Sawyer Lake mtn. bike

Last weekend my friend Alana and I took advantage of the sunshine to go mountain biking at Sawyer Lake, down by Black Diamond.  Neither of us knew the trails very well, so there was a lot of riding around in circles, getting lost, and getting confused, but we didn't care- it just felt great to get outside!  Here we are, lost but enjoying ourselves: 

A glorious bicycling weekend!

Over the past month or two, my commutes and training rides have been more about character building than about pleasure.  I've been surviving rain, darkness, greyness, parts breakage, and one extremely windy day in Squamish, training with teammates in such severe blusters that one of our riders literally got knocked over by the wind.  Generally, I don't mind this type of riding- in fact, I take some pleasure in the perceived misery of being out on your bike in the rain, snow, sleet and hail.   The truth is, the actual riding is never as bad as your perception of how bad it must be when you're looking at the rain and grey from a warm living room, or out the window of a bus or train.  Once you get out there, it is actually enjoyable, and I like being reminded of this every time I roll off in the drizzle that defines Seattle winters.  In fact, I get so used to the greyness that I forget how wonderful the sun is.  

Sodo Murals

This week I've been taking a break from bike commuting- the weather has been awful, and I'm trying to recover from this not fun bronchial aftermath of the flu. Plus, there is much preparation to be done for our gigantic pirates vs ninjas party and that means meeting Chad in the evenings to run party errands.

A few observations about Light rail- first, ridership is growing. I'm amazed by how many people are getting on during rush hour, especially at the Beacon Hill station. Evidence captured by the iphone:






Second, the murals popping up in SoDo along the rail line are living, evolving peices of art. One this morning encouraged passers by to vote, while another has incorporated lit up electric signs. Many of the murals have distinctive Seattle themes- mountains, apples, recycling.

Why bike, why write?

There are lots of extraneous reasons for my bike commuting habit- for idealistic reasons (staying car free and keeping a small carbon footprint); for a vain desire to look better in my jeans and the related guilt of not doing any workout other than the commute; and because bussing/ walking just takes too damn long and requires me to get out of bed at an ungodly hour if I hope to make it to work on time. Yet, I think the real core reason I ride to work is because it creates space every day for me to experience and interact with my world. I find I'm a much better observer of details of city life from atop two wheels than from behind one, and I tend to have more lucid thoughts when I'm grinding out pedal strokes than while grinding through traffic in a metal box.