30 Days of Biking, Day Six: Dates

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 6, 2014

Day Six in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series

What could be better than a bike date? Time with your loved one (or a candidate), no distraction of electronic toys, and, depending on how far you ride, use of enough calories to grant permission for whatever treats you like along the way. (At a minimum it’s a partial caloric offset.)

“Breakfast” was a candidate for today’s word but then I realized the word needed to be “dates” because we were on one. We’ve been married nearly 7 years and firmly believe in going on dates often. Today I’m sharing some of our tips for the perfect bicycle date.

Make Sure This Will Actually Be Fun for Both of You

That means a ride that either of you would do on your own. If you’re at dramatically different levels of bike skill and physical condition, bear in mind that this is not a ride with one of you in the role of coach. That’s not a date, it’s a recipe for disaster.

If one of you goes out in the woods on single-track every weekend and the other has never done that, make sure #2 is truly interested in giving this a try as a date. Some learning experiences are best handled with friends or even strangers, not with a date as observer (or, heaven forbid, Facebook chronicler in real time. See “recipe for disaster” above.)

If one of you is very experienced in riding in a busy urban setting and the other sticks to separated trails or empty country roads, riding through the downtown core in lots of traffic will make for stress. By definition, not fun.

It’s a Date, Not a Race

On a related note, one of the issues some couples face is a differential in how far or fast each wants to ride. Thus bike dates are a good test of the art of compromise.

Since I’m built for comfort and my husband is built for speed, we don’t go for bike dates when he’s in need of a training ride. I joke that he could be in Zone -2 and I’d be in Zone 6 on a standard range of 1-5. No, at our house a date ride is always a recovery ride.

Note to people who train with great dedication and enormous amounts of record-keeping: Do not consider a bike date a training ride. You’re not supposed to drop your date.

Agree on Where You’ll Go

The “somewhere to go” could be “let’s noodle around that neighborhood and stop at all the art galleries” so this doesn’t mean you have to map it all in latitude and longitude. The idea is to put some bookends on it so that if one of you is (ahem) less conditioned than the other you can each prepare mentally and pace yourself according to shared expectations.

Had my husband said “Let’s ride north until we find a breakfast place” I wouldn’t know how far I might have to go before caffeine and calories.

This “until X” means of choosing a destination might be an awesome approach for you, in which case your “somewhere to go” is “until this criterion is satisfied and we agree in advance on how we’ll know.” For some couples this could be a recipe for an argument as Rider 1 looks longingly at the windows of bakeries while Rider 2 thinks better pastries lie far ahead in some other ZIP code.

The point here is to agree in advance on the constraints. Don’t ruin a bike ride with squabbles and whining on the way out–you still have a return ride ahead.

We picked a breakfast place about a 45-minute ride away in Bothell and saddled up.

Choose a Ride that’s Comfortable for Both

We’re both experienced at riding in traffic and controlling the lane as needed for safety so for us this isn’t about staying off busy streets. This might be a concern for you and you’d want to do some route planning.

No, for us it’s more about how many climbs I can do since I’m married to someone who does hill repeats for fun.

The Burke-Gilman Trail provides a smooth, traffic-free connection for us north and south, not too far from where we currently live. Inevitably we climbed up to get to it, and up to get away from it.

On our return we hit only one hill that involved me pushing for a few yards while he did hill repeats to wait for me. This is a sign I’m getting stronger, and the walking was mostly a function of riding a really steep uphill (most of which I did actually ride up) on a full stomach, honest.

Do a Mechanical Check Before You Head Out

This tip comes to you courtesy of my friend Betsy, who discovered after miles of hard pedaling on her first date with her future husband-to-be that her back brake had been rubbing the entire way.

One of you may have to work a lot harder than the other to keep up, but try to avoid adding an actual handicap like a rubbing brake or squishy tires.

What’s your plan if something goes wrong along the way? Whether you pull out toolkit or cell phone this represents a test of the relationship on various fronts, from possible assumptions about gender roles and mechanical aptitude to how someone copes with the stress of the unexpected.

Take Advantage of the Talk Time

We talk about all kinds of topics on bike dates, from childhood memories to whether or not I should bake a pie or some cookies when we get back. (Oh, let’s be honest–it’s not whether, it’s which kind.)

