I glove you!

There is a certain spot where I disrobe on my ride into work. No, I don’t get totally naked, it’s just that there is a definitive line where my commute crosses into the urban heat island. Most of my commute into work is downhill, so the more rural stretches can feel bitter cold in the morning. I cross into the heat island long before my commute flattens out, so it’s before the last long, big hill that gloves, hats, and jackets come off. This morning I hurriedly swapped gloves, started pedaling just as the light turned green. I heard a voice call out behind me, “YOU DROPPED A GLOVE!” I awkwardly tried to stop and turn around- not so easy when you are on a bike on a sharp descent. The lady driving the SUV behind me actually got out of her car to pluck the glove out of the road in front of her and hand it to me. I gawked in shock. The light is green! It’s just a glove! You can run it over, it’s fine! But, there was no one behind her, and she was far swifter bending over than I would have been on my bike. I thanked her profusely. Seattle drivers tend to be more relaxed than other cities I’ve lived in. They are totally OK driving 40mph on an empty interstate, stopping in the middle of rush hour to say hello to someone on the sidewalk, spinning around in the middle of a busy intersection to find a better parking spot, slowing at a huge interchange to check their GPS, and stopping on a green light to recover a lost glove, apparently. Usually I am aghast at how calmly Seattle drives (dare I say passive-aggressive?). But today, the calm response helped me out, instead of being in my way, and I felt very thankful! There is a piece of community that is lost when you just drive life by. 

Image from http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/04/human-alteration-of-climate-what-media.html (as a side note, read this guy's blog, it's pretty cool [haha, cool, get it?!])

Skunk butt!

Because of planned bike riding shenanigans later, I rode my “good” bike into work today. Before I left, I checked the forecast and noted it called for rain. I looked outside and saw it was rainy. But, because I left at oh-mygawd-o’clock in the morning, my sleepy brain didn’t really register this. I didn’t apply my removable fender and didn’t strap on lights. It didn’t take long for my butt, backpack, and jacket to soak up the wet street spray, grime and dirt. Again, because I rode my “good” bike, I had to carry my things in a backpack because it can’t support my panniers (which are delightfully waterproof). I carefully packed my backpack, like I always do, making sure nothing critical sat on the top of the pack if it were to rain. I did not, however, consider the bottom of my pack getting wet. Like my skunk butt, it too absorbed the water. So when I got to work all wet and soggy, I took a shower and then put on nice soggy work clothes. My shirt and pants are both dappled with polka dot blobs all around them. They are not uncomfortably wet, just a damp reminder of my poor judgement. I’m embarrassed for not having lights. How could I forget something that could really impact my safety? I got to work feeling shameful, but luckily without incident. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Counter: 188 (What? I have been in the mid-400’s for weeks! Can that many commuters really been steered away by the rain? Are that many people skipping out on work Friday to extend a 3-day weekend? Do that many people get Memorial Day off? I am shocked, I say! Shocked!)

Escape to Lake!

I'm going "home". That's right. The 2nd weekend of June I am riding one of Pennsylvania's Bike MS fundraisers; Escape to Lake. 

I've ridden BikeMS in 6 different states so far, and each ride has it's own, unique personality. Pennsylvania has several BikeMS events all across the state, something the other states I've ridden in don't share. I can't wait to see what the biking culture is like in Pennsylvania, in a place that has so many different rides and routes. If Oregon had that many rides, I would be a very, very busy biker! I visited Erie on a family vacation when I was just 14 years old. Other than that one time, I haven't been back since my birth days. I remember the long drive at being incredibly green and lush with dense trees with thin trunks. But that was back then, back when Oregon's landscape was still heavy with old growth. Those early teen years, the unforgettable years of the Spotted Owl debate were really the last years of thick trees in Oregon. I wonder how Pennsylvania will look to me now. Will the trees look just like the trees I am used to on the west coast? I've been pleasantly surprised and amazed with some of the landscapes on MS rides (hellooo Valley of Fire State park!) and disappointed with others (ahem, Best Dam ride, your Dam was not the best dam!). This the first ride I've been curious about. 

