This morning, I took a train to Seattle to teach at a conference. It is one of the joys in life. I bike to the train station, work on a crossword as the scenery passes by, and then bike around Seattle which, by the way, seems to be made entirely out of hills.

Today, I entertained myself with a new distraction, the subtle art of the roll up. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a “roll up” is when a cyclist folds, or in some way “rolls” up, his or her pant leg to avoid it getting caught in the chain. Roll means fold. It’s so clear. A thoughtfully folded pant leg is a style I don’t often sport because my bakfiets has a chain guard. However, today I took a commuter bike on my trip to Seattle, and with 3 hours to kill on the train, I mastered some pretty awesome roll ups. Check them out. Let me know what you think.
 
TRADITIONAL: Nothing fancy. Textbook functionality for keeping the pant leg out of the chain assembly. The style most often used. More...

Sundays Parkways is a Portland Department of Transportation event where a loop of city roads are closed to vehicles to create a space for pedestrians, cyclists, and community booths.

The last Sundays Parkways happened on Father’s Day, when Portland closed off 7.5 miles of roadway in North Portland. I would like to thank Portland for doing so specifically for me, Daddy-Travis. The route was great, joining together several neighborhoods with events and sights along the way. Families on bikes were most notably seen, however, Sunday Parkways drew a wide audience of cyclists, walkers, and runners.   

As a family, we rode the loop that included Peninsula and Arbor Lodge parks. We pedaled past Peninsula, knowing that we would hit it on the way back so on we went. Throughout the route we rode over chalk drawings and statements of celebration for the day. More...

Cirque du Cycling, the Portland bike parade, came and went like…well…a parade. People lined up and down Mississippi Avenue to witness the spectacle of collected bike groups. Our family rode with a group of cargo/utility bike users. Aside from all being larger bikes, this group shares the belief that bikes are superb vehicles for moving large objects from place to place. James--seen in the photo below with his dog Louie who sits in a custom made box atop his Xtracycle--made our banner, which pretty much summed up our group’s thinking: WeGO Cargo! More...

The Wheel American Family explores living by dutch bike with three children. In this installment, the kids point out that it takes friendly drivers to make Portland a biking mecca.

A few days ago my eldest son, Kael, turned to me on our commute home and said, “Have you ever noticed how nice the bus drivers are?” I asked him what he meant. Kael went on to say, “Whenever we are at a super-duper busy street, they always stop to make sure we can pass.”

He’s right. They do. This is especially true when we are trying to cross Killingsworth. The traffic is so steady that a space rarely occurs. But just wait for the timely Tri-Met bus and we’re off. I spent the next few days attuned to my son’s observation and it was clear—the drivers in city vehicles are marvelously nice. Do they take a driver’s courtesy course to get employed by the city of Portland? I wonder.

Following are some examples of friendly moments that make the jungle more livable. More...

It is sunny as I write this, sitting on my porch, kids playing in the yard. It's one of the few days this week when the sun came out, giving rise to some hopeful feelings, and just in time. I just went through a riding slump.

Commuting by bike is hard. Well, the actual process of riding is not hard. However, there are variables that exacerbate the situation: weather and kids--and both are unpredictable. Our mornings were cold, sometimes icy. No matter what the time of day, the rain seemed to come just as we started, as if in defiance of my family’s desire to pedal. And even though my children want to ride our bike to and from school, those cold, wet, miserable days did take some cajoling.

I am through the slump and even with the unpredictable weather (and kids), commuting by bike is still simple. A basic existence. More...

WHAT has wheels, and takes kids to school, BUT is not a car? WHAT bus can your kids ride to school, BUT is not a city bus?  Give up? Well one has been going strong in EcoMetro city Portland since September 2008. The answer is a "bike bus". A bike bus is a group of people who bike to a location, picking up new "passengers" along the way. And just like a city bus, a bike bus has set stops and a schedule. Here's how to create your own.

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As an adult who has chosen to commute by bike, I can make the decision without much complaint or discussion. However, it is a bit different for kids who are often pulled into commuting by bike. After all, they are kids, and as such, I need to appeal to kid logic. When I pick up my kids from school, I have an after school snack with me so they can munch during the bike ride home. Additionally, we play games. One such game is an alphabet game. Aside from the educational benefits (sorry, I teach middle school), it usually lasts the whole ride home. More...

“There is no way you are taking my kid home for a play date on your bike,” said the mother, as a humorous aside when we were talking about organizing some play dates.

Her comment was followed by a tense quiet that lasted too long for the both of us.

The bike to which she was referring is my family’s Bakfiets (box bike).

She noticed the silence and my lack of response. Thinking back to that moment, I probably had an incredulous look on my face. Frankly, I was stunned. I did not know what my next course of action would be. So I stood frozen, dad-in-headlights. Her comment was said playfully, as if to make the sting less, but it stayed with me.

A few weeks later, I shared this situation with a parent who has biked kids for many years, and she responded with just the bit of urban fact that I needed. More...

It was last week. I was making my way from Portland to Vancouver, Washington, my legs pumping strong and powerful, cruising over the pavement. I was behind Delta Park, the last section of road before the exchange to the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River. I felt the crisp fall day coming to a close as the sun set. I heard the familiar Zzzzzhhhh of my tires on the road.  However, I did not see the cafeteria tray-sized pothole in the road.

The front tire went in, klunk-pop, and due to my speed, the back tire followed right in, kerchunk-pop! Two flat tires. And quite jarring to boot. I hit the pothole hard.

Every biker is bound to encounter a flat. Here's how to be prepared, cope, report the pothole, and continue on. More...

Bringing in the new year often means reusing some of the objects from the old year, a constant cycle. This is a good thing. In my travels through the streets, I have seen a number of great reCYCLES. Here are my favorite reCYCLES for the 2009 year . . . . 

#1 ANYTHING WITH DENIM Denim is versatile, strong, and is easily found. Pictured are my Carry-alls, made from a repurposed pair of my son’s overalls. Carry-alls work like a glove box, holding anything you need while still riding. I can easily store my gloves and scarf partway through the ride, or have snacks on hand for the kids. My cell phone sits within reach in the top, center pocket. In the back of the Carry-alls is a strap to affix it to the handlebar tube. Another denim creation is a cellphone/iPod carrying case for my backpack strap made from a pants pocket. What is my next flight-of-fancy? I am thinking pants-panniers. Make a pannier out of the top part of a pair of pants and you have a flexible, washable, and easy to store pannier. More...