Seattle bike routes on Twitter

If you're on Twitter you should check out a new stream I created just for Seattle bike routes: http://twitter.com/seattlebikemaps (and if you're not on Twitter you can still browse the routes and click the links to the maps themselves).

Each tweet (or message for the Luddites out there) is a link to a bike map on veloroutes.org along with the route name and distance. Hopefully a useful tool for Seattle cyclists.

A note: since there are over 45,000 routes saved on veloroutes.org - and thousands of Seattle routes - it will take a while for the tweets to catch up. (Twitter limits you to 150 tweets a day) So if you follow this stream expect about 150 tweets a day.

Once the routes are caught up every time someone saves a route on veloroutes.org with "seattle" in the name/title/tags it will be automatically tweeted here. Just another way to spread Seattle bike routes with elevation data.

Volunteer Park Criterium - Racing on the top of Capitol Hill

Today is the Volunteer Park crit, which is an annual criterium race located only 10 blocks or so from my apartment! It's a tear-drop shaped course, with a 50-foot climb (and descent) each lap, followed by a slight false-flat to the finish. I did a few laps the other day (going the opposite direction, it's one-way), and don't really feel ready to race this course, but I'd love to do this crit one day.

I've been to this race a few times, and it's always a good show. Kenny Williams usually kills the Men's Cat pro/1/2, and I think I've seen him win it twice at least! That guy is a cycling monster!

We're gonna go catch the Women's Cat 1/2/3 at 1:40, followed by two more races: the Men's Cat 3 and the Men's pro/1/2 race. Should be some good action - I meant to catch the cat 4/5 race this morning, but 9 AM seemed too early when the time came around..

If you ever get a chance to check out this race, it's well worth the trip!

[8/6/7 - here are some photos from the race]

The Men's Cat 3 race (after a crash that stopped the race for almost an hour):


Close-up of the (I think cat 3) peloton:


A little breakaway:


The Cat pro/1/2 race - some of these guys get paid to do this?! sweet:

Cycling Fun, Or The Dead Baby Bike Race/Party

Last night was the big Dead Baby Bike race/party down in Georgetown, and was it awesome? YES! huge? fuck yeah!! We got there at 9 or so and the shit had been going on for a while already, but it wasn't even close to over. There had to be at least 500 people there, and I'm sure the crowd swelled well beyond that at some points!

We bought our DBB $10 water bottles, which gets you all you can drink beer! You couldn't really even call it a line to the beer, it was more like a cluster of 50 people slowly moving towards the same table. Not a bad deal at all though!

I forgot to bring my camera, but thanks to flickr do I really need to bring it anyway these days? Here's a photo from last night: (click it for more)


Events and sights of the night:

• a downhill race from West Seattle to Georgetown (I'll have to give this a shot next year)
  
• a pedal-powered ferris wheel
  
• tall-bike, mini-bike jousting
• foot-down competition
  
• water balloons thrown into the crowd
  
• the sprockettes
  

Foot-down is when 10 or so peeps ride in tighter and tighter circles (the crowd closes in slowly), and when your foot (or body!) hits the ground you're out. The last one riding wins! I think a dude on a tall-bike won it somehow! It looks like it takes some nice bike-control to win that game, especially on a tall-bike.

There were some heated jousting battles, complete with people almost tackling their opponents as they rode by. And sometimes a rider, or both riders, would get hit right in the chest and pop right off their bike! Lots of times they jousters didn't connect, and the huge crowd would express their satisfaction with loud boos! I love events with feedback loops like that (see also Showtime at the Apollo). If you haven't seen bike jousting yet, check it out.

The DBB event is definitely worth it, if not for the beer and jousting, then check it out for the crazy bikes that people throw together! (including a tall-bike made of three kids bikes stacked)!! There were hundreds of bikes of all kinds, hanging from fences, stacked and locked to street signs, bikes everywhere! The DBB party is the best bike-event in town! Big thanks to the crazy peeps that put it on!

F The Blue Angels

Warning, political rant below!

When it's Seafair time in Seattle, that means a few things:

• Hydroplane racing on Lake Washington
• People will get drunk on their boats and injure and/or kill somebody, it seems to happen every year
• The Blue Angels roar over town (just saw one go by apt at probably 500 mph and 500 feet away - I always forget how friggin loud those things are!)