On this particular ride we talked about the book we both just finished reading, The Bar Mitzvah and the Beast, about a cross-country ride by a family of four (funny, thoughtful, and inspiring–we both recommend it), and compared our preferences concerning the various architectural styles along the way. Doing so on a bike ride has a much lower stress threshold than doing so with a Realtor in tow and dueling comfort levels with mortgage size.

The nice part about a bike conversation, unlike a conversation in a car or even one on a walk together, is that if it happens to take a slightly negative turn you can ride behind or in front of the other person for a cooling-off period without being too obvious. (It would look pretty funny to bust a move to walk in front of the person you’re ostensibly walking with.)

This period may extend for some time if it’s a first date and you have the sudden realization that you could never, ever have a second one.

On the other hand, if it’s a first date and you can talk and laugh forever, not even noticing the miles under your wheels, this is a very, very good sign.

For the record my husband and I have very similar taste in houses.

Carry Something to Haul Stuff

What stuff? In our case, half of my breakfast in a takeout box because it was enormous and I couldn’t eat it all. Then later it was my fleece vest as I overheated on that steep hill and stopped to ditch a layer.

If you’re poking around neighborhood bookstores together you’ll buy books. Or the pastries at the bakery are so great that you buy a couple of extras, planning to eat them a few miles down the road when you’ve earned them.

Stay Flexible

Bikes offer their own varieties of flexibility as a means of transportation. I’m talking about each of you staying flexible about what happens along the way.

Steve's Cafe, Bothell, WA

Where we ended up for breakfast this morning. Those of you who know Bothell will also know which cafe was our original destination. We’ll try it on another date.

When we got to Bothell the cafe we’d planned to go to had a 25-minute wait. Another place beckoned from across the street and we headed over to check out Steve’s Cafe. A couple just exiting who had biked up with the same plan said it was fine and we settled in for a very satisfying breakfast.

Because you’re on the bike you may see things that make you want to stop and appreciate: a beautiful view (today’s ride was full of spring green), public art (we went by the young stand of Blue Trees in Kenmore), or a photo opportunity. For that matter, one of you might spot the perfect bench where you plan to drop to one knee and propose.

Keep It Simple

This is a bike date, not the Tour or a championship competition. You may well go on those types of rides together–both of you sprinting to city-limit signs or jumping stumps or whacking around in bike polo. The date portion might take place before and after the riding event, so I’m not saying don’t do those together if that’s what turns your cranks.

I’m just saying that on a really good date–one that makes you smile, one you’ll talk about afterwards saying “Wasn’t that great?”–each of you is there for the purpose of focusing on the other person and enjoying your time together. Few things are better for that than a simple bike ride.

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • What’s your best bike date memory?

 

Posted in Adventure, Attitudes, Family biking, Humor, News | 1 Comment

30 Days of Biking, Day Five: Weather

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 5, 2014

“Run between the raindrops!” That’s how I used to rally my daughters when they were small and gullible and would giggle at this little game instead of being unhappy about getting soaked dashing from car to house.

Symbols of today's weather-full ride: Outlier daily riding pant with water beading up on the special Swiss fabric; rain jacket serving as lap cover; bright rain cover conveniently provided with my Detours bag.

Symbols of today’s weather-full ride: Outlier daily riding pant with water beading up on the special Swiss fabric; rain jacket serving as lap cover; bright rain cover conveniently provided with my Detours bag.

One of the gifts biking has given me is a twofold shift regarding weather: I’m somewhat better able to make my own assessment of conditions thanks to the need to pay a lot more attention (although I still check my weather.com app to plan my clothing), and I’m comfortable with a far wider range of temperatures and precipitation levels than when I was a more sheltered little flower.

Today’s forecast called for showers followed by light rain. To me this represents possible riding weather. I don’t ride to be miserable so I’m unlikely to get on my bike in a pounding storm, but after much testing in both Spokane and Seattle I can confirm that I’m not the Wicked Witch of the West because I don’t melt when I get wet.

With any luck the showers would fall somewhere other than my route and the rain would hold off until after my one-hour ride to the office. It appeared to be merely overcast so I set off, rain jacket tucked away in a bag.