I don't ride in the heat much, and I certainly don't ride in humid climates much at all, so this ride may pose some new challenges. The weather will determine how far I ride. The route looks amazing, and more hilly than I expected and more hilly than I can get riding around Seattle. I'm very excited about riding in the area, however. I can't wait to see the trees and landscape and compare how it differs from places I ride on the west coast.

Donating is easy! All you have to do is click here and follow the "donate" now buttons to donate to this ride. 

A large portion of donation money goes to research. I've seen more progress in disease-modifying drug developments than in any other area. A person diagnosed with MS today has a much better prognosis than a person diagnosed with MS 20 years ago. It took a lot of money, a lot of research, and a lot of participation and involvement from people already living with MS to get there. The MS Society played a big role in that. The whole diagnosis process is much improved as well. Before the MRI, a professional couldn't make a confident and timely diagnosis at all. With improved techniques, diagnosis is faster and more accurate than it's ever been. I am proud of these advancements and would like to think that the money I've raised over the years impacted them. But there is so much more to do. 

Maps of day one ride options:

Help me choose! 

Map of Day Two:

More details about the ride:

Keeping up with Bike Everywhere month stats

Not only is the team I ride for in 1st place of all of the City of Seattle teams, individually I am in 4th place! Now, the placing is based on "number of trips" and since I ride to the health club and to work, I am riding more "trips" than I have in the past. However, I must mention that City Employees have to log their miles into the Bike Everywhere month system through a portal website maintained by the city. This particular portal does not accommodate anything other than 2-equally distant commutes per day. It's based off the outdated model that bike month was about commuters and rides to the grocery store, etc. are not counted. There is a tedious and time consuming work around that I took the time to deal with, but I imagine most employees don't bother. I certainly wouldn't have in the past. So, really, my being in 4th place has more to do with my logging methods than my actual biking. One thing I can for sure be proud of is miles ridden. So far I am in 16th place overall for the city in mileage. And 3 of the people ahead of me are on my team! Whoo hoo!

Biking by the Velveteen Cafe

I pedaled around a residential corner in the weee hours of Seattle’s early morning. I came upon 4 fluffy bunnies sitting in the green square of a front lawn, chewing on a patch of clover. They huddled together, kind of like what you’d see in an office around the water cooler. Their little noses wiggled and their mouths waddled back and forth as they considered the delightful clover. I call them bunnies because they didn’t look like the typical rabbit I’d see on a bike ride. Usually a brown tufted rabbit with dull fur and a thin belly would gallop across my path between the bushes of a bike path. I’d usually see them on that invisible but distinct line where city turns to country. I assume they are the wild, native rabbits; cottontails. These bunnies had dark, thick, shiny fur and plump bellies. Were they pets? Did someone really have 4 rabbits they let roam free? The house they sat in front of is on a busy street, and within sight of a ramp to one of Seattle’s major state highway. Perhaps the family only lets the rabbits out before 6am when traffic is light. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 444

We're number 1!

The bike team I ride for is currently NUMBER 1 out of all the City of Seattle bike month teams. Since the City of Seattle employs some 10,000 people, it's pretty remarkable to be number 1 at something. Feeling a little bit of pride about right now!

Bike Everywhere month

It appears I am more active on the saddle than the average participant. Pretty cool! But, wow, the average participant is pretty awesome, too! Other than folks that bike more than me, I don't really know anyone who bike 56 miles in just a couple of weeks. You rock 'em, Seattle!

It's the final Friday

April has been a fascinating month for the bridge counter. On days where it is raining or threatening rain, I’ve clocked in at the low-200s with numbers like today’s 230. On days where sun is guaranteed, like the sunny 80-degree days Seattle saw last week, my number skyrockets to the upper 500’s; 550, 560. I have not seen variation like this all year. It seems like many months over the winter I would clock in a short range of 10 numbers or so for many days. April, however, has been all over the place. Just like our weather, my count has risen up and down and all over. Today being the last day before May Bike Everywhere Month and the following June, I wonder what my numbers will be next. I suspect they will double. They may even triple on the sunny warm days. It will be interesting to see. 
Today I got to joyfully wave at several courteous drivers. I love it when cars passing me that want to turn right not only use their turn signal, but also slow down so I know I can bike past them going straight without worrying they are going to hit me. Every time I pass these wonderful people I give them a “wavewavewave” with my hand. I hope they know I am saying, “Thank you! You are amazing and I feel more safe because of you!” This morning’s nice gestures made up for last night’s mayhem...

