30 Days of Biking, Day 18: Sunshine

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 18, 2014
Seattle waterfront Ferris wheel, looking up from inside one of the cars

I didn’t ride the Ferris wheel on the Seattle waterfront today–just looked at it as I walked and thought it was a perfect day for it. This shot is from another day when we took our younger kids to ride.

Maybe I’m not supposed to tell because there’s a big secret community strategy to keep people from moving to Seattle, but I actually enjoy quite a bit of sunshine living here. What was it I said yesterday? “If you don’t like the weather, just wait.”

Today certainly rewarded that attitude. After an absolute downpour yesterday — only magic allowed me to work in a ride during the one tiny rainless break in the day — today absolutely sparkled.

That wasn’t a sure thing in the morning. Looking out the windows after breakfast when the time came to decide whether my trip to work would be fueled by calories or by my Orca card, the sky gave me what looked like a 50-50 chance of testing those new mud flaps. Clouds scudded by rapidly overhead and the branches of the tree in the backyard fluttered.

In one direction blue sky lay behind the clouds, in another what looked like a front moving in. Certainly wouldn’t have pegged “sunshine” as the word of the day at that point. I set off on the bike, telling my husband, “Well, I’ll start riding and if it ends up raining and I don’t like it, I can always get on a bus. Hey, remind me to mail my Metro ballot so I can still say that after next week.”

The farther I rode, the brighter it got. By the time I finished the 10.5 or so miles to work it was full-on sunny and it stayed that way all day, tempting me out of the office for a lunchtime walk along the waterfront to enjoy it some more and think about how fun it would be to ride the Ferris wheel if I had time. The paths and sidewalks along the waterfront thronged with people soaking up some Vitamin D and a group of 6 or 8 people rolled past me on a Segway tour, wobbling only a little as they practiced on the big open wooden decking near the big wheel.

Sunny Seattle — quite a transformation from yesterday!

 

Day 18 in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series. Why a series? Why not?

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • Did today’s bike ride give you a dose of the sunshine that gives you Vitamin D, or was it that liquid sunshine where you live? 

 

Posted in News | 1 Comment

30 Days of Biking, Day 17: Magic

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 17, 2014

Today’s word was supposed to be rain. Or fenders. Or flaps (I have a spiffy new extra-long reflective WA Bikes mud flap extension on my fenders).

Instead it’s magic. Here’s why:

The day started with a driving rain, in both senses of the word: The Seattle skies opened up, and I needed to drive to Auburn for a meeting with Jeff Scully, president of Ortlieb USA. This was definitely the kind of weather that makes their waterproof bags an essential piece of gear and apart from the traffic — and the navigation — and the lack of visibility more than a few yards in front of my front hood — I didn’t mind driving instead of biking.

The day flew by, complete with parking ticket because I can’t remember to keep track of a car’s needs. Sheesh, it’s like having a Neopet. (Remember those?)

Drove home at day’s end. Still raining. But that’s not the word of the day. Because if you don’t like the weather, just wait.

A few minutes after finishing dinner I spotted blue skies down low near the horizon. The sky took on that golden end-of-day glow when the nearly horizontal rays of the setting sun catch all the glistening raindrops on the tips of pine needles. The rain had stopped.

It was time to ride.

Here’s where the magic starts: I didn’t have anywhere in particular to go. So much of my bicycling is destination-oriented. I’m riding to the bus stop. I’m riding to the restaurant for breakfast or dinner. I’m riding to the meeting, and then the other meeting. I’m riding to the grocery store.

I decided to noodle around a few blocks of the neighborhood, taking care to go in a different direction from any of my goal-oriented routes. Wending my way through a few quiet neighborhood streets, I checked out the architectural styles and the flowers in various yards.

Turning onto 130th St. NE I spotted the next sign of magic: A house with the interior lit up by colored lights. Glowing jewel tones of magenta and lilac filled the rooms of the little house. I don’t know why and I imagine it makes for a terrible reading light, but it looked pretty cool radiating out of the windows. A wizard’s house, no doubt.

Gazebo at night with roof of tiny lightsA couple of blocks ahead, yet more magic: A gazebo in someone’s yard with a cap of little tiny lights. Their house blocked the gazebo from sight at first, then it popped into view like a giant glowing mushroom in the rapidly deepening dusk.

