hiyee kid!
awesome socal weather..
riding off into the sunset
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
an informal count
who says that women ride less than men? ok, a lot of people do, but this is what i gathered as i was scoping out items for scenes from the bikey lane from this morning's commute. the following numbers were counted at stops at certain intersections along my route. meaning there was enough time for us to stop and for me to count before moving along with traffic. this occurred just before 9am this first monday morning of 2010.
1. page & octavia: 3 women; 1 man
2. van ness & market: 3 women; 1 man
3. 7th & market: 4 women; 2 men
4. 5th & market: 4 women; 3 men
5. 4th & market: 3 women; 3 men.
this sort of interested me as i started really counting the numbers. i think i may keep this up and see how my very informal take on gathering data & numbers goes.
do you see a significant amount of either gender on your workday commutes? are you noticing any changes?
1. page & octavia: 3 women; 1 man
2. van ness & market: 3 women; 1 man
3. 7th & market: 4 women; 2 men
4. 5th & market: 4 women; 3 men
5. 4th & market: 3 women; 3 men.
this sort of interested me as i started really counting the numbers. i think i may keep this up and see how my very informal take on gathering data & numbers goes.
do you see a significant amount of either gender on your workday commutes? are you noticing any changes?
Waltz Of The Bikes
This is a little movie put together by Mike Rubbo over at Situp-Cycle.com. He is the man that did the films about Sue Abbott and her fight to overturn a ticket she received while riding helmet-less in Australia. What I love about this film is the sheer mundane nature of it. No one in it is remarkable. Each person lives next door to each of us. There is absolutely nothing in it that could not happen anywhere in the world, if only we chose to have it be this way. Everything is only as hard as we make it, so maybe watching this will help us all to try to make things easier and nudge us to just get out and try a new way of living. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Neighborhood Bike Share
Our latest contribution is in! On New Year's Day no less. I love this story from Travis who blogs about bikes and family (great combo, I think). A bike with history for a whole neighborhood. The story is opportune as we just put the first bicycle, that Cameron, Úna and Declan all learned to ride on, out on the corner on Christmas day for someone to pick up and give to a child who needed it. I will never know where it went, but I can think of it the way this little blue bike has lived out its life- being loved by children all over the neighborhood : )
My eldest son, Kael, found the next owner for the little blue neighborhood bike—Nick and his son, Cale. And as it turns out, we know Nick although we did not know it. His wife knows us through school and being that our sons have similar names, the hook-up was inevitable. Have you noticed how often people in Portland mention the small world thing?
My sons were down the street at a friend’s house helping with what Kael calls a “free yard sale”. This is when you have items out on your median strip for anyone to grab for free. Nick stopped to ask if there were any small bikes. This is when my son spoke up.
“Sorry, there are no small bikes here, but I have one at home that you can have.” So up the street they went. This is when I got involved. I met Nick and he told me that his son is ready to move on up to a big bike with training wheels, giving up his tricycle.
Nick, you came to the right place and I am pleased that my generous son was around at the right time. You see, we were looking for the next owner of this little blue bike. This bike has had several users.
Forrest was the first user. He lives two houses down from us. He is the patriarch of the neighborhood boys and is going into 9th grade this year at Grant HS and will commute to school by bike. His bike is not blue, nor is it little, but his everyday use of bikes is likely connected to that little blue bike. Forrest learned to ride two-wheeled style on this bike, on a hill, in Nehalem Bay State Park.
From here the bike went to Palmer across the street, the eldest son of that family. Palmer tore around the bike and would ride up the drive, and then down the steps. Over and over.
Then back across the street to Mason, Forrest’s younger brother. At age four, Mason insisted that he was ready to ride this bike without training wheels. With his brother’s encouraging words as he ran beside him, “He’s riding! Mom! He’s riding”, Mason rode the bike off.
Next, the bike came to us and we learn of its history. Our oldest son, Kael, was especially fond of catching what he believed to be huge amounts of air off a bike jump.
Bennett, Palmer’s younger brother, gets it next so across the street it goes. Bennett takes good care of the bike and rides it strong, with intent.
Back to us. Soren’s turn. He likes the training wheels and even though he has the skill, he is reluctant to give them up. In the fall of that year, I take the training wheels off and he quickly takes to two-wheel motion.