I used my air horn. TWICE! A car turning right jutted out into the intersection at full speed, flooring the gas pedal. Then, for whatever reason, he changed his mind and jolted to a stop, right over the bike lane. Over a dozen of us on bikes braked and squealed and swerved when he blocked the lane. One cyclist could have easily not braked as hard as the guy in front of him causing a cascading domino of crashing bikes. Luckily, this didn’t happen. The pile of bikes had nowhere to go with the car in the way. I honked. The guy in the front of the line pounded on the car’s rear window as he passed. He could have been using the car as a sudden-braking brace, but I think he was trying to alert the driver to what he just did. I would feel angry and violated if a stranger pounded on my car. I am hoping my honk communicated more of an “alert!” message instead of a “f-you!” message. 
The second time I honked a car tried to turn right on a no-right-on-red light. I feel bad for drivers turning right in this spot. The cars to the left of them get a green light and go. The bikes and pedestrians to the right of them get a green light and go. In nearly every intersection this means a car turning right can go, too. This intersection is unique that the turning lane has a red light straddled between greens. This guy had his hands gripped on either side of his steering wheel, his brows furrowed tight as he leaned forward over his steering wheel. You could tell he intended to turn. At this point, the piles of cyclists in front of me started yelling, “No turn! No turn! Red light! No turn!” But the guy kept crawling forward. I swerved around him and honked. If I were the one driving, I would have thought I could turn, too. What I don’t understand is when people start passing and hollering that the driver doesn’t look and notice the no turn and red light above. I’ve honked at this intersection a few times. Traffic continued to be high level insane all the way home. I am grateful to have encountered so many thoughtful observant folks in the following morning.  

Emerald City Bike Ride Recap

The Wooleaters crew. photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

I pedaled my bike down through the lovely Green Lake and Ravenna neighborhoods on a dark and early morning to meet the Wooleaters at the University of Washington. Every cyclist I met along the way was going the same place as me. That comforting sense of camaraderie among strangers is one of my favorite, most powerful feelings. A sea of people, hundreds of people deep flooded the start line in the chilly morning. We waited a while for the whole group to get together, then stood in line for an hour to get to the start of the start line. From the start we walked our way all the way to the SR520 bridge ramp because the roads were so congested with riders. You would think spending so much time moving so slowly would be frustrating, but it's one of the best ways to be waiting; waiting to do something you love. 

Waddling the Montlake Bridge Emerald City Bike Ride, Seattle, Washington. 

Once we got going on the 520 Bridge, the ride go really fun. The best thing was seeing families out with their children. There were plenty of tweens and school-aged kids, unsteady and insecurely trying to pedal bike that were a little too big for them. The cutest thing, though, was the tiny, tiny children. Children so small the didn't look like they were old enough to walk. Children that barely came up off the ground. Children covered in pink or blue and streamers and helmets, coats, light-up shoes and bikes all color-coordinated and matching. How did they even do any of this? How were they even pedaling? I tried to imagine myself at that age, not only being on a bike, but being able to navigate around some 7,000 other riders. 

Crossing the SR520 Bridge Emerald City Bike Ride, Seattle Washington, April 3, 2016 by SheRidesToday.com

Then it was on to the express lanes. Over a bridge, down the center corridor between both directions of Interstate 5, and into the expressway tunnel. This was the highlight of the ride. 

Jessica, me, and Abby on Interstate 5. Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

Me with my rear-view sheep. Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

I am not sure which part of being on Interstate 5 I liked better. Was it hearing the cyclists cheer in unison when we got to another cool part of the ride? Was it the amazing views of the city? Was it having the time to absorb Seattle in it's full glory from a vantage point usually seen behind a windshield? Was it the colorful, crisp and sunny day that this first Sunday in April was turning out to be? Maybe it was the strength felt by riding down a center road, straddled by rushing freeway traffic on both sides. The din and fume-riddled stench of all that traffic contrasted against the simplicity of legs silently pumping up and down created a sensation that cannot be described, only experienced. I took out my GoPro and held it in my hand. I wondered if some time in the future, one of the photos from this ride would be taken out of context, perplexing people for hours as to why so many cyclists pedaled on a desolate Interstate. Sure, I've ridden on Interstates before on bike rides like this one, but never before quite this way. Being surrounded by speeding traffic on all sides is pretty incredible. 