Satisfied that I’d gone on a ‘splore (for you Winnie the Pooh fans) and had an experience created solely by participating in 30 Days of Biking, I pedaled home.

Final bit of magic: Those new fenders and the extra-long flap kept my feet from getting soaked when I splooshed through an especially deep puddle in the last block before reaching home.

Day 17 in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series. Why a series? Why not?

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Your Turn

  • What moments of magic have come your way thanks to the bicycle? 

 

Posted in Attitudes | 2 Comments

Funds Available for Bicycle Education in Spokane – Deadline Approaching

By Kate Johnston | Published April 17, 2014

The SpokeFest 2014 Bicycle Education Grant Fund is now open for application. The Deadline for application submission is May 15, 2014. Funding will be available June 1, 2015.

SpokeFest wants to help fund a project that seeks to advance bicycle education and safety for the Inland Northwest. As of Wednesday, April 16th SpokeFest has not received any ideas for funding. Your idea (or someone you know) might be the bicycle education idea they’re waiting for.

Projects funded may include one of the following:

  • A project that helps people become familiar with bicycling and enables them to feel more comfortable participating in the activity
  • Projects that educate motorists about the rules of the road in regard to bicyclists
  • Educational programs that promote bicycle commuting
  • Creating bike routes for different fitness levels and providing necessary information about access and support facilities along the way

If you know someone in the Inland Northwest Region who has an idea for a bicycle education project, encourage them to submit their idea by filling out the application . Submissions for funding should meet the guidelines described in the grant description.

Applicants are asked to submit an electronic copy of the completed application to spokefest@gmail.com The application is available at www.spokefest.org under the Education link. Applicants will be notified by email of the status of their request.

Posted in News | Comments Off on Funds Available for Bicycle Education in Spokane – Deadline Approaching

USBR 10: In the Home Stretch

By Louise McGrody | Published April 17, 2014

North Cascades HwyEarlier this month, an application for official recognition of US Bicycle Route 10 — Washington State’s first in the US Bicycle Route System — was jointly submitted by Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington Bikes. The application went to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and will be reviewed by the Special Committee on US Route Numbering at their May meeting.

USBR 10 travels 416 miles across the northern tier of our state. It will continue into Idaho to the east and connect to the San Juan Islands and Canada at its western terminus in Anacortes via Washington State Ferries. This route climbs four mountain passes, including Sherman Pass at 5575 feet, and takes the bicycle traveler through spectacular landscapes and friendly towns.

Our on-the-ground work to create USBR 10 took over two years and has been a labor of love for WAbikes board member and mapping volunteer John Pope of Anacortes. We owe a round of high fives to him, Barb Culp of Seattle and Lynn O’Connor of Colville for their field work and energy.

You can preview route maps and sign up to receive an announcement about the official designation and celebration on our USBR 10 page.

The US Bicycle Route System is a developing network of national bicycle routes that has been championed by Adventure Cycling Association. Nearly 6000 miles of US Bike Routes have been established in a dozen states so far. Currently, over 40 states are working on creating US Bicycle Routes.

Related Posts:

More Progress Made on USBR 10

Exploring the Methow Valley on Two Wheels

Biking In and Around the Okanogan Highlands

Anacortes Wants the Guemes Channel Trail!

Posted in News, Tourism, Travel, USBRS | 3 Comments

30 Days of Biking, Day 16: Blogs

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 16, 2014

Too meta, perhaps? A blog post about blogs, after all….

But as I wheeled down Jackson from my transit stop — my bike and I both rode the bus the 10.5 miles to work because it was raining pretty steadily and I appreciated the chance to pick up the half-hour of work time the bus ride provides — I heard, “Hi, Barb!”

Woman-Bicycle-HelmetCam-Etc_Blog-screen-shot_Ballard-BridgeIt was Rebecca Roush, whose Woman-Bicycle-Helmet Cam Etc. gave me an early vicarious firsthand look at bicycling in Seattle as I prepared to move from Spokane in the summer of 2012. She horrified me, actually, with her helmet cam footage crossing the Ballard Bridge and her description of the troll who attacked people on bikes. I moved anyway.