Within a block I felt the first sprinkle. So much for this “assess conditions” skill–I’ve been fooled before as I adapt to the Seattle climate. For a while I rode in that special Seattle air: the kind that suggests you’re moving through the vegetable mister in the produce aisle. From there the ride looked like this:

2 miles: It’s no longer misting. It’s raining. Time to remember that stopping a bike takes longer when the rims are wet.

3 miles: My top is fine (thank you, merino wool) but my lap is starting to get wet. I love my Outlier daily riding pants but they’re water-resistant fabric, not waterproof. Tie rain jacket around waist–not as good as the beautiful bike-specific women’s raincoat designed by Juliette Delfs of Hub and Bespoke that’s on my must-have-someday list but it helps.

~4.5 miles: I’m wondering where metereologists draw the line between “light rain” and plain old “rain” sans adjective. Riding keeps me warm and I’ve definitively chosen “weather” as today’s word.

6 miles: Persistence rewarded–back to the vegetable mister.

7.6 miles: Mister turns off, headwind turns on. Not a really stiff blow but enough to notice the drag. (Back when I drove everywhere I didn’t notice wind direction unless it actually threw things at me or bent the trees over.)

8.5 miles: Now it’s a crosswind. Still no mist or rain though.

9.2 miles: Back into the headwind but it’s all downhill from here. I mourn the loss of the velocity the wind steals from me because downhills are fun, but at least it’s not blowing straight at me on an uphill, which is, as every bicyclist knows, Just. Not. Fair.

10.2 miles: Inside the office where body heat will finish drying my clothes within about 15 minutes.

My comfort level with a wider range of weather conditions doesn’t just extend to vegetable misters and rain clouds. When I rode in Spokane, where winter temperatures drop much lower, I only switched to the bus when the snow or ice was severe enough to keep drivers from being able to stop in time.

For biking in the cold I wore layers, a ski mask on my face for that stylish bank-robber look, a ski coat if necessary, lobster-claw gloves (think Vulcan greeting sign if you’ve never seen these), and ear-warmer straps knitted for me by friend Wilma Flanagan of the Spokane Bicycle Advisory Board.

Weather? What weather? “There’s no such thing as bad weather–only bad gear.”

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • What weather conditions keep you from getting on the bike? (No apology needed for any answer–this isn’t a contest.)
  • How has riding a bicycle changed your awareness and attitudes concerning weather?

 

Posted in Attitudes, Bike Style, Gear/Maintenance, News | 1 Comment

30 Days of Biking, Day Four: Racing

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 4, 2014

“One Bus Away says the 522 will be at the stop in 5 minutes!” I hastily saved two files to Dropbox so I could continue working on them after I got home, threw my electronic miscellany into my bag, and buckled on my helmet.

Pulling my gloves on with my teeth in an effort to save every possible millisecond between our office and the transit stop at 4th and Jackson, I rolled out the door. As soon as the light changed I sprinted up Jackson, hoping the drivers ahead of me wouldn’t be texting and not notice when the lights turned green. Every second counted. (And of course, the texting would be illegal. But this was about catching the bus because there wouldn’t be another one for at least half an hour.)

When I got to the intersection at 4th I could see the big blue and white Sound Transit vehicle pulling away from the stop, then stopping at the light as I crossed through the green light in front of it.

“Nooooo! That’s my bus!” I put on my best pleading expression to look through the door at the driver, who smiled apologetically and mouthed, “I can’t.”

I know that. It’s against the rules for them to pick me up at a stoplight that could change at any second. Hope springs eternal.

But then I realized, “Hey! This bus has more stops and I can catch him!”

The light changed. The 522 pulled out. A big double-decker Community Transit bus pulled out. I dropped into the lane and hit the hammer, such as it is when we’re talking about me since I’m not much of a sprinter.

It’s all uphill on 4th from that intersection. I climbed in the bus lane–no point in trying to weave through 4 lanes of traffic to the bike lane on the far left side when the bus stops were all on the right side. And Seattle has a nice multimodal set-up: Bus lanes are also for bikes. It’s no fun for bicyclist or bus driver if you’re leap-frogging but at a time like this it was perfect–no single-occupancy vehicles could cut me off or slow me down.

