Back from the eclipse. What did I miss?

I saw the eclipse in Iceland! Well, OK, saw" might not be the most accurate description. It was very cloudy and rainy. But it got really dark, which was cool. Then Bjork did a DJ set wearing a dress made out of balloons.

Our trip took us to Glasgow, then to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, then to Stirling to check out a castle, then to Hafnarfjorur in Iceland just south of Reykjavik.

We were never able to actually get on bikes the whole trip. The Voi bike share bikes seemed very popular in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, though bike share just doesn't really work when you're with an 8-year-old. And just like in most places in the states, it is surprisingly difficult to rent a kid's bike. Everywhere we went was very walkable, and going across town to rent a big cargo bike just never rose to the top of the day's to-do list.

The Voi bikes were an interesting hybrid of the docked and dockless models. They had these designated and branded parking areas, but there were no actual docks that hold bikes in orderly rows. So you'd get a sort of messy jumble like we are used to with Lime, but only within a geofenced area where parking is allowed. I never had a chance to use it (the only time I traveled solo, the only Voi bike near me was broken) so I can't speak to how well this system worked, but there were fewer bikes randomly blocking walkways. I suspect the success or failure of such a scheme heavily relies on the density of parking areas available. If they are at least every block, for example, then I doubt there would be much of a negative impact. But once people have to walk significant distances to reach a parking area, ridership would surely take a hit.

If I could do the trip again, I'd stay longer in Stirling so that we could rent bikes and ride around the countryside. After a few hectic days in very busy mid-festival Edinburgh, Stirling was a lovely retreat. We were all sorely missing bikes, too.

I am still trying to get caught up on email and get back into posting here. If there's something important coming up soon or if there's an important story you think I missed in recent weeks, email tom@seattlebikeblog.com or post in the comments below. Thanks!