Biking the I-5 express lanes downtown Emerald CIty Bike Ride, April 3, 2016. Seattle Washington 

This post is late in coming because I spent some time trying to piece the video clips together. I used iMove which has changed considerably since the 5 minutes I used it 2 years ago. The video editing software was easy enough, but I had a hard time figuring out where to click and getting my mouse to click where I wanted it to. I am actually impressed with how well they turned out considering how barbaric the editing felt. 

Personal stats for this ride vary quite a bit from the sanctioned ride. Less than half of my ride that day was on the actual course, due to getting there and back and following along on a quest for brunch. 

Stats:

• 29.7 miles

• 3 hrs elapsed time

• 9.7 mph

• 26 mph max

• 61 rpm average cadence

Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

New goals

Back in December of 2015, I made a goal to gain 5 lbs. of muscle (while staying the same weight). My trainer thought I could achieve this in 4 months following his plan. After following his plan 12 out of 16 weeks and not gaining as much as a tenth of a pound of muscle, I began to reconsider this goal. The real goal was to get stronger. I needed a way to measure results, so I picked a “5 pounds muscle” goal arbitrarily. Problem is, I have been getting stronger. My muscles are getting more defined even though they measure the same (exactly!) and I can lift tens of pounds more with every limb. I began to wonder the validity of this “5 pounds of muscle” goal and spent a couple of weeks contemplating what I really wanted to do.
So. I established new goals. 

1. Leg press my body weight in 2 weeks. What a fun goal! Nothing sounds cooler than lifting your own body weight, so this is a motivating one. It is also very attainable. I’m almost there. I remember doing this back in 2007. After I beat this one, I’ll make some new fun goals. Can I leg lift (quadriceps) my body weight? I am 2/3rd of the way there now. 
2. Gain some amount of muscle. I have to gain something here, just for meet a goal for goal’s sake. I am curious to find out what it will take to make this happen. I am within 5 pounds of muscle mass of every body composition test I’ve ever taken, all the way from my first time when I was 18 years old. 
3. Climb the Dexter hill without going below 10 mph. While it took years for me to be able to do this at all, I can now do it every time I try. But it is still really hard and my heart rate redlines. I want to try for it every time I ride the hill now. 
4. Climb the Fremont hill without going below 9 mph. I have no idea what it will take to do this or how long the hill even is. See, for the past 4 years I’ve climbed this hill exclusively in the dark due to my work schedule. When I ride in the dark I use my headlight, which transmits a frequency that interferes with my bike computer. So I have no record of how fast I’ve been climbing this hill at all. I only know that it is longer and harder than the Dexter hill. 

Are you ready for Bike Everywhere Month?

The first 2 years I participated in Bike to Work month, I reveled in riding more miles than everyone else on my team. While I couldn’t compete in number or percentage of trips, I easily shot over everyone in miles. I consider myself only mildly competitive, but I was pretty proud of this fact. It made spending 40 hours a month commuting worth something. Then, the focus changed from “Bike to Work” to “Bike Everywhere”. Inclusiveness is the goal, and it doesn’t make sense to exclude those who don’t work or they do and have a job that is flat-out not bikeable. That’s cool. I’ve had those jobs before and admittedly felt like I was missing out. But now, I can’t compete. Nearly all my miles are commute miles, and while I have a long commute, it doesn’t compare so the single joyride ridden by my peers. I like to blame this on me working more weekly hours and having half the vacation of most of my co-workers, but that probably isn’t actually true. Needless to say, I look forward to this year’s Bike Month with more trepidation than I had in the past. The biggest hesitation is the timing of my ride. Now that I commute during rush hours, I am leery about the increase in bike traffic. More riders and newer riders add hazards that can be a hassle. However, I still endeavor to make the most of it. Because free bagels! 

