Let the good times roll

While most of our time in Ireland last month was spent with my husband's family, we did manage to reserve a few hours of one day to rent bikes in Dublin's enormous patch of open space, Phoenix Park. Our daughter chose to join her cousins on an open-top bus tour of Dublin instead, as she didn't feel her left foot was ready for cycling just yet.


Phoenix Park Bike Hire had a steady stream of customers that Monday afternoon, with a group ahead of us leaving on bikes and two more groups waiting behind us. I was happy to be handed a ladylike step-through framed Giant Expression (possibly the one ridden by Beyonce - see the photo on their website) with a bag on the rack to hold our belongings.
My husband was given an "ugly mountain bike" with a laugh from the friendly bike man.
Eager to be on our way and away from the crowd, we rode up the street into the park and hoped the darkening clouds would hold their rain for just a little while longer. They obliged, and I was grateful for their presence by the end, as it was warm enough without the sun beating down on us. The constant presence of the dramatic clouds above the smooth green fields made for a beautiful landscape throughout our ride.

As my husband is accustomed to riding alone at a moderately high speed for exercise purposes, our ride together didn't turn out to be the relaxed, romantic pedal through the park that I had envisioned. Instead, I struggled to stay close behind him and gave up on the idea of conversation until we stopped for a brief rest. Perhaps the presence of my camera on video mode kept him on the run. I recorded about 35 minutes of our 90 minute ride and chopped it up into this 3 minute video.

The Green Fields of Dublin from BIKE Lite on Vimeo.

I have no idea how much of the park we actually covered, but it seemed like we saw most of it. The majority of the park has a separated bike path, and the on-street bike lanes we encountered were comfortably wide with light traffic, although we did see three cars parked in the bike lane (try to spot them in the video).

Our bike ride through Phoenix Park was one of the highlights for me, and I'm sure we will make it a regular feature of our future visits. Hopefully next time our daughter will accompany us and keep the pace at a more comfortable level for conversation. She might even smile for the camera.

This ad brings tears to my eyes

It must be my allergies.


(Can anyone identify the bike?)

Crossing the Delaware

The Delaware River forms the entire border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. George Washington made his famous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 1776. This Memorial Day weekend, we crossed it six times:

Saturday – We drove from our home in the suburbs of Philadelphia to Ocean City, New Jersey, in the morning (1st crossing), then back to Philadelphia in the afternoon (2nd crossing) for a wedding at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
I spotted some bike racks as we left the stadium to return to Ocean City (3rd crossing).

Sunday – Husband and I tiptoed out for an early morning bike ride.
We treated ourselves to breakfast after riding into the wind for 3 miles.
Afterward, a few more bikes (and dogs) began to appear.
This street mural is a traffic calming device on the bike route. (See its story on YouTube here.)
We headed home to Pennsylvania later in the day (4th crossing).

Monday (Memorial Day) – Daughter convinced us it was the perfect day to visit the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey.
We decided to take the River Link ferry across the Delaware River (5th crossing) instead of getting stuck in the holiday traffic on the bridges.
I was happy to see two passengers bring their bikes aboard, and surprised when a crew member told me there is no extra charge to do so! (Adult fare is $6 roundtrip.)
Of course, you can always cross the Delaware for free by riding your bike across the walkway above the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. No thank you!
Inside the Adventure Aquarium:
This very large green sea turtle was Daughter’s favorite.
Piranhas! (Obviously not Daughter’s favorite.)
The Battleship New Jersey is docked next to the aquarium and would have been a fitting destination for Memorial Day, but Daughter ran out of energy due to the crutches, so we’ll have to return another day for a tour.
A father and child on bike watched our ferry return to Philadelphia (6th crossing). The warship Olympia from the Spanish-American War is behind them.
As we drove through downtown Philadelphia on our way home, we saw bikes in use and parked everywhere. Even as a passenger, it’s difficult to take photos from a moving car, but I managed to get this bit of a corner café scene:
And here’s a wonderful example of Philadelphia Cycle Chic – - that I just missed!

Riding With Mom

One of my earliest memories is riding in the folding child seat on the back of my mother's bicycle, alongside my older sister on the back of my father's bicycle. My heart leapt when I saw this post by Henry of Bakfiets en Meer a few months ago. It seems we were born in the same year and share the same back-of-bike memory. Unfortunately, I didn't even own a bike at the time my daughter was small enough to ride on back, so my daughter missed out on that wonderful experience. Hopefully, she will have enough happy memories of riding next to her mother to make up for it.

Recently I discovered this nostalgic "home movie" on Vimeo, which looks to be about 10 years after my back seat days had ended (at that time I would have been riding my red-white-and-blue banana seat bike). I only wish they could have handed the movie camera to the child so I could really relive that unique feeling of motion from the back of the bike.

Bike Ride from Gobias Media on Vimeo.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and thanks for the memories!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Maybe I'll go for a Guinness tonight. Sláinte!



Hey, spring is almost here!

Watch out, the world's behind you!

It's been a few months since I last made a video while riding my bike, so I thought I'd give it another try on Sunday morning. This time I used the tiny Nikon Coolpix L18 instead of our large, heavy Canon PowerShot S5 IS.