For a couple of blocks I had no idea how I was doing. I was keeping up with the double-decker, but what about the 522?

The double-decker moved one lane over and I spotted the 522, stopped ahead of me. Victory! I leaped onto the sidewalk (it’s times like this that make me wish I knew how to do a bunny-hop with my bike) and ran as two people got on the bus.

The bus driver smiled at me. “I was watching for you but I couldn’t see you back there,” he said. “I couldn’t let you on at the light because it’s against the rules.”

“I know. I was behind the double-decker. Thanks for looking out for me.”

I wish I could have taken a picture of my bike on the bus rack as a symbol of how I won the race, but that would have slowed us down and they’ve got a schedule to keep.

I’ve practiced other forms of bike racing:

This race number is not on my bike. If you see it out on the road, say hi to my bike-racing husband.

This race number is not on my bike. If you see it out on the road, say hi to my bike-racing husband.

What I haven’t done yet and may never do: Get out on a race course and compete against other riders.

My husband races and I’ve volunteered in various ways to support Washington’s great bike-racing scene. I ran track in high school (not very fast), and years later paddled with a dragon boat team in Spokane, which rekindled my competitive spirit for a while.

But I don’t have the drive or the time required to train extensively, exhaustively, painfully, to become a strong racer. I’ll just keep racing the bus and hoping I win every time.

 

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • Do you find yourself racing as part of everyday bicycling?
  • If you race competitively, what do you enjoy most about it?

 

Posted in Attitudes, Commuting, Transit | 1 Comment

Our Social Media Is Buzzing About 30 Days of Biking

By Louise McGrody | Published April 4, 2014

It’s Day 3 of 30 Days of Biking and our social media channels indicate that many of you are with us for the ride! You’re communicating with us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to tell us about your rides, experiences and inspirations.

It’s a chatty group of joyful cyclists sharing experiences and photos, and encouraging each other along on our 30 Days of Biking event page on Facebook. Join our conversation! Here’s a sampling of comments:

1st day of it, I am enjoying an urban ride between my bus stop and work! – Machkio

One down, 29 to go. Good excuse for an afternoon beer! – Allyson

Rode to work, back home for lunch with my wife and six month old, back to work, across town for a meeting then home for a family ride before dinner. – Luke

Test rode a new bike. Hangman Valley just outside Spokane. – Bradley

Just 4.5 miles around the neighborhood, but some hills *just for fun*! We are out of shape. – Shirley

Day 3. Forgot a jacket on my ride to work and it looks like rain. It’s going to be a wet ride home. – Jessica

On the way home from work I am acutely aware of what’s for dinner all along the route! – Kevin

Is Twitter your style? We’re tweeting and retweeting about 30 Days of Biking as well. You can find a collection of tweets here, but here’s an example:

If you’re an IGer, you can share with us on Instagram. Tag your images with #wabikes and #30daysofbiking so we can find them, and we may feature you in our gallery.

 

 

 

Posted in Bike Culture, Encouragement, Events | 3 Comments

30 Days of Biking, Day Three: Color

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 3, 2014

Turquoise blue bike against electric blue bike rack shaped like a bicycleDay Three in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series

Last night I started a list of words I thought might come up in the course of my 30 days/30 words/30 pictures adventure. The list quickly grew to 33 but it didn’t have the word that emerged in today’s biking: color. Wait–make that C–O–L–O–R.

First, the picture. This vivid shot of a blue bike at a blue bike rack shared on our Instagram account made me choose the word for today. I realized how much more colorful my relationship with my bike is than any relationship with motor vehicles I’ve owned. (I’m not one of those people who names her cars and they’ve all been very ordinary colors–white, green, blue).

My blue road bike’s lime green handlebar tape reflects my fondness for various shades of that color. They’re newly wrapped and the color is so intense it glows a bit, especially on an overcast day like today that provides a contrast. The bike itself isn’t a special color; it’s a middle-of-the-road blue with white accents that my sweetheart picked out for me.

Bikes offer color possibilities in accessories as well as handlebar tape. When I ordered custom bike bags from Swift Industries (handmade in Seattle), I thought about the color combination in terms of a future touring bike I might own, which would have to be a color that goes with the bags. If I already owned said bike it would be the other way around; I like things to match.