Protected lefts are still not safe

The other day, during evening rush hour, I made a left-hand turn on a 5-lane intersection. I waited in the left-hand turn lane until I had a protected turn with a green arrow. Sometimes this intersection is busy, sometimes not. Just as I was completing the turn, a car facing me in the opposite oncoming lane decides to turn right. There is nothing against a car turning right when the light is red. However, it’s typically most accepted to do when the intersection is clear. While still dangerous in a car, this sort of thing is especially unnerving on a bike for a few reasons. First, I essentially have 6 lanes of traffic to cross before my light turns red. Traffic lights are timed for easy-to-accelerate cars, and a cyclist with fully loaded panniers starting up from a dead stop need to generate as much momentum as possible to have the speed to cross in time. It’s a law of physics. By the time I reach the end of the intersection, I am pedaling as fast and hard as I possibly can. I was also turning onto an uphill road (Stone Way), another count against a cyclist’s speed. When the car turned in front of me, I had no choice but to brake as the speed at which he accelerated made it clear he was not going to yield to my right of way. I doubt this driver has ever tried to put on the brakes while turning a bike. Braking on a bike when going at full speed while in the peak of a turn is not a good idea. I’ve never lost ground, but it feels like the wheel will just skid out from underneath you and you end up landing on your side. Hard braking is just not an option. I had to straighten my turn while braking. As my rear tire fishtails across the pavement, my front time comes within inches of ramming into the car’s bumper. My angle was such that I was able to change direction and turn to the inside of him rather than stop. Had he decided to brake at all I would have hit him.  As I watched my wheel approach his bumper, I pumped my brakes harder, skidded further, and gasped a little. Luckily nothing happened. A few feet ahead we both had a red light (all his rushing was for nothing; the cars turning with me, in front and behind me, all had to wait at this light). As I approached and passed him, he didn’t appear to have any idea I existed, much less just saw my life pass before my eyes due to his actions. 

The picture above depicts my fear, what really happened was that when he accelerated, I braked and the bumper I nearly hit was the opposite (passenger side) rear bumper. While the above collision would probably have been the most damaging to my skull, we could have collided in many other ways that still would have been a bummer on my part. These are the things you ponder while pedaling in the city.

Extra precautions required

Last night I began crossing an intersection when my light turned green. A car sitting in cross traffic sat with it's bumper overlapping the cross walk (see diagram above). This was pretty mild, as bumpers nearly always ooze past the crosswalks and into the bike lanes during Seattle's evening rush hour, especially at major roads like Denny and Mercer. I am hyper-alert when I bike in the city, trying to anticipate every potential hazard that might be ahead, especially when I cross busy intersections. But who could expect this to happen? At that moment, the car to my right jumped into reverse and backed up into my path of travel. I swerved madly, braking would have done me no good. I didn't want to swerve into cars also crossing in the next lane, so it was a maddening second of swerving and trying to grapple my air horn to alert the reversing car. Where was it reversing to? Why? There was no where for it to go except into more traffic. The white of it's rear lights came within inches of my knees. I rode the following block slowly thanking the stars for my chance to stay upright. As the surging adrenaline slowly purged from my shaking body, an SUV passed with a passenger leaning out of the window. He hollered "Are you OK?" He must have been a few cars behind me. Shaken, but OK, I gave him a big "thumbs up" and beamed a huge smile attempting to convey the message, "Thank you for caring!"

That wouldn't be the end of kindness on that ride home. Later on, a Smart Car parked parallel against a curb burst out of his spot, in front of me in the bike lane. The second he pumped the gas he saw me and slammed hike brakes, making the little Smart Car look like a cartoon. He yelled out his open window (yay for sunny days!) "SORRY!" I yelled back, "It's OK, but thank you for stopping!" While he was right there, I am used to stopping on a dime for cars with much less warning. He had his turn signal on; good sir. I was ready for him. 

A second later a pedestrian half way across the street bolted to a stop when she saw me coming on my bike. This always cracks me up (in a sad, shameful way). Pedestrians stop dead in their tracks when they see a cyclist, often in the path of oncoming cars. They will often not even look in the direction of cars, but a bike is a thing to be scared to death of. She was walking on a crosswalk and she had the right of way.  I slowed and waved her forward, "It's OK, go ahead!" I said. I hope I translated the same kindness in my voice at the other two who extended kindness to me. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 87 (normal time, but it's a Saturday)

• 7.94 miles
• 34 mins. (50 minutes travel time so 16 minutes stopped at lights)
• 13.7 average mph
• 29.5 max mph
• 339 feet climb

It will be fun to compare these stats with a typical weekday.

