November 2017: 3rd Annual Cranksgiving Ride!

Join us for our 3rd Annual Cranksgiving family bike ride through Hilltop benefiting the St. Leo Food Connection! 

We'll roll-out on Saturday November 18, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. from 2nd Cycle Community Cycle Center in Tacoma (1205 MLK Jr Way). We'll pedal a mile or so to the Hilltop Safeway for a chance to try our hand at family shopping by bicycle. Riders will be asked to purchase a few items that will be donated to St. Leo Food Connection. Be sure to bring along some way to haul your food items on your bike - backpack, basket, trailer, etc.

After we shop, we'll pedal to the Food Connection to deliver our items and take a quick tour. Cash donations will also be accepted and are used to purchase fresh produce. You are welcome to shop before the ride and bring items along if that's a better way to stretch your dollars (Costco and Cash'n'Carry have some good deals if you want to buy in bulk.)


As always, we will be riding in the street and following the Rules of the Road. For this ride, younger riders with push bikes or training wheels can take a shortcut and ride directly to Safeway along the sidewalk. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

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

What: Cranksgiving with Kidical Mass Tacoma

When: 10:30 am, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Where: 2nd Cycle, 1205 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma

Who: Kids and their Families, Neighbors, Friends

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

RSVP on our Facebook page

August 2017: Family Bike Camping to Owen Beach

We're loading up our kids and tents to go bike camping at Owen Beach August 18, 2017! Pre-registration is required, so please read on.

WHEN: Meet-up at 2nd Cycle Tacoma's Community Cycle Center on Friday Aug 18 around 5:30pm. We'll roll-out about 6pm to Point Defiance Park, a 7.5 mile ride. It will take about 1.5 hours.

CAMP GEAR: We'll camp on the grass next to the beach and have to break camp by 9am. Keep it simple! We recommend tent, bedroll, change of clothes, warmer layers for the evening. You can haul your gear by bike (it's bike camping!), or toss heavy/awkward items in the 2nd Cycle van that's meeting us there. Need a tent? Let us know in the comments and we'll try to locate an extra one for you.

FOOD TO BRING: For the ride, bring a water bottle and maybe even a spray bottle to help keep kids cool. Metroparks provides evening snacks and a basic breakfast, but plan to bring a picnic dinner or snacks for after the ride. Don't bonk!

RETURN: On Saturday morning families can make their way back home in small groups or individually. 2nd Cycle will offer gear hauling for those who need it. Remember, it's going to be more uphill on the way home, so plan for a longer ride.

PRE-REGISTER: Everyone is welcome, but you must preregister with Matt Newport email kidicalmasstacoma@gmail.com. We have a limited number of campsites reserved for this Metroparks Tacoma event and need to have an accurate headcount.

This is a bit different than most of our events and rides, but we hope to see you there. Please let us know if you register for your own campsite via metroparkstacoma.org so we can keep track of who's coming.

More details and discussion on our Facebook event page.

THANK YOU to the Puyallup Watershed Initiative Active Transportation Community of Interest for sponsoring this event!

UPDATE:

We had a fun group of riders from all over town. The weather was ideal and we had a blast. We are already making plans to do this campout ride again next year!

Roll-out from Hilltop

Bike lane on Stevens

Park Ranger Mark gave a cool nature talk and got creative with the campfire in spite of a park-wide burn ban.

Dawn at Owen Beach

Trailers are great for hauling kids and camp gear

Bring your little dog, too!

These campers peeled off for a day at Point Defiance Zoo

Jocelyn from Major Taylor did some coaching on the way home

Proctor is the top of the hill for this 7.5 mile route. It was an easy pedal back to 2nd Cycle from here.

April 2017: Hilltop Hop

Kidical Mass Tacoma is a monthly bike ride for kids and their families. We ride in the street and follow the Rules of the Road, stopping to regroup so no one gets lost or left behind. Helmets and adult supervision are required.

On Saturday April 15 we will roll-out from People's Park at 11am on our way to McCarver Elementary and Zina Linnik Park, about 2 miles. 

We'll hang out at McCarver for 20 minutes or so before heading back to People's Park for a snack. The return route will be more direct and we'll decide from a few options based on how comfortable riders are with traffic. 

We should be back at People's Park around 12 or 12:30, so feel free to pack a lunch and have a picnic if the weather is nice. We'll still ride in a drizzle, but extreme rain will cancel. Dress for the weather.

Questions? Feedback? Are you planning to attend? Ideas to make this more awesome? Please post comments!

RSVP on Facebook

March 2017: South Tacoma, West to East Ride

One small corner of Wapato Hills Park

Kidical Mass Tacoma is a monthly bike ride for kids and their families. We ride in the street and follow the Rules of the Road, stopping to regroup so no one gets lost or left behind. Helmets and adult supervision are required.

At 11am on Sunday March 26, our ride will begin at the STAR Center bike rack (3873 S 66th Street.) We'll explore South Tacoma by bicycle on our way to beautiful Wapato Hills Park. We'll play there for a bit, then pedal back to the STAR Center. Expect a snack at the end of this 3 mile round-trip. Pack a picnic lunch for afterwards if you like! There are restrooms available at the STAR Center, where the ride begins and ends. And an enormous playground.

No training wheels or push-bikes allowed on this ride please, as we will be crossing railroad tracks and road surfaces can be less than ideal. Bike trailers, trail-a-bikes, kidseats, cargobikes, and kids on their own two wheels are all encouraged and welcome. Contact Matt with any questions (kidicalmasstacoma at gmail dot com.)

Please note: Wapato Hills Park is a large green space and playground on the west side of I-5 in the neighborhood behind Ted Brown Music and Cash & Carry. We will not be crossing I-5 on this ride!

Thanks to TWBC for continuing to support Kidical Mass Tacoma.

RSVP on Facebook.

UPDATE

Though the weather seemed less than ideal, four of us still met up for the ride on Sunday. Rob and Charlie took Malcolm and Matt on a quiet tour of South Tacoma from Star Center to Wapato Hills. The kids swapped stories along the way and it didn't really rain during that hour. While eating popcicles at the end, we all decided this great route deserves a re-ride in the summer. Stay tuned!