Bicycle Boulevard on Spokane Street

 
Portland's push toward the 25% of trips made by bike took a small step forward in the Sellwood neighborhood with the opening of the Spokane Street Bike Boulevard. The grand opening was on a rainy day and was kicked off with some words from the Neighborhood Association president and Mayor Sam. Amelia rode the trail a bike which was a good experience for her, so we had a great time.
  We celebrated with a bike ride through the neighborhood and a review f the project. The only problem was the project was quite complete because we had some significant weather over the past few weeks, which made it hard for the crews to get to the streets.
  It was nice to see Sue Keil, the head of PBOT and to hear Sam talk about the great ideas we have. After the ride, we had treats at the Sellwood Community Center and participated in a raffle. Abby won a new bike from Sellwood Cycle Repair, so that topped off the fun for the day.

091214 Wet Carfree Peacock Lane

Peacock Lane is one of my favorite holiday traditions in Portland. My mom always would take us and drive through the neighborhood. I never liked that portion of the tradition, so for the longest time we would walk done the Lane.  
 
With a bakfiets, we have an opportunity to take the kids in the pouring rain and hit the streets. Tonight was the carfree night, so we had an opportunity to stroll through without the trouble of cars. The downside was the rain and the cold.  
Abby was super tired on the way home and either fell asleep or acted like it and was not wanting to wake up when we got home.
 

As we were biking there, Susan asked me if we were crazy. Maybe a little bit. It was cold, wet, and uphill to Peacock Lane, but hey why not?

The New Soccer Mom (or Dad) SUV

Another example of Sellwood being the new Copenhagen, we biked to Abby's last soccer game and there was another bakfiets in the "parking lot". Next year, hopefully it's tough to find a parking spot.