tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28922230898448685502024-03-13T12:19:46.324-07:00A Most Civilized ConveyanceThe bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.
~Iris Murdochinkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-36427790140498856622013-03-08T03:37:00.000-08:002013-03-08T03:37:09.591-08:00Moving ForwardI am so glad that I wrote the previous post; without it, I would not be able to share with you all how much better things have gotten.<br />
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The kids sleep. Jasper dresses himself. The magazine is humming along-- finances remain tight (<a href="http://stealingtimemag.com/subscribe" target="_blank">subscribe!</a>) but our procedures and relationships are more and more streamlined.<br />
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We are on the bike more, though have also been relying on transit for many of our adventures. And we have settled into a nice routine: Wednesdays we go to the Central Library and stay downtown all day, Thursdays are for music lessons and the park, Fridays we pedal up to NoPo to see our friends up there.<br />
<br />
It's great.<br />
<br />
So, I'm shaking it all up.<br />
<br />
Change is inevitable, and one thing that has become very clear is that Jasper is more-than-ready for preschool, our pleasant routine notwithstanding. Heck, Kes's favorite story is about "my first day of school." And me? I'm ready for a full-time job.<br />
<br />
I never intended to be home with the kids long-term, though it was fortunate that our circumstances allowed me to stay home through their baby-dom. But Kestrel is less and less a baby every day: she is weaned and working on potty training. She says all sorts of startling things. She runs, and is working on jumping. She's a full-fledged toddler.<br />
<br />
What's next?<br />
<br />
The kids are enrolled at a Montessori School on the west side with a start date between mid-April and early-May. I am applying for jobs like a madwoman, with a focus on positions in Project Management, Corporate Communications, or High-Level Administrative work.<br />
<br />
If the fates are on my side, by fall you will be hearing about the travails of dual-career car-free parents.<br />
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Am I open to getting a car if my dream job demands it? Of course. But I would love to find a way to go on as we are: cheerfully multi-modal, and car- (and insurance- and gas- and maintenance-) payment free.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-79748060305534868322012-12-13T00:39:00.003-08:002012-12-13T00:39:27.590-08:00ChallengesIt has been an exciting, challenging, difficult few months.<br />
<br />
I founded a magazine, a new literary magazine for parents. It is called <a href="http://stealingtimemag.com/">Stealing Time</a>, and it is wonderful. If you want to read about parenting without being told how to parent; if you want to share in someone else's experience without being told what to buy; if you want to consider the "and" rather than always the "either-or" of parenting life; if you just like really good stories-- <a href="http://stealingtimemag.com/subscribe" target="_blank">go and subscribe.</a> You'll love it.<br />
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But the reason I'm posting tonight is this: I've been riding less. Feeling slow and wheezy when I do. Gaining weight. Losing muscle.<br />
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We still don't have a car, and it's not like I'm driving more. Instead: we've been leaving the house less. Having fewer adventures.<br />
<br />
The magazine is a huge amount of work, and I have a limited amount of childcare to manage it. The rest gets done at night. Kes isn't sleeping through the night, and Jasper has been having a bad night at least once a week as well. My lifelong insomnia has been acting up. In short: I've been getting catastrophically too little sleep. And one of the places that has been affected by that is my physical well-being, and my ability to be a super cool bike mama.<br />
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At the same time, the kids are hard right now, too. Kes is adamant about having exactly the right clothes on before we go out (at 17 months!) and will scream and cry if she doesn't have the *right* hat, the *right* shoes, and so on. And Jasper is an angry nudist; we fight every morning about changing his diaper, about putting on a shirt, about putting on pants, and so on-- not to mention, before going out, having the same fight about coats and hats and gloves and raingear. I've taken to letting him leave the house without, and shoving them into my bag for if he wants them later. So far, he's held his ground, and hasn't yet caught his death. But all of those things make leaving the house harder, and paired with my fatigue and short temper, are sometimes enough to keep us indoors altogether.<br />
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I'm not writing to whine, I swear. I know that it is hard right now and I know that it will get better. I have been thinking about enlisting some of my kickass fellow bike moms in getting my ass back in gear, but am afraid that I'm not up for even that, yet. I am so, so tired.<br />
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I know that, for folks just getting into this bikey world, it can seem very all-or-nothing. Some people simply "are" bike people, with boundless energy and strength and tolerance for the cold-and-wet; and some people aren't. I'm writing to say: It's fuzzier than that. Being bike-based doesn't mean I always want to ride. Or that I'm always in top form. Or that the bike is always easy.<br /><br />But I know that a lot of these challenges would still be challenges if we got around differently, except: I'd be getting even less exercise. I'd probably be having even less fun. It would be harder to connect with my kids when we *are* out and about.<br />
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I love my bike, even when I'm too tired to ride it. And I hope to be back in form soon. Kes's sleep is better and better. The magazine is creeping back from the edge of a financial cliff (and will do even better if you <a href="http://stealingtimemag.com/subscribe" target="_blank">subscribe</a>!). And the bike will be there, waiting, when I feel more myself again. There is a path from here to there. But right now, it's just hard.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(now, to go get some sleep...)</span>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-65840219467820516902012-04-14T23:53:00.001-07:002012-04-14T23:53:22.906-07:00New Yuba Setup, April 2012<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/7078939109/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7083/7078939109_8c8d96b54c.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/7078939109/">New Yuba Setup, April 2012</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/">Civilized Conveyance</a>.</span></div><p>Today was a big day in our family bike world: we implemented two new kid-carrying configurations. The first is a new IT Chair for Dave's Brompton, which lets him carry Jasper, but I'll let him post on that little adventure. <br /><br />And the second: the end of the boxes on the Yuba, at least for now. Kes is big enough to ride up front, so Jasper moved to a Yepp Maxi on the deck. I'm sad to lose such a distinctive part of their babydom, but glad to be 50 pounds lighter on the bike.<br /><br />Since there are no babies in our immediate future, I think we'll be selling the boxes. Let me know if you're interested!</p>melanthiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09246040307098563553noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-50142195034479850222012-03-07T23:28:00.001-08:002012-03-07T23:28:27.714-08:00Flying<div style="margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="375" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4d34099e40&photo_id=6963594337&flickr_show_info_box=true"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4d34099e40&photo_id=6963594337&flickr_show_info_box=true" height="375" width="500"></embed></object><br/><span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/6963594337/">49</a> a video by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/">Civilized Conveyance</a> on Flickr.</span></div><p>Jasper is an airplane.<br /><br />Nota bene: it is never recommended that you leave your kid in a kid seat when you're not at the bike. This is not safe. Do as I say, not as I do, and all that.<br /><br />P.S. Wheeeeee!</p>melanthiushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09246040307098563553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-21405128927721289112012-02-29T21:11:00.004-08:002012-03-02T12:36:55.208-08:00Biking in Labor“Hey babe??”<br />
“Yeah?’<br />
“If everything goes ok, I think I’d like to ride to the birth center.”<br />
“You sure?”<br />
“I think so. If everything’s normal. Yeah.”<br />
“Ok.”<br />
<br />
This conversation, held around my thirty-sixth week of pregnancy, might strike some as a bit… insane. While we have no car, neighbors and friends had made it quite clear that they were available day or night to drive us. A taxi had taken me to have my first baby on a sodden Thanksgiving morning just nineteen months before—no reason not to call them again. Nonetheless, at forty weeks and four days I lurched onto my bike at a few minutes past five and, best friend at my side, pedaled through the light chill of the midsummer morning to go have a baby. And I didn’t want it any other way.<br />
