Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Seattle Christmas Ships

After biking to see the Christmas Ships in Portland the last few years, I got the chance to compare that experience to Seattle's version this year.

Folks were invited to decorate their bikes and ride to the Ballard Locks to view the decorated boats.


My camera again demonstrated what I consider a major short coming of USB devices. I've taken 25-30 photos since the last time I charged it. It took one photo tonight and died. My old AA battery camera would have had plenty of charge yet, and if all else failed, I could have picked up a new set of AA batteries on practically every street corner.

The only photo I got was very early in the evening, just as people started gathering for the ride.


About 20 of us took off from the alt-bike shop, Hub and Bespoke, in the Fremont neighborhood. The ride was a slow paced ride, as expected. It was a nice night for a ride, and with the decorated and brightly lit bikes, it would have made a nice photo.

We arrived at the locks, and as per regulations, dismounted and walked our bikes the last 150 yds.

Arsen S photo

I was a little disappointed in the ships. These were mostly commercial tour boats that were navigating the locks on their way from Lake Union to Golden Gardens. Rather than the brightly colored and often animated private boats on Portland, these all had simple white lights on the outline of the boats.

Hiram Chittenden Locks photo

One nice thing about them though is they had to pause just feet away from us as they waited for the lock to do it's thing. The largest boat in the flotilla had a choir onboard that serenaded us with holiday carols.

After spending some time there watching boats come and go through the locks, our group began to scatter. Julie had to work early in the morning, so we went with the group that was calling it a night. The rest seemed headed to some warm holiday cheer.

A dad and his small son on their tandem joined us on a slight detour through Ballard where we took in a short street corner concert by a 5 member brass group.

I had hauled our bikes to Hub and Bespoke because Julie wasn't enamored with riding back up Queen Ann in the dark, late at night, when she has to work early. We rode back to where I had parked.

We loaded the bikes, then noted an envelope under my windshield wiper. Drat, a $58 ticket for parking in the neighborhood after 8PM without a neighborhood permit. Neither of us had seen the sign, partially hidden by shrubbery, and in shadows.

It was a nice night for a ride, but the holiday ships probably weren't worth the $58 it cost me. :-(


Today...............6...........0................0............0..............6 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............546...............0................0...........0............546
Dec..............112...............0................0..........0.............112
Total...........6128.............0...............0..........0.............6128

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Dry

It was predicted to rain by late afternoon today in Seattle. It was much warmer than it is at home. I was lazy and didn't want to ride up Queen Ann, or for that matter, did not want to ride brakes all the way down Queen Ann either. I had a few items to pick up at Fred Meyer. That was all I needed for an excuse to load the bike and start from down on the water.

I loaded my bike and drove to Fred Meyer in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Fred Meyer is right next to the Burke-Gilman Trail so I started from there and rode to Marymoor Park and back, a nice 28 mile ride one way virtually all on a bike path.

Despite being a dry weekend, there was not a lot of bike traffic. I just pedaled along. I arrived at Marymoor, dilly dallied around for a few minutes, then pedaled back.

It was a nice ride. Not cold, not windy, not wet. That's about all one can hope for in December.

Today..............56...........0................0............0.............56 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............546...............0................0...........0............546
Dec..............106...............0................0..........0.............106
Total...........6122.............0...............0..........0.............6122

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Time to pop some corn?

It's movie night.

After walking to the store earlier today for a few groceries, I decided I had a perfectly operational bicycle and should use it. I rode to the nearest Red Box location and picked up tonight's feature.



Now I just have to make some popcorn!


...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total

Today...............2...........0................0............0..............2 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............546...............0................0...........0............546
Dec...............50...............0................0..........0.............50

Total...........6066.............0...............0..........0.............6066

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Another Sunny Day

......and even colder this time!

3 of us took off at 10am from Coulon Park in Renton WA for a lap of Lake Washington, it was 26 degrees. It was a beautiful clear day, not a cloud in the sky. I was bundled up against the cold too much to go to the effort to dig a camera out, so there are no photos.

There was no wind to speak of, and the route is pretty darn flat. One of our riders hadn't been on her bike in over two months. I guess Julie and I haven't been riding much more than that, but we did manage to have no problems today. We spent quite a bit of time waiting at intersections, but all was good.

We began to worry a bit about getting back before dark, as none of us had headlights along. Julie and I had tail lights.
We managed to finish up at 4PM, with the sun still up, barely.

It never got above freezing, but compared to other locations, there was nothing to complain about. Many of my friends pedaled out in single digits today.

...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total

Today..............48...........0................0............0.............48 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............546...............0................0...........0............546
Dec...............48...............0................0..........0.............48

Total...........6064.............0...............0..........0.............6064