When I bought a more upright “Mary Poppins” bike I chose the silver one because silver’s a neutral and goes with everything in my collection of Po Campo bags (which I started buying specifically because they’re not black bags with a black interior in which everything gets lost).

El in our office has a bike that’s deep eggplant with orange accents and is building a bike for Mom with a bit of a steampunk motif that’s painted a lovely faded bronze-y gold. Our board member Angela Jones of Spokane has a black and hot pink road bike and absolutely everything matches, down to her shoes. Belles and Baskets co-founder Betsy Lawrence gets purple accessories to go with her purple bike, which she purchased because purple is one of her favorite colors. Even before my husband was on a race team, he chose a yellow helmet that went with the black and yellow of the road bike had then, and of course every team kit has a lot of thought put into the color and design. Color is such an expression of individualism via the bicycle.

Not that bike manufacturers give us all that many choices, mind you. There’s the sadly mistaken notion that simply painting a bike pink makes it appeal to women, for starters. Then you have the fairly limited range of color options in bike gear.

If I walk into Nordstrom’s to get a sweater–or into the men’s section to buy a tie–I have many color choices and they’re keeping up with fashion trends. An entire industry exists to forecast our colors and create those trends (explaining the tragic avocado green kitchen appliance era). So why is it that if I walk into most bike shops I’ll be able to choose from somewhere around 4-5 helmet colors (two of which will be black and white) and about the same number of bike frame colors (ditto)?

Companies like Nutcase and Bern are tapping into the desire for more individual expression through helmet color and design; I predict (hope for) many more color options in the future for every part of my bike. The handlebar tape makers have it figured out–I could get tiger stripes or hot pink/light pink leopard spots if I liked that sort of thing.

(As an aside, I joke that bicycling is the only endeavor in which men have long had more color options in clothing than women. That was before Nuu-Muu, a Bellingham company, started making great active-wear dresses designed for biking and running.)

I notice color more while riding since I have time to observe. The pale green of spring leaves now will deepen over the summer until it shades into the fall palette of yellow, orange, bronze, red, and brown. The spots of color that were emerging buds a couple of weeks ago are flowers now. The color of the sky varies with season as well as with time of day. A flash of color catches my eye and I notice the vivid coat on someone waiting at the crosswalk (and because I’m on my bike I can call out “Beautiful coat!” and be rewarded with a smile, because who doesn’t love an unexpected compliment on his/her color sense?).

 I suppose a bike post on color wouldn’t be complete without a mention of high-visibility (hi-viz) clothing and accessories. Here it is: They’re ugly. No one looks good in that lemony yellow-green. I’ve seen the studies that demonstrate hi-viz effectiveness in catching the eye so I’m not arguing against their use, but I ride in street clothes. It’s sheer coincidence that my beloved lime green is a hi-viz color.

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • Did you have much choice of colors when you got your bike? Did it matter to you?
  • Now that you have this particular bike do you pay attention to the color of your accessories?

 

Posted in Attitudes, Bike Style, Gear/Maintenance, News | 3 Comments

30 Days of Biking, Day Two: Flexibility

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 2, 2014

Day Two in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series

I didn’t choose “flexibility” as my word for today just because I didn’t make it to the noon yoga class at Salt Room Yoga a block away from our Seattle office, although it’s a factor.* Today made me think about the flexibility bicycling provides in my transportation needs. But let me start with yoga.

Peaceful sunset and bike with person sitting in lotus pose

This picture does not illustrate incredible yogic flexibility, but I don’t have that. As my dear friend and yoga teacher Betsy says, “You don’t get flexible to do yoga. You do yoga to get flexible.”

Yoga provides a great balance (yoga pun!) to bicycling since it provides weight-bearing exercise and helps build upper-body strength along with flexibility work that helps offset the repetitive motions of cycling.

The book Pedal, Stretch, Breathe by Seattle yoga teacher, author, and bicyclist Kelli Refer (@yogaforbikers on Twitter) nicely highlights the benefits of yoga and the postures that address the effects of bicycling on the body. You can pick up an autographed copy of her book in our Pioneer Square store or order from Kelli on her blog.

