I was able to sneak out for a bit tonight and attended my first Menstrual Monday ride:

Menstrual Monday is the first Monday of every month rain or shine. Ladies of all bike types and skill levels welcome! Meet up at Seattle Center Fountain at 6:30. Depart at 7pm.

This evening’s ride was harvest themed with a bonfire, pie, and cider at the end.

I finally installed my BikeGlow Safety Light to combat the dark. I snagged it for 50% off from Mamasource a couple months ago, and have seen the deal come up once more since then. The idea is to wrap it around the frame, but yesterday I noticed a bike at the Ballard farmers market with it strung in a line and it looked pretty cool. The black thing on my seat post is the two-AA battery pack. It makes a whining sound when the light is on (solid, slow blink, or fast blink), but I couldn’t hear it once I was riding.

This is what the light looked like in the dark:

The ride was great! I thought it was fast and hard, but one rider was on a beach cruiser so it must have been mellower than I realized. The route seemed very similar to the last cargo bike ride, but it was SO DARK it was hard to tell. It was nice to ride on paths without cars, but that also meant paths without lights.

I knew I’d have to leave early, but luckily the ride ended up near home so I didn’t have to leave too early. I was worried the ride would head for West Seattle and I’d have to leave before reaching the end and find my way home all alone. But we rode to a part of Ravenna Park I’m familiar with and I even had time to ride with the group to Boulevard Grocery for snacks and beer before the bonfire.

The only bad part of the evening was losing Nothing the Salmon (formerly known as Sammy the Salmon), our new 99-cent yellow perch stuffed animal from two days ago. The boys wanted him to come along on the ride since they couldn’t. Turns out, water bottle cages aren’t good for storing stuffed animals. I noticed his absence across the street from the Seattle Center, but didn’t want to retrace my steps and look for him in the dark. He’s wearing two reflective ankle bands so maybe I can track him down tomorrow.

Earlier in the day we biked to the Arboretum with Brad and the Yes on Prop 1-mobile. We communed with nature for quite a while, but eventually got too cold and wet and took refuge in Montlake Bicycle Shop. There are a lot of bikes there! The kids had a blast careening through the aisle on the shop’s balance bikes while Brad checked out a tandem bike and I browsed accessories. I bought a reflective ankle band (not one of the ones lost with the fish) and now it’s my only one left.

After preschool pickup we raced to Dutch Bike Co to buy a basket (yes, another new basket) I fell in love with yesterday and deliver it to Seattle Powder Coat just in time to get painted with my new bike frame. Phew. Accessorizing is hard work.

Lots of riding today and tonight. My seat is sore.