to still see all the ghost marks in place that precede application of reflective paint.

The bike lane turns the corner at a three-way stop at the southern end of 106th Street, so, so did we.

We had to veer around a curb repair. We were really glad for the barriers.

Then we took the multi-user path beside 34th Ave back to 111th Street,

By this time the wind had really picked up and we wondered where the sun had gone.

So we were glad to wrap things up (for those of us who could stay)
with brunch and fancy coffees at Bistecca.

There was Italian Eggs Benedict,

and Southern French Toast,

with a side of cutie pie

Robert's always a charmer.

and lots of great conversation.

I want a wrist tattoo like Laura's.

We were so glad Judy caught up with us.

We emerged from brunch to rain and wind,

but it didn't stop us from admiring all our sweet sweet rides, 
before we fled to the warmth of the LRT or our vehicles.

PS: Since our tentative date of Oct 9th is Thanksgiving weekend, we need your help rescheduling the next Critical Lass ride: please participate in our Doodle poll to see when works for the most people! We'll announce the date and create a Facebook event page within the week.

Test Rides!

There are two little bike shops near my house that have been tempting me for months. I finally made time this weekend to test ride a couple of bikes. The first store is a classic LBS with a variety of bikes chained out front - road bikes, hybrids, city cruisers, kids bikes and more. The one that caught my eye, though, is the red Xtracycle. I've seen a few around the city and I know people who swear by them for transporting kids and cargo. I was especially curious to see how it compared to riding with a trail-a-bike.

I first tried it up and down the block on my own to see how it handled. My first impression - it's solid. The trail-a-bike has a slight side-to-side wobble, no matter how much you tighten the screws. I've gotten used to it, but have to admit that the Xtracycle did feel more secure. However, it is long, so you still have to allow for a much wider turning radius. Still, it didn't seem to take much to get get used to it, so I rode back to the shop and picked up my passenger.

Adding a passenger didn't change the handling much, aside from the extra weight. It still felt solid and secure. The bike isn't light, but it's not as heavy as I expected. It's heavier than Ye Olde Mountaine Byckke, but not by much, and it's considerably lighter than the Byckke plus the trail-a-bike. I didn't want to take it out too far, since it didn't have the foot rest attached, and I was worried Spencer might kick the chain. Because of that, I really can't call this a thorough review, but it did make a good first impression. I had no problem getting up the gentle hill back to the bike shop, but didn't test out any serious hills. It's hard to say whether I'd miss the extra push from the back seat or not, given the diffence in weight. However, it definitely has better "hop on and go" vs. a trail-a-bike, especially since I usually detach them and lock them together.

Spencer found the back seat comfortable. It's well padded and cushioned the bumps in the road, not that I was deliberately aiming for them. At least not many.

When asked what it was like to ride, he said "Easy!"
Me: How did it feel?
Spencer: Good!
Me: Do you like this one better or the trail-a-bike?
Spencer: This one. I don't have to pedal so my legs don't get tired!

Hmph. And here I thought he might get bored without his own pedals. Active transport my @$%......


The next stop was two doors down at an electric assist bicycle shop. This shop, which opened about 6 months ago, carries the Ohm bike, made in Vancouver. After a little chitchat and signing a waiver, I was out the door on their city commuter bike, while the store employee rode the sport version beside me.

The commuter bike is a solidy built bike, that feels quite upright and cushioned. It's heavy - about 53 lbs - and, with the low center of gravity from the battery, it feels very stable. It handled smoothly on turns, though I didn't try any particularly aggressive moves. The electric assist controls were very intuitive and easy to use. I didn't notice much with the two lowest settings - it just seems to take off a little bit of weight. Settings 3 and 4 are pretty cool, though. At first, I slowed down, expecting the motor to pick up the slack, but I quickly ground to a halt. The motor actually multiplies the effect from each pedal stroke, so the harder you push, the harder it goes. Once I started pedaling, I could really feel it pulling the bike forward. I still had to work to get up a steep hill, but not nearly as much - I was able to keep up a conversation and go much faster. The bike was very quiet and free of vibrations.

Although I'm not looking for an electric assist bike right now, I can see the appeal - it would makes Seattle hills much more manageable. If I had to tow kids daily or if I developed a health issue that made a regular bike too much effort, it would be a great option. Or, of course, if I ever move to Phinney Ridge. The downside is the price - at $2800 US, it's a pretty expensive bike. I've never tried another electric assist bike, so I can't say how it compares to others. It did rides well, though, and was a lot of fun.

This was my "test ride a different kind of bike than you normally ride" entry for the LGRAB Summer Games.

Musical Bells

On our way home from last week's group ride, Spencer started to complain about his handlebars. I stopped to investigate and, sure enough, they were a little loose. "Well," I told him, "I don't have any tools with me. We're close to home, so just hold them carefully and I'll fix it when we get there." That worked for less than a block before he started to shout again. I told him to hold them up and that I would ride very slowly and gently.

When we finally got home, I was shocked at how loose the handlebars had become. It was particularly embarrassing, since I had just been leading a bicycle advocacy group ride. Thank goodness the problem didn't develop until we were on our own and almost home! I was also very surprised; I'm pretty good at remembering to check that the connection to my bike is secure and that the pedals are screwed in tight, but I'd never had a problem with this connection before. However, if you look at the photo below, it was so loose that the handle bars could spin right around and slide from side to side.

Fortunately, a quick twist with a hex wrench tightened everything up. I may need to start carrying a bike-combo tool with me.That was finished quickly, so I decided to do the other job that I'd been meaning to get around to - musical bells! Spencer has now outgrown his 16" wheeler, so we decided to move the bell to the trail-a-bike.

Ta da! Secure handlebars and a bell that lights up!
Next, I re-installed a Bell bell on Ye Olde Mountaine Byckke. I had tried to put the bell on my road bike, but it never fit well on the handlebars, so back it goes.
Finally, a shiny new bell was installed on Spencer's new 20" wheeler.Because a boy this proud of his new bike deserves a shiny new bell to go with it!

This is my "perform a maintenance task on your bike" entry for the LGRAB 2011 Summer Games.