[bobco85]

Earlier this week, I was interviewed for a news segment regarding bicycle riders and the light rail in Seattle. Sound Transit (aka our WMATA) is working on a second line to the light rail that will go out to Bellevue and Redmond in 2023 (btw yes, Microsoft laid out some cash to help make sure its employees had a faster way to get to work at its HQ).

While normally bicycles are allowed on all light rail trains (they even have 2 bike hooks per train car, and the new trains will have 4 per car with more interior space in general), during this project bicycles will be prohibited at one particular station (Pioneer Square Station which is downtown), and bicycle riders must get off on the previous station and ride to the one after (University Street Station or International District-Chinatown Station). Luckily, our DOT was able to finish a continuous, 2-way protected bike lane (2nd Ave PBL Extension) that connects these two stations that are only about 3/4 mile apart.

Since I bring my bicycle on the light rail sometimes (usually if I’m out late, am really tired, or running late to a weekend event), KIRO7 News did an interview with me. They even did some action shots of me riding in one of the protected bike lanes in downtown. It was fun (even though I was nervous)!

Here’s the news segment:
[video=youtube_share;TvBtI6Hlht0]https://youtu.be/TvBtI6Hlht0[/video]

Here’s the accompanying news article: https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/crowding-short-term-bike-ban-coming-light-rail-prepares-construction/4C4I4PQUMJG4ZAWHRDINTSZHTE/

P.S. – riding from my apartment in Tukwila to downtown Seattle is like riding from the Landmark area to Dupont Circle (somewhere around 12-13 miles, around an hour)

[bobco85]

@Steve O 194387 wrote:

just because you abandoned us.

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Ooof, that cuts deep

[bobco85]

I made an updated version of my “Bike the Metro: Silver Line Extension” video from 2015 using the footage I gathered while biking the route this past spring. I threw in some comparison shots to show how construction and the surrounding area has changed between 2015 and 2019. It was much easier figuring out where Loudoun Gateway and Ashburn stations are going to be located this time around since they actually have structures built.

It’s nice to have a DC-area bike video to work on from time to time

[video=youtube_share;9ct2aA0X6EQ]https://youtu.be/9ct2aA0X6EQ[/video]

[bobco85]

Make sure you list the time zone, too, for those of us abroad, e.g. 11:59:59.9 EST is 8:59:59.9 PST for me in Seattle.

[bobco85]

@Judd 193997 wrote:

Yay! Can you bring Bri with you?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ll see if I can fit her into my carry-on luggage

[bobco85]

This past Saturday, I was able to give yet another DC-area bicycle friend a nice bike tour of the Seattle area. This time, it was scoot who joined me for a ride through the rain starting in Bellevue and crossing Lake Washington not once but twice along the way. I unfortunately had 3 flats (2 before we met up, ugh), the 1st and 3rd being due to a piece of glass that apparently had left an even smaller piece for later.

We were caught in the rain the entire time in Bellevue, but once we made it through Mercer Island and across Lake Washington into Seattle, things had mostly cleared up. We rode many, many of the PBL’s in downtown Seattle including some busy commuter routes. It was surprisingly a nice weather day considering it’s mid-October here (beginning of “The Grey” where everything will mostly be overcast and somewhat rainy until May).

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scoot crossing the 5th longest floating bridge in the world on the I-90 Trail on Lake Washington; selfie time on the José Rizal Bridge with a nice view of downtown Seattle

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Tourist attractions: Pike Place Market, Space Needle, & Amazon Spheres

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Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways were celebrating 1 million bike crossings of the popular Fremont Bridge (scoot and I were 1,000,399th and 1,000,400th to cross this year)

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At the local Google office; always nice views of the Seattle skyline and Lake Union from Gas Works Park

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Crossing the 520 Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the world, as we left Seattle and headed back towards Bellevue

Oh, random thing, I’ll be back in the DC area for a week in early November. See y’all then!

[bobco85]

As per usual, it took a couple of weeks, but I managed to finish my video for the spring 2019 edition of Midnight Saddles.

I had a hard time dealing with the darkness (it was night, so it was expected) in the footage, so there may be some wonkyness in the coloration of the footage, but I tried to make sure everything got in there, raindrops and all.

Also, since we took a moment of silence at Dave’s ghost bike during the ride, I made sure to put that in the video. I hope it was respectful.

[video=youtube_share;gnrCpwKvPjA]https://youtu.be/gnrCpwKvPjA[/video]

[bobco85]

I found something else that might be a problem. Notice where the police (peace officer) is parked in this screenshot (1:53 in the video)?
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Hey, at least they put some orange cones out!