But I've got a little problem with the Blue Angels - can you say propaganda? Everyone seems to forget that we're paying the fuel bills for those military jets as they entertain us. Not to mention there are pilots doing real bombing runs over Iraq, maybe even at the same time as the Angels fly over Seattle, upside-down to the roar of thousands of spectators..

America is one of the few places where citizens hear fighter-jet engines roaring and run outside to cheer - in most other places civilians have to run and hide from American-made bombers..

What's this got to do with cycling? Not much, except the I-90 bridge is closed (including the bike path) during their runs! They made me late to work last year... dammit. Hopefully they can't stop me from doing the Lake Wa Loop today.

So when you see the Blue Angels, think twice about cheering. I'm just as impressed with jets as anyone else, but this is more than politically charged entertainment - it's military-approved entertainment, and that just seems wrong to me.

Cougar Mountain aka The Zoo Climb

I'd heard about 'the zoo' climb before, but had no idea where it was - but lo and behold, somebody saved the route on my site, veloroutes.org! (as a side-note this is how I know the site is working - not just saving my own routes but discovering new ones!)

The climb is 2.5 miles long, and gives you over 1K feet of elevation gain! This is about twice as big as Tolt Hill Road, which used to be the best (or worst, depending on how you feel about climbing) local climb I knew about. Probably the hardest local climb excluding the mountain passes like Snoqualmie and Stevens.

The Ascent:

The first section of this climb is probably a good 10% grade, and it seems to fluctuate between 7 and 10%, but I'm estimating, so I can't be sure. My rear tire was skidding a bit going up, due to the dampness that was still on the ground and the steepness of the road! About half-way there's a small plateau of sorts to give your legs a rest, but once you turn onto 60th St the rollers start, and they seem to get steeper and steeper! Some of them towards the end must've been over 10%, at least it felt that way. Once at the top you can take a hard left and continue up the mountain for a quarter-mile or so, which I now call it the "bonus climb."

The Descent:

You might think that since this is such a big climb that the descent would be a screamingly-fast one, but it's not! The hair-pin turns force you to keep your speed way down, and I almost learned this the hard way: I was coming down the first hairpin, my bike started to drift more and more towards the guard-rail on the right side of the road, and the wet mold next to it! It's a scary feeling when you know you can't slam on the brakes due to the damp ground, and you can't do a hard turn 'cause you'll slip, so I just had to ride it through while tapping the brakes! I came within maybe less than a foot of the edge, and got to peer down the steep slope that probably drops a good 40 or 50 feet! Scary sight indeed. Next time I'm gonna go as slow as a snail around those turns!

The Views:

You might also think that being 1,100 feet above sea-level you'd be able to see the city and lots of cool sights, but you can't; there are lots of tall trees blocking most of the views! You can see Lake Sammammish pretty well, and the Eastside as well. Definitely puts 'hills' like those around Bellevue into perspective, that's for sure! The 'bonus climb' had a little clearing that gave a pretty good view of the Cascades, but that was about as good as it got.

To sum it up, this is a great climb, but don't get your hopes up about a fast descent - Tolt is better for that.

July 2007 Critical Mass Conquers Aurora Bridge Again

The scene at Westlake Center yesterday (photo from flickr):


I made it to Critical Mass yesterday, and the turnout was huge, as it usually is in the summer months. Must've been 300 or more people! The Westlake Center was full of cyclists of all types: smokers on fixies, freds on commuter bikes, squids covered in lycra, and a tall bike!

Two frowning cops watched as the 'peloton' rolled out just after 6 PM, heading down Pine St towards 1st Ave. After a slow and winding route we ended up on Highway 99, aka Aurora! I've done the bridge two other times with my fellow Massers, and it never loses its appeal! (99 is a four-lane, 50 mph highway that goes through Seattle, normally off-limits to cycles)

Some peeps at the front tried to make the mass go right and exit just before the bridge, but they must've been new to the area.. Once you're riding with 400 people on Aurora you might as well go to at least Fremont! A buddy and I corralled some peeps to keep going straight and alas, we did, we went over the bridge.

There were cyclists covering up all four north-bound lanes of the bridge, and extending across the whole length of it! It must've been a half-mile long at that point!! We ended up going through Fremont and towards Golden Gardens, but I turned back towards Capitol Hill before we got there, it was time to go home.

