BikeDenver's Kidical Mass ride

A consortium of local advocacy groups led by BikeDenver hosted the first Kidical Mass ride from Washington Park to Bonnie Brae ice cream. It was great fun, with lots of kids, parents and friends making the trek.

Slow and steady

The flower gardens in the park were in their prime

Some of the many bikes parked near the ice cream shop

She rode a while with Camille, who only recently learned to ride and was doing great on her vintage bike with a little help from her Mom

After the ice cream, many of the peloton made their way back to the park for more fun. The water of the irrigation ditch was prime for entertainment during the heat of the day.

Mud pies don't make themselves

Julie debuted her Xtracycle for the ride

A family of family bikes

At the end of the day we stopped by our friends Debbi and Teri's great local coffee shop, Wash Perk, for some cold drinks.

"I made my bike pretty like a queen bug bike and I was pretty in front of the coffee shop."

End of the first full week of school

Her personal school bus ready for departure

Friday marked the end of the first full week of kindergarten. So far, so good. We're already looking forward to next week.

A two-wheeled conundrum

You are mistaken if you think this is the left side of this bike. It's not. It's the right side...

...and this is the far right side. There is no left side on a Dan Maes bike.

Consider this a challenge to everyone out there to try to explain the above photos, taken yesterday in front of Denver Health.

The recent comments made by Dan Maes, Republican candidate for governor of Colorado, didn't exactly endear him to the bicycling community, so it is a bit perplexing why someone would festoon their bike with a Maes campaign sticker, let alone two. Please note that the bike is red, the color attributed to evil socialists, and perhaps not coincidentally the Republican party. Thoughts?

Briefly in Boulder

I'm going to take a small detour from Big Dummy related activities to write about a short tour of bicycle supportive infrastructures found in Boulder, Colorado. I happened to be in Boulder for a meeting today and took a few shots of random bike facilities while I was there. A lot of things in that town are going very right for bike infrastructure.

First, I happened to ride past Casey Middle School and was impressed by the following scene:

Yessir, that's a large solar array acting as a shade for about 100 or so bikes. Every spot was filled, and then some.

Wouldn't it be amazing to see bike racks like this at every school, place of employment and center of commerce? However, someone in authority having decided to have a large number of racks installed is only part of what is impressive about this scene. Those bike racks didn't fill themselves; it requires a community commitment of broad social, cultural, policy and infrastructural support to encourage riding to school. Extra kudos to the school administration and engineers for the large solar array.

Continuing to my destination I noticed the intuitive and simple to follow directional signage for bikes at many intersections. These appear to be more easily identifiable and understandable than the D route signs presently used in Denver.

Clear signs eliminate some of the guesswork

Next was the innovative contraflow bike lane on 13th Street protected by a physical barrier from car traffic. The setup featured diagonal car parking and one lane of Northbound car traffic, along with one lane of Southbound bike traffic, all sharing the same street. Everything was neatly marked so that cars, bikes and pedestrians kept to the correct place and/or direction of travel.

From left: sidewalk, diagonal car parking, Northbound car lane, protective barrier, Southbound bike lane, sidewalk

Contraflow lane at an intersection

In an arched section of the contraflow lane, skirting a pedestrian courtyard

The off-street facilities are just as impressive. I took note of even more examples of clear and instructive directional signage on the trail system. 

Sign post at a major trail intersection in Central Park

Amsterdam and Copenhagen are great, but there's a lot to be learned in our own back yard. Variations on each of these items could easily be applied in Denver, and have already been tested and proven by our neighbors to the north. This brief recounting features just a few of the great bicycle-supportive elements observable in Boulder. I encourage anyone who hasn't done so to visit Boulder on a bike to get a firsthand glimpse of these and other bicycle facilities in action.

Western Welcome Week and rack mount mod

Yesterday was the parade for Western Welcome Week, the big annual community event of our little suburb. Our girl is a big fan of parades, and as it turns out this parade was a big fan of hers. Many parade participants complimented her on her coordinated outfit including matching cowgirl hat and boots.

Howdy pardner

When the parade was finished, we toured the sites and the food booths. Somehow she ended up simultaneously consuming a Tootsie pop and a root beer float courtesy of our fine and honorable State Representative Joe Rice. This just after a snow cone. Needless to say, she had plenty of energy on the ride home.

Contemplating what is sweeter: the good themselves or getting away with such an obvious overindulgence of sugar?

She calls her bike "Rosie" and refers to it as her horse

When we got home, I decided to pare off the excess length of roof tray from my kid bike carrier project. First a little miter saw action...

A little more urbane than a hacksaw

Then a little time with the drill press...

Off camera is a peach daiquiri. Remember to practice power tool safety.

Followed by a little finishing work to make the new end have the same fitting holes as the old end...

Old end (left), new end (right)

And voila! No more extra rack tray sticking out for someone to trip on. Nice and tidy.

Just the right length now

The whole rig rides like a champ

A final addition to the Big Dummy was a new sticker courtesy of the Vote Hick for Gov float in the parade.