[bobco85]

History tidbit: the building was designed by architect Nathan Wyeth who also designed the West Wing of the White House. It later became the Mexican Cultural Institute.

More pics:

Stained glass window inserts with a knight, centaur, merman, and pegasus; another city (than Seattle) has the nickname of Emerald City, it’s Bogota
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Conference room; food! jugo de jamaica (juice), pork tamale, nopalitos con huevo (cactus with egg) taco, and super delicious arroz con leche (rice with milk) that had cinnamon sprinkled on top
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Sun room with a lot of tiling and decorations for each of the Mexican states; beautiful blue tiles up close
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And finally, some dancing (check out that pineapple shirt)!
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[bobco85]

Thanks, Bob (scoot), for joining me yesterday! Here are some pics from the ride:

Monkey bread scone and mocha coffee at Northside Social; riding across the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge
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Rowing teams on the Potomac near the Kennedy Center; Double Bobs in front of the Ciclistos sculpture outside the Mexican Cultural Institute
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Mexican Cultural Institute; mirror inside the building
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Cool murals along the stairwells in the building
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Music hall and salon (study)
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[bobco85]

I designate this new coffee shop: Café Ciclisto del Steveo

I had the cafe mocha leche. The barista was snarky, but the coffee did its job to wake me up, and the pastries were good (hmm, did I eat 3 or 4 of those mini cinnamon rolls?)

4 stars out of 5 because they didn’t tell me the wifi password [emoji6]

Thanks for hosting, Steveo!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bobco85]

Well, since I’m in town for this week, it’s only fitting that I’d have a Missed connection while here!

Here’s the site where it happened: https://goo.gl/maps/irBxE6HQkoEd3SQ69

And here’s the story: I was biking on Loudoun County Parkway (I only had to ride on it for 1.4 miles luckily) towards the final station on the Phase 2 of the Silver Line, riding in the right lane. As I approached Uunet Dr (yes, it’s named that), there was a right turn only lane that had a parked oversize construction vehicle right in front of the intersection. Bad situation, as traffic coming from Uunet Dr had their sightlines completely blocked.

As I got closer, I drifted to the left of the lane so that I could get a better view in case cars might be coming from the right, and, well, sure enough I see a driver who rolled through their stop sign pop up in my lane! Luckily I had gotten my brakes fixed on Sunday, so I was able to avoid a collision. I looked at the driver who threw their hands up in a “What else was I supposed to do?” gesture, then rode off, cursing drivers for a bit before returning to my ride (I would have been so disappointed and mad if I was unable to finish the ride since I only had one station left).

Pics of the incident:

Approaching the intersection, the oversize construction vehicle blocking the right turn only lane, a driver has to go around them to make a right turn
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Getting up to the construction vehicle, I start to drift to the left to get a better view of cross traffic
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And as I get around the construction vehicle, suddenly a rogue SUV appears!
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Evasive brake maneuver, the SUV stops, driver gesticulates, I ride off and curse
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[bobco85]

I had a thoroughly good (and sometimes wet) time! It was really nice to enjoy one of my favorite things to do when I lived here which was to bike around DC at night. The city has a different vibe at night, and the monuments and rivers become quite serene to me. Thank you for a wonderful ride!

Here are some of the pics I took during the ride:

The trio of us, Steveo’s interesting wheel spoking, riding around Hains Point, looking down at the Wharf from the Case Bridge
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Showing my team’s colors outside Audi Field (home of DC United), enjoying the concrete islands on part of the 2-way PBL next to Audi Field, This ride was brought to you by the letter “R”, and a pano of a photo installation on Good Hope Rd underneath the Anacostia Freeway from a boat cruise on the Anacostia River
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We stopped to reflect at the ghost bike for Dave
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Stopping for pizza at Wise Guys, my delicious chicken parm and meatlover’s slices, passing by the White House (haven’t done it in 6 months), and the “Lightweave” art installation on L St NE
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[bobco85]

@Starduster 190124 wrote:

Bobco, just for the “ooo-ah” factor, bring your Cascades Ride Leader jersey.

Haha, I would love to, but it’s not necessarily kosher to wear one for non-official Cascade rides. You’ll have to come out on one of my rides in Seattle to see me wear it!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bobco85]

@consularrider 190132 wrote:

Sorry, I don’t get there until the 29th.

No worries, I’ll be in town until the 4th. See ya when you get here!

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