apple juice

I’m going to go ahead and say I was ahead of the curve on this one…

I got curious about the phenomenon, which clearly has charmed one of society’s more frazzled groups: parents of young children. According to one observer, this has been a steadily growing “quiet movement” for many years.

From ‘This is not a blip’: A quiet movement grows on San Francisco’s streets

We bought our cargo bike in 2013, and in 2012 I was test riding a few. We bought ours without e-assist, which was… a lot of work.

We added the e-assist in 2016, which was a game changer. But, the kids got older, and I couldn’t justify keeping it in the garage. We sold it in 2021 and I sill miss riding it around loaded with kids, dogs, groceries or whatever.

It’s an amazing option for anyone with a reasonable “bike score” who’s looking for a car replacement. Highly recommend it for everything the article talks about.

Hat tip to my uncle for this great article about cargo bikes for urban transport of goods. We’ve had our cargo bike for a number of years now, and as our kids have grown older, the cargo is less kid and more groceries and other household items. I can get to our local grocery or Target and back again far faster on my bike than in our car.

There are a number of interesting tidbits in the article like this:

cities are being strangled by trucks and vans: a great deal of freight traffic in urban areas is now comprised of delivery vans (in the UK, van traffic has grown by 71% over the last 20 years, compared to growth of 13% for cars.)

71% ! Can you believe it? I guess when you think of all those Prime Now vans running around…

Source: Cargobikes Not Drones Are The Future For Urban Deliveries

foggy morning. I hopped on my bike to get some bacon, hash browns, orange juice and (just because) crumpets. an oddly warm day except when you’re riding in the midst of the fog.

Offspring, anyone?

Segregated bike lanes the way of the future

“A main theme that emerged was the need for cities to create a network of separated bicycle lanes, said Jamie Stuckless, an active transportation planner who works with Green Communities Canada in Ottawa.

‘The first one that I heard repeated over and over again was the need to create a network of segregated bike lanes that actually get people where they want to go,’ Stuckless said.

Stuckless said she was surprised by the number of city officials from around the world who spoke to say that painted bike lanes are a thing of the past and they are no longer investing money in that type of infrastructure.“

Emphasis mine

(Via The Case for Separated Bike Lanes – Commute – The Atlantic Cities.)

I would argue that it’s all good, bike lanes and separated bikeways. It all adds raising the profile of the biker as part of the transportation mix of a city. Locally, the bike boulevard on Bryant ave is a step in the right direction, but the Midtown Greenway and Cedar Lake Trail are the gold standard. Imagine a network of Midtown Greenway-esque extending 10 miles out in downtown minneapolis in hub and spoke fashion. Would make it pretty nice to commute by bike without mixing it up with the cars. Closing Bryant ave. to all cars except local traffic might be interesting…

I’ve made a goal for this school year: to bike to work on Mondays. All year.

So, before the year actually gets underway, the weather today presented a bit of an opportunity in the form of a rainstorm. Let’s try out these fenders! Does this rain jacket actually hold up? Should I bike in these shoes in the rain? Will I get drenched? Am I insane?

The answers to those questions are presented below in list form:

1. No
2. No
3. Yes
4. Not totally.

Luckily wet jeans, socks and shoes are only temporary. Character lasts a lifetime.

How was the actual ride?

Well, I was cruising faster than normal due to the reduced traffic on my preferred bikeways. I did pass one other gentleman who was seemingly oblivious to the deluge. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, no helmet, and a european satchel slung over his shoulder.

Being outside in the rain on a bike sounds (aurally) amazing.

The branches that I typically will pass with a comfortable whisper collided with my helmet like I imagine salmon falling from the sky might sound as they hit the pavement. (Wet, slappy)

The fenders were amazing, not a lick of spray coming from below. My lights were flashing and generally making me look like a Christmas tree on wheels, so that was also a positive.

15 minutes door to door, and a big smile on my face when I arrived. (To the laughter of fellow employees)

Things to remember for next time:

Rain pants.

Rain boots.

It’s worth checking out this post (and blog) if you are interested in transit issues in Minneapolis…

Penn-ed in

“About 65% of Minneapolis residents have lived in their current dwelling for less than 10 years, according to the Census Bureau.  After 30 years, 89% of the city’s dwellings will have exchanged occupants.  Why then, is the design for a facility that will last for at some 60 years determined by the whims of the immediate neighbors?”

(Via Getting Around Minneapolis.)

Sonja told me about this the other day, but I didn’t realize that there was only one in the whole country! Anyway, pretty cool and another reason why minneapolis is such a great bike town!

Emilia and I did all of our errands via bike + bike trailer yesterday. Hardware store, veggie pick-up, lunch.

Bike Fixtation is a cyclists dream vending machine: “Bike Fixtation kiosks are rare. In fact, they’re so rare that only one (located in the Uptown Transit Station in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metropolitan area) exists in the U.S. However, Bike Fixtation inventors Chad De Baker and Alex Anderson are trying to pitch the cyclists’ dream vending machine to cities, organizations and individuals across the nation. Pair these up with some carsharing and public transportation offerings, and you’ve got yourself quite the non-traditional mobility options.”

(Via AutoblogGreen.)