Sunday Morning from BIKE Lite on Vimeo.

I didn't feel quite as comfortable this time, due to the new camera (trying to find the right buttons on the fly), more cars passing us than usual on these normally quiet streets, and trying to maneuver around the melting ice patches and pedestrians. But it did add a little thrill to the ride and made me look forward to trying it again.

Seize the day and shoot the ducks

When Mother Nature treats you to 53°F on the first day of February, it’s only polite to get outside and enjoy it. My husband decided to take his bike to scenic Kelly Drive in Philadelphia for a ride on the Schuylkill River Trail, and although it’s one of our favorite places to ride, my daughter and I didn’t join him since he intended to go at a much faster pace for a real workout. In fact, my daughter didn’t want to go anywhere at all on the bikes. I pleaded, prodded, poked, tried the carrot-and-stick approach (library? pretzels? bakery??), all to no avail. Just as I was about to give up, she begrudgingly picked up her helmet and muttered one word – “Ducks.” She was willing to ride down to the park to visit the ducks that gather next to the creek, a favorite stopping-off point on our ride home from school. Not exactly the distance I was hoping for, but at that point I would have been happy just to roll up and down the driveway on my bike.
We arrived to find the creek rushing like a river due to the melting snow and more ducks than usual on the slush-covered banks. One duck walked over to greet us while the other ducks stayed a safe distance away.

Most likely she was hoping we had come to feed them (as we’ve seen the nearby homeowners doing), but it was surprising how she continued to waddle around us even after it was clear that we had no food for her. Maybe it was our bikes that intrigued her. My daughter was thrilled to be so close and made the most of the opportunity by taking more than 40 photos.



As I uploaded them to our computer, I discovered she had also been practicing her video skills.

One Lone Duck from BIKE Lite on Vimeo.
(Titles added by me. Used with permission.)

I think I may put the filming duties on her in future. She's got much more dramatic flair than I.

Admiring Amsterdam

As if the bike lanes alone weren't enough to make me want to move to Amsterdam, here are a few more reasons:


Amsterdams new climate from Bosch Film on Vimeo.

Well, at least my town has upgraded to single-stream recycling. It's a start.

Minnesota and Miyazaki

I’ve been feeling like a fraud lately. The gist of this blog is to encourage people to add a little bit of biking to their life, yet I’ve only been on my bike three times this month. Not exactly leading by example, am I? Sure, I have some reasonable excuses: high temperatures that are mostly below freezing, a sinus infection for the past two weeks, and a daughter that insists on riding the bus to school because “it’s too cold” to go by bike. But then I think of the people in places like Minnesota who are commuting to work and school in much worse weather conditions and realize that my excuses are pretty lame. I love to ride my bike, I love to bundle up with hats and scarves, so what’s stopping me?

When my daughter was invited to a friend’s house this afternoon, I decided it was the perfect chance for another bike ride. The temperature was right at the freezing mark, but surprisingly, my daughter gave no resistance and actually admitted that she missed riding her bike. It didn’t hurt that her friend was impressed by her arrival on bike and the sparkly letter stickers my daughter used to personalize her new helmet. Positive comments from someone other than her bike-crazy mother always make the ride more fun.

After the slightly colder ride home later in the afternoon, we treated ourselves to some movie time and watched Spirited Away by the wonderful Japanese filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki. Sadly, no bikes were involved in that story, but there's a great scene involving a bike in one of his previous movies, Kiki's Delivery Service:

We are big fans of Hayao Miyazaki's work, and look forward to this summer's US release of his latest movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which is based on the story of The Little Mermaid:
Daughter is especially interested since hearing that two of the voice actors include Frankie Jonas, little brother of the Jonas Brothers, and Noah Cyrus, little sister of Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana).

In the meantime, we will try to expand our definition of "good biking weather" a little closer to Minnesota standards and maybe next time bring along one of our Miyazaki DVDs to lend to a friend.

More to Explore

If you enjoyed the videos in my last post, be sure to check out this group of videos on Vimeo:
Traveling the world on a bicycle / Wereldfietser
The group was started by Blanche and includes videos shot by many cyclists in locations from Alaska to Uzbekistan and beyond.
Thanks for sharing, Blanche!

I'll Follow the Sun

As another arctic blast blows into town tonight and the cold virus attacks our family again, I will be warming up in front of the computer with a cup of tea, following the adventures of cyclists in warmer parts of the world. Through them, I can see places and cultures that I will probably never get to experience first-hand. I’m sure there are thousands of travel blogs and videos floating around the internet, but I’m only interested in the ones that document travels on a bike. Here are some of my favorites:

WORLDTRAVELLERS.DK - “A Danish Solo Expedition 2006-2010 Around the World by Bicycle”

Nicolai Bangsgaard and his friend Martin Amor left Denmark on their bikes in April 2006 to see the world. Unfortunately, Martin had to return home in the first month, but Nicolai decided to continue alone. He is now in his 3^rd year on the road and is currently heading north through South America (Colombia, at last check). I’m glad I caught up with him in time to follow his last year on the road. I spent a few long nights over the holidays reading his most recent posts (from August to December 2008) and viewing slideshows of his gorgeous, National Geographic-worthy photos. I still have so much more to view in his archives that it will probably take me until spring. Here is the video of his recent travels through Chile and Argentina that he uploaded to Vimeo:

Around the World by Bicycle 2006-2010 from Nicolai Bangsgaard on Vimeo.

