Though Janette Marino and her son, Adam, were warned prior to the first day of school, they rode in defiance anyway only to be greeted by an unhappy group of school administrators and a state trooper.

The school cited dangerous road conditions on Route 9, which leads to the school, as a primary reason for the policy, even though the road in question is currently designated as an official "bike route."

Janette made it clear that her son feels "pretty strongly" about biking to school. She explains, "I think it’s my parental right to transport my child to school in the way I deem is appropriate. I think the district is usurping its authority by telling me that I can’t."

Source: Mom and son face off with the law for biking to school

Full article: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/09/14/news/doc4aada71020507442523775.txt

Later today I’m making the trek from San Francisco down the coast to LA where I’ll stay with the fam and do some more planning for the future. I have the trusty “Biking the Pacific Coast” guidebook so routing should be no sweat. Fingers are crossed for a dry voyage. Will be camping most of the way but if I can find a warmshowers.org host or two that would be nice also

After getting back from this last tour, I filled the backlog of orders and yesterday was happy to see one Chainglider had already arrived and in my inbox, a picture of it installed on a winter ride! Sweet!

Thanks for sharing John Nice double leg stand too

One great resource for us car free folk is joining meetup.com hiking and backpacking groups. For the San Francisco Bay Area there are dozens and they have regularly scheduled “meetups” usually with carpools you can get in on.

Another resource which I just happened upon, is Transit & Trails, a website dedicated to transit routes that will take you to trailheads including an interactive map; love the idea.I had previously known about the Golden Gate Transit route to Muir Woods, the AC Transit route (on the weekends) to Tilden Park and the Caltrain->Motherey-Salinas route to Big Sur but Transit & Trails seems to have a whole lot more than that.

Happy Trails

Pictured above is seven year old Kylie attending her parents funeral in San Antonio, TX after a truck veered into the shoulder and struck her parents tandem bike from behind. The driver is not being charged for this “accident”. Deputy Chief Dale Bennett of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was quoted: "He [the driver of the truck] looked off, he was looking at something else and realized the curve in the road came a lot faster than what he anticipated".

Fact of the matter is, plain and clear, negligence is no accident and surely it was negligent behavior on behalf of the driver of the truck. “With great power comes great responsibility”.

To sum it up: car “accidents” are hardly ever accidents and should not be labeled such and cars can be deadly, handle with care, there are people outside your cage

I did a good deal of riding around Berkeley during my stay and it was interesting to contrast some of the differences and similarities of the bike networks I’ve ridden in the past.

Berkeley is well known in California for its bicycle boulevards, regarded generally as a leader in citywide bicycle network planning. Right out of the train station and onto my bike and I was already on a designated bike blvd. Constantly comparing to Vancouver, I’ve felt these have paled. One of my biggest beefs is the lack of planning regarding stops at intersections. In my opinion (and Vancouver’s), residential intersections on bike routes should always have cross traffic come to a stop (4-way stop or 2). There are unfortunately intersections where this isn’t the case in Berkeley and its adds a bit of danger to riders and creates the annoyance of stopping when normally not necessary because of our low travel speed.

Bike boulevards have painted streets to indicate to road users their designation and also feature wayfinding signs in a lovely shade of purple (perhaps the last color not used for other street signs)

In my opinion, the shining point of the whole system is the extensive array of traffic diverters the city has installed to remove traffic from quiet arterial parallels but allow bicycle travel. Also appreciated are residential roundabouts a-la Portland, Seattle and Vancouver but Berkeley made the mistake of making the roundabouts also a 4-way stop, stupid if you ask me.

Berkeley is perhaps more well known for their activism than their bike blvds but sometimes they come together

I took a short ride and photographed several of the bicycle amenities riders will find on their way around town:

There is a well laid out network of bicycle routes on low traffic residential streets that parallel the major thoroughfares. All streets that are part of the bicycle route system have a bike logo on their street sign (as seen above). Not only is the bike logo on the small street sign, its also on the large sign in the middle of the intersection. The very fact that the bike network was so visible to everyone was impressive to me and it made route finding a cinch without ever looking at a map (try that in any other city!).

Routes also include painted bike logos to let cars know they are on a bicycle priority street and also, as seen above, serve as routefinding aids to tell cyclists where to go to continue along the route. There are also posted green signs along the road for wayfinding as well.