I originally encountered Rebecca’s blog in the process of compiling an international list of women’s bike blogs as a hobby/avocation/slightly obsessive quest. That list proved to be such a powerful tool to connect and create community that when I came to Washington Bikes I started a list of Washington bike blogs

Rebecca recently started a new blog, Seattle Bicyclist Portraits. She took advantage of our encounter to grab my photo, introduced me to her bike-touring neighbor who happened to be passing through Occidental Square, and went on her way.

Personal blogs provide an outstanding inside look at local bicycling conditions. If I were planning to visit or move to any town anywhere I’d go looking for local blogs to get an authentic slice of bike life.

As with the Ballard Bridge story, no one post will tell you everything about a place. Just possibly my first (and second) ventures across that bridge were overly colored with anticipatory dread based on that post. But it enabled me to be ready for a pretty challenging stretch so I went into it with my eyes open.

Last year at the National Bike Summit I presented data from the Women’s Bike Blogs list as part of a panel on social media, suggesting that the number of women blogging about bicycling might be a bit of an indicator of how bike-friendly a town is. If your town doesn’t have a bike blog, does the world have a fair picture of why a person who bikes would want to go there?

The creation of blogs has provided us all with amazing tools to provide micro-journalism and tell our own stories. If you’d not ready to start your own blog because the thought of keeping up any kind of publishing schedule isn’t something you want to add to your to-do list, we’d love to get your occasional, sporadic, or one-time psst to highlight your community’s bicycling here. If you write, photograph, map or record your bike life, get in touch!

Day 16 in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • How have bike blogs connected you with different places, types of bicycling, experiences, or people?
  • Do you want to guest blog for us? Email Louise McGrody!

 

Posted in Attitudes, Bike Culture, Encouragement, News, Seattle, Transit | 1 Comment

Build a Better Burke-Gilman Trail NOW!

By Louise McGrody | Published April 16, 2014
The University of Washington is applying for a TIGER 2014 grant from USDOT to improve the entire portion of the Burke-Gilman Trail that runs through campus (1.7 miles, from near University Village to near the I-5 bridge). Less roots. More safety. Better trailbed. Your voice counts! Project support is one of the criteria USDOT will consider when taking the University’s application into consideration. Make your voice heard today! Click here to add your name to the list of project supporters.
 
To find out more about the proposed improvements and grant application, visit uw.edu/burke-gilman.
Posted in Advocacy, Alert, Funding/Policy, Seattle, Trails | 6 Comments

Vote: Save King County Metro and Roads Today

By Blake Trask | Published April 16, 2014

A special April election will determine whether King County faces huges cuts to Metro transit and roads maintenance.

bike on busJust weeks before bike to work month, King County voters face a vital April special election. It will determine whether Metro Transit will face huge cuts and if we maintain King County roads for cars and bikes.

Vote YES on Prop 1 to keep our buses running and prevent major cuts to Metro bus service. We need to make sure our seniors, students, people with disabilities, and working families still have a way to get around.

Vote YES on Prop 1 to preserve King County’s roads and bridges. Forty percent of Prop 1 goes directly to each community in the county to make our streets, roads, and bridges safer. Spending $1 now to repair our roadways avoids $6-14 in replacement costs if we continue to put off these critical investments. Better local roads benefit bicyclists across King County.

We like bike racks on buses – we need more of these, not less. Every workday 400,000 trips are taken on Metro; less buses mean worse traffic and a longer commute.

Ballots are due by April 22nd — Earth Day. But there’s no need to wait. Mail in your ballot as soon as you get home.  Vote YES on Prop 1 today!

Together we can keep King County moving whether you bus, bike, drive, or walk.

Posted in Advocacy, Alert, Funding/Policy, King County, Transit, Transportation | Comments Off on Vote: Save King County Metro and Roads Today

30 Days of Biking, Day 15: Taxes

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 15, 2014

Bike lane with potholeObvious connection, right? Federal income tax due date and bicycling.

Perhaps not, if you don’t know that the federal income taxes you paid today help fund the nation’s system of highways, roads, and local streets, including projects for biking and walking.

That’s right. We all pay for roads whether or not we ever drive. The mix varies depending on where you live.