Smile!

Last night, I stood at a red light while pedestrians crossed in the usual flood in front of me. A long-haired tween and a heavily-tattooed father figure walked together holding Top Pot doughnut bags (this was the intersection at the famed doughnut bakery). She looked right at me, gave a knowing glance, and smiled! She made my day! 

I try to make eye contact and smile at as many people as I can on the street, but this is particularly hard to do. Often people refuse eye contact unless they want something. Getting someone to smile back at me is especially challenging, and more so when I am on a bike. It's sort of a mission of mine, to induce smiles on others, and so there is nothing better than to have someone do the same to me. Hooray young woman! It's hard not to smile when you have a doughnut on a sunny afternoon walk with your father, and I thank her for sharing her joy with me. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 351 (normal time)

Red-light Jumpers

credit: http://www.croydoncyclist.co.uk/

As I pulled out of my apartment, a guy (hereafter dubbed “Antsy Yellowjacket”) zipped past me on his bike. He and I pedaled at about the same pace, but he ran every red light he could. When I see these folks, I always imagine myself casually catching up to them, proving how futile running red lights is (not to mention reckless). Sadly, this never happens, as someone who pedals at half my speed on a big wheel beach cruiser still wheels ahead out of sight when they run red lights. No matter how hard I try, these lawless pedalers have a clear speed advantage. But not today. Not today. Light timing ruled in my favor. I never lost sight of Antsy Yellowjacket. I caught up to him at every busy intersection, and we rode side-by-side when we parted ways at 5th & Bell. We rode over 7 miles together, and his pushing ahead got him nowhere. I will admit that red-light-runners have the best advantage downtown, as those intersections have slow-moving, easy to cross traffic. 
I got to work an hour earlier than normal today, which meant I needed badge access to the parking area. But today my badge didn’t work. There is a special exhibit in my building valued at about 21 million dollars, which means security of the building is button-tight. But for me, it only translates as annoying. I have 4 more early shifts to finish before the exhibit, and our tight security, leaves. I can still access the bike parking cage, it just takes 5 extra minutes and requires me to walk my bike around loops of tight corners. Wah. Also, the super fabulous amazing shower head that was just installed in our shower room got replaced with the same old, limp shower head it had originally. Double wah. Biking is hard work, I savor every advantage as a special treat and encouragement. 
I am still getting dreamy-eyed questions on these sunny days about my biking, “How was your ride? It’s soooo nice out!” Curmudgeon me still hasn’t recovered from the winter. Just the other day a guy on a 10-speed jumped off the sidewalk, over a curb into the bike lane, cutting me off and making me squeal my brakes. A patch on his back pack read, “FUCK YOU” in large print. These are the sorts of things sunny days bring.
My Fremont Bridge bike counts have been all over the place lately. I’ve had numbers from 180 (this morning, an hour earlier than usual) to 540 (the other day, super sunny, an hour later than usual). I am seeing about a 200-count variance between sunny days and rainy/windy/stormy ones. This is interesting, as the numbers were so steady for so many months.  

Back to those red-light runners. Bikeyface reports a similar problem:

Chilly Hilly 2016 Photos

Photo from: http://www.marathonfoto.com/

MarathonFoto released professional samples of photos of the Chilly Hilly ride. Similar to the one shown above, most of the photos insinuate that I am miserable. Perhaps I am about to make an intense and powerful turn?  I am not sure what exactly is going on in the above photo, but it is a definite lean of concentration there. Or maybe the photographer caught me mid-fart. Just kidding. I don't fart and ride, that would be dangerous.  

Photo from: http://www.marathonfoto.com/

Luckily, MarathonFoto also took photos of me looking like my normal pedaling self. Whew! Now, I must point out one obvious thing. Given the dominate and plentiful watermarks on these photos, MarathonFoto didn't want me to do anything with this photo beyond decide to purchase it. MarathonFoto surely doesn't want me to do what I just did, which is take a screen shot of the photo their photographers worked hard to capture and share it like my own without paying them.

