Last Mile Biking: A suburban biking experience
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Biking Infrastructure: Just a Little Bit Helps
Here in Pacific Northwest we often hear about how our state or local government cares about bikers and biking is “a fully supported mode of transportation.” Of course in most cases this is no more than bunch of politicians pandering to perceived public opinion on the matter, but what I want to talk about are…
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What we Learned from Car Free January in the Portland Suburbs
January seems to be the time to tackle all challenges-no alcohol, no meat, but how about no cars? This month, we challenged ourselves to go “car free” for all of our routine weekly trips as an experiment to see if we could do this full time. The weather was cold, with some periodic rain so…
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The Safe and Fun Way to Bike with Your Dog
If you are like us and your dog is your constant companion, you might think about taking them on your biking adventures. Sometimes it’s not possible, but if you carefully figure out training and the approach, you might be in luck.
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Biking for Fitness on Beaverton’s Westside Regional Trail
The Westside Regional trail in Beaverton extends from the south side of Tualatin Hills Nature Park through residential areas and ends close to Cooper Mountain. It passes through the neighborhoods of West Beaverton, Sexton Mountain, and Neighbors Southwest. For a four-mile round trip ride, we recommend arriving by public transit or parking on the street…
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Family-Friendly Bike Ride on the Beaverton Waterhouse Trail
The Waterhouse Trail in Beaverton extends from the north side of Tualatin Hills Nature Park through shopping and living areas connecting to Willow Creek Greenway. For a four-mile round trip ride, we recommend arriving by public transit or parking at Tualatin Hills Nature Park.
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Don’t Worry What Others Think — Just Bike
The start of a new year can be the perfect time to reflect and plan for the days ahead. This year’s inspiration came from the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. We hope some of the ideas below can help you shift perspective to make–or keep–biking part of your…
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How Visually Interesting Places Make Travel More Enjoyable
Have you ever heard someone say that they enjoyed living on campus without a car in their college days? Or someone raving about spending a week at Disney World or some fancy European city? Similarly, you might wonder why it is fun going downtown or traveling through a dense, walkable neighborhood. Let’s do a quick…
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How to Improve Safety Biking by Picking the Right Road Infrastructure
Some people automatically decide biking is not for them because of safety concerns. However, the same people often don’t think twice about the risks of taking a car to go to work, school, or run an errand multiple times a day. Being in a car can be one of the most dangerous actions we do…
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How to Choose the Right Daycare for a Biking Lifestyle
One key part to maintaining a biking lifestyle is being intentional in planning your daily routine. You need to identify businesses that you visit frequently and plan to stick with the same place for a while. This could include any type of business, such as grocery, gym, parks, hairdresser/barber, or childcare/ daycare. If you live…
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When Can You Bike with a Baby?
A new baby brings excitement as well as necessary adaptations to your daily routine. It might feel like biking is similar enough to driving a car where you should be able to strap your infant in a car seat and just go. However, there is general concern that repeated bumps of everyday road conditions on…
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4 Illuminating Tidbits from Bicycling with Butterflies
In the book Bicycling with Butterflies, Sara Dykman chronicles her 10,201-bicycle journey to follow the path of the monarch butterfly migration from Mexico to Canada, and back. Reading was like a portal into the author’s personal thoughts and road diary. She shared everyday bike tales with an undercurrent of climate change worry. The book didn’t…
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Is it Acceptable to Bike on the Sidewalk?
There are times it just doesn’t feel safe biking on the road. There might be cars moving at fast speeds, limited or no bike lane, or other hazards. Our view is that you should always trust your intuition and don’t hesitate to take the sidewalk. In Oregon, it is generally allowable by law to ride…