Remember, last Friday of every month at 5:30 PM at the Westlake Center. Don't live in Seattle? There's probably a CM in your town too!

Seattle To Carnation and Back - Hilly and Fun

Yesterday I rode out to Carnation and back, for a total of 106 km (60+ miles), and lots of climbing. It was basically a tour of major Eastside hills, excluding 'the Zoo', which I have yet to try out. Once I got to the top of Tolt Hill Road I just turned around and came back - this is where I hit my max speed for the day of 77 km/h! (roughly 45 mph). This isn't too hard to do going down a 10% grade for a mile with no stop lights!

This ride is mostly suburban and country riding, with awesome views of the Cascade Mountains and Mt Si. Lots of rolling hills and small climbs - Mercer Island, for instance, has a number of little climbs. But these don't even compare to the big ones I hit on the way out.

Click on the image to see the full elevation profile of my ride:


Hills covered on the way out East were:

• The climb on 32nd Ave up from Eastgate towards Issaquah: not too steep but lasts for a mile or so
• Going up Issaquah-Fall City Road in Issaquah: The sign at the top reads 9% for 3/4 mile, and I can attest to it! Unfortunately there's no bike lane until you get to the top, the shoulder is only about a foot wide for most of the climb.
• Tolt Hill Road: 10% for one mile, this is the toughest part of my route. It's not too bad at first, but after a short plateau it kicks up to 10% indeed - hard but I got to where I can kinda sprint over the top, this will help in next year's Carnation Hills Time Trial.

Going (West) back to Seattle you've got:

• The rolling hills heading back up the plateau on Issaquah-Fall City Road - almost zero cars out here, but no shoulder so use caution.
  
• The climb back up Newport Way - not very steep at all, but lasts for at least a mile and a half, good shoulder.
• Back up Capitol Hill - After getting off the I-90 Trail I follow 20th Ave over to Jefferson and then up 12th ave. Not very steep at all but is a few miles of steady uphill.
  

Here's what the route looks like in Google Earth - the large incline on the right is Tolt Hill Road: (pic facing West towards Seattle)


(Btw, anyone can generate their own maps in Google Earth using my site, veloroutes.org)

Stats:

Distance: 106.6 km
Avg Speed: 25.9 km/h
Max Observed Speed: 77 km/h (going down Tolt!)
Time on Bike: 4 hours, 7 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours, 25 minutes

Floyd Was Here!

Floyd Landis was in Seattle recently, and guess who's friend got to meet him?! Yup, my riding buddy Dennis Kindred had the chance to meet Floyd during his recent visit to Amazon.com's HQ here in Seattle. From Dennis:

I just met Floyd Landis. He signed his book for me and best of all...

I got a GREAT picture of us both!!!! He happens to be a pretty f*ckin'
funny guy.

WOOT!

FREE FLOYD!

It wouldn't be worth posting this if I didn't have this photo to go with it, so here ya go!!

Damn, I wish we could have taken Floyd on a tour of Seattle hills - I'd love to see how fast he could ascend up Queen Anne's south face!!

Wondering what else Floyd is up to these days? Check out his blog for the latest Floyd news.

Tour of Eastside Hills

Today's ride, the tour of eastside hills, will feature some great climbs, roughly 90 miles of hilly Northwest roads - the steepest being Tolt Hill Road out in Carnation - a 10% grade for a mile! This will be about the 10th time I'll do that climb, and I can't say it ever gets any easier. Well maybe the 2nd time it was a little easier but since then it's been about the same - really hard.. 43rd Ave (out in Issaquah) is tough too, and you can tell the traffic isn't used to riders on that road, they buzz pretty close.

Towns/suburbs I'll pass through: Seattle, Renton, Issaquah, Fall City, Carnation, Redmond, Woodinville, Bothell, and then back to Seattle. From looking at the elevation profile, it looks like there are 6 or 7 major climbs - each maxing out at 400 or 500 feet.

Check out what the route looks like in Google Earth:



According to my cyclo-computer I got back in May, I've done 1,620 miles! If I keep up this pace I could probably do 4-5k miles this year, maybe more. I can't wait to see it hit 2,000 miles, which should happen maybe even this month!