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My contractions were a little less than five minutes apart. At a mile and a quarter with moderate hills, the ride would take about 20 minutes. That’s four contractions to deal with on the road, I reasoned. Maybe five. Easy.<br />
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I got on the bike immediately following a contraction, but the next one came sooner than expected. There was no one else on the road, and as I felt the sensation crest I breathed deeply, thought about the rotation of the pedals, and spun effortlessly as I let it move through me. Barely a waver. One down. My husband trailed us on the cargo bike with the birth bag.<br />
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Two more contractions passed in the same way, and then I saw the hill ahead. There are bigger hills in the city, steeper and longer ones, but this one was plenty daunting under the circumstances. I stopped at a stop sign, and started a contraction as I started rolling again. I reached the base of the hill just as that one faded. Slowly, deliberately, I started to climb. I found my lowest gear. I controlled my breathing. I spun to the top. As the road leveled, a fifth contraction overwhelmed me. I wobbled toward a parked car, and my friend gasped as I regained my course. And then we were there.<br />
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Hey! I rode my bike to the birth center! Should I hurry inside before the next contraction comes, or pause for a victorious picture? Pride won out, but barely, and the picture that we snapped bears witness to that next contraction. Five hours later, Kestrel Gayle Proctor came into the world, born underwater, sweet and healthy and ravenous.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I’d ridden my bike throughout pregnancy. I’d toted my toddler around town most days. I’d raced the cyclocross season through my first trimester, battling nausea and fatigue for the chance to get muddy and sweaty in a field of beginner women laughing and cursing and hauling ass. I’d planned and led Kidical Mass rides, playing mother duck to fleets of slow-moving two- and three-wheeled ducklings as we explored the city and asserted the right of kids and families to a place on the roads. So with all that behind me, why not ride my bike in labor?</div><br />
Barring bad luck, pregnancy is a time of health and vigor. A time that, in spite of incessant hunger or poor appetite or relentless heartburn or weeks of nausea, can be spent fully inhabiting one’s body. Forces tell us it is not: doctors and parents and partners stress our fragility and vulnerability, insisting that pregnancy should be defined by a long list of things to be avoided, sacrificed, and feared. They instruct healthy women to “take it easy” and engineer drugged labors or dangerous surgeries. They rob us of a chance to know and embrace our vital power as women. They are the voices of a society that, for all its progress, still sees women as weak. A society invested in keeping us from finding our strength.<br />
<br />
Like natural childbirth, riding a bike for transportation is not best for all women. For those who need them, I’m grateful that there are hospitals and doctors and NICUs, just as I am glad that people who need cars and buses and taxis to get around can use them. But I’m also grateful not to have needed a hospital to give birth, and I am grateful each day that I don’t need an engine to get from here to there. Empowering women to take control of their bodies and their births improves their lives. So does empowering them to be their own engines.<br />
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The dominant transportation paradigm robs healthy women of a daily chance to know their full strength, just as the dominant birthing paradigm keeps them from discovering in themselves the unique power required to deliver a baby. In both cases, the state of “normal” is one that emphasizes weakness: an overdependence on technology to do what we are told we cannot. I reject those paradigms. Riding my bike every day is a choice that celebrates the fact that I can, that I am healthy and strong and fierce. In perhaps this respect only, Kestrel’s birth day was no different from any other.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZ3teTZSHGI/T08Ewz7R7AI/AAAAAAAAAE4/X6m5RP3t1Gw/s1600/IMGP2970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZ3teTZSHGI/T08Ewz7R7AI/AAAAAAAAAE4/X6m5RP3t1Gw/s320/IMGP2970.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
---<br />
<br />
<a href="http://takingthelane.com/zine/?openstorepage=product_det:60864">"Our Bodies, Our Bikes"</a> is an issue of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elly_Blue.jpg">Elly Blue's</a> <a href="http://takingthelane.com/"><i>Taking the Lane </i>zine</a>. This essay was first published there. If you haven't seen them, I highly encourage you to check out the whole <i>Taking the Lane</i> set. <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ellyblue/taking-the-lane-6-lines-on-the-map">The newest issue just got funding on Kickstarter</a>!<br />
---<br />
<br />
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(Thank you to Kori Beyer for riding along, for attending the labor, for being wonderful... and for the photos above.)inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-4347763834206565022012-02-27T09:35:00.004-08:002012-02-29T23:36:46.640-08:00Donut Pajama Birthday Ride!The thing about house guests is that you want to be able to go places together. As we'd prefer to go by bike, it is most fun if our house guests can bike too. This is easy enough for average-sized adults: we have spare bikes, locks, and helmets that they can use. But for the very tall or very small, things get a bit more tricky.<br />
<br />
We had house guests with 8-month-old twins last week. They were on a longer multi-modal trip, including Amtrak from their home in Mountain View to Seattle and then back down to Portland and a lot of public transport-- they didn't even bring car seats along, which I think was a pretty bold move. We borrowed a Winther Wallaroo from <a href="http://splendidcycles.com/">Splendid Cycles</a>, and they came out for <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/">Kidical Mass</a> one day, then for my birthday pajama-donut group ride the next. It was exciting to get to share bikey Portland life with them.<br />
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We also had to borrow a tall-seatpost Bike Friday for the other adult in the couple, as they are both WAY taller than we are. Fortunately, our downstairs neighbor could help us out.<br />
<div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907309359/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/6907309359_cc8ab15ee3.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907309359/">IMG_4353</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/">airship_flyer</a>.</span></div><div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907243957/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/6907243957_5b109f6de8.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907243957/">IMG_4292</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/">airship_flyer</a>.</span></div><br />
<div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907222937/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6907222937_0677348c12.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907222937/">IMG_4281</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/">airship_flyer</a>.</span></div><br />
<div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907214361/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6907214361_35880787d9.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907214361/">IMG_4277</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/">airship_flyer</a>.</span></div><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907306275/" title="IMG_4350 by airship_flyer, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4350" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7038/6907306275_ef9165d78c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippettigrew/6907263975/" title="IMG_4307 by airship_flyer, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4307" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/6907263975_fa6cd74d3f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
Thanks to the always-charming Kip Pettigrew for child-wrangling, pajama-rocking, and these lovely photos.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-32553902238620597072011-09-02T00:20:00.000-07:002011-09-02T00:22:52.706-07:00Kestrel Gayle ProctorIs she here? Oh yes, 8 weeks tomorrow. Did she come home by pedicab? Yup, Ryan Hashagen of Portland Pedicabs once again pedaled us and our baby home. Has she ridden in the Yuba? Yep, first ride was up to see Trek in the Park, at 3 weeks 2 days. Is life a beautiful, chaotic mess? Oh, oh, oh. Yes it is.<br />
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inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-32291813720314909862011-05-06T20:46:00.000-07:002011-05-06T20:46:19.864-07:00Oh, Yeah...Sharp-eyed <a href="http://fullhandsx3.blogspot.com/">Sara</a> noticed the elephant in the last post-- I haven't blogged yet that I'm pregnant! Of course, it's pretty hard to hide if you are actually anywhere near me... I'm well into the third trimester. Baby's due July 4.<br />
