Kidical Mass Tacoma 3: Share, Snack, Play, Crash

Kidical Mass #3 took place on Saturday July 13, starting and ending on the beautiful campus of the University of Puget Sound. We had 42 riders including Jeff's Ice Cream and several kitted members of the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club who not only came along for the ride, but also offered mechanical support and TWBC tattoos!

Once the kids were inked and their bikes were decorated, we had a brief safety message to emphasize Stay on the Right and Don't Bunch at Intersections. These have been key concepts to emphasize while we are on the road as well.

We made our way south to our first stop, the Central Tacoma Free Radical Media Exchange. It's the largest of several Little Free Libraries in Tacoma. Because it's located down a loose gravel alley, we dismounted and walked down to check it out. 

The pocket library concept seemed new to most folks, but the kids quickly jumped right in to hunt for books and pick a few fresh raspberries. Many thanks to library curator RR Anderson for showcasing a great way to creatively re-use materials and share with neighbors.

Now loaded up with books, we took off for Franklin Park. On the way we had our second minor crash that resulted in a flat 12" tire. A few folks stayed behind to try and patch the tube, while the rest of the bunch continued to the park for a longer break. Ultimately, the young rider's dad had to go back for his truck to give him a lift to the finish. There's always free ice cream at the finish and he had definitely earned his ice cream.

Just a few blocks from UPS, a third rider went down. He was ok, buck shaken up. Thankfully, his mom was willing to give him a pump back to campus and a cargotrike dad was able to carry the young rider's 12" bike to the finish. Teamwork!

Interestingly, when we pulled over to make sure mom and son were ok, several of the kids noticed we were stopped next to another little library! It was a surprise to me, too, since this one isn't registered on the LFL website. Look for it north of 6th on Puget Sound Ave.

Back on campus, the kids enjoyed made-in-Washington ice cream bars from Jeff's Ice Cream and raced bikes around Jones Fountain. My helmet is off to all of the pedal parents and kid riders who persevered on this rather rough ride. The street surfaces of Central Tacoma are in the poorest condition of any that Kidical Mass Tacoma has ridden so far.

This was also our longest and most involved ride yet. Our average speed of 4.5mph has been quite consistent on our three rides and is based primarily on a single-speed rider with 16" wheels. I don't want to discourage riders with 12" wheels from attending Kidical Mass, but parents should be aware that Tacoma's road conditions don't always play nicely with wheels that small. Potholes are the bullies of neighborhood family bike rides.

As always, your feedback and comments on the ride are always appreciated. I'm still ironing out the route details for KM #4 in August, but it will likely be a South Tacoma route. More details to follow soon!

Kidical Mass Tacoma #3: Central Tacoma

Our previous Kidical Mass Tacoma rides have taken us to Proctor and Hilltop. In July we're heading for Central Tacoma.

There's been some great discussion lately about the University of Puget Sound and its relationship with the surrounding community, so we'll be starting our next ride from the big campus fountain near the student union building.

Our destination is Franklin Park, which now has a sprayground, where we'll take a break and play for a while. Along the way, we will also make a stop at Tacoma's largest Little Free Library. Expect a brief lesson on the importance of sharing.

A more detailed route map is below. 

View Kidical Mass #3: Central Tacoma in a larger map

As always, we'll be riding in the street, because kids are traffic, too.  We always ride together as a group and volunteers will be helping us with some of the larger arterial crossings. Our good pal Jeff's Ice Cream will have free ice cream and fruit bars for the riders at the finish.  

Kids, tell your parents you want to ride in the street! And feel free to share the link or print and post the flyer above. See you there.

Campus Cycle Culture

We went over to the UPS campus to kick around the soccer ball last night. The girls asked to stop so they could catch part of the co-ed game. Many of the players cycled to the match, which reminded me of this scene from our Cambridge, UK, vacation last October.

While we were running around on our own pitch, a cyclist pulled up to the Madsen and dropped a leaflet in the bucket.





My first thought was: who paid to print this? They make it sound like a fun time, though the part about freedom from speeding cars seems far-fetched. One of these days I'm going to participate in a Critical Mass ride, just like I rode the STP once.

I'm more of a "ride everywhere and as often as you can, ride like you drive when it comes to rules of the road" type of rider, and I think that generally helps advocate the "share the road" principal better than a blob of bikes clogging the streets. I'm using the new bike lane on N 21st St, even though it still hasn't been striped. We've put over 60 miles on just our MADSEN bike so far this month, and that's all in a 2-mile radius from my house. I figure that kind of frequency will help drivers in my college campus neighborhood become more aware of bikes on the road, helping to increase safety for everyone.

If you're heading out on that ride tonight, don't forget your helmet!

Endless Summer

We had a few days of wet weather, but otherwise this has been a phenominally sunny summer. The MADSEN Cycles bucket bike has been getting used nearly every day for outings to the park, short errands, and the thrice-weekly pre-school run. I keep wondering if we'll continue to use the MADSEN once the dampness of fall and winter finally hits, so we've been testing out contingency plans. Turns out a 4-year old in the bucket can easily wrangle a bumbershoot in the back seat at cruising speed, while still covering most passengers and not poking me in the back. Sweet!


Plus my mom send these flashy German-made raincoats for the kids. I think we're set.


However, the sun just keeps on shining. So we continue to bike over to the UPS campus to kick the soccer ball around in the evenings. If you see us there, come say "Hi!" so Gwen can tell you all about her bucket bike. Here is our latest journey through the lens of Gwen's camera: