Biking to Work in Seattle

Lately, I’ve not been the most organized guy. Between work, the new apartment, and catching up with friends I’ve not seen in a couple years, there are plenty of things I’d likely be out doing that have just been dropping through the cracks.

I completely forgot about The Ride of Silence on Wednesday, and if I wasn’t already biking to work, I would have also missed “Bike to Work” day. Though the food was gone by the time I ambled to work at 9 am, I snagged a new water bottle and a fellow admired my new long shorts with a multitude of commuter sensible pockets.

It’s a five mile ride from Phinney Ridge to the Cascade neighborhood. From the top of the ridge, there are views of both the Cascades and the Olympics. Cyclists from all over the north city funnel into Fremont to cross the drawbridge. During peak commute, it’s difficult to count up all the bikes. This bike jam continues up Dexter and then glides into downtown past the Space Needle. While most everyone continues downtown, I veer left into a maze of condo construction.

In my long shorts, I keep my access key. It’s one thing I need to keep handy. I’m working part time in an new office across the street from REI’s flagship store. It’s been open just over 2 months, and the bike cage is already full and ready for an expansion. I wonder if the apartment dwellers will also be parking their bikes with us corporate day travelers?

I horrifically discovered it is possible to lock yourself in the bike cage.

Here is a picture of my ground floor locker at work. No more draping my bike gear all around my office! The swell thing about this set up, is that opposite the lockers are two showers, again controlled by access keys. Having showers at work eliminate one of the most common reasons not to commute and if it were up to me, every office would have them. It is humane.

The hills on the ride home are longer. I am crying as I head up Fremont Ave. For a few more weeks, I’ll be biking nightly across the Fremont bridge, which is fine with me because I love this view of Lake Union. I’ve stopped worry about big training rides at the moment, because life is a bit busy, but getting out commuting again has been great.