Using Google Spreadsheets for a Cycling Log

Since I need to keep up milage to train for the 206-mile STP, I've been keeping a log of my rides using Google Spreadsheets. It's a pretty slick interface, complete with graphs and formulas for doing totals and averages.

There are some sites out there that do training logs, but many people still use spreadsheets for tasks like this, and I'm thinking the same thing, simpler is better.

Check out this graph from my cycling log:


(Can't wait to see the 206-mile spike on July 14th!)

Since these spreadsheets can be turned into RSS feeds, mashups can take this data and do all kinds of fun stuff with it! I wonder if any sites out there already do this?

Now it's off to the four summits of Seattle ride, for some climbing fun!

2007 Flying Wheels Century - Training for the STP

The plan yesterday was to ride the Flying Wheels 100-miler as training for this year's 206-mile STP (Seattle-to-Portland) ride, which I'm doing in one day. Century riders started early, between 8 and 9 AM, the course a kind of figure-eight that went from Marymoor to Carnation to Snohomish to Duval to Fall City and back to Redmond. The Flying Wheels ride attracts thousands of riders, all of them training for the STP, including me and Dennis.

We got there at about 8 AM and rolled out by 8:30, and our wheels were flying indeed. We held 22-24 mph for the first few miles and passed at least 100 bikers on the first stretch before the first climb, good ole' Inglewood Hill Drive, just off of Lake Sammamish Pkwy. 12% grade for a half-mile, it's not long but damn it's steep! Big-rigs can barely go up it at about 10 mph, no kidding (I almost beat one going up that hill last week).

Going up Inglewood , I felt great - the legs were fresh and nobody was passing me, most were slowing way down considering the grade! I've done that hill a few times, as recently as last week, so I knew what to expect and just how much I could push on it. Made it to the top and felt fresh, ready to go. This was only four miles into the ride, so luckily the lack of warmup didn't hurt me as I'm sure it did others.

The next climb was up Ames Lake Road, just off of Highway 202 out by Carnation. At the beginning I'm out of the saddle, pushing past many folks as the not-very-steep but long (two miles?) climb started. And then my problems began!

I heard a pop, figuring it's just a piece of metal on the ground.. but the guy behind is saying, "I think you broke a spoke." Indeed, I sure did, and my wheel was so far out of true it couldn't even get past the brake-pads... My Mavic rims have straight-pull, bladed spokes that I've always read are a pain to repair/find on the road. And shit, I didn't even have my spoke-wrench!! So here Dennis and I stand, watching literally hundreds of cyclists we'd passed earlier coming up the hill, passsing us.

All I could do was release my rear brake and 'hobble' at 10 mph to the next rest-stop, where hopefully we'd find a mechanic with my spokes. It was torture riding at 10mph descending down Ames Lake Road, having more and more riders pass me!! I should've been pushing 40 mph, blazing, not hobbling on the side of the fucking road!! But I guess that's what I get for not checking my spoke-tension often enough, and not carrying the right supplies and tools.

We finally got to the rest stop, and after 15 minutes of tinkering with the wheel, the mechanic didn't have the right size spoke! Fucked is what I was.... fucked. 15 miles into the ride and I've got an almost taco'd wheel.

So we detoured over Tolt Hill (I'm still hobbling this whole time) and back to Marymoor park. In total we did a whopping 30 miles! So much for a century... god dammit! Big ups to Dennis for hanging with me... next time we'll nail that ride.

Now that I'm not employed by the man any longer, I've got plenty of days to do centuries for fun and training, although not with the thrill of hundreds of other riders on the road with me. So remember kids, always carry the shit you need to fix your ride! Don't depend on the mechanics to fix it for you... I think for the STP I'm gonna carry spokes, an extra chain, everything I need.

[6/23/07: included pic of me before the mechanical breakdown.. I had no idea what would happen only 10 miles later..]

65-mile ride just for kicks

Not a bad day for a 65 miler! (pic thanks to king5.com)



Today's route is what I call the 'two lakes loop'. A great route that passes through some of Seattle's most urban areas (Capitol Hill, Renton Valley), and then 10 miles later there are horses in a friggin field (east of Renton). Gotta love the Puget Sound!

The route goes around Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, starting on the top of Capitol Hill, heading south towards Renton on Rainier Ave (lots of traffic, but fuck it, I do it all the time), Highway 900 out to Issaquah (where the horses are), East Lake Sammamish Rd to Redmond, then it's the lovely (and flat) Samammish Trail followed by the Burke-Gilman Trail. We'll see if I can keep my avg at or above 18 mph (today's goal).

