Burien gets some nice Racks!

Of course Rob and Company sponsored a bike rack!

July 29th- a day for the history books... Burien finally got bike racks. Now people can shop downtown in our fair city, by bike and have places to park and lock their bikes!

Yours truly was there to show my support ( and snag some free snacks)

No... "Flight of the Valkyries" was not playing as I rode up on the Orange Crush... that would have been cool~

A good size crowd showed up for the ribbon cutting

The cool Cruiser that was raffled off... One number away from mine... I was robbed!!!

For more info on the bike racks and pics from the unveiling go to The Wabi bike rack page

MAY IS BIKE MONTH!!!

Posted as a public service on where to go to get your ride on from Red Tricycle Seattle.com...
Bicycling Events
The Cascade Bicycle Club along with Bike Works, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Totcycle, and other Seattle-area organizations have put together a variety of family cycling events to celebrate Bike Month as well as events to keep you and your family ridin’ throughout the spring and summer months. Events include:
Bike to School Month
May 1 – 31, 2013
Both you and your child (and your child’s school!) can join the Cascade Bicycle Club for a month or day challenge! Students sign up at their participating school for Bike to School Month and earn prizes by completing as many bike trips as they can during the month. Since every child cannot cycle safely to school, trips for Bike to School Month can include any trip made by bicycle including sports, music lessons, trips to the library, and play dates. Bonus: The elementary school that makes the most total round-trips will be featured in the Cascade Courier.
Bike to School Day
May 8, 2013
Rain or shine, strap on your bike helmet, dust off your wheels, and participate in Bike to School Day! This event, sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club, encourages students to ride to school and help reduce car traffic and air pollution! By participating with your kids, you can make a difference for the environment and for your health!

Kids Bike Rodeo
May 11, 2013 from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Join CleanScapes, Bike Works, and Compass Outdoor Adventures at the CleanScapes store in Gillman Village for a free helmet fitting, bike safety and handling demos, a fix-a-flat workshop, and a super-fun geo-cache ride! Plus, donate your old bikes and earn a chance to win a variety of prizes!
Ballard Street Party
May 31, 2013 from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
At this annual block party, celebrate National Bike to Month with thousands of other cyclists from around the city! In partnership with Seattle Summer Streets, the folks at Cascade Bicycle Club will transform the heart of Ballard into a huge bike block party! Activities will include bike art stations for kids, free food and beverage samples, free bike tune-ups and vendor displays, plus a bike fashion show, games, giveaways, music and drawings for cool swag.
Kidical Mass
May date TBD
This super-fun, safe, and easy-going family bike ride is designed for kiddos of all ages and abilities! Kidical Mass is organized by a biking-fool-father with too many bikes who writes a collection of posts, along with photos and links (about biking with kids) on his blog Totcycle. The goal of these rides is to educate bike-curious parents about ways to bicycle with kids, help kids learn to ride safely in the city, and increase the visibility of family biking on Seattle streets. The rides usually involve a mix of calm streets and bike trails, and often finish with a park adventure. All manner of bikes and high-occupancy velos are welcome to participate!
Kohl’s Helmet Safety Program at Seattle’s Children’s
Ongoing April through September
Does your kiddo need a new bike helmet or multi-sport helmet? Make sure to check out the upcoming helmet fittings and giveaways courtesy of Seattle Children’s Hospital and Kohl’s Cares for Kids. Wearers must be present and be fitted to receive a helmet; quantities are limited.

Bike Racks

I thought I would post some unusual Bike Rack pictures... you know a city could combine these with an Arts program to kill two birds with one stone... I included some suggestions as to where they might go best!

 Outside a Race Track?

 Outside a Bakery?

 Outside A coffee shop?

 Near a park?

 Outside an Office Supply Store?

 A Public Park?

 Outside a Music Store?

  Outside a bike shop?

 General Shopping Parking?

Outside a pet store?

Riding with the Wabi

or maybe I should have called this "Robbie Wabi". Anyway I left the pooch at home and took a ride with WABI a group in Burien advocating Bicycle/Pedestrian awareness. I should have asked someone when picking out my bike if it makes my butt look big, but whatever. The video was shot by my friend Michael Brunk, an area photographer who has all sorts of neat toys like bike mounted cameras. I am the fat guy on the orange bike.
 

The City Car

From Spain, we have the newest entry into small electric urban vehicles - "The City Car", a car that folds itself up and turns around. Very Cool!

You can call me Mr. Begley!

