Seattle riders are growing (commuter ride report)

I wanted to post an entry last Monday when the Fremont bike bridge counter soared up to 209. Up until that Monday, the variations in rider counts were mostly due to the time I’d cross the bridge. Days I’d cross over early, 7am or earlier, would be in the double-digits. Days I crossed late, you’d see the numbers higher. One day I was number 179 (not a blog day) and I wondered if I should also post the time I crossed the bridge to make my numbers more relevant. But, then, last Monday, I crossed at my usual time, and I was number 209. This seemed crazy. For months I was nearly always the same number at 7am, about one-thirty-something. And suddenly, the first Monday of February, the number of riders increased by 70! I haven’t seen a change that big since summer! I wondered if there was some secret code Seattle cyclists followed. How many cyclists decide to start riding in February? If an additional 70 made the decision just before 7am, just on this one bridge, the actual numbers seemed astronomical! And then there was today- 333!! I couldn’t believe it! The number has more than doubled! I guess cyclists like to ride in the light?! It’s not even light yet at that hour, but you can tell the sky is thinking about it, threatening to bring us daylight. Apparently that is all Seattle needs to get riding. I can’t wait to see how the numbers grow as the light continues to creep into the earlier moments of the morning!