Here's the route on a google map.

The Four Summits of Seattle Ride - Solo

I did the 'four summits of seattle' ride today, it took four hours and some change. The ride features some of Seattle's major climbs, covering about 35 miles and gaining about 2200 feet of elevation!!

The ride goes like this: up Queen Anne's north side, then out to Alki for the West Seattle climb up to the water tower (via Lincoln/Othello), Beacon Hill, Capitol Hill (up Roy St, the steepest climb in the city, 22% for a block). I start/end roughly on Broadway on the Hill.

I had a personal first of having a car honk at me for a positive reason!! Going down Highland Drive in West Seattle, a steep downhill that's only a half-mile long, I hit at least 45 miles per hour!! Who knew you could do that in the city? At the bottom a pickup passed me and the guy inside it is all, "woo hoo!!" and honking at me! I assume because I was almost going over the speed limit of 45 mph and passing cars on a wee bicycle.

Nice n' Overcast! Welcome to Seattle

Yup, this is beautiful Seattle, and a perfect day for some unemployed bicycle riding!


(see a live version of this webcam on Queen Anne Hill)

Yesterday I did the Tiger Mountain ride, that was fun. What's today? Anywhere I feel like!

My goal for the next month or so is to ride at least 50 miles a day.

Race Report: Carnation Time-Trial Series #3

The race was today, and while I certainly didn't win it, I didn't get last either! Being in a mixed field (cat 1-5 all in the same TT) for my first real race was tough, I certainly can't hang with the folks with the race-tuned bodies and carbon-aero bikes. But my trusty steel Bianchi Eros (and smoker's lungs) got me to the finish line in a personal-best time of just over 43 minutes! (To put that in perspective, the winning time was I think 10 minutes faster)

This is the elevation profile of the TT course (that's big Tolt Hill at the beginning, a 10% grade for a mile):


Here are some pics of the event, held in Carnation, WA:

The parking lot - lots of expensive bikes and serious racers


And then there's me - out to have some fun:


Here I am starting: go! go! go!


I guess I started out a bit too hard, because half-way up Tolt Hill Road I felt the bonk coming on. My legs all of a sudden had nothing, at the exact worst time! Shit! I've done that hill five times and usually I felt strong going up.

When I started to slow down I got passed by the guy behind me, just about at the top of the hill. I didn't even have the energy to chase him; I knew I had to save something for later, since that was only the first hill of the race. I chugged on in hopes of not being passed yet again, but, alas, I was passed again. About five miles later I hear the whirr of a rider next to me, was greeted by 'nice day for a ride, eh?'. Indeed, it was a nice day, but it was a tough one for the ego too.

Here I am finishing in downtown Carnation:


The official results aren't out yet, but from the sheet I saw I got 24th (out of ~30) in the 20-40 age group, finishing with a time of roughly 43 minutes. My previous best on the course was about 45 minutes so I'm glad to have shaved off a few minutes. My average speed was something like 19.5 mph - not bad for a computer-geek!!

A big thanks to my 'support team,' Kira and Dennis - I couldn't have done it without y'all!!

Edit (6.5.2007): the results are posted! http://www.footworkscycles.com/June 2nd Final results.pdf

My official time was 43:47, and a finish of 25th out of 31 peeps in my division. At least now I know that one of the guys that passed me placed 7th!

140-mile weekend

Since a friend and I are doing the one-day STP this year (and we're dabbling in the local race scene too), I've been trying to pack on the miles, and keep the average speed up.

On Saturday I did the lakes washington and sammamish loop ride, and I averaged 18.5 mph on the 79 mile ride. Highway 900 in between Renton and Issaquah is my favorite part, you're totally in the country, and only 15 miles ride outside of Seattle! Who'd have thought you could see cows in a field so close to the city..

Here's the elevation profile of the two-lakes loop:


On Monday I rode out to carnation and back, and did the Tolt Hill climb twice, once going east, once going west. Going downhill on the 10% grade for a mile section, I hit 49 mph!! If only it was a longer descent, I could probably hit 50. The TT we're doing goes up the hill heading west, the hard way.

Elevation profile of the carnation ride:


The race