Residential roundabouts are not uncommon on any old street but are heavily used on bike routes. They very successfully slow down cars and also provide a seamless, quick and safe intersection for bikes to cross. I find they also discourage drivers from using the route since they’re forced to slow down keeping these streets quiet. These are a common sight in Seattle, Portland and Berkeley as well.

It’s a common around the city to see signage for cars that makes exceptions for bicycles. These are present often even off bike routes. The signs usually allow bikes to continue straight through an intersection while cars cannot, calming traffic through quiet residential neighborhoods.

For the busier intersections, buttons have been installed to trigger a traffic signal change. These are also found all over the place, not just on the routes; surprising how many there are. This is where the concerted effort of the city to accommodate for bikes is really apparent. These buttons have been contentious in the past though: some bike advocates claim the buttons do harm by putting the rider to the far right of the road where they are in the danger area of right turning vehicles. Their preferred method are road embedded sensors (the more expensive and complicated solution). My opinion: the buttons work and the fear is a bit overstated.

Off topic but I thought it was funny

All that trouble of flipping the bars and levers and retaping and I’d figure they’d just get a riser stem. Never seen STIs on flipped bars before (AKA “bum bars”)

I stopped into a few bike shops (of which there are many) and they had a pleasing supply of commuter oriented products and utilitarian style bikes for sale. There are recreational riders here for sure but I’d dare say the majority of riders are merely point A to point B type of folks which definitely brings a big ol’ smile to my face

Woo Vancouverrrr. I love it. Love it apparently enough to neglect my blog writing for a good week or so, whoops. I crossed the border Sep 10th on my way to Surrey to then take light rail into downtown but, as no surprise, the plans changed. Phoned my friend Zoe whom I traveled a bit with in Cambodia and Thailand, and found out she lived only a couple miles from the border so easy enough, that is where I headed. Was welcomed into her family’s home with open arms, fed very well and provided a nights rest (called my hostel to adjust the booking).

Took a smooth and easy bus and train combination from Langley to Downtown, the train being the new Canada Line just completed 2 weeks ago, its pretty swanky (although it has the most drab boring cars I’ve ever been in). Checked into the Samesun hostel on Granville in the heart of the entertainment district. Was the largest hostel I’d ever stayed at and a bit overwhelming. Three floors of tightly packed 4 person dorms, a common area with kitchen and a downstairs bar/restaurant. Stashed my things and bike and walked the bustling downtown stopping for bahn mi (Viatnamese sandwich) and gelatto. The variety of food in the city is superb.

Met back up with Zoe that night for what I had been warned was going to a country bar; not exactly my cup of tea but..eh, why not. The bar was fairly accurate to my mental projections of such a place which was humorous in and of itself. I had forgotten my credit card on tab after leaving so we went back to retrieve it 15 minutes before closing. Now I knew the bar previously as hosting some pretty sleezy characters but good god the type that sticks around to last call will want to make you sit and consider your life then laugh your ass off. All in all, it was a good time, I will say that.

Checked out early from the hostel, it just wasn’t my style, way too impersonal. Got in contact with a Warmshowers host, Naomi, whom I had corresponded with and laid out plans to meet for breakfast. She was hosting two German travelers through Couchsurfing so they tagged along as well. Naomi let us in on one of the jumping local breakfast joints and we stuffed ourselves with eggs and pancakes. We formed a posse for the day and made plans to go bike the park. Naomi led me along the seawall path past Jericho Beach. Despite the crowds on the paths, its a fantastic route to ride a bike for fun. The beaches were packed too! (People and dogs as well which was a bit surprising to someone whos used to canine bans). A bit strange to see a swimming pool beachside but they seem to enjoy it here: (HUGE pool too)

All four of us biked the Stanley Park loop, another fantastic leisurely and scenic ride. It was fairly funny rounding one of the first bends towards the Lions Gate Bridge: I had sailed on a cruise through this area years prior and didn’t remember much but one flash of the giant yellow mound of stockpiled sulfur and memories flooded back. Not the most romantic of sights a chemical pile but hey, I remember it.

I ended up crashing at Naomi’s despite the guest bedroom being occupied by the Couchsurfers; a meager slice of floor space is all I need thanks to my trusty sleeping pad.

Couchsurfers and I woke up early to tackle “The Grouse Grind”, a steep 2 mile ascent up Grouse Mountain, the closest mountain to the north. Nearly 3000 manmade stairs and ledges and 2800ft elevation gain. A challenge for sure. Its not a particularly scenic or peaceful hike more than it is a killer workout but was fun anyway. Its the kind of thing that if I lived here Id go back every so often to try to beat my time We made it up in an hour and seven minutes, twenty three minutes faster than the average so Im’ pleased with that

Pretty view down to the city; can get a very good idea to how Vancouver is situated. To get back down a gondola is provided (that also serves to ferry those up which don’t wish to undergo The Grind).

