Foray to Aaron’s Bicycle Repair

We took our second trip over the University Bridge this morning, this time to traverse downtown and catch the water taxi. I stayed up on Eastlake so it wasn’t as scenic, but we didn’t get stuck walking up any unexpected hills…though Google Maps convinced me to take Eastlake all the way to Stewart and the last couple Eastlake blocks were more hill than I care for. We left home at 8:08 so we saw a lot of bike commuters out–I almost felt like a real commuter. We weren’t dressed as adequately as the real commuters, though. It was dry when we left the house, but rained most of the day. Here’s our exciting first leg:

The third time was indeed the charm and we arrived right on time for the West Seattle water taxi. Then we caught the free shuttle to avoid biking (er, walking) uphill. It was easier loading the bike this time. Maybe the DART shuttle is lower than a full-sized Metro bus, or maybe it’s just less intimidating since it’s so little. It probably also helped that Mr. Familyride came down to the garage with me and showed me the best way to lift my beast up.

We were too early to hit the bike shop so we took the shuttle to West Seattle Junction and hung out at the super-kid-friendly Sugar Rush Baking Co. There we met up with my good friend 2wheels6feet for our first group ride, or as I like to call it 4wheels12feet. We cruised downhill to Aaron’s Bicycle Repair where the kids set to the Lego table and played with the shop cats (Presta and Schrader), 2f6w had her front basket installed, and I ogled the Xtracycles and accessories.

I rode home along the coast and saw the water taxi pulling away as we neared Seacrest Park. I knew my luck couldn’t hold, but it worked out OK because the boys were hungry so we waited in Alki Crab & Fish Co.

The rain picked up as we arrived to Seattle so I wasn’t looking forward to the long trip through Ballard, but even less wanted to deal with the steep hills for the direct route. As we biked along the waterfront, I noticed a guy on a bike get on the elevator by the pier 66 cruise ship terminal. He wasn’t cheating; he took the sky bridge west to catch a boat, but we headed into the parking structure and out onto Elliott Ave for a nice gradual climb to Western until we got to Pike Street and then came home via Westlake. So a little out of the way and congested enough that we had to stick to the sidewalks much of the way, but worth it!