2nd Annual Solstice Ride

Join us for a family bike ride through downtown Tacoma on Sunday, December 20, 2015. At 11 am we will roll out from the 253 Collective Art Gallery (1901 Jefferson Ave) to Thea's Park. We'll stop to play on the shore then pedal back to the Harmon Restaurant and Brewery to warm-up with hot chocolate, courtesy of the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club. 

We hope many of you will consider staying for lunch to help us plan the 2016 Kidical Mass ride calendar. Kids 10 and under eat FREE at the Harmon on Sundays with the purchase of an adult entrée, plus there's happy hour beers for the grown ups.

As usual, rider sign-in starts at 10:30am and we will roll-out at 11am. We will be riding in the street and following the Rules of the Road. (Riders with push bikes or training wheels can ride a shorter route on the sidewalks and the Prairie Line Trail through the UWT campus.)

Please plan accordingly and dress for the weather! Helmets are required for all riders.
You can also RSVP on Facebook.

What: 2nd Annual Solstice Ride with Kidical Mass Tacoma

When: 10:30am, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015

Starts Where: 1901 Jefferson Ave, Tacoma

End Where: 1938 Pacific Ave, Tacoma

Who: Kids and their Families

Why: Celebrate the winter season and support a local business by bike

Thanks to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club for sponsoring our events!

Cranksgiving Junior ride on November 14, 2015

Part bike ride - Part food drive - All fun! 

Join us for a family bike ride through Hilltop on Saturday November 14, 2015, from Wright Park to Zina Linnik Park. We'll stop for some play time then pedal to the Hilltop Safeway for a chance to try your hand at family shopping by bicycle. Riders will be asked to purchase a few items (from this list) that will be donated to the Backpack Program at St. Leo Food Connection. Be sure to bring along some way to haul your food items with you on your bike - a bag, a basket, a trailer, etc.

"The Backpack program currently provides two day's worth of food every weekend throughout the school year to more than 750 children at 26 Tacoma and Clover Park Schools. The counselor at each of the schools identifies those students most at-risk of hunger.  The St. Leo Food Connection provides each student with six kid-friendly meals and snacks, including fresh fruits and vegetables, every Friday during the school year."

We'll then pedal back to Wright Park and meet-up with the folks from Food Connection to make our donation. Cash donations to the Backpack Program will also be accepted.

As usual, rider sign-in starts at 10:30am (at the Wright Park Playground) and we will roll-out at 11am. We will be riding in the street and following the Rules of the Road. (Riders with push bikes or training wheels can ride directly to Safeway along the sidewalk.)

Please plan accordingly and dress for the weather! Helmets for all riders are required.

What: Cranksgiving Junior with Kidical Mass Tacoma

When: 10:30am, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015

Where: Wright Park Playground near 501 S I St, Tacoma, WA 98405

Who: Kids and their Families

Why: Food Drive for the Food Connection Backpack Program (and Learn to Shop by Bike!)

Thanks to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club for sponsoring our events!

Two Rides in September

September 13 - Kidical Mass Tacoma Rides Downtown to Defiance

The third annual Downtown to Defiance is a car free open streets event. The 7-mile section of streets along the Tacoma waterfront will be open to active transportation traffic only - and for us that means BIKES!

This year there is no official start/finish line, just a long open course without cars from 9am to 1pm. Let's get together and ride the coolest part of the whole course together: Schuster Parkway!

We will have a family meet-up at Thea's Park at 405 Dock Street at 10 a.m. Meet other families that like to ride! There are tons of activities happening at this park (kayaking demos, Alchemy skateboarding ramps) so give your family plenty of time to see and do everything.

At 10:30 a.m. we will roll-out as a group onto Schuster Parkway and ride north to Dickman Mill Park. It's a 2-mile ride. Ride at a pace that's comfortable for your family. When we reach Dickman Mill Park, you can then keep riding up Ruston Way, or turn around and ride back. This is more casual that our typical monthly neighborhood rides.

For a map of the complete D2D course and to pre-register, visit http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/downtowntodefiance/

Pre-registration is not required, but you'll be entered to win some sweet prizes. Consider making a donation when you register to help offset the cost of this free community event.




September 19 - Kidical MASSIVE Global Event at Wapato Park

Kidical Mass Tacoma is joining Kidical Mass groups all over the world for Kidical Massive - the biggest global family bike ride EVER!! Thousands of families around the country go for a bike ride together on the same day to show that Kids are Traffic, too, and that cities that plan for family biking are more livable, sustainable, profitable, and FUN! 

Meet at Wapato Park playground around 10:30 am on September 19. Enter the park around S 65th and Sheridan Ave for the easiest access to the playground and parking. We'll decorate bikes and get everyone ready.

At 11 am we will roll out for a 4-5 mile ride around the South End neighborhood. As usual, we will be riding in the street, following the Rules of the Road. City of Tacoma law requires everyone to wear a helmet. We'll stop to play at a park mid-ride, then circle back to Wapato for a snack and more post-ride playtime. And maybe a group photo at the Fern Hill mural?

If you have young riders with training wheels or push bikes, they can ride the paved trail that circles Wapato Lake within the park while the bigger kids take to the streets.

More details posted below as they become available. Please RSVP so we know how many snacks to bring!

Lincoln-McKinley Ride

Kidical Mass is a monthly bike ride for kids and families. We ride in the street, observing the Rules of the Road, and regroup frequently. The goal is to gain confidence and learn how to ride safely in Tacoma. Kids are traffic, too!