Revolution Cycle - “first irish circumnavigation of the world by bicycle”

In November 2008, best friends Simon Evans and Fearghal O’Nuallain left Ireland to begin their bicycle journey around the world. Their mission is “promoting the positive contribution that cycling can make to mental health and the environment, raising funds for Aware and highlighting climate change.” So far, they have ridden from County Wicklow in Ireland to Madrid, Spain, and then boarded a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were joined by their friend Marina. They recently visited the Iguazu Falls near the border of Argentina and Paraguay. It’s exciting to be following their progress from the very start, and I must thank John in Dublin for bringing it to our attention on his blog, Le Vie en Velo. Here is the video highlighting their European leg (highlights from Argentina will be on their site soon):

Europe Cherbourg to Madrid from revolutioncycle on Vimeo.

Travelling the world on a bicycle

Blanche is a Dutch woman who has taken many cycling vacations over the years. Her videos and photos are so beautiful and inspiring, and her website includes much information to help plan your own cycling trip. My sister is hoping to visit Cuba in a few months, so I suggested she check out Blanche’s site and video from Cuba (with wonderful music):

Salsa en la Calle from Blanche on Vimeo.

TOUR.TK – “What a Wonderful World Tour”

Sonya Spry and Aaldrik Mulder are an Australian woman and Dutch man who sold all of their belongings to travel the world by bike in search of a new place to call home. They left the Netherlands in July 2006 on a five year tour of the globe. Sonya’s journal entries are full of colorful stories and details that make the accompanying photo slideshows and video clips really come alive. Highly recommended reading. (Oh, my burning eyes, though!)

A Wayward Journey – “A Family Travels the Roads Less Traveled from the Arctic to Patagonia”

In June 2008, the Vogel family (John, Nancy and 10-year-old twins Daryl and Davy) left their home in Idaho to travel the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Argentina on a tandem and two single bikes. If they are successful in finishing their journey, the boys will both be able to claim the title of “Youngest Person to Cycle the Pan-American Highway” in the Guinness Book of World Records. Their blog has entries from each family member, giving their own perspective on the events of the day. They are currently in Texas preparing to cross into Mexico. I will definitely be sharing this family’s story with my 10-year-old daughter.

Thanks to Nicolai, Simon and Fearghal, and Blanche for allowing me to add their videos to this post.

I wish all of these cyclists success in their journeys and a safe return home. Don’t forget to write!

The Season of Surprises

Who would have guessed that three days after Christmas we would be riding our bikes in a record-breaking 66°F? A surprise gift for all to enjoy, so we left our coats, hats and gloves behind and took a quick trip around town with the warm winds from the south that are passing through. What a treat after weeks of rainy weather, below-freezing weather, and feeling under-the-weather. The best gifts don't need batteries.

A summer-like sunset in December

Starry Night

Christmas Corral

And who would have guessed that the Philadelphia Eagles would beat the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 44-6 to make it to the playoffs on the same day? A season of surprises, indeed!

BIKELites from BIKE Lite on Vimeo.
Happy New Year to all! See you next year!

Fashion forward / rewind

It seems The Gap hatched the idea of using bicycles to sell fashion long before this year's crop of bike-themed ads.



Of course, it's really the hip, young Hollywooders (Ashton Kutcher, Scarlett Johansson, Zooey Deschanel and Jay Hernandez) that are selling the fashion, but they sure make it look fun to ride a bike in normal clothes.
I'm not sure what year this commercial was made (possibly 2002, according to the YouTube comments), but this might be a good time for The Gap to dig it out of their archives and run it again. Reduce, reuse and recycle, especially in this economy.

Coming soon to a city near me - Jan Gehl

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Danish architect Jan Gehl will be in Philadelphia this Friday, December 5, with his presentation, "Public Spaces, Public Life". To see some of the improvements he has helped to make in the streets of New York City, watch this new interview with him from Streetfilms:



I especially like his "if you build it, they will come" theory on bicycle lanes. I wish the City of Philadelphia could hire his firm to work their magic here. But since the city is having a major budget crisis, I guess I can only hope that they send a few department heads (or maybe even the Mayor) to listen and pick up ideas for the future.
More clips from Streetfilms featuring Jan Gehl can be found here.

Another First

I've been reading many bike-related blogs from around the world during the past few months, but I'd have to say my favorite is Amsterdamize. I'm not a fan of "reality TV", but the Bicycle TV section got me hooked. The author, Marc, uploads short videos taken while riding his bike through Amsterdam for his daily trips to work, errands, play, etc. He encourages his readers to give it a try, as all it takes is a mobile phone or digital camera in one hand. I decided to attempt it as we rode on the Schuylkill River Trail through the Manayunk section of Philadelphia. Here's the result:


Thanks for the inspiration, Marc! (Click here to see the videos I've made since then.)