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In other major news... we bought a house, and moved into it by bike. I'll write about how our wonderful community came out to schlep our stuff soon(ish), but until then, check out <a href="http://civiacycles.com/blog/post/portland_isnt_just_an_avenue_in_minneapolis/">Andy's post & pictures</a> over on the Civia Cycles blog.<br />
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It's been a busy year so far here at chez Civilized Conveyance. Life will resume it's regularly scheduled order... eventually. Hell, who am I kidding. We may never see normal again. Thanks for hanging around while we figure things out.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-9020547090363848782011-05-05T22:07:00.000-07:002011-05-05T22:07:16.254-07:00My Portland LifeUpon realizing that I had left our Ergo carrier at the <a href="http://www.almamidwifery.com/">midwives</a>', I hopped on the bike with Jasper and pedaled up the <a href="http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=50518">neighborhood greenway</a> to pick it up. From there, it was only a few blocks to <a href="http://voodoodoughnut.com/">Voodoo Donuts</a>, so we made a snack run for donuts & milk. Then we pedaled back toward home, stopping to buy fair-trade, organic cotton sheets from our <a href="http://www.miradorcommunitystore.com/about.html">locally-owned homegoods store</a> to fit our new <a href="http://egrd.net/missioncraft/index.html">locally-built bed</a> and <a href="http://www.mattresslot.com/mattress_lot/Welcome.html">locally-fabricated mattress, to be delivered by bike</a> tomorrow afternoon.<br />
<br />
Aaah, Portland life. Today, living the dream... or perhaps, the cliche? Still, loving it.<br />
<br />
But beware <a href="http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1919">Portlanditis</a>, gentle readers. I can't be held responsible should you be ground into hipster chum-- the secret, of course, to delicious northwest salmon.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-89938958236852823972011-02-19T23:27:00.000-08:002011-02-19T23:27:48.263-08:00Kidical Mass PDX: Bikes & Banjos, Pedals and PuppetsFebruary's <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/">Kidical Mass</a> ride felt very un-February, indeed: beautiful sunshine, temps in the 50s, and a great turnout. 50-ish riders left from <a href="http://taborspace.org/">TaborSpace</a> this afternoon, and together we meandered from North Tabor to Laurelhurst Park, then down to Sunnyside School Park (where there was a sweet pig, Poppy, and chickens to visit!), and then back to TaborSpace for a great puppet show by the <a href="http://www.mudeyepuppets.org/">Mudeye Puppet Company </a>about reducing waste, and a hand-clapping, sing-alonging banjo performance by <a href="http://www.squaredancepaul.com/pb.php">Paul Silveria, aka Professor Banjo</a>. And thanks to donations from <a href="http://clevercycles.com/">Clever Cycles</a> and our new status as part of <a href="http://www.biketrainpdx.org/">Portland's Bike Trains program</a>, we were able to offer super-discounted tickets!<br />
<br />
Along with us on the ride were <a href="http://www.repbencannon.com/">Rep. Ben Cannon</a> and <a href="http://www.tobiasread.com/">Rep. Tobias Read</a>, with kids in tow, who were great to chat with about kid bike bans, local speed laws, trailer safety standard bills, and other burning kids-on-bikes issues. It was great to have them riding with us, and I hope we'll see them on future rides!<br />
<br />
It was also lovely to have Julian Davies (of <a href="http://totcycle.com/">totcycle.com</a>) and his sweet bikey kiddos Drew and Luc, down from Seattle. They were trying out a Nihola trike and seemed to very much enjoy it-- I'm sure Julian will write up a full review sometime soon.<br />
<br />
Ben McCloud's photos from the ride are on our facebook page here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50071&id=190167827674698">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50071&id=190167827674698</a>. I'll post more as I find them!inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-8392081705652970772011-01-12T22:20:00.000-08:002011-01-13T01:06:18.245-08:00HB 2228There is proposed legislation in Oregon to prohibit carrying children under six on bicycles or in bike trailers. The text of the legislation is here: <a href="http://www.leg.state.or.us/11reg/measures/hb2200.dir/hb2228.intro.html">http://www.leg.state.or.us/11reg/measures/hb2200.dir/hb2228.intro.html</a>. BikePortland's amazingly quickly obtained interview with Rep. Greenlick is here: <a href="http://bikeportland.org/2011/01/12/rep-greenlick-says-safety-concerns-prompted-child-biking-bill-45890">http://bikeportland.org/2011/01/12/rep-greenlick-says-safety-concerns-prompted-child-biking-bill-45890</a>.<br />
<br />
Of course, I have a deep emotional response to this legislation, and to the justifications Greenlick gives for it, but I don't think it is useful for me to rage just yet. So, I'm working to stay calm and conversational, and so should you. Rep. Greenlick says he wants to start a dialogue. So, let's dialogue. You can reach him at <a href="mailto:rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us">rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us</a>. And, if you are an Oregon resident, you should also write to your own representative. Find them by entering your address here: <a href="http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/">http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/</a>.<br />
<br />
If this bill gains political traction in the coming months, we will organize. We will rage. We will do much more than write letters. But for now...<br />
<br />
My letter is below. Please add your voice. <br />
<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Representative Mitch Greenlick<br />
900 Court St. NE, H-492<br />
Salem, OR 97301<br />
<a href="mailto:rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us" style="color: #114170;" target="_blank">rep.<span style="color: #2a5db0;">mitchgreenlick@state.or.us</span></a><br />
<br />
Dear Representative Greenlick:<br />
<br />
I am writing with deep concern regarding your proposed bill,<br />
HB 2228, prohibiting the carrying of children under six on a bicycle<br />
or in a trailer.<br />
<br />
My husband and I choose not to own a car, and when I<br />
discovered I was expecting our first child, I did a lot of research<br />
regarding carrying children by bicycle. What I discovered was, first,<br />
that there is very little data regarding the safety of children on<br />
bikes, and second, that there is copious frightening data on the risks<br />
posed to children carried in automobiles. Furthermore, studies show<br />
that children who are transported primarily by car, rather than by<br />
foot, bike, or bus, are significantly more likely to struggle with<br />
obesity. They are less likely to aspire to ride bikes in adulthood.<br />
And children who grow up near our car-choked freeways are more likely<br />
to suffer from asthma and, according to one recent study, autism. For<br />
all of these reasons, I was willing to move ahead even with limited<br />
children’s bike safety data: reducing our time in cars seemed the best<br />
choice not only for our personal welfare but also for the welfare of<br />
children in general. My son has been carried primarily by bicycle<br />
since early infancy.<br />
<br />
Like every parent, I am always aware of my child’s safety.<br />
And I would welcome more data about the risks children face while<br />
being carried by bicycle—in fact, I would gladly participate in such a<br />
study. But scientific studies should begin with grant proposals, not<br />
proposed legislation. HB 2228 frightens and alienates me and the many<br />
other parents in this state who transport their children by bike.<br />
Please reconsider submitting this bill, or any legislation on carrying<br />
children by bicycle, until research can be done on the actual risks<br />
and benefits of this practice.<br />
<br />
Finally, since 2010 I have led a monthly family bike ride<br />
in Portland called Kidical Mass. Kids on this ride are carried in<br />
various bike seats, cargo bikes, as well as riding their own bikes<br />
alongside their parents. Families that attend range from casual<br />
weekend riders to daily kid-carriers like myself. To promote dialogue<br />
on this issue, I would like to invite you to join us on this ride.<br />
Our next outing will be this Saturday, January 15 at 1:45 pm, meeting<br />
at Oaks Pioneer Church in Sellwood (455 SE Spokane). If you can’t<br />
join us this month, our ride information is always posted at our<br />
website, <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/" style="color: #2a5db0;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>kidicalmasspdx.org</a>. I hope you can join us.<br />
<br />
Respectfully,<br />
<span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #888888;"><br />
