After a one-week delay, the bike counter is up and running! It’s on the northwest corner of the Fremont Bridge, right here:

A lot of people turned out for the 11am unveiling. I arrived only five minutes early and had to line up my bike at the end of a long line and stand at the back of a big crowd for the opening announcements.

I eventually wheeled my bike closer so I could stand on the FlightDeck for a better view:

It wasn’t raining out, by the way. Just our first cold, grey day after a lovely run of “Augtober” so everyone bundled up in rain gear. I even pulled out my “winter helmet”–a Bern helmet that was my only helmet, purchased the day my ten-year old Giro broke, but which soon proved too hot and uncomfortable for summer days, necessitating the purchase of another Giro (new, but unused, and half price via Craigslist–yippee).

I didn’t hear everything, but I did hear the first mention of a funded Westlake bicycle facility (cycletrack, specifically, I think). Wahoo! To be completed within a year or two.

There were a couple toddlers in attendance and Leya with her small daughter in her Madsen bucket bike was the first bike to be counted! I was number ten with no kids on board. Another cute “baby” on the scene was the adorable doggie of Juliette of Hub and Bespoke. This is not the stock topper to this doggie bike basket, but if you have a dog you want to bike with, check in with Juliette about baskets.

Coming back through after the unveiling, I was number fifty-something, then on the way to preschool pickup, I was 167 and on the way back, 225. The online counter doesn’t seem to be tallying correctly just yet, but soon numbers will be available here.

Photo courtesy Cascade Bicycle Club

More bike counter stuff: Seattle PI’s Bike counter installed at Fremont Bridge coverage and Seattle Bike Counter Facebook page.

The bike counter registers bikes traveling in either direction, and on both sides of the bridge. It correctly counted bikes with trailers as a single bike and knows to ignore jogging strollers. The sensor on the west side (I haven’t checked out the east side yet) is a double diamond etched in the cement. Biking directly down the middle of the two diamonds might not register on the counter and there is enough room to skirt around the side so some bikes will get missed, but not very many. I want to do a little bit of my own testing: I’d like to see if my three-year old’s balance bike with 12-inch wheels registers and I’m curious if Engine Engine Engine counts as one bike or two.