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Portland Pedalpalooza 2010

I had the good luck of being down in Portland last weekend for the starting festivities of Portland's Pedalpalooza, a 2 week event of "bikey fun." Each day there are a dozen different rides organized by people who love their bikes, and almost all the rides and events are free. I attended the Cirque du Cycling parade on Mississippi Ave; as you can see by the pictures there were a lot of crazy bikes and outfits. It was a beautiful day, and the streets were overflowing with people, beer, and live music. I never feel as embraced for my love of cycling as I do in Portland. I didn't want to leave! But after walking around for 2 hours, buying a shirt, and eating vanilla bourbon ice cream in a freshly made waffle cone for lunch, I finally headed home. My only regret was not having my bike with me, so I could only watch instead of play along. Pedalpalooza is still going strong, so if you're in the Portland area, you should definitely get in on the fun! All the info you nee can be found here: http://www.shift2bikes.org/cal/viewpp2010.php

Very cool bike design

Mexi biker!

I loved that kids participated too

Where else are you going to ride your crazy bikes?

My favorite bike, a functional beer keg and tap!

Bike to Work Day!

Tucked inside of Bike to Work month is Bike to Work day. I imagine Bike to Work day is to bike commuters, what Arbor day is to trees. You just go about your normal business, and then one day a year people praise you, shower you with attention, and hand you goodies. Maybe it's more like Halloween? In any case, it definitely felt like a holiday and everyone was in a great mood. It was so much fun!

I got an REI coupon, Smartwool stickers (my love of Smartwool products will need a whole post of it's own), a water bottle, Clif bars, bananas, apples...my bag was overflowing trying to fit it all in.

If only Bike to Work day could come more than once a year. Happy riding! (and be safe)

A Year of Biking

A little over a year ago I was trying to lose weight, and the results were slow. I was only managing to get in a 3 mile run about 3 times a week. I’d just gotten my sister’s bike fixed up and ready to ride, but I was nervous to take it out. So when my sister came to visit, and insisted I ride with her, that’s when my life really started to change.

We went on the streets, next to cars, and up the steepest, longest hill in the area. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done (I breathed so hard I was coughing the rest of the night), but it was so fun I wanted to do it again. I never would have tried that on my own, or believed I could make it up such a huge hll, and the fact that I did it without any biking experience gave me confidence in myself I’d never had before.

So I got up a couple of weeks later, got on my bike, and rode to work. I was scared of cars, the hills left me gasping for breath, I got to work super sweaty, but it was so much fun I couldn’t imagine getting to work any other way again. The weight started to fall off because combining my commute and workout meant I was exercising 5 times a week without having to wake up early to run or go to the gym after work.

With each season came the need for different gear. In the summer I bought lightweight shirts and a sturdy commuter bike to better handle potholes, in the fall I found a yellow windbreaker,gloves and lights for night riding, in the winter I bought a hat, rain pants, and my ugly but effective biking booties (this picture shows what I looked like commuting through the winter).


Unless it's pouring out, icy, or I'm sick (in other words, it's unsafe) you will see me on my bike. This year I biked in 20 degree weather, I biked in the dark, I biked in the rain. And I loved every second of it.

I never drove to work, but if I had I would have saved $3,600 in parking fees (not to mention gas, maintenance, etc.), I save $876 a year by not getting a monthly bus pass (although some of that now goes towards bike gear and maintenance). I have biked 2,860 miles just to and from work, I have lost 65 pounds, and those are just the quantifiable aspects of biking. Every morning I wake up excited to ride, and feeling lucky that I have the capability to do so. I feel so much happier, healthier, and alive on a daily basis. I hope more people will join me soon so they can experience the feeling.

(me and my bike today! Here's to many more years of biking!)

An Unfortunate Incident

This morning on my commute into work there was a red light that is usually pretty short, and almost no cars go through the cross street that has the green, so I saw it was turning yellow and biked past two other cyclists, who were already braked, to keep my momentum on the hill. A few minutes later one of those bikers caught up to me and lectured me about rolling through red lights, and told me that I am the reason cars are mean to cyclists. It really bothered me.

I could have told him a lot of things; I really try to be one of the most responsible bikers on the road for that exact reason, I've been doing this for a year, I knew the light was about to turn green and I double checked no cars were coming, but instead I just kind of nodded and said I don't usually do it (which is also true).

I want to let it go, but he really bothered me. I would never tell another cyclist how to bike in that situation, especially pulling up next to them on a busy road (another act that gives us cyclists a bad name). I see other cyclists fly through red lights all the time, and that's at their own risk. I am not entirely innocent, I probably should have braked and waited the half second for the light to turn green, but I know my commute, and what I did wasn't even remotely reckless, and it wasn't his place to scold me.

I can deal with drivers being mean to me, but I find it very discouraging when fellow bikers don't treat each other reasonably or try to give each other the benefit of the doubt.

Puppy on board!

With all the summer biking we plan to do, both me and my husband hated the idea of having to leave our new puppy at home while we went out and played in the sun. We debated many methods of having her come with us; basket (she grew out of the biggest ones quite quickly), baby trailer(ridiculous for a dog & bulky on roads), and so finally Gerritt thought up the brilliant idea of a backpack. It works great. She seems pretty comfortable, she's fastened in tightly so she can't jump out, and we've taken her on a few trial runs and she seems relaxed and calm. I think it's going to work! Plus it's great listening to people's reactions as we bike by. They always do a double take and then break out in a smile.

March travel

I wasn't home in Seattle much in the month of March due to work travel at the beginning of the month, and some vacation time at the end of the month. I did get to see how some other cities bike though.In San Francisco I only got to see a small part of the city, mostly downtown, since I was mainly there for work. I didn't see a ton of bikers downtown, but that's probably because DT San Fran is nuts. So many people, so many cars, tons of steep hills, and the roads looked pretty torn up too. I did manage to run along the Embarcadero, which is a big sidewalk/trail that runs along the water. It was lovely and warm, and while I mostly saw joggers, a few bikes passed by as well. Next time I'm in the city I hope I'll get a chance to see some more bike friendly areas, because I'm sure they are there. San Francisco is a huge city.

We were in Boston for a big convention, so I didn't see as much of this city as I would have liked either. I spent one morning jogging/sightseeing along the Charles River, around City Hall, and then through the Boston Commons. It was all very flat, which was great, and probably the reason I saw quite a few bikers. My favorite cyclist was an older man riding back and forth along one stretch of road with a radio attached to this handlebars. He was listening to the morning news at full volume. He was probably crazy, but there are worse ways to spend your time.

I always try to convince people that they don't need to join a gym to get in shape; that you have everything a gym has to offer right outside (it's way better for your body and it's free!), but I have to say Boston really contested that theory. Running in 20 degree weather was pretty painful, and with all the snow they get in the winter time, I'd probably jump on the gym bandwagon if I lived there too.