Katie Proctor</span></span></span></blockquote>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-45273406037401233382011-01-11T21:53:00.000-08:002011-01-11T21:53:38.184-08:00January Kidical Mass: See Beautiful Sellwood!No clever theme this month, mostly because I caught the plague over New Years and had no brain cells to invent one. So: costume theme is warm and dry, bike attire is well-lit. We hope to see you there!<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Palatino Linotype', Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Let’s go biking in Sellwood! Meet at Oaks Pioneer Church on January 15 at 1:45, the ride will roll out at 2. We’ll make a tour of this great Portland neighborhood, maybe stopping for hot drinks and fun with park swings and ducks. Ride is just under three miles and will be a loop. Please dress for the weather, wear helmets, and don’t forget your lights for the ride home! Bring a few dollars in case we stop for hot cocoa.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Palatino Linotype', Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Palatino Linotype', Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">More info? <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/">http://kidicalmasspdx.org</a></span></div>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-66385240296487864962010-11-17T16:21:00.000-08:002010-11-17T16:49:57.823-08:00Cyclocross!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25925331@N05/5137450195/" title="100_3494 by vitus1997, on Flickr"><img alt="100_3494" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5137450195_7afc32ddfb.jpg" width="282" /></a><br />
<br />
It's painful. It's expensive. It's hard on equipment, on clothing, on bodies. It takes a ton of time. <br />
<br />
And, it turns out, we love it.<br />
<br />
Without any training beyond our daily rides, Dave and I decided to try our hand at cyclocross this season. With one race left locally, we'll be sad to see our weekends clearing up soon.<br />
<br />
What to say about cyclocross? The race format, as many laps as you can do in a 45-minute limit, means that it's pretty much a sprint the whole time. Those 45 minutes of racing leave me with searing lungs, aching quads, and, inevitably, a bruised shoulder from carrying the bike.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/richtheneighbor/5138267506/" title="Crusade #5 2:05 Women - 193 by richtheneighbor, on Flickr"><img alt="Crusade #5 2:05 Women - 193" height="375" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1418/5138267506_fd2d6acbc2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
My favorite thing? The mud. While my technical skills (i.e. ability not to fall down in the mud) could use some work, I absolutely adore the pure, child-like feeling of riding straight through mud puddles, of feeling sloppy wet trails throw mud into your face, your teeth, up your back. I love that when you fall down, it's not a scary high-speed crash onto pavement, but instead (usually) a tottering, oh-no-I'm-gonna-fall spill into-- you guessed it-- more mud. When else in our adult lives is it ok to ride, run, or splash in mud puddles?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/monovich/5114266933/" title="IMG_2798 by monovich, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2798" height="333" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/5114266933_66d029d9fe.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
So, it turns out I'm not great at cyclocross. Not terrible, but just mama biking isn't enough to get me into the sort of shape I'd need to be in to win races. And we wanted to get by with minimal equipment costs, leading to a series of unfortunate mechanical failures that scuttled some of my best race starts. The first day at Astoria I got to the front of the pack quickly and held onto the top 15 or so through some tricky bits... and then my chain dropped and got tangled around my bottom bracket. I couldn't wrestle it out, so shouldered the bike and jogged out my last half-lap. Sad. But I had a great start, that day.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25925331@N05/5137418074/" title="100_3302 by vitus1997, on Flickr"><img alt="100_3302" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1068/5137418074_15fdddb909.jpg" width="282" /></a><br />
<br />
Dave, on the other hand, had some great races. Sadly, the beginner men are the first to race with an 8:50 am start time, so there are many fewer photos of him than of me. But he had two top-10 finishes this season, and came out 18th overall in the beginner men field. Not shabby.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5092018734_1d91153e2c_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5092018734_1d91153e2c_z.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The rhythm of our race days is a bit rough: up early to get to the race-- Dave slips out before Jasper and I are even awake to pick up a zipcar. Then I get up and ready, putting pre-packed race bags in the car and clipping in the car seat-- then wake the baby, change his diaper, and tuck him into the car, often still in jammies. When we get to the race-- almost always later than we'd planned-- Dave dashes off to register & warm up, while I swap Jaz into daytime clothes, buckle on the baby carrier, organize the diaper bag, jackets, umbrella, and Jasper's beloved cowbell (for cheering the racers on), and we dash off to watch the race start. <br />
<br />
Watching cyclocross is a great time. The racers are all working <i>so</i> hard, and because there are usually 4 or 5 laps, you get to see them figuring out how best to manage the tricky bits of the course as the race goes on, and kibbitz with your fellow spectators on how <i>you'd</i> take that hill/turn/barrier. The racers are also extremely suggestible, and so a good time can be had by offering advice. You stand there, bundled and warm, and yell: "Come on, blue jersey! Take this guy on the turn! He's lagging, you can take him!" And more than half the time, he perks up, bears down, and passes the guy. It's awesome.<br />
<br />
Or, if you're under 1, you just ring your cowbell as much as you can. And holler at the top of your lungs. And smile at dogs. And that's pretty fun too.<br />
<br />
After Dave's race, it's naptime, so Dave changes into un-muddy clothes and straps on the baby carrier, rocking and bobbing Jasper to sleep while he recovers from his race. We'll sometimes find some lunch, catch up with friends, or leave the race entirely at this point, but the most important thing is that everything gets calm for us, even as the action continues on the racecourse. <br />
<br />
Two hours later, Jasper's up, and it's time for me to register and warm up. We might watch some Kiddie Cross, and usually the single speed race that immediately precedes mine.<br />
<br />
Kiddie Cross is great. If he's mastered the skuut, Jasper can play next year, like this guy:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommypants/5156061217/" title="loving it by Nikki McLeod, on Flickr"><img alt="loving it" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1362/5156061217_b0cb78efa4.jpg" width="459" /></a><br />
<br />
And then, bam, I'm racing. And nothing else is happening in my head; only the monologue of a oxygen-deprived brain. Which, most races, spends a lot of time trying to get me out of the situation. "You could stop now," says my brain, as I gear up to pass some racers on a straightaway. "No one would hold it against you," says my brain, and I'm off the bike, shouldering it, running up a muddy hill with little creeks coming down. "You could say you had a mechanical, and just stop here in these trees," whispers my brain, as I slalom through a forested singletrack, bouncing off slick rocks. "Or your could hit a tree, but not that hard, and then drop out. Everyone crashes sometimes." My thinking brain wants out, most races. It is the enemy.<br />
<br />
The bliss of racing comes to the degree that I can transcend that insidious thinking brain. Because the kind of thinking that that part of my brain does isn't useful while I'm racing. Telling that part of my brain to go faster is useless-- it replies "why should I?" every time. Going faster, digging deeper, climbing harder, is a matter of not hearing that voice, of tapping into my body's potential and not holding back for later.<br />
<br />
And then it's just pain. Heart racing. Muscles straining. Mud everywhere. Focus. Speed. Finding a fast line through the mud and the rocks and the potholes and the gravel. And sometimes, there is clarity. Everything slows, even as I'm moving my fastest. I can see the best line as if it were marked in lights. On the run-ups, suddenly I see the next footstep, and the next, and don't worry about stumbling, because I know, I simply <i>know</i> where to go.<br />
<br />
And then it's over, and there are hugs, and sometimes there's so much mud on my face that it frightens Jasper and I need to splash it off in a mudpuddle before we can be friends again. And I zip down my jersey and, still gasping, still covered in mud, I find a log or bench or to sit right on the pavement and we nurse, a sort of balm for my being both mentally and physically away, for being in my own, baby-free space for so long. And then we watch the elite race start, yelling and cheering and ringing the cowbell. And then it's naptime again, and we head to the car to buckle in and drive home. <br />
<br />
Sorting the muddy things. Washing the muddy things. Cleaning the zipcar. Returning the zipcar, once Jasper wakes up from his carseat nap. And then a slow evening of recovery, eating, finding bruises, stretching muscles, popping joints, and remembering bits and pieces of the race to tell each other. And sleep, as hard and long as Jasper allows (which is rarely as hard or long as our bodies really need).<br />
<br />