The mindset yoga helps you cultivate applies to bicycling too. You can stress out or you can rest in the moment and accept it for what it is, cultivating mental flexibility.

And now for the transportation flexibility bicycling provides that I appreciated yet again today–

If you drive in a city with one-way streets you know this moment. You’re at an intersection and the address you want is only about a block away. Except it’s at least three blocks away because you’re on a one-way street and you’ll have to execute two right turns or two left turns to get anywhere near your destination.

This morning at that kind of intersection my bike gave me all the flexibility I needed. I walked my bike up one block, crossed the street, and there I was–parked and inside in half the time it would have taken me to drive (not counting the hunt for parking that I get to skip.)

Now sure, I can park a car, get out and walk, and get where I’m going. But I will no longer have with me the vehicle that helps me get places faster and carries my stuff far more easily than I can with just my body to bear the weight. I’ll have to backtrack to where I parked, which introduces a hassle factor that constrains my choices about the next stop, and the next.

I’m also pretty well assured that my car parking spot will not be directly in front of the building I’m going to, whereas I can park my bike at a rack if one’s available, hitch it to a tall sign post, railing, or other fixed item, or in some instances bring it inside with me. Voila–parking flexibility! The combination of bike/walk and route flexibility with parking flexibility enables me to string together a series of brief stops very efficiently.

Bicycling has increased the flexibility of my thinking and assumptions about how I get from Point A to Point B in other ways. Because the pace of bicycling enables me to experience my surroundings much more deeply I’m more apt to explore. I try different routes, take a jaunt down a side street because I see an interesting sign, and experiment with options that I hope (usually in vain) will allow me to sneak around some of the hill climbs I face commuting in Seattle.

This afternoon in an attempt to inject flexibility into my homeward commute route since I’d already landed on my word of the day, I tried going an extra block up Pike before turning to get to Pine, where I climb in the bike lane to Melrose. Lo and behold, when I got to that next block (9th, for you Seattle dwellers) I realized I couldn’t turn left because–yep–it was another one-way street.

If I’d been in my car I would have gnashed my teeth. I also would have had to do quite a bit of fiddling around, going blocks out of my way in heavy downtown traffic, because this is at a spot with major buildings and a freeway that introduce black holes into the street grid. (Side note: I would have been adding all the while to downtown traffic congestion and air pollution while going exactly nowhere.)

Since I was on my bike I again exercised the flexibility of the pedestrian option that someone on a bike always has. My bike and I were only one block away from Pine, after all, and roughly 2 minutes later I was back in the bike lane and climbing.

It’s good to be flexible.

Related Reading

 Your Turn

  • How often do you find yourself taking advantage of the bike/walk option?
  • Do you experiment with different routes on your bike or have you fallen into a routine?

*Possible additional factor: Our whole family loves the movie The Incredibles, which we’ve watched countless times. Elastigirl’s powers are pretty cool.

Posted in Accessibility, Attitudes, Bike Parking, Seattle, Transportation | 3 Comments

Kate Johnston Joins WAbikes

By Seth Schromen-Wawrin | Published April 2, 2014

New Staff Position to Serve the Inland Northwest Community

???????????????????????????????It is an exciting time for Washington Bikes as we open our Spokane office. With consistent staff presence in the greater Spokane area, we will be able to support more community advocates, impact more local policies and projects, and encourage more people to get on the saddle.

To support the effort, Kate Johnston has joined our staff as the Spokane-based School and Family Programs Coordinator. She is a third-generation eastern-Washington cyclist who studied Urban Planning and earned her teaching certificate in secondary education from Eastern Washington University. She recently completed two years of work in the project management division of a global engineering firm and is now looking forward to focusing her energies back home in the Inland Northwest region.

For two years in a row, Kate has been the team captain for the winning corporate-division team in the 185-mile Spokane to Sandpoint Relay. In addition to spending time with her family, she enjoys the luxurious simplicity of living in a central location with both a bike lane and a bus-line right outside her front door.

Kate will be working with the Spokane Regional Health District and Spokane Public Schools to promote healthy and safe routes for children to get to school in communities around Spokane.  Over the next four years, she will work with school staff, parents, and students to promote biking and walking to school around seven elementary schools: Bemiss, Holmes, Logan, Moran Prairie, Seth Woodard (Spokane Valley), Stevens, and Sunset (Cheney) elementary schools.