I've been paying money for organized group athletic events for 17 years. It's kind of my thing (you may or may have noticed from reading this very blog). I have purchased professional ride photos from many rides, but passed over countless others. For the photographer reading this and wondering why I haven't purchased photos, there are a few reasons: 

1. Not enough money. There have been years that covering the cost of the ride itself required several months of saving, so tossing $10 for a photo was a luxury I couldn't afford. I could afford it now, and still didn't cave (sorry, Marathon) 
2. No use for the photo. Obviously I have a use for these photos, as I have just posted screenshots on my blog and am waxing philosophical on them this very moment. But, back when photos offered were print only, I simply didn't know what to do with them. Hang a photo of myself on the wall? Weird. Give it to my mom? Do you really think anybody in my life needs another photo of me in a bike helmet? I think not. 
3. Just not a good photo. Many come through blurry, poorly centered, boring, or capture me in a way I don't want to look at (see top photo above). But here's the sad thing, that second photo actually looks kinda cool. I thought about buying it. Why not, right? Well, Marathon's Watermark is right over my face and I have no way of knowing if my face looks "good". I ended up buying a photo from a ride 4 years ago that had some key parts covered up by watermarks. When I got the photo, I found that the watermarks covered up features that would have kept me from buying the photo. I guess the joke was on me. Not this time, I'm not taking the risk. Sorry, MarathonFoto. Maybe some other day. 

Getting ready for the Emerald City Bike Ride

I have a feeling that there will be something magnificent about the inaugural Emerald City Bike Ride. Assuming I ever get there. At the moment, my bike is clean and shiny, but my brake cables aren't behaving. Hopefully I will get them in line before tomorrow morning!

I am surrounded by the Emerald City these days, between the anticipation for the Emerald City Bike Ride and going to the Emerald City Athletic Club. I wonder what  L. Frank Baum would think if he knew so many real cities would adopt the name of his bright, lustrous, and utterly artificial city in Oz. I wonder why any city would so ready adopt a name the is synonymous with smoke and mirrors? 

Well, wish me luck on these brakes, because I won't stop until I get to the Emerald City!

Squirrel!

A squirrel crossed my path in a residential street this morning. It occurred to me that this seemed strange and shouldn’t. I regularly saw “wild” animals in all the other towns I’ve lived in, especially while biking. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, ducks and geese would be normal sights. In Seattle I see droves of pigeons every day, but nothing else. I hope to see more squirrels as the summer unfolds, he was a fun sight.
What I didn’t see was any other cyclists. I didn’t come across a single other rider for the first 5 miles of my ride. This is unheard of. My home sits on a major bike corridor, and the route I take to work is one of the heaviest traveled by bike in the state. Filled with a Twilight Zone sense of eeriness, I wondered if I missed some important news about pending doom. Apparently it was just a fluke as riders congested downtown like usual.
As I pedaled downtown, I hit a red light at Pine. This is also unusual. I have a long light at Bell, that I meet while red about 99% of the time. Since downtown lights run on timers, the wait at Bell puts me on the exact same lights routine every day. The only variation is the one I mentioned before- the light timer occasionally changes at 5th and Virginia. It was set the “right” way today, but then I had to stop at Pine. Weird. Also,  Pine was flooded with water for a block in every direction. Weird! It hadn’t rained in days, so all other roads were bone dry. Why was the road so wet that I made a wake as I passed? 
Then, I get to work and someone parked their bike in my spot. MY SPOT! I parked my bike in the exact same spot every day since June 2015! Every single day! I always go for that spot, but cannot during Bike Month because so many people ride that month that the cage would fill up before I could get to it. But why now? It was the only bike in the cage. It’s not really a big deal, but these fair weather riders should pay respect to those who have suffered through the long, dark winter! Pay some respect! The sun comes out, which is great, but now the roads, MY ROADS, are littered with swerving wide-eyed riders. And  taking MY PARKING SPOT! How dare they?!?!?! 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 395 (30 mins. later than usual)