  • Property taxes fund street bond projects. (If you rent, the building owner’s property taxes are built into your rental rate.)
  • Sales taxes on everything you buy — say, bike gear and a new bike — go into your town’s general fund and help pay for local street maintenance. In fact, in some Washington towns that have a Transportation Benefit District funded with a local-option sales tax, you will pay a lower sales tax rate on automobile purchases than you pay on any other purchase. That is to say, if you buy a $5,000 bike you pay more sales tax than someone buying a $5,000 car.
  • When your hometown or county receives federal funding, your federal income tax fills in the gap left because the Highway Trust Fund (federal gas taxes) doesn’t take in as much as it puts out in funding for state and local projects.

If you unpack the various fees and taxes arising directly from driving (gas tax, tolls, that kind of thing) it turns out those driving-related taxes and fees cover just 46.8% of the cost of Washington state’s roads, according to a 2013 analysis by the Tax Foundation. Less than half.

The answer to someone who says, “People on bikes need to pay for streets” is “We all pay for streets.” We all benefit, after all.

Did I really think about taxes while I rode my bike today? Absolutely.

First, because I had my taxes all ready to file and thus could enjoy my beautifully sunny 10.6-mile ride to work with a clear conscience.

Second, because the deadline for my ballot on King County Metro’s Prop. 1 is just one week away and I need to vote YES to keep getting the bus service I rely on as part of my transportation system.

Third, because every pothole and crack in the street is a reminder that we get the system we pay for and I ride over plenty of cracks, holes, bumps, and ruts. Years ago when the voters of Washington did away with the motor vehicle excise tax they cut an enormous pothole in funding for local street maintenance and the transit that makes it possible for people to get out of their cars and free up some space.

If you drive, you pay for that vote today in wear and tear on your car, cracked CV joints, and new shocks. Those of us on our bikes are our own shock absorbers so we pay a personal price in addition to the cost of blown tubes and tires.

As US Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

I like civilization: schools, roads, transit, libraries, parks and green spaces and wild places, clean water to drink and someone to take away my wastewater and garbage and deal with it, health care, help for those who aren’t as lucky as I am, police and firefighters and military protection — the list of things I can’t provide all by myself and take for granted much of the time is pretty long.

We should appreciate these things as much on April 15 as we do on July 4. TANSTAAFL.*

So yes, I did think about taxes during today’s bicycling.

*For those of you who didn’t read a lot of Robert Heinlein in your youth: There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Day 15 in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Pictures series

Related Reading

Your Turn

  • How often do you talk with people who assume those of us on bikes don’t help pay for streets through our taxes?
  • Will you share this post on social media to help spread the word that we all pay?

 

Posted in Advocacy, Attitudes, Funding/Policy, Infrastructure, Issues & Advocacy, Legislature, Politics, Transit, Transportation | 2 Comments

Volunteers Needed for Special Olympics Cycling Event

By Louise McGrody | Published April 15, 2014

Nearly 2800 Special Olympics athletes will compete over three days at the 2014 Summer Games at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, May 30-June 1. Volunteers are needed to help with the Special Olympics cycling event. People are needed to assist at start/finish lines and along the course. Contact Angel Quant at Quant_fam@msn.com or 206-355-7273 for details.

Special Olympics Washington provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical  fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

 

Posted in Accessibility, Encouragement, Events, Volunteer | Comments Off on Volunteers Needed for Special Olympics Cycling Event

Pilot Project to Highlight Bike Travel, Tourism in Snohomish County

By Blake Trask | Published April 15, 2014
Happy cyclist at Snohomish Pie Company.

Happy cyclist at Snohomish Pie Company.

Bicycle travel and tourism is big business. In Oregon, it is estimated to provide almost $400 million in economic impact. Washington Bikes plans to grow opportunities for riders to experience the great trails and bikeways across Washington while highlighting the benefits of bicycle travel and tourism to local economies statewide. As a part of this effort, we are launching a pilot project to highlight bicycle travel and tourism in Snohomish County.

Do you know of a special location, ride or event in Snohomish County that we should highlight for bicyclists? Please share this information with us. Contact Blake Trask at blake@wabikes.org to help us spread the word that bikes mean business in Snohomish County!

Blog Posts to Inspire Your Snohomish County Bicycle Trip

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Posted in Economic Impact, Everett, Tourism, Travel | Comments Off on Pilot Project to Highlight Bike Travel, Tourism in Snohomish County