She will also be partnering with Spokane Public Schools to more directly promote policies and activities that support wellness at school, such as healthy eating and active living. With this additional approach, we will be able to impact policies and school culture around active transportation. This is an effort made possible with support from the Empire Health Foundation.

In addition to these school-based projects, Kate’s presence in the Spokane region will support bike advocacy overall. Whether it is providing support for Bike Month, talking with communities about rail-trails, or working with city staff to promote better bike infrastructure, she will be a consistent face for us in eastern Washington. We are excited and look forward to this new era of Washington Bikes.

Kate can be reached at 509.280.5762  or kate@wabikes.org, and her office is housed with the Empire Health Foundation.

Posted in Education, Health, Kids, News, People, Spokane County | 1 Comment

Win a Walla Walla Bicycle Weekend!

By Louise McGrody | Published April 2, 2014
Photo: Wheatland Wheelers

Photo: Wheatland Wheelers

UPDATE: Raffle ticket sales have ended.

One of the most spectacular wine regions in the country is in our own backyard.

Walla Walla is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Mountains and is home to over 100 vineyards and wineries. It is where wine country, scenic beauty, bicycle adventures and small town hospitality intersect.

And we’re offering you an opportunity to experience it first hand with our Walla Walla Bicycle Weekend raffle. This package, good for two people and valued at $540, is for the weekend of June 20 & 21, 2014 and includes:

  • A two-night stay at the Inn at Blackberry Creek, a bed and breakfast retreat with rolling lawns, tall shade trees, and a spring fed stream. Once a Victorian farmhouse built in 1906, the Inn has been lovingly restored to its original beauty and offers three spacious guest rooms. It’s a perfect place to launch your bicycle adventures and is just steps away from historic Pioneer Park.
  • Inn at Blackberry Creek

    Inn at Blackberry Creek

    Two entries to the Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic on June 21. The Ann Ride is organized by the Walla Walla Wheatland Wheelers and showcases the wheat fields, vineyards, orchards, and Blue Mountain foothills of this amazing region. Choose from 30-, 60- or 100-mile route options. The Ann Ride is fully supported and includes a spaghetti and meatballs feast at the finish line in Pioneer Park.

  • A $50 gift certificate good towards dinner at Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen. Travel blogger Daytona Strong calls Saffron one of her go-to restaurants in Walla Walla. With arguably the best food in Walla Walla Valley, she advises travelers to make a reservation early and be prompt because demand is high at Saffron.
Scenic views abound on the Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic.

Scenic views abound on the Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic.

Raffle tickets are $5 each and proceeds will be used to grow bicycling in Walla Walla and Washington. Use our online raffle form to purchase your chance(s) to win this Walla Walla Bicycle Weekend package. You can also sign up for the raffle at the Washington Bikes office in Pioneer Square and at our Spokane Bike Swap table on April 12 & 13. Raffle tickets will be sold until May11 and the winner will be notified by May12.

Special thanks to WAbikes members Kristin Kinnamon and Kristi Knodell for their generosity and making this raffle possible!

Posted in Adventure, News, Rides, Tourism, Travel, Walla Walla | 1 Comment

30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures: Day One

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 1, 2014

30 days of biking motivates me. It’s not just the satisfaction of checking the box every day on something I’ve committed to; if it were, I’d floss daily (said with the deepest respect for my dentist). Now that I’ve completed it twice successfully (April 2013, September 2011). and not completed it on other attempts (April 2011, April 2012), I’ve taken away some lessons and reminders from it. What I’ve gained makes it worth undertaking it once again.

Bike rack 3 loops

It doesn’t take much to tweak a basic loop and add some fun to bike parking. You’ll find this rack in downtown Seattle at 2nd and Union.

Further inspired by the January Project with its daily ride photos, despite my utter lack of photography skills, and by the idea of having one word stand alone, I decided to share one word and one picture each day that represent something about bicycling.

(Mind you, I’ll write more than one word. I’m just saying I’ll focus on one.)

April 1: Fun.