My new car? Hopefully!

Well it looks like I am a step closer to my dream of an Electric Vehicle. I put a reservation deposit on a Mistsubishi I EV (MiEV) ES in raspberry red, at the local Mitsubishi Dealer. If all goes well I should have my new car in December/January. First, I have to have the Geek Squad come out and do a site survey for the charging unit. And get rid of some cars I already own. It makes me sad that my faithful Suzuki Swift is one of them, though. Oh well. After that it is just wait for the car... then I can pretend my name is Ed Begley Jr!

Personal Evolution

Now I am not getting in to argument of Creationism versus Darwinism, but rather talking about my own personal evolution. I am thinking (brace yourselves)… of selling my ’79 MGB and my 66 Plymouth.
These cars were great fun, if not a bit of a money pit, and a lot of work. But my tastes and interests are evolving. I am more interested in Bicycles, electric bikes and scooters, and walking. A bit more healthy and such. And a hell of a lot cheaper. I have always prided myself that my “classic” cars get great mileage and such, but in today’s economy, with the State, County and City trying to make money by adding users fees and such it is getting to be a bit much. And I don’t drive them as much as I Should or use to. Sometimes you just have to say good bye to childish things. (Big sentiment considering I am thinking of giving them up for bicycles!) But then I have to consider the following… the financial and environmental foot print keeping these vehicles, and do I really enjoy them anymore? And if I am being honest, I would have to say I don’t. I really desire the space in my garage, and I really don’t look forward to spending a whole day under a vehicle anymore. In short I am getting older. And I am in need of new toys. Time to get rid of the old!

Scooters Catching On!!!

Fido... looking sharp!

King 5 in Seattle did a report a few months back on the new popularity of scooters (I can attest that Scooters are fun transporters), watch to the end of the report to see FIDO, an new electric scooter being developed here in Seattle

Happiness is a Big Woody!!!

Occasionally, I furry into things exotic and different. Things like Wooden Bike Frames and such. Sigh. I always wanted a nice Big, shiny, sleek woody. Automobile I mean. Now they have woody bikes! I found these really neat bikes with wooden frames on the interwebs. A guy at work has one of these Renovo's. Too pricey?

How about a pair of wooden fenders for your old Schwinn or Huffy then? New look at a fraction of the price. Of course you could always DIY it ... that is, if you're this guy:

Process: Woodgrain Bike Frames from Etsy on Vimeo.

How to Load a Bike on the Bus

Don't be afraid of loading your bike on a bus... very simple just watch the video~~
Loading a bike on the front of a King County Metro Bus can be very intimidating on the first try. Standing in front of a growling, huge bus while being watched by every bus passenger as well as a driver who needs to keep on schedule is not the best place to learn the procedure.

B-Town Bike Fair

Well another rainy Bike Fair in Burien. Romeo looked like a drowned rat, Some how I managed to stay dry until we started to break down the booths at the end... I forgot those canopies hold water. I even got to try out an E-Bike from Alki Bike and Board... and fell madly in love with it.

All in all though a very good turn out for our little town. Lots of kids did some obstacle courses. There was even a trike course for the littlest ones! And a whole lot of people got outfitted with free helmets, donated by local medical companies.

One of the most popular features was from Outdoors For All, a very cool organization that promotes outdoor recreation for the physically disabled, and their collection of handicapable bikes.

Of course the seven seater conference bike was popular as well!

One of the most popular items at the fair was the 7-Seattler "Conference Bike from the Dutch Bike Company in Seattle.

Of course the Unicyclists were popular as well as Local celebrity Manuela Horn , AGT's "Yodeling Dominatrix", who showed up on her "Austrian powered" buggy

Register your Bike today

I recently discovered the National Bike Registry. Very cool- for the cost of $1 per year ($10 covers your bike for 10 years)you can register your bicycle to prove ownership, should it get stolen. The NBR is run by the “Take a bite out of crime” folks so it is "McGruff approved". And from their website:

"Many stolen bikes are recovered by police but there is no way to identify the owner. With the NBR service, you can register your bicycle by serial number in our national database and apply the special label you receive to your bike. If your bike is ever stolen, it can be identified and you can prove ownership.
Law Enforcement anywhere can access our database, advise us that your bike has been recovered, and you can be notified immediately."

Kind of like a dog tag for your bike. And there is a family plan,($25 to cover up to five bikes at the same residence for 10 years) Making it more affordable to cover Junior and Missy.

So maybe it is time to take a bite out of crime!