For our next ride, meet up at the Lincoln Park playground (S 37th and Yakima) on Sunday June 14 at 10:30 am. We’ll roll-out at 11am for a 4.4 mile ride around the Lincoln and McKinley Districts. Helmets are required for all riders and children must be accompanied by an adult. This route is a bit hilly and we'll be riding on arterials at times. Scoot bikes and bikes with training wheels are not recommended for this route.

We’ll stop at Verlo Playfield at the half-way point to play on the playground/sprayground for a bit. (Verlo has bathrooms.) Then we'll finish back at Lincoln Park for a snack. Or pack a picnic lunch and make a day of it! Lincoln Park has restrooms, also.

Here's the route:

Thanks again to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club for sponsoring these rides!

RSVP on Facebook.

Catching Up On Our Spring Rides

The blog has taken a back burner for the last few months, and we apologize if you've missed a ride because of that. Sometimes it's easier to post rides on Facebook or at bike253.com, but we'll make a better effort to post them here as well.

Here's a few photos from our last few rides...

The Water Flume Line Trail ride in March: The toughest part is getting your little riders to South Tacoma. Matt's kids took the lane on Cedar from 19th to South Tacoma Way, which wasn't too bad since there's nearly no car traffic at 10am on a Sunday. The girls used the sidewalk in places of South Tacoma Way and only used the bike lane closer to the South Tacoma business district where the speed limit drops.

The trail ride was great. It's about 2 miles from South Park down to the Homestead Restaurant, where we picked up five pies for sharing back at the new playground on 74th St. We had families from the West Side, East Side, North End, South End and maybe other neighborhoods, too. This was probably our most geographically diverse pack of Tacoma riders to date. Ride the Flume!

Jr. Daffodil Parade in March: This is our second year riding in this completely non-motorized parade in the Proctor District. It's only four blocks long, but the kids have a blast riding as slowly as possible. We were busy decorating bikes and waving, but Carla took some great photos!

7th Annual Tacoma Bike Swap in May: Sarah and Mark built the best Bike Rodeo course that the bike swap has ever seen. The teeter-totter ramp delighted the younger riders (and a few not-so-young riders, too.)

Hilltop Rock'n Ride with Pig Snout in May: Bike Month is huge in Tacoma. There are events nearly every day and our Bike Month ride is usually the biggest crown of the year. We followed the same route as last year, starting at Peoples Park in Hilltop and doing a big loop of the neighborhood down to McCarver Park. We stopped along the way at Tacoma's Oldest Park, where kids protested the City to improve playground conditions back in the 1940s. Be empowered, Kids!

We had two little riders that did the whole ride on 12" bikes, one was a no-pedal push bike and the other had training wheels. Big Brother waited anxiously to make sure Little Brother and Mom made it to the playground safely.

We had about 100 kids, parents and friends along for the ride and most of them stuck around at 2nd Cycle for an amazing show by Tacoma's rocking family trio Pig Snout. Family bike ride to a family rock show in a community bike shop - doesn't get much better than that!

Our next ride is June 14 in the Lincoln and McKinley Districts. Hop over to bike253.com for details (we'll get a post up here on the blog soon.)  

Thanks again to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club for sponsoring us as we get more families pedaling in the street during the Year of the Bike!

Flume Line Trail Ride

Kidical Mass is a monthly bike ride for kids, families, and kids at heart. This month we're taking the Flume Line Trail (formerly known as the Water Ditch Trail) south towards Arlington Elementary to check out some improvements and additions to this multi-use path. We've done this route twice before and it's great to see our city's bicycle infrastructure improve and expand.

If the group is ambitious, we may venture over to the STAR Center on South 66th Street. Either way, we will return to South Park via Puget Sound Avenue (riding in the street!) for snacks and more play time. Helmets are required and young riders should bring a grown-up.

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2015
Start Location: South Park/Asia Pacific Cultural Center, 4851 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma 98409
Time: Meet-up at 10:30am. Ride starts at 11am
Distance: About 4 miles roundtrip

Contact the ride leader (Matt) for more info: kidicalmasstacoma <at> gmail <dot> com or 25three-2zero9-403two.

Sponsored by the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club.

Not-a-Leap-Year Ride

We heard that the Mayor has proclaimed that 2015 is the Year of the Bike in Tacoma! Unfortunately this year is one day shorter than others, so we're celebrating this misfortune with donuts a bike ride. ;) 

Meet up at Legendary Donuts (2602 6th Ave) on Saturday, Feb. 28 around 9 or 930. We'll provide some special donuts for the young riders then roll out to Wright Park and burn off some sugar. If the weather is good, we'll take a 2 mile route to the park; if the weather is crummy, the direct route is just over 1 mile. There are public restrooms and water fountains at the playground. Young riders should dress for the weather and bring a grown up to ride with them. Contact us if you have questions.

This is a friendly ride with kids and families, teaching everyone how to ride in the street safely with confidence and respect for others. Expect a super slow pace. 

Please note that training wheels and push bikes may not be the best for this ride, but you are welcome to walk on the sidewalk to Wright Park with those youngest riders or even just meet us there and ride on the trails.

Also, many thanks to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club for sponsoring our 2015 season. Family memberships are just $20/year and dues help support rides, advocacy, trails, and events throughout Tacoma and Pierce County.

If you ride with us often, please show them your support.