30 Days of Biking day 18: Space Needle via Waterfront fail

Today seemed like a good day to try our alternate route to the Seattle Center. It’s longer (10.2 miles versus 4.8), but it’s such a pain to cross Aurora downtown that it seemed worth it. Turns out, it’s not.

Not that this should influence my opinion of the route, but we got caught in a rainstorm. We took refuge in Me ‘N Moms kiddie consignment shop so the kids could play and I could shop. I found several items, including a nice rain slicker for the big kid. Much needed because we learned on the Kidical Mass ride to the Seattle Bike Expo that his old rain jacket isn’t very waterproof. I didn’t see any bike racks near the shop, but I wouldn’t have wanted to park exposed to the rain anyway. Instead, I tucked the bike into the covered entryway of the neighboring business. I felt bad using their space, but it seemed like a slow day.

The rainstorm passed and we exited the store to a beautiful blue sky. The ride through the locks and along the train tracks was fine. The kids loved it as always–one loves trains and the other loves school buses and there’s a portion of the Terminal 91 Bike Path with trains on one side and a school bus parking lot on the other.

I think the path is sporting new blue reflectors. There’s a chance they’ve been there for a while and I didn’t notice them on previous grey and/or rainy trips, but I’m pretty sure they’re new. I wouldn’t want to get tripped up on the train tracks, but the white line seems a little more restrictive than necessary, making the path too narrow for two-way traffic.

I chose Broad Street as my route from the Waterfront to the Seattle Center. I don’t know if there’s a better nearby street and I might not bother looking for it because Broad really sucked! It was two very steep blocks. I have no idea how I made it up them. At the top of the hill we rode by a dad walking with his two boys. The older boy said, “Dad, you should do that!” Those kids must hate their poor dad because I must have looked a mess after those rough two blocks.

I opted to take the normal route home. It wasn’t all that great, either. I don’t like taking the sidewalk on Broad to get past Aurora and today’s construction meant I had to take the wrong side of the sidewalk. It was a little disconcerting to face oncoming cars while tunneling under Aurora.

But a bit of good news: I made it up Densmore without the Spokespeople pacing me up. Again, I have no idea how I did it. The white noise of my rhythmic panting lulled the baby to sleep. Good for him, but I was the one that really needed a nap after today!