West Seattle scene: Bike-To-Work Day ‘station’ by The Bridge

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

As of 7:30 am, 209 bicyclists had checked in at Cascade Bicycle Club‘s official Bike-To-Work Day commute station by the west end of the “low bridge” – close to last year’s pace, we’re told. Matt from sponsoring BECU demonstrated the clicker being used to check riders in:

The station is up and running till 9 am, offering riders refreshments and information. It’s one of many around the city; then 4-7 pm, Cascade is presenting a citywide Bike-To-Work Day afterparty in Ballard – part of Seattle Summer Streets, which returns to West Seattle on Sunday with the main Alki roadway closed from SW Maryland to 63rd SW, 9 am-5 pm (the West Seattle 5K Run/Walk [co-sponsored by WSB] kicks off the day). P.S. There’s also a BTW Day rally downtown this morning – Cascade has photo links on its Twitter feed.

Andy May 21, 2010 (8:27 am)

Irony? I think so: People stopped at that commute station were taking up most of the sidewalk this morning, and I could barely ride through.

No biggie, kind of funny, and probably just a momentary circumstance.

National Stop on Your Way to Work Day?

aye jay May 21, 2010 (8:46 am)

Hey Andy,

It is national “Comment on the West Seattle Blog while your at work day” also. :)

Brian May 21, 2010 (8:47 am)

Rather than think of it as an inconvenience think of it as a way for the community to celebrate you and your bike. I hope it made you put on a smile rather than a frown on your face.

Andy May 21, 2010 (8:56 am)

No frowns, except at aye jay for calling me out like that – curse you!

I appreciate it completely, and ride to work frequently. It was just one of those quirky little moments that happens sometimes. I rode up and kind of thought to myself “Really? Ohhh-kay.”

WSB May 21, 2010 (9:06 am)

I like “National Comment on WSB While You’re At Work Day” – although from our viewpoint, it seems there’s some element of that almost EVERY day. P.S. This reminds me, if anyone has a bike they’re not using, this Sunday is the Bicycles for Humanity donation drive at Holy Rosary:
https://westseattleblog.com/2010/05/3-ways-to-help-tech-donations-bike-donations-jazz-wine-night

JAT May 21, 2010 (9:31 am)

I like National Subtle Grammatical Correction Of Snarky Blog Commenter Day. Biking to work on Bike to Work Day is a little like heading to the Irish pub on St Patrick’s day – don’t be surprised if you see some spills…

johnnyblegs May 21, 2010 (10:35 am)

There are some very interesting comments on the Seattle Times article written today.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/reader_feedback/public/display.php?source_name=mbase&source_id=2011916843

wundrgrrrl May 21, 2010 (10:51 am)

I’m a “fair weather” bike commuter and while this morning barely qualified, I ventured out for BtW day. I stopped at WS, Broad, and Lk Union commute stations, and West Seattle was the BEST! Loved the treats and stamped banana’s, though I lost mine enroute :(

peopledust May 21, 2010 (11:01 am)

I love seeing all the bike to work people at the commuter station. :) It makes me smile. Way to go first time bike commuters! Keep it up!

Andy May 21, 2010 (11:03 am)

Yeah, johnnyblegs, ugly and predictable in the comments over there. Drivers hate cyclists, cyclists hate drivers. I drive and bike in just about equal measure, just cruise around hating myself all day. Tough on the self esteem!

Karen May 21, 2010 (1:13 pm)

Pretty ironic that a cyclist ended up under a car just a couple of blocks away the day before the rally. be careful out there and respect each other’s right to be on the road, me, I drive a car but stay out of the way of the trucks.

Catherine May 21, 2010 (9:04 pm)

I saw this on my way into work on Harbor Island. Not wanting to cause an accident, I looked quickly while the light was red and proceeded to work. I was a little jealous I couldn’t partaketh- it looked neat :)

AJP May 22, 2010 (4:23 pm)

I missed BTW day for the first time in five years because I have a lovely 3 month old daughter who doesn’t belong on a bike just yet. I’m so sad I missed all the fun and conviviality at the BTW stations. My husband was out representin’ though. Next year I’ll be back!

Andy–from your first comment I gathered you are one of those uber serious bikers who intimidated me so much it took me years to get on a bike and ride to work because I was afraid I’d be made fun of for not having the right gear or being too slow or something. But your comment about hating yourself made me laugh!

Sorry, comment time is over.