Kidical Mass Green Lake

Jul17

I biked to the playground yesterday and figured that would be my last ride for a while, but still no new baby so we joined the Kidical Mass ride this evening. It was nearby (met in Wallingford and rode to Green Lake) so it wasn’t much effort, compared to the previous Ballard ones.

Our Totcycle hosts promised Mighty-O donuts to the group and due to a mixup at the shop, only got part of the order before the ride. Since we had the empty Burley, we volunteered to pick up the rest of the donuts and transport them to the park. Why they’d trust a hugely pregnant woman with a bunch of free donuts is beyond me. Plus, we had to ride right by our house so it would have been very easy to make off with the goodies. The original plan was to swim in the lake at the west beach, but we ended up at the wading pool (yet again) instead and ate healthy dinners before breaking out the donuts.

Fireworks

Jul4

We rode down to Gasworks Park for the big fireworks show tonight. It was so hot today that we didn’t even head down until after 7:00. Sunset was 9:10 so the show didn’t start until 10:00. I was hoping to toss Brandt in a bouncey house when we arrived, but the bounce houses were HUGE and then lines were long. So we passed the time sitting on our picnic blanket, eating hot dogs and brownie bites while watching the boats.

It was crowded, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. And Seattlites are so nice and mellow. We were right by the beer garden, but the drinkers were all quiet and well behaved. I can guarantee this would not have been the case in San Diego. Or Vegas. And the show was awesome. I haven’t been this close to fireworks in quite a while, so that alone was cool, but the display and coordinating music was great, too. Even better than the SPARKLE shows in Santa Barbara.

So glad we rode the bikes because the car traffic getting out of Gasworks was crazy. The bus looked packed, too. The ride up Stone was still easy for me (granted, Brandt rode in the Burley behind Dan on the way back). And I still didn’t have to resort to my lowest gear or rest on the way up. But this might be my last long ride for a while, I’m thinking.

Green Lake Open Water Swim

Jun28

Today was more about swimming than biking. We all rode down to the lake so I could swim the one-mile event of the annual Green Lake Open Water Swim. It kind of feels like cheating, swimming while so buoyant.

Lake Washington Boulevard

Jun14

Today we drove the bikes down to Seward Park for the weekly Lake Washington Boulevard bike ride. Every Sunday (Mother’s Day through September) cars are banned so families can bike up and down. There was also a small Family Biking Expo going on, with several cargo bikes available for test rides. We didn’t see anything new, but realized just how popular Xtracycles are up here. I let a mom test drive my bike, but she seemed to be leaning towards a Madsen so she could ferry four kids (four kids!) to school.

We rode through Seward Park to finish up the day and saw a kid fall off his little bike and hurt his elbow. This happened moments before Dan got a bug in his eye so the park will forever now be called “Elbow Eye Park” because Brandt keeps saying “elbow eye, elbow eye” (and sometimes “papa bug eye, elbow eye”).

Kidical Mass 2

Jun13

This morning was the second Seattle Kidical Mass. We met up at a park in Ballard and made our way to Golden Gardens for a beach party. The water was freezing, but Brandt dashed around in the surf, getting his feet and hands wet.

The ride home wasn’t bad at all. I even made it up Stone Ave in one go and didn’t have to resort to my lowest gear. It’s funny that cycling up hills is fine, but walking up a flight of stairs makes me feel like I’m about to pass out. We even had energy to hit the park in the afternoon. Dan and Brandt did most of the running around while I lolled in the grass.

Twilight Crit

Jun6

I drove two hours to Lyden for the Dutch Heritage Celebration this morning. It was fun, though there was no pickled herring in the Taste of Lynden section. The most unfortunate part is that I missed my nap so I was too tired to hit the Second Ascent Twilight Criterium. But Brandt napped on the drive home so he and Dan rode to Ballard for the race. They had a great time and I had a great nap so it all worked out in the end. And maybe next year we can watch Dan ride in the crit…he expressed an interest in someday doing “old guy racing.”

Alki Beach

May31

We found the greatest beach today! Alki seemed a bit too far for a bike ride so we drove over with our bikes in tow and rode once we arrived. It was the Summer Streets festival so the road was closed to cars, but even on a normal car-infested day, this is a great beachy area! It’s like Green Lake’s beachy dirty brother–it’s even got its own Duke’s and Spud to add to the family resemblance. It feels a lot like San Diego’s Ocean Beach, but slightly less dirty.

Kidical Mass

May15

Today was Bike-to-Work Day and there were a ton of activities. We kicked off the day by hitting the Cascade tent outside Gregg’s Cycles for free stuff. Technically, it was a pit stop for people biking on their way to work, but I figure Brandt is my boss and I biked him there so I deserved the free bike light and Clif bars.

Next up was Summer Streets in Ballard at 4pm. I thought it would be bigger than it was, but it was still fun and Brandt got an Undriver License he’s really excited about and everyone got free bananas. And we saw the Dutch Bike Company’s seven-seat Conference Bike. It was OK, but I felt obligated to tell them it wasn’t quite as cool as the similar bike I saw in Amsterdam a few years back that had more seats and several kegs in the middle.

Then the best part: Seattle’s first Kidical Mass! We met a bunch of other families at a park a block from Summer Streets and we all rode along the Burke-Gilman Trail to Gasworks Park for the purpose of increasing the visibility of family biking on Seattle streets. It was really fun and will hopefully be a monthly event. This was also our first visit to Gasworks Park and wow, it’s cool! It was great for boat viewing so I’ll definitely have to bring Brandt back down there. I’m a little worried next time I ride back home up Stone I won’t be able to make it without resting halfway, though.

Mother’s Day ride

May10

This morning we rode the Burke-Gilman Trail the other direction to have brunch at The Dish in Ballard. It was delish, but the wait was awfully long. I’d love to go back, but only if we can get there earlier in the morning. The trail is flatter thisaway, too.

Burke-Gilman Trail

May3

I thought this morning’s 3.5-mile March for Babies was exercise enough for today, but Dan really wanted to bike the Burke-Gilman Trail. I was worried about the climb back up Stone, but Dan wouldn’t let me whine my way out of it and said he could always leave me and Brandt at Gasworks Park and go home to fetch the car and retrieve us. Turns out I worried for nothing because Stone is not nearly as steep as 50th.

We just got a Burley bike trailer from Craigslist. It’s old (or vintage, if you prefer), but it works great. Dan pulled Brandt in the Burley and I was prepared to switch him to the Bobike if he didn’t dig it.

We saw a lot of cool stuff on our ride, including the very cool-looking Wallingford playfield park super close to home and the curious Wall of Death. Brandt missed it all in favor of napping in the Burley. We travelled east through Magnuson Park and back before Brandt woke up. On the way home we stopped at Tutta Bella for pizza and I am definitely going back when I can drink coffee because check this out: Caffe Cioccolato: Chocolate latte with Nutella, steamed milk and espresso. Yum!