Three!

I've now spotted a third box bike in town...

Around town: Down on the corner

I remember when I could search for months and months for a couple of cool looking folks on two wheels... Now I have a massive backlog to share with you! I'll slip in family cycling entries as well!

Latch on to This

I am sharing an overdue picture of how we put the infant carseat into our box bike! The previous owner had installed these things - U-hooks? D-bolts? - in the bottom of the box. There's one on the other side too. While it was a tight fit, we could clamp the carseat base right into the box using its U.S. standard "LATCH" system clips. The seat itself then snaps into the base (facing backwards, of course). It can also be used in a car without the base, so we just left the base on the bike and buckled the seat in with a seatbelt on car trips.

This is how we do nap time

Family on the go

As our family has grown, so have our bikes!


Baby in the box bike



The "big" boy upgraded to a rear seat

Golden girl

Love those gold fenders!

Brave new bicycling world

I'm getting back into the action here. I have a new camera. Atlanta has a drastically changed bicycling landscape, literally and metaphorically, since I last posted over a year ago. And I have not one but TWO youngens to love, teach, and transport! Obviously, some changes had to be made...

Big brother loves the view from the front, although he's outgrowing it

Little sister gets the cushy ride in the box!

Farmer's market season

It's a beautiful weekend morning and the greens and strawberries are ripe. Hmmm, what to do? How about cycling to the Grant Park market?

Bikes are what's happening

Baby on board

A morning trip

I had an early event at the Carter Center recently. It was a beautiful morning to ride over, even if it reinforced my dislike of shared paths (seriously, a jogger changed direction RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME). I think I need new brake shoes. I also learned that the center has a grand total of 4 bicycle parking spaces for the entire place, located in the most inconvenient spot possible (if you don't work there). If visitors stop by from the adjacent path, do they violate one of the scenic benches, or just give up?

Motion

Heels (only) on wheels

Having a baby now, and not yet having a good way to carry him on the bike, I find myself mostly commuting by train. Weekends are by foot, transit, or (alas) car. Until baby can sit well in a seat - or I can afford a bakfiets - I have few chances to bicycle anywhere. Running errands on my office bike, pictured, is the majority of it. And I get a bicycle commute a couple of times a month on my husband's days off. I know riding in high heels still seems far-fetched to some, but it's my favorite way to roll!

Traffic

Mayor on wheels

Have you seen this great photo on Flickr of Mayor Reed bicycling along the BeltLine? Cycle chic indeed! And kudos to Cameron Adams for capturing the moment.

WANT

Baby is six months old now, and I am drooling over family bicycle options. I think it's between this Christiania trike, the Christiania 2 wheel bakfiets, or a classic bakfiets from Workcyclesor American-made CETMA. The trike is for sale over at Houndstooth Road in Decatur... Anyone know where I can test ride a 2 wheel bakfiets?

Atlanta's first, um, contra-track-path thingy

The Fifth Street bicycle lane has been a valuable low-traffic connection between Midtown West/ Georgia Tech and Midtown East/ Virginia Highland/ Old Fourth Ward (and now the BeltLine). But there was always the tricky spot at one-way W. Peachtree St where Fifth jogged and you couldn't travel eastbound on it without going the wrong way or on the sidewalk for half a block. At one point, Tech had a driveway that made the connection, but they replaced it with a plaza...

Now, there is a new facility to address this problem. Cyclists continuing east on Fifth follow a ramp that takes them upstream so they are aligned with the next segment of the Fifth Street bike lane using a reallocated portion of the sidewalk. It is being referred to as a cycle track, although it is different from tracks I have seen - it is marked with paint rather than separated by curbing or pavement surface, and it is along the back of the sidewalk. But it does get you where you need to go.

For westbound traffic, I'm told there is now a "Copenhagen left turn" in which you stop beside the bike lane and wait for the green light on the cross street. I'm afraid I didn't see it as I had merged over to the left lane before my turn, as usual. Lanes are marked with green paint and directional arrows through the intersection. It is a pilot project, so city and state transportation departments will try to learn from its performance.

The BeltLine, or Atlanta grows a spine

The promise of the BeltLine started to come true last saturday. Although the eastside section of the path wasn't quite finished - entrances weren't paved and there was no lighting - it was open to the public during Atlanta Streets Alive.  As always, I was astounded by the latent bicycle culture that materializes anytime there are nice routes provided.

If you thought the only potential path riders in Atlanta were some spandex-clad athletes and maybe a few people with a cheap bike in the back of the garage, well, nothing could be further from the truth. Friends and families zipped along, going to restaurants, visiting neighbors, and finally stopping at the party at Ponce City East as it got dark. The bicycles rolling past me were as diverse and as stylish as the people riding them. I was with hope for the city's future.

Atlanta Streets Alive

We caught just the last few minutes of ASA this past weekend. A few minutes watching the astounding volume of bicycles, skateboards, strollers, people... Then they started letting cars through again and the traffic dwindled away. But for those few minutes, Atlanta once again showed its potential to be great. It's all about the people, getting a brief chance to live the way they want to live.

Equal treatment

At Five Points, police take the "No Turns" restriction seriously - car or bicycle, you'll get a ticket.