I had a couple of friends forward me this Seattle Times tidbit today. Looks like Google employees have been watching all the bikes whiz past their dining room facing the Fremont canal and decided we might appreciate a mapping tool to help us find bicycle-specific directions. I tested it out by seeing how the feature would take me from Ballard to Whole Foods on Westlake, and hmmm, I probably wouldn’t choose to take Denny from Dexter to Westlake, but it did find the Burke Gilman for me. Take with a spoonful of caution.
News you can use
Google Maps
Once you get there, click on “directions” and then instead of ‘“by car” choose “bicycling” and try it out.
Popwupping features a well-designed bike rack. Much cooler than the car-shaped crap we get in Seattle.
Spent the long weekend in the Bay area visiting our super friends Chris and Todd, who vacated Puget Sound in 2007. We had a great time with them, and the bike adventure (including picnic in Sausalito) was a highlight. We put in about 30 miles and utilized public transportation as well as our own pedal power. Todd was a great ride leader and Chris packs a fierce picnic. San Francisco Robbie is a bit of a rebel, and enjoys things such as riding without a helmet and splitting lanes. I can’t believe she did that!
Here are some pics from our shennanigans.
Look at Todd’s beautiful Raleigh One-Way! My rental bike is jealous.
Approaching Crissy Field
On the Golden Gate Bridge, being a total tourist.
Stopping for a Brazilian snack in Berkeley. Delicious!
Turn signal cycling jacket from Leah Buechley. Check it out at Popwuping.
OK, so I had to share this one. I was riding my road bike on Broadway last Saturday, toward down town Tucson. (Broadway is one of the main drags in town, and although it has a big bike lane, it’s a really busy multi-lane road.) Suddenly, a big F250 4×4 truck sped by and swerved into the bike lane right in front of me, so far over he almost hit the curb. Gave me a right-good scare. At first I thought he was being aggro or drunk, but quickly realized he was actually swerving to avoid a car that had cut into his lane. No doubt though, he was driving way too fast. Nothing new here. But then, he turned right off Broadway onto a small side street. And as I continued down the road, I saw he had pulled over and was out of his truck and waiting for me. And he was a big fella. He waved me over to stop.
Gulp...I didn’t know what to expect. I nervously slowed to a halt, fully thinking that I was going to be chewed out because I should be riding on the sidewalk, or some such thing. Or worse. But instead, to my astonishment, he proceeded to shake my hand and sincerely apologize for cutting me off! I was speechless. I accepted his apology and rode on. Then he got back in his truck and drove away.
How about that?
This movie plays only briefly in our fine city, but I think it’s worth a look-see.
Awesome Land
Today is my friend Sarah’s birthday, and I like to celebrate birthdays the same way as every other reasonable person in Seattle: with cupcakes. So today my work commute included a stop at a certain baked goods purveyor to pick up a cool half-dozen of the little joy-packed happiness cakes. I then secured my precious cargo to my bike rack with a couple bungee cords, and set off for work.
If you were one of the folks who passed me, giving my cupcakes the eyeball, thank you for not mugging me on the Burke Gilman. Sarah especially appreciates it.
Here are the cupcakes as they now sit on Sarah’s desk--the frosting got a bit compressed, but we bet they’ll still taste delicious. Happy Birthday Sarah!
One night a few weeks ago my ride home had an unexpected highlight: fresh possum-variety roadkill smack in the middle of the bike lane. I was running only my front flasher, which doesn’t do a great job of illumination, but I know that bike lane like the back of my hand, and it doesn’t generally include deceased wildlife. This newly dead rodent of unusual size lay bloated right where my front tire likes to be. I managed to see the mess and swerve to avoid catastrophe. Which would have been what, exactly? A weird sloppy sound and sudden slip accompanied by a slight whiff of death?
It took a couple days before the possum had been run over enough times to be considered flattish. At this point I rode over it, because it didn’t seem like there was much left for my tire to sink into. It was a weird lumpy bumpy feeling, but posed no danger. It did, however, make me feel like I’d done something wrong. That possum was, until quite recently, a living creature, and it sort of seemed disrespectful to run right over it, all willy nilly. And there was a smaller, satellite lump that may or may not have been possum offspring. So the idea that I had just ridden over someone’s mother...well...it was disconcerting.
The rest of that week I avoided riding across the possum. I would dutifully swerve to the right of it while greeting it with a “Hey there possum.”
This week I am feeling less inclined to avoid it. It’s really flat now, mostly dry, and no longer has easily recognizable features. It’s interesting to watch something go from looking like this:
To looking like this:
And every night on the ride home I get to ask myself “Robbie, do you want to ride around the possum or straight through it,” and practice cultivating spontaneity. At least until the next big rainstorm washes that possum away.