It's a way of using bikes I've never experienced. It's not practical, or useful, or sensible, or dignified. It is silly and sweaty and frivolous. And I'm so glad we decided to try it out.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">HUGE thanks to the photographers who come out every week and brave the muck to shoot great photos. Photos here from: vitus1997, richtheneighbor, monovich, shetha, and mommypants. THANK YOU! </span>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-63090267280521127092010-11-15T20:56:00.000-08:002010-11-15T20:56:59.736-08:00Kidical Mass!!I've been spamming the heck out of local bikey and mama media for two months, but forgot to blog it: Civilized Conveyance is now bringing you <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/">Portland's Kidical Mass</a>!! <br />
<br />
Basically, it went down like this: I was sitting around lamenting the end of Sunday Parkways season, and more generally, feeling that there needed to be more opportunities for bikey families to get out and about, sniff each others' rigs, collectivize traffic riding skills and watchful eyes for little ones on their own bikes, and just plain have fun together.<br />
<br />
And I was jealous of the Kidical Masses going down in Eugene, Seattle, and elsewhere. So I sent out some emails trying to figure out what had happened to Portland's Kidical Mass, and the general consensus was: it just petered out. And it didn't look like I'd be stepping on any toes by picking up the torch. So I did!<br />
<br />
Our first ride was in October, and was zombie-themed. We gathered on the South Park Blocks just as the rain started to fall, and pedaled our way up to Pioneer Square through the drizzle. Pioneer Square was filled with zombies mustering for the annual Zombie Walk, so there were lots of interesting (and sort of scary!) people to watch while we waited for the main event: hundreds of zombies simultaneously dancing to Michael Jackson's <i>Thriller</i>. <br />
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<br />
After the dancing, we headed back to the bikes to loop back to our starting point. But on our way there, we were stopped by the zombie walk-- and the zombies took pictures of us!! When the stream of undead paused, we rolled on through and moseyed back to the park for lollipops and chatting. <br />
<br />
Thanks to Jonathan at BikePortland for the great pictures!<br />
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This coming weekend, we'll ride again: This month, it's the <a href="http://kidicalmasspdx.org/event/tour-de-pie/">Tour de Pie</a>! We'll meet at Ladd's Circle Park at 2:45 pm, rolling out at 3 to explore some places for pumpkin pie, pizza pie, and fried pie here in SE Portland. And here's the best part: HotLips is donating free pizza for the kids! This route is about three miles, and has one big climb (can't really avoid it in this part of town, but we'll go slow). We'll ride rain or shine, but maybe a little less far if it's pouring. We'll stop as a group for stop signs and stop lights, and will always regroup if we get separated. We'll keep a pace that accommodates our littlest riders. And we'd love to see you out there.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-82404528911949715332010-11-15T20:31:00.001-08:002010-11-15T20:31:31.117-08:00Civilized Conveyance Blogs AgainOh, hi there!<br />
<br />
That's a bit awkward, isn't it. The two-month silence, I mean.<br />
<br />
Let's pretend that never happened.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-60126147948054603502010-09-10T22:52:00.000-07:002010-09-10T22:52:30.376-07:00Jasper's Yuba Walk-AroundOften, this summer, we've gotten home from an outing where Jasper wore himself out, and fell asleep on the way home. These are moments where I am so grateful not to have to tend a baby in a car, or try to sneak the seat out and into the house; instead, I pull the bike into the shade of our fruit-laden fig tree, grab a novel, a glass of water, a snack, and enjoy the end of of the bike-nap in peace. Bliss.<br />
<br />
Last week, when Jaz woke up from such a nap, he was squirmy right away-- so I set him down behind the bike to do some investigating. After more than seven months spent inside the baby bike, he's finally mobile enough to inspect it on the outside. <br />
<br />
I think he approved.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4976290092/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4976290092_f3abc1528b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4975700107/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4975700107_a123c3467f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4975714227/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4975714227_4fb90f6590.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4976375092/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/4976375092_461f8181ec.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4975765873/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/4975765873_f05d5ddea6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4975772555/" title="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/4975772555_852e395bed.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jasper's Yuba Walk-Around" /></a><br />
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And if THAT didn't get you your baby fix, there's lots more on Flickr.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-39419524873687518902010-09-03T13:34:00.000-07:002010-09-03T13:34:30.445-07:00Salinas ShoutoutsSalinas, California. Hometown of John Steinbeck, Fresh Express Lettuce, the California Rodeo, and me. When I was visiting last week, we spent a lot of time driving, mostly to Monterey and back-- much like my high school years. But I also got a small taste of the years before that, before I or my friends could drive, when bikes were the best way to get out for groceries or ice cream. <br />
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My folks have been making bikes a bigger part of their lives in the last year or so, and especially since their last visit to Portland in the spring. On this visit to Salinas, we helped my dad pick out a new city bike, a Raliegh Roadster, which fits him beautifully and should suit his needs for something fun and practical to zip around town on. <br />
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We had lots of visiting to do and not much time, so we decided Saturday afternoon that we'd host a Sunday brunch for people to stop by and meet the baby. And rather than drive out for groceries, my dad and I rode bikes! We brought backpacks for our stuff, as neither Bridget's Brompton nor dad's Raleigh have proper cargo capacity (yet). And as we were riding, I remembered how beautiful Salinas can be for bikes.<br />
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It's a flat city, lying smack in the center of a broad river valley, with mountains to the east and west. The streets are broad and, thanks to the mild weather, in excellent condition. Most houses have their own parking, so there are radically fewer cars parked on the streets than here in Portland. And if you stay off the main roads, there really isn't much traffic early on a Sunday morning. <br />
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While we were out and about in Salinas, I saw a few other glimpses of a burgeoning bike culture that made me smile.<br />
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There was the kid on the brakeless fixie jetting helmetless down S. Main, his electric green rims matching his electric green bar tape and bandanna as he ran a whole series of red lights. Shame on him, sure, but he could have come straight out of Portland, and I have to admit he made me smile. I hope he learns some manners and I hope he doesn't get killed, but I'm kind of glad he's there.<br />
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There's <a href="http://www.bobcatbicycles.com/">Bobcat Bikes</a>, the LBS in Salinas, which carries a nice range of practical bikes along with gorgeous sport machines, and has sensible and friendly mechanics who are always happy to get us what we need (even when it's only a multitool and some lube).<br />
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There's the increasing number of roadies riding Hwy 68, which has been repaved since I left and looks like a gorgeous trip, though it still has more traffic than I'd like. Having spent high school bussing and driving that road twice a day, it's inspiring to see people using it with their own power. Someday soon I'd like to ride it myself.<br />
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And there's the family I saw out by Hartnell Park one evening while my mom, Jaz & I were out playing. Two parents, both on swoopy-tubed white cruisers, a bright green I-bert seat on mom's bike, a grinning kid riding between her handlebars. Everyone in helmets. I don't know who you folks are, but seeing you gave me real hope for the country.<br />
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This revolution doesn't just live in Portland. It is spreading, and quickly. Where have you seen bikes that you didn't expect them?inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-67448513211378587272010-09-01T11:08:00.000-07:002010-09-01T11:12:29.246-07:00Join Team Full-Time Parent!Today starts the BTA's Bike Commute Challenge. While Dave is impressively striving to ride to Hillsboro and back each day (36 miles round trip, and over a mountain!), I've decided to start Team Full-Time Parent and chronicle our baby miles over there. <br />
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Are your 'commutes' to play-dates, doctor's appointments, shoe shopping and the grocery store? Join Team Full-Time Parent and log your miles with us!! <br />