Why fun? Aside from the basic premise that “fun” provides a big portion of bicycling’s basic appeal and April 1 is April Fool’s Day, a couple of reasons:

First, when I rode to a meeting this afternoon I locked up at a bike rack that had a higher fun factor than the standard staples found throughout much of downtown Seattle. (Bonus points to the Seattle Dept. of Transportation that I can write that bike parking is “found throughout much of downtown Seattle.” Although more racks are always welcome this is not a complaint, just an aesthetic note.)

Speaking of flossing.... guess what kind of business is found inside the Redmond office building that sports this rack?

Speaking of flossing…. guess what kind of business is found inside the Redmond office building that sports this rack?

Fun, artistic, or whimsical bike racks add to the impression created by a neighborhood or shopping district. They provide a strong visual cue asking for my business; I preferentially shop, eat, and obtain professional services at places that invite me in this way. More bonus points if you sprinkle some fun on the parking as long as it’s still functional.

Second, and far more obvious, riding my bike is fun and that keeps me riding.

Today makes a great example. I worked at home in the morning, planning to ride to my meeting at the point in the day when the forecast told me I’d have some beautiful Seattle sunshine. But there’s always one more email, and then just one more, and by the time I left I had to grab an express bus to make it in time.

When I left the office at 7pm I considered just reversing that trip. After all, I’d already ridden my bike to the transit stop and from my meeting to my office in Pioneer Square–the box had been checked. But the sun was still shining, the air was mild, and I wanted to ride.

Bike rack shaped like a weiner dog, Spokane, WA

This “weiner dog” bike rack invites lots of people on bikes to stay and explore the Garland neighborhood in Spokane.

I set off north on First Avenue in downtown Seattle, then turned east on Pike. Taking this route brings me to a moment of truth: The transit stop at 6th and Pike. I can stop there, place my bike on the 522 or the 312, and read my Kindle for the next 30 minutes. Or I can keep riding and it’s just a few more uphill blocks to the Melrose Trail, and from there not that far to the University Bridge, and from there I can take the Burke-Gilman Trail (or give my bike a bus ride home).

The deciding factor when I reached that bus stop? Riding my bike was too fun to stop. Beautiful weather, the “whee” factor on the downhill sections that I knew lay ahead, feeling strong because I’m self-powered–all the things about riding my bicycle that put a smile on my face were there. That’s fun.

PS: Dear Surgeon General, Americans will take our daily prescribed dose of exercise as long as it’s fun.

Your Turn

  • What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on your bike?
  • Where is your favorite fun bike parking?
  • Send your photos of great bike parking in Washington to Louise@WAbikes.org, tag them #WAbikes #bikeparking on Instagram so we can spot them, or share with us via Facebook or Twitter. They’d make a fun pictorial blog post in future.
The city of Kent, WA, commissioned these leaf-shaped bike racks as public art for their downtown.

The city of Kent, WA, commissioned these leaf-shaped bike racks as public art for their downtown.

Posted in Bike Culture, Bike Parking, Events, News | 4 Comments

Three Reasons to Ride the Daffodil Classic

By Louise McGrody | Published April 1, 2014

daffodils - Mr UshApril in the Northwest is showery, flowery, and the time to ride the Daffodil Classic.

This is the 39th riding of the Daffodil Classic. Organized by the Tacoma Wheelmen’s Bicycle Club and slated for April 13, this ride will take you through scenic Orting valley and its surrounding hillsides. Riders will enjoy well marked routes with cue sheets and maps, support vehicles and fully stocked rest stops.

Here are 3 reasons to ride the Daffodil Classic:

  1.  This ride offers something for every type of rider. If you’re riding with youngsters or want to stay off roads, you can ride from 1 to 30 miles using the Foothills Trail. More ambitious? The Daffodil Classic offers 40 and 60-mile loops into the rural environs. Still not enough? Combine the loops for a century. You can preview the routes here.
  2.  They’ll feed you strawberry shortcake at the finish line.
  3.  This ride benefits bicycling. Proceeds from this ride help support WAbikes advocacy and education work, as well as local bicycle safety and education programs.

Ready to sign up? Use this online registration form to reserve your spot today. Register by April 10 for an early bird discount!

 

Posted in Rides, Tacoma | Comments Off on Three Reasons to Ride the Daffodil Classic