Now, the bike has the unique situation of staying with us for two children. Asa, our youngest, and the last user in our family, rides the bike. The original training wheels have flat spots by this point so my father gets new ones. Less than a month ago, Asa, age 4, rides off without training wheels. His oldest brother, Kael, taught him one Saturday morning.
And now Cale. You are the 8th user of which I know.
And the great thing, the topper, the twist to this tale, is that this bike came from the Community Cycle Center, a neighborhood bike shop who, among many other things, refurbishes bikes and sells them at a low cost to increase the access people have to the benefits of bikes. Who knows how many users your bike truly had, Cale.
So Cale, newest user of the neighborhood blue bike, enjoy and many happy hours biking around. And Nick, when the bike is handed down through your sons and is no longer of use, pass it on.
It would be great to think that this bike continues to bring youthful freedom.
My eldest son, Kael, found the next owner for the little blue neighborhood bike—Nick and his son, Cale. And as it turns out, we know Nick although we did not know it. His wife knows us through school and being that our sons have similar names, the hook-up was inevitable. Have you noticed how often people in Portland mention the small world thing?
My sons were down the street at a friend’s house helping with what Kael calls a “free yard sale”. This is when you have items out on your median strip for anyone to grab for free. Nick stopped to ask if there were any small bikes. This is when my son spoke up.
“Sorry, there are no small bikes here, but I have one at home that you can have.” So up the street they went. This is when I got involved. I met Nick and he told me that his son is ready to move on up to a big bike with training wheels, giving up his tricycle.
Nick, you came to the right place and I am pleased that my generous son was around at the right time. You see, we were looking for the next owner of this little blue bike. This bike has had several users.
Forrest was the first user. He lives two houses down from us. He is the patriarch of the neighborhood boys and is going into 9th grade this year at Grant HS and will commute to school by bike. His bike is not blue, nor is it little, but his everyday use of bikes is likely connected to that little blue bike. Forrest learned to ride two-wheeled style on this bike, on a hill, in Nehalem Bay State Park.
From here the bike went to Palmer across the street, the eldest son of that family. Palmer tore around the bike and would ride up the drive, and then down the steps. Over and over.
Then back across the street to Mason, Forrest’s younger brother. At age four, Mason insisted that he was ready to ride this bike without training wheels. With his brother’s encouraging words as he ran beside him, “He’s riding! Mom! He’s riding”, Mason rode the bike off.
Next, the bike came to us and we learn of its history. Our oldest son, Kael, was especially fond of catching what he believed to be huge amounts of air off a bike jump.
Bennett, Palmer’s younger brother, gets it next so across the street it goes. Bennett takes good care of the bike and rides it strong, with intent.
Back to us. Soren’s turn. He likes the training wheels and even though he has the skill, he is reluctant to give them up. In the fall of that year, I take the training wheels off and he quickly takes to two-wheel motion.
Now, the bike has the unique situation of staying with us for two children. Asa, our youngest, and the last user in our family, rides the bike. The original training wheels have flat spots by this point so my father gets new ones. Less than a month ago, Asa, age 4, rides off without training wheels. His oldest brother, Kael, taught him one Saturday morning.
And now Cale. You are the 8th user of which I know.
And the great thing, the topper, the twist to this tale, is that this bike came from the Community Cycle Center, a neighborhood bike shop who, among many other things, refurbishes bikes and sells them at a low cost to increase the access people have to the benefits of bikes. Who knows how many users your bike truly had, Cale.
So Cale, newest user of the neighborhood blue bike, enjoy and many happy hours biking around. And Nick, when the bike is handed down through your sons and is no longer of use, pass it on.
It would be great to think that this bike continues to bring youthful freedom.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year, Everybody!!
From all the women behind this blog and our friends y family, we wish you a fabulous new year + decade!!! bring it on 2010, we've got grease, tubes and lots of roads to pedal! -♥CYLRABettes
Where Am I Going?
We have been riding around in a few places lately. Every place has its own flavor. Every place tells its own story.
Maiden Lane, San Francisco.
Maiden Lane, San Francisco.
Owensmouth Ave., Chatsworth, Los Angeles.
North Park, San Diego
JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park, SF
Great Highway, San Francisco
It's a new year. Where are you going? What does your road look like?
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