{"id":11957,"date":"2015-02-23T08:03:59","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T16:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/?p=11957"},"modified":"2015-02-24T13:25:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T21:25:34","slug":"yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becca Brown, author of today’s post, lives in Yakima and works as an environmental planner. A transplant from Massachusetts via Minneapolis, Becca wants to see better biking infrastructure in her new community and helped co-found the advocacy group Yakima Bikes and Walks.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer\"<\/a>Ahh, the sights and sounds of Mardi Gras.\u00a0 Louie Armstrong crooning about the saints\u2019 homecoming; the regal purple, the shimmering golds, the high visibility greens, the flashing red tail lights.<\/p>\n

Well, that is how Yakima Bikes and Walks<\/a> celebrated Fat Tuesday this year.\u00a0\u00a0 Our bike party–which we hold on the First Friday of each month–was a mobile, slow rolling celebration with a Dixieland soundtrack.\u00a0 A busy February night with a threat of rain and wind yielded the smallest turnout since our bike parties began back in August.\u00a0 A baker\u2019s dozen on bikes, still lit up from the Holiday Lighted Parade, rode south from the local pizza joint and through residential neighborhoods.\u00a0\u00a0 Our route followed a brand new bicycle lane before we turned east, and then back north along the tree-lined boulevard of Naches Avenue.<\/p>\n

Every month, the bike parties are organized by a couple, Tyler and Megan, who relocated to Yakima from San Francisco last year.\u00a0 They develop the route, identify fun pit stops around town, and come up with fun themes for costumes and decorations.\u00a0 The parties have become a great way to have fun and be visible as bicyclists around town.\u00a0 It provides people the chance to meet other bicyclists, allows folks a safe, comfortable ride as part of a group, explores parts of town that are often overlooked, and brings visibility to our group as a whole.<\/p>\n

As we passed folks sitting on their porches, walking their dogs, and playing with their children, we smiled, waved, and shouted \u201cBike Party!\u201d\u00a0 Drivers waiting at stop signs waved us through, and the motorists caught behind our parade on narrow streets waited patiently for an opportunity to pass.<\/p>\n

Our route crossed important upcoming transportation projects.\u00a0 We passed by the location of the East-West Corridor, which will eventually connect the area north of downtown Yakima to Interstate 82 and the community of Terrace Heights by way of an abandoned mill site and potential area of major development.\u00a0 The project is still in the early design and development phases.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We then pedaled west across North First Street, which will be renovated and improved in the coming years, including the addition of bicycle lanes and wide sidewalks.\u00a0 Yakima Bikes and Walks had a strong showing at the City Council meeting last year where the final design (including the bicycle lanes and sidewalk) was voted on and approved.<\/p>\n

After about four miles of leisurely bicycling, we pulled into the Tieton Cider Works new location northwest of Yakima\u2019s downtown core.\u00a0 Although the cidery has been in operation for several years, based in tiny Tieton, WA, this particular location and tasting room opened in November of last year.\u00a0 Smells of barbeque and the wail of the blues greeted us as entered the venue.\u00a0 This stop afforded the opportunity for a delicious adult beverage, a potty break, a photo op, and an opportunity to socialize before we saddled up and headed back to the beginning of our trek.<\/p>\n

We part ways, heading towards our other Friday night destinations.\u00a0 Several folks head to a free concert, still decked out in their Mardi Gras purple, gold, and green.\u00a0 Others head back home to their families.\u00a0\u00a0 A couple of us stopped in at a local winery to see some live music.\u00a0 Between songs, the musician, Keelan McPhee, saw us come in and said into the mic, \u201cthe bike party people are here!\u201d\u00a0 A couple sitting near me leaned over and asked me, \u201cwhat is the bike party?\u00a0 We want to do that!\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what next month\u2019s theme will be, but I hope to see them there!<\/p>\n

\"Yakima-Bikes-and-Walks\"<\/a>

Members of Yakima Bikes and Walks<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becca Brown, author of today’s post, lives in Yakima and works as an environmental planner. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[18,51,39,13,4,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-complete-streets","category-guest-blogger","category-bike-infrastructure-wa","category-rides","category-yakima"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Washington Bikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-23T16:03:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-24T21:25:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Blogger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Blogger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/\",\"name\":\"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-23T16:03:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-24T21:25:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/67287a08d418020a29afc76552489f86\"},\"description\":\"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/\",\"name\":\"Washington Bikes\",\"description\":\"People who bike make a difference\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/67287a08d418020a29afc76552489f86\",\"name\":\"Guest Blogger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1531b9fefd0bbd75a146d91ab673b9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1531b9fefd0bbd75a146d91ab673b9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Blogger\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/author\/guest-blogger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes","description":"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes","og_description":"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.","og_url":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/","og_site_name":"Washington Bikes","article_published_time":"2015-02-23T16:03:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-24T21:25:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Blogger","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Blogger","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/","url":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/","name":"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party - Washington Bikes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-23T16:03:59+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-24T21:25:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/67287a08d418020a29afc76552489f86"},"description":"Yakima Bikes and Walks strives for a friendly biking and walking environment in the Yakima Valley. They host a monthly ride called the Bike Party.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Yakima-Bikes-Party-Flyer-304x400.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/23\/yakima-bikes-walks-rolls-monthly-bike-party\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Yakima Bikes and Walks Rolls Monthly With Its Bike Party"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/","name":"Washington Bikes","description":"People who bike make a difference","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/67287a08d418020a29afc76552489f86","name":"Guest Blogger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1531b9fefd0bbd75a146d91ab673b9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1531b9fefd0bbd75a146d91ab673b9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Blogger"},"url":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/author\/guest-blogger\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p36Q8O-36R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}