Wettest winter in Seattle history

Source: http://www.seattleweatherblog.com/

I just heard word that recently meteorologists deemed this winter to be the wettest in all of Seattle’s history. This means I am justified in complaining, right? I mean, I like to focus on positive or at least constructive topics for this blog. I avoided whining about the dark and the rain. I get it, I live in Seattle, it’s rainy. If I don’t like it, I can leave. I know, I know. The thing is, I’ve worked a swing shift for the past 3 years; since I moved to Seattle. That meant that I rode one way of my commute in daylight year-round. Also, Seattle’s weather patterns somehow make the 11 am hour, my old commute hour, the driest time of the day. I knew switching to an 8 to 5 schedule meant I’d be riding in the dark both ways for 4 months straight. I knew it would be hard. But I didn’t know it was going to be 4 months straight of dark and wet. And this hasn’t been “northwest rain”, either. “Northwest rain” is a lovely rain; a kind of mist that fills the air and runs on the street, but doesn’t really get you wet or weigh you down. No, Seattle’s rain this year has been a “Rocky Mountain rain”. This is the rain that drenches everything it touches within a minute and then keeps going. This year of commuting hasn’t just been hard, it’s been really hard. But I did it, I persevered. It’s left me a little rougher around the edges, however. It will take me a while to recover this long winter of commuting, and I can’t honestly be certain I’ll do it again. If parking didn’t cost me $30 a day and the bus was at all reliable, I would have quit commuting long ago. Daylight savings hit me like a final blow. My commutes went from wet and black to wet and grey. It was like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and every day it got brighter. Then daylight savings hit. I met my mornings in black darkness again. It’s been practically unbearable. I’d rather sleep in and miss work than have to commute in that. Now with this new data, I don’t feel like such a wimp after all! This is the wettest winter in all of Seattle history! My struggle is somehow suddenly justified! Never mind that it’s only a hair wetter than it was in 1999, I didn’t live here then so it doesn’t matter. 

"As of 1:56 p.m. yesterday (March 1), Seattle had received 38.22 inches of rain during that period of time (the water year that runs from Oct. 1 to March 1), just a hair over the 1998-1999 record of 38.19, but about 13 inches above average"           -Cliff Mass, University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences professor and KPLU radio personality

Sources: 

• http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-wettest-winter-in-seattle-history.html
• http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/congratulations-seattle-youve-made-it-through-the-wettest-winter-on-record
• http://q13fox.com/2016/02/19/wettest-winter-ever/
• http://seattle.curbed.com/2016/3/2/11144086/wettest-winter-in-seattle-history

Women and Men, Women and Men*

Out of curiosity, I decided to count all the men and women I saw biking this morning. When actually pressed to label a cyclist with a gender, I found it difficult to do. So many cyclists wear the same black plants, reflective jacket and helmet. Both men and women tend to have long, board-like body types. I noticed my own body shape change and straighten the more I started riding more than other activities. Tufts of hair or ponytails poking out from under the helmets did not confirm gender. I opted to only count those with determinate characteristics (beard, hourglass figure, etc.) This meant that I really only counted those who passed me. Several cyclists would catch up behind me at stoplights to later trail off who didn’t get counted. I didn’t feel like looking behind me and staring. I counted 26 men and 5 women. Tomorrow I think I’ll count pedestrians and/or bus stop lines. The more I paid attention, the more I felt like there were more men out there in general, and I’m curious to confirm that. 

And the light on 5th and Virginia is back to normal! For the past few months one light has been out of timing with all the others on 5th avenue. This is the only stretch of road, to my knowledge, in all of Seattle that is timed so that cars can drive through all the stoplights at the speed limit without having to stop. While I can’t keep up the 25 mph speed limit, without traffic I can make it .6 mi. all the way to Union. A car without traffic could get to Spring at .8 mi. After 7:30, I almost always have to stop at Pine for a bus, cab, or cars turning right, and then at every other block where cars turn right until I get to work. It’s been frustrating to have to stop at Virginia every day, because this is a flat stretch of road that I can blast through at about 20-22 mph, fast enough to not tick off the cars behind me. Of course, this stretch is often  full of green-light-texters, and timid-parkers who slow everyone down. The great thing about this stretch though is that all right-hand turns have a turn lane, so no one is slowed down by a turner (they have to wait until pedestrians clear the road, which is never). The light at Virginia regularly goes out of sync on Sundays, as it's been, but not usually during the week. I am not sure what the goal with that is. Perhaps, if I am lucky enough, a traffic engineer will read my blog and comment (hint, hint, you traffic engineer you!)

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 263 (I was 155 yesterday, crossing it an hour before normal)

*Today's blog post inspired by TMBG