Stayed with Naomi an additional two nights checking out Main St and Commercial, doing an extensive bit of walking and biking. The bike routes are phenomenal here! Really forefront type city planning. Its a real pleasure to stand on 10th and watch the bikes roll on by, makes me happy

I’ve unfortunately injured my achilles tendon somehow, most likely from biking and changing my saddle position. I’ve been taking it easy (generally) and trying to rest it up. Been seeing some improvement the last few days and I hope in a few more it will be 100% again. Once healed up I am on my way north to do some ferry riding, camping and island hopping! Here’s hoping the declining weather cooperates!

This is one brand new section (with a nice man who stopped to ask if I wanted to be in the picture..although I didn’t want to)

Here’s a pretty wooded stretch of the trail. The bollards were sometimes the only way to figure out where to go after a break in the trail.

Stopped for some wild blackberries. I’ve been so stuffed full of fruit since I’ve been here! There are fruit trees everyyywhere: apple, plum, pluot, cherry, fig, pear. Yum

Yesterday was the first day with any significant climbing. Was a lot of up and down, the worst kind, but it afforded some decent views at times.

Descended from the hills into flat farmland. They seem to like corn ‘round these parts

I had contacted a person on Warmshowers in Mt Vernon, a reasonable distance north from Seattle. He was no longer in the area but said I’d be welcome at his parents. Arrived at the given address and unfortunately came upon an empty house but got a call saying to make myself at home, shower and eat anything I wanted. A tad awkward though meeting someone for the first time eating a sandwich in their own kitchen…but they were extremely cool. They told me a bit about their hitchhiking days in the 70s and I told a bit about my touring. They left early in the morning but trusted me with the whole house basically and said to leave whenever and take food. They left a very sweet note and I left one in return. It completely makes the trip meeting such generous and trusting people.

I stumbled on this cider place and said “boy, I could use some cider” and stepped in. I was both happy and disappointed though at the honor system payment setup: its admirably trusting and quaint to us city folks but it meant I couldn’t get change for my $20.

Skaggit County’s transit system is somehow called “SKAT” (Skaggit County Transit). Who gave the go ahead for this idea?!?

So I made it to Bellingham; very cool little town, has a great feel. There are three colleges in the area so there are a lot of young people milling about the cafes and restaurants of downtown. I sent out a last minute Warmshowers request last night and surprisingly got a reply. I rang her up when I got into the city but there ended up being a conflict with her roommate but did offer to help find me something from a friend and indeed she did! We met up anyway despite the inability to host and had some coffee (which was probably very good but I’m too much of a coffee pleb to realize such things). She has done several tours including a cross country so we swapped tour stories and chatted (especially about the wonderful hostpitality we’ve received). Met up with her friend and am happily being hosted again, woot.

Tomorrow the plan is an early ride across the border and into Surrey where I can take the SkyTrain into the city; sounds a lot easier than trying to navigate through unfamiliar city streets. Most likely meeting up with my friend from the last portion of my Cambodia stay too!

Yes I do have my passport

My oh so clever invented word for two days of the zoo, vistas and Bumbershoot music festival.

The vista you can see above: iconic Seattle. Photo was taken from Kerry park in Queen Anne.

Took a day to go see Woodland Park Zoo with friends; been a while since I’ve been to a zoo. The animals habitats are fairly nice and large which staves away some depression about their confinement. Its fun though, saw all sorts of things.

Today I went to Bumbershoot with some more friends and had a blast. Nearly 10 hours of music! Long day. Unfortunately no pictures from the event; decided to free myself from the burden of carrying a camera and just enjoy the time. Rained in the morning but fortunately cleared up later on.

Heading out tomorrow morning: destination, Mt Vernon, where I have a warmshowers.org host lined up. Hopefully a nice ride. The Interurban Trail connects Seattle to Everett, a good 40 or so miles of off street path! Planning another day on the road after that and then arriving to Vancouver the 10th where I have a hostel downtown lined up. I could easily get couchsurfing or warmshowers but I think I’d rather pay the $25 a night for the ease of meeting people and finding things to do. I think in big cities, hostel is the way to go.