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Head to <a href="http://bikecommutechallenge.com">the Bike Commute Challenge site</a> and enter Full-Time Parent as your company. While non-Portlanders won't be in the running for the BTA's fabulous prizes, I think it'd be fun to see y'all on there.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-52794288944426182602010-08-26T17:45:00.000-07:002010-08-26T17:45:51.054-07:00The Last Leg Was Made By BikeYesterday was a massively multi-modal day. Jasper and I had been in California for a week with my folks and were doing our first solo-travel on the trip home. We started the day with a walk to visit my kindergarten teacher (she was suitably impressed) and my mom's third graders. Then, after a flurry of packing and napping, we got in the car with my mom to drive to the airport. <br />
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We had a rocky start to the flight, as Jasper wanted to stand up during taxi and takeoff, but once the seatbelt sign was off I had him strapped into the baby carrier and, after some pacing and bouncing in the aisle, asleep. He woke up just as we landed. <br />
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Off the plane I threw backpack and messenger bag on my back, baby still on my front, carseat strapped to wheelie bag, and we headed for the train. On the train we chatted with visiting (only slightly lost) tourists and a homeless man enjoying the good weather. We hopped off at Lloyd Center, and before long Dave pulled up on the Yuba with the Brompton thrown in as cargo. The Brompton came out, the luggage got strapped down, Jasper got buckled in, and we rolled home, Portland style. It's really good to be home.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4930335927/" title="Home from the Airport by Yuba by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4930335927_835827c0c6.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Home from the Airport by Yuba" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4930337767/" title="Home from the Airport by Yuba by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4930337767_aeb3b7830c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Home from the Airport by Yuba" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4930340691/" title="Home from the Airport by Yuba by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4930340691_61597e4e84.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Home from the Airport by Yuba" /></a>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-68090503336284349172010-07-15T17:24:00.000-07:002010-07-15T17:24:13.868-07:00The CommuteFor the month of July, Jasper is serving as a training baby for the Northwest Montessori Institute's Assistants to Infancy class. This means that he gets to go to a beautiful prepared environment every afternoon, play with some teachers-in-training, stare at some other babies, shake rattles along to songs played on guitar and autoharp, learn to eat politely at a table, and generally have a great time. It also means that he and I have a daily commute, 2.5 miles each way on the Yuba.<br />
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The scheduling is tight. The observation period is from 1:00 to 3:30, and it takes us a little over 25 minutes to make the trip, as it is all uphill. Jasper can only go about three hours between naps before he melts down entirely, so in order to make class go well I try to let him sleep as long as possible beforehand, waking him at 12:30, changing his diaper, and putting him straight into the bike. This, of course, structures the morning as well: he needs at least a two-hour nap, so we have to be up by 8:30 so that he can go down by 10:30 and be successfully up at 12:30. He does great at school, attention hog that he is, and loves staring at the students who stare at him. But by 3:30 he's usually hitting his limit, and he invariably cries when I put him back into the bike. Every day so far he's fallen asleep in the bike on the way home, which I then roll into the shade of our front yard fig tree and get myself some much-needed lunch while I wait out the rest of the nap. <br />
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We've been doing it for nearly two weeks so far, and I love the routine. The rush out the door is frustrating, and I'd like to learn to do it more smoothly, but I'm really enjoying having so much structure in our days. Plus, having a standard daily commute is making me noticeably stronger-- before this, I'd go longer than 5 miles when we rode, but we weren't riding every day. <br />
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What I didn't expect is that, in spite of delegating Jasper's care durning the school period, I'm still not getting much other work done. It turns out that watching Jasper and the other babies play with help from their teachers is pretty absorbing.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-61057049654553254662010-06-25T14:31:00.000-07:002010-06-25T14:40:07.928-07:00So Much Bike FunI'm sitting here watching Jasper play his new game: knocking toys across the floor and then wiggling his newly-mobile-but-not-quite-crawling self on after them. We're spending lots of time on crawling these days... and lots of time on the bike.<br />
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Pedalpalooza has been a blast so far: we went on the Kick-off Ride where we met a dad called Jasper who pedals his baby in a locally-made box bike, visited the grand opening party for Splendid Cycles and checked out some slick cargo bikes there, competed in the Fiets of Parenthood, led a handful of families on the Teddy Bears' Picnic Ride, did half of the Labyrinth Ride (called on account of my and Jaz's bad moods), pedaled around SE Portland learning about solar power options on the SE Solar Tour, pursued the perfect pie late into the night on the Epic Pizza Ride, and this morning went out for waffles and silliness on the Pajama Party Ride. Still to come: leading a group ride for our CSA's farm tours tomorrow, and on Sunday brunch with some friends followed by Sunday Parkways followed by the Multnomah County Bike Fair. Followed by sound slumber.<br />
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And how's Jasper handling all this bike fun? With the exception of the Labyrinth Ride, on which factors converged against us, he's been a really happy camper. He loves people, and attention, and he gets plenty of both on these rides, where kids are scarce and his rig is strange and remarkable. Facing backwards, he gets to stare at the people who ride behind us, who are usually obliging in making silly faces to entertain him. And he's made a new friend in Sarah's son Everett, who watched kept him entertained at the Fiets and pushed him in a swing on the Teddy Bear ride. Sometimes he just stares up at the trees as we ride. Unlike in his stationary life, when he gets tired on the bike he simply falls asleep (ok, sometimes there is crying between awake and asleep, but not much). And once asleep, he stays that way, sometimes for hours and hours. And then wakes up, cheerful and ready to play. A quick nurse, an on-board diaper change, and we're good for a few more hours of riding. The biggest problem is that these rides sometimes take a faster pace than we do in our everyday riding, and when the pavement is bad that can lead to a bumpier ride than he's used to. And that can result in some fussing and crying until the road smooths out again. <br />
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I've taken very few pictures, though there's lots of coverage over at <a href="http://bikeportland.org/tag/pedalpalooza-2010/">BikePortland's Pedalpalooza page.</a> Check our Flickr stream for shots from the Fiets of Parenthood and the Teddy Bear's Picnic. Featured are fellow bikey-parent bloggers <a href="http://totcycle.com/">Julian from Totcycle</a> and <a href="http://www.cafemama.com/">Sarah Gilbert from cafe mama--</a> or rather, mostly, those bloggers' fabulous kids.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-90913899041370803722010-06-06T16:28:00.000-07:002010-06-06T16:30:05.999-07:00Feits of Parenthood and Teddy Bears' PicnicPedalpalooza is coming. Pedalpalooza is coming! Pedalpalooza! Is coming! And family cycling will be making a showing.<br />
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There are LOTS of events (like, pushing 300) planned for this 2.5 week festival of bikey goodness, starting this Thursday. But we're associated with two.<br />
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FIRST: <a href="http://clevercycles.com/2010/05/29/fiets-of-parenthood/">Feits of Parenthood</a>. A week from yesterday, at Clever Cycles (SE 9th & Hawthorne). <a href="http://www.cafemama.com/mamabikeorama/fiets">Here</a>, the fabulous Sarah Gilbert describes the event:<br />
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<blockquote>To ride a bike with your children is this: a continuous unfolding of joy and a workout like no other. Nowhere does creativity and ingenuity and the soaring free spirit of the bicycle combine with such (literal) blood, sweat and tears. Fiets of Parenthood is a celebration of that: part time trial, part demonstration of skill, part showoff, part hilarity.</blockquote>There will be a family bike obstacle course inspired by <a href="http://totcycle.com/blog/fiets-of-parenthood-challenge.html">Julian's genius thread over at Totcycle</a>. There will be kindercross and parent-child figure cycling. I'll be talking with a couple of other mamas at a workshop on cycling while pregnant. There will be <a href="http://www.solpops.com/">SolPops</a> and <a href="http://www.trailheadcoffeeroasters.com/">Trailhead Coffee</a> and snacks from <a href="http://www.madisonsgrill.com/">Madison's Grill</a>. Crafts. Bike decorating. An opportunity to fondle a whole array of family biking setups. Should be fun!<br />
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SECOND: The <i>very next day</i>, Sunday the 13th, Dave and Jasper and I will be leading a low-key family ride starting at the Abernathy School playground at 12:30. The theme is Teddy Bears' Picnic, and we'll have a crew of stuffed friends along for the ride. We'll stop at a few parks and playgrounds, do some picnicing and playing, and generally have a silly good time.<br />
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If you're in Portland and ride with young kids, we hope to see you! If you don't ride with your family yet but want to know how it's done, or if you don't <i>have</i> kids yet but plan to ride with them when you do, we hope you'll come out! If you'd like a low-stress way to introduce your family to riding together, you should come join us! And if you're child-free and love it, but want to hang out with a bunch of parents and kids on bikes (because we're awesome, and kids on bikes are adorable) we'll see you there!<br />
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For the whole Pedalpalooza calendar, see here: <a href="http://shift2bikes.org/cal/viewpp2010.php?">Pedalpalooza 2010 Calendar</a>inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-19369494870233945452010-05-21T12:39:00.000-07:002010-05-21T12:49:37.118-07:00The Folks, Part OneMy parents came to visit at the end of April. It was <a href="http://www.stumptowncomics.com/">the Stumptown Comics Fest</a>, and <a href="http://squidrowcomics.com/">their buddy Brig is a cartoonist</a>, so they all came up to make a Portland-y, comic-y weekend of it.<br />
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We've gotten good enough at getting around town car-free that when our visitors ask, as my folks did, whether they should rent a car for their visit, we say no. We prefer not to use one if we don't have to. Getting the car seat into new cars is a pain. So get a hotel close-in, we'll get you on a bike, and we'll all have a better time.<br />
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They were only in town from Friday late to Sunday midday. They took the MAX from the airport to the Lloyd Center Doubletree, where the con was being held. We met up with them Saturday morning at a restaurant in walking distance of the hotel, then walked around Broadway a bit before heading back to spend the morning comic-ing. By lunch we were pretty done with the main exhibit hall, and while Brig had some workshops lined up, the rest of us were ready to do other things.<br />
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I rented them each a <a href="http://www.brompton.co.uk/">Brompton</a> from <a href="http://clevercycles.com/">Clever Cycles</a> from mid-Saturday to mid-Sunday, and so headed over with Dave after lunch to pick up the bikes. I think Bromptons are about the ideal rental: they fit everybody, you can keep them safely in your hotel room when you're not using them, and they're strange-looking enough that they turn on end any performance-oriented hang-ups you might have about "being a cyclist." <br />
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We put two bikes on the Yuba:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4598441767/" title="Two Bromptons and a Baby on the Yuba by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="Two Bromptons and a Baby on the Yuba" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/4598441767_7e6c60aa26.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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And one bike on the Steamroller:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4599064686/" title="Brompton on the Steamroller by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="Brompton on the Steamroller" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/4599064686_dcb7cd2d9f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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And rode them all up to the hotel. <br />
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That evening, we rode bikes to dinner a couple of miles away. It felt great being out in the city with my folks: me on the giant mama bike, everyone else like little ducklings on the tiny Bromptons. I had talked them through Portland-style bicycling beforehand (use your signals, use the bike lanes, take the lane when you need to) and then was calling out instructions from behind: left turn! Right turn! Stay out of the door zone!!<br />
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Dinner was tapas at <a href="http://www.torobravopdx.com/">Toro Bravo</a> and was fantastic. We ate outside and, for the first little while, parked the Yuba with sleeping baby on the sidewalk by the table to keep an eye on him. When he woke, we moved the Yuba back down to the conveniently-located bike corral and continued with dinner. Good service, great food & drink, and you can't beat the company.<br />
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The next day, we planned to bike until it was time for them to go home. We met up for breakfast at <a href="http://voodoodoughnut.com/locations.php">Voodoo Too</a> and then went down to the river to do the Waterfront Park/Esplanade loop. After that we headed east up Salmon to visit the Hawthorne district, did some shopping at Powells, and then cruised back to return the bikes at Clever Cycles. We walked from there to the food carts at 12th & Hawthorne for crepes and then put them on a 70 bus back to their hotel, where they would pick up their luggage, hop on the MAX, and fly home.<br />
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I think what I loved most about this visit was how ordinary it was. Aside from the bike rental, everything we did was part of my normal life (though, not ordinarily all in one day). Because of that, I felt like we got to show my folks how we really live here, and how fun and easy and simple life with bikes (and without cars) can be.<br />
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Turns out, we made an impact. Stay tuned for The Folks, Part Two.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-1184105927908441562010-04-30T09:54:00.000-07:002010-04-30T09:59:33.916-07:00Crash.It was late, and dark. Jasper was crying, and we'd already changed him, nursed him, and our attempts at cuddling and soothing were only delaying our arrival home. Dave and I had switched bikes, so he was on the Yuba and I was on his single speed Surly Steamroller. The Steamroller has only a front brake, which, as <a href="http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html">Uncle Sheldon</a> wisely tells us, is adequate and safe-- if you're used to it. I'm not used to it.<br />
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In the dark, the chill, the hurry, the stress, and accompanied by the soundtrack of a silent neighborhood pierced by our wailing child, we were zipping down a slight incline. Dave, ahead of me, braked suddenly to soften the Yuba's ride over a speedbump. I, surprised by his deceleration and assuming something more treacherous than a speedbump, slammed on the brakes (er, brake) to avoid hitting or passing him. He continued on another block: apparently, it took me some time to yelp my distress.<br />
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In adrenaline-induced slow motion, I felt the bike stop. I felt the rear wheel lift. I felt my arms and my core tighten in response, and I felt the bike level off. The rear wheel returned to the ground. I even felt a brief moment of relief at my recovery. Then, I fell over, hard. And then I yelled, and Dave turned, and time began to move again.<br />
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I took the fall on my left knee and my left forearm. There was definitely blood, and pain, and I'd knocked something out of alignment on the bike, but Jasper was still crying and we still needed to get home. So I got back on and we started moving again.<br />
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This was the worst part. With no ability to assess what damage I had done to myself or to Dave's bike, we passed the next few miles mostly in silence. I realized we were out of hydrogen peroxide, and I wasn't sure where we stood on large bandages, either. So I sent Dave home with Jasper and stopped at the store to pick up first aid supplies.<br />
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There, under the fluorescent lights, I examined my wounds. Blood dripping down from an already-swollen knee, and some broad, but not deep, road rash on my arm. Lost skin and embedded grit in both palms. Bad, but not so bad.<br />
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At the register: "How's your evening, ma'am?" I look at my purchases, at the blood, at the clerk. "I've had better." He looks at me, all seriousness and sincerity. "Are you ok to get home?" I tell him I am. I check out. I limp the few blocks home.<br />
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And then I'm a mom: still bloodied, I nurse Jasper and rock him while Dave goes outside to check out the wounded bike. No big deal out there, a few quick adjustments and it's better. No big deal inside, either: exhausted Jasper goes right to sleep. And only then do I get to really look over my own damage, get into the shower, lick my wounds.<br />
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Over the next few days, I had to endure a fair amount of clucking worry. "Bicycling is so dangerous, you know." But I didn't learn the story's true moral until a week later, in Tacoma.<br />
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Another beautiful day. Out walking with friends. A new, smooth walking path. Jasper in a moby wrap. And I take a header. Slipping from the side of the path, I grab the baby's head and hit the ground in a sideways roll. I take the fall on my left forearm, again, and on my right knee. There is a lot of blood; I strap a disposable diaper around my elbow to staunch the flow. Jasper is unscathed.<br />
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So, the moral of the story? Cycling is dangerous. Really. About as dangerous as a walk with friends on a sunny day.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892223089844868550.post-14886437315602290272010-04-29T20:03:00.000-07:002010-04-29T20:03:10.887-07:00Ikea!There's something really lovely about being ridiculously backlogged in a blog that is about active living. "Get outside!" I say. "Go ride your bike!" And then I do, and then I eat, nurse, and sleep. And then the blog gets neglected. No apologies, but as I sit here and tickle Jasper and stretch my aching hamstrings, I'll try to tell you a story.<br />
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About a month ago, before Tacoma, we took advantage of some beautiful weather to have an adventure. We could have just gone exploring, but we like trips with destinations (and needed an excuse to get it together) so we set our sights on that great Scandinavian edifice to the north, Ikea.<br />
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We actually started the morning with a smaller trip: out for brunch at Zell's, by <a href="http://www.fhsteinbart.com/">F. H. Steinbart</a> for some brewing equipment and some hop rhizomes, and then by the <a href="http://www.urbanfarmstore.com/">Urban Farm Store</a> to pick up some seeds for the garden and contemplate tomato staking methods. Before we headed home from there, we had to change the baby:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4562988905/" title="P1010919 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010919" height="375" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4562988905_9a81d863f3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Next, I did some planting and some weeding, and then, later than we should have, we restocked the diaper bag, grabbed the cargo straps, and rolled out for Ikea.<br />
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Now, it is possible to get nearly all the way from our place to Ikea via off-street trails, but it adds a significant amount of milage to the trip-- increasing from 10 to 17 miles each way, or from a 20-mile to a 34-mile roundtrip. So we opted to ride the first half of our adventure on bike boulevard, a trip that took us farther east than we'd ever biked in town before.<br />
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I was surprised by how rapidly the infrastructure deteriorates as you head east: roads badly in need of maintenance, poorly-designed crossings, and above all, an increase in scary large vehicles driven by people who either don't know or don't care about our right to the road. But that said, it's still Portland, and we didn't have any particularly ugly run-ins on the trip. And I was reminded of how much I love being in the parts of the city where you can see Mt. Hood:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563630490/" title="P1010923 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010923" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/4563630490_b4dcd968ea.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We made it safely to the highway 205 bike path and headed north. We'd not yet been on that path, and were surprised to learn that while it looks pretty smooth on the maps, it in fact zigs and zags a bit, and is less well-labeled than one might hope for... and eventually, we missed our turn entirely and could see, but not seem to reach, the big blue-and-yellow box that was our destination.<br />
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We also found the Columbia River and a nice view of Mt. St. Helens, and so took some pictures before stopping to regroup, nurse, and get our bearings:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563635866/" title="P1010925 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010925" height="180" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/4563635866_55a977311b_m.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563014637/" title="P1010928 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010928" height="180" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/4563014637_d490fb0f1e_m.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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It was at this point that the previously-sleeping Jasper awoke and announced his need for immediate attention, and I snatched him up rather abruptly and took off down an embankment to nurse with some shelter from the highway noise. Dave creatively solved the problem of joining us without abandoning either bike on the trail:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563639600/" title="P1010926 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010926" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/4563639600_650537dabe.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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After everyone had a snack and Jasper had his second outdoor diaper change of the day, we re-re-checked the map and figured out how to get from the river to Ikea, along a road that cut along the back edge of the airport.<br />
<br />
Success!<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563035217/" title="P1010930 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010930" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/4563035217_4de40a6a30.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We were the only bike there, but there was no shortage of bike parking should anyone, or a hundred anyones, suddenly decide to join us.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563670166/" title="P1010931 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010931" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/4563670166_24d0f210d7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563045193/" title="P1010932 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010932" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/4563045193_33260d67c8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Creative bench placement:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563047571/" title="P1010933 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010933" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/4563047571_22b4e54e56.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Shopping carts impersonating bikes:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563688290/" title="P1010935 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010935" height="375" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4563688290_f2cd8965b4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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And with that, we locked up the bike and engaged in a bit of mainstream consumerism.<br />
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I try to be very specific about the stuff that we bring into the house. I'm uncomfortable with the assumed disposable-ness of things, and I try to buy only what we need, and of a quality that will last. I spend a lot of time on craigslist and in second-hand stores trying to buy the things we want used so that new materials don't need to go into them.<br />
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But.<br />
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Sometimes, even a quasi-minimalist lifestyle needs stuff; with a baby in the house doubly so. What did we pick up on our Ikea quest? Mirror tiles, art, and a rug for Jasper's play spaces. Some child-proofing gear for the toddling phase to come. And some new canisters for the kitchen. So: lots of glass, and some hefty cotton. You know: dense, heavy things. <br />
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The bike was notably harder to move when we loaded and started back. And a stiff headwind had blown up.<br />
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Jasper was fussy as we started home. A change and nurse didn't fix it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40100270@N06/4563087835/" title="P1010940 by Civilized Conveyance, on Flickr"><img alt="P1010940" height="375" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/4563087835_2b2fa8c652.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Singing loudly and continuously helped a bit, but was hard to sustain with the exertion.<br />
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I was really, really tired, and after a few miles Dave and I switched bikes so that he could haul for a bit and I could rest. (Note to self: I am not a single speed sort of girl.)<br />
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Jasper continued to fuss and cry as his bedtime came and went, and the gathering darkness was also raising our stress level.<br />
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And then I crashed. But that's a whole other story, really.inkandpenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01364474258727552191noreply@blogger.com5