My latest column is up at Grist – it’s the tenth and last in the “Bikenomics” series I’ve been writing for them. Many of the columns are about how bicycling creates wealth for individuals, employers, and the government, whereas relying on private automobiles makes a few people and institutions very rich and systematically screws the […]
Bicycles and spinning wheels
PDX by Bike flight check
Posted onThe process of starting a business must never be entirely straightforward, but Meghan Sinnott and I are taking a particularly circuitous route to launching PDX by Bike, a resource for helping visitors to Portland discover the city by bicycle. Our partially web-based business, even after months of preparation, doesn’t yet have a website. But the […]
Car-freedom, purity, and guilt
Posted onA year ago I decided to start a blog called “Going Carfree” about just that. It never got off the ground but I thought a lot about it and wrote some test content. This essay is the one piece I didn’t want to let go. Rereading it now, it makes me think of the spreading […]
A day at the bike fair
Posted onThe Multnomah County Bike Fair was today. The weather was perfect. Fashion flags were flying high, as were freak bikes. Here are some photos:
What would get you on a bike more often?
Posted onThat’s one of the questions the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals asked women last year. Everyday riders, racers, and non-bicyclists alike were asked open ended questions; answers were categorized and tabulated. They’ve compiled, categorized, and released answers to three of the survey questions, which you can download from the front page of their site. […]
What's behind the gender gap in bicyclin...
Posted onMy latest column on Grist went up yesterday. In it I take on a topic that’s been on my mind for a while – the gender gap in bicycling. Young bicyclist.(Photo by Elly Blue) That gap is getting wider, and the usual line up of explanations and assumptions doesn’t really do it for me. Yes, […]
Women of Portland, in business and on bi...
Posted onIt’s been a year since Ellee Thalheimer and I co-founded the Portland Society, a business alliance for bicycling women. In that year, we’ve grown to about 35 members (plus another dozen or so people who are more loosely involved), earned some nice words from the local news media, had amazing monthly meetings, given away $1,000 […]
On Bicycles
Posted onThe small but growing collection of thoughtful books about bicycle transportation is about to have one new member – Amy Walker’s forthcoming On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life. It’s a volume of 50 essays from various contributors. I wrote two, one on the Safety in Numbers effect, and one […]
Elements of the grammar wars
Posted onA couple years ago I was at odds and ends and decided to start a blog documenting instances of creative grammar. It was intended as a response to those blogs that make fun of people for misusing apostrophes. I didn’t ever find much time for it, but here’s one of the posts, a mini review […]
Coffee and zines
Posted onThese are the basic components of what I’m getting ready to mail out to seven of the backers who funded the third issue of Taking the Lane zine via Kickstarter an embarrassing number of months ago. Way back when I was planning the project, I asked Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee Roasters if he wanted […]
Why this blog is pink
Posted onI’ve been resisting the color pink for most of my life. Until now. Various forces have been conspiring to erode my resistance for a while now. For one thing, my boyfriend wears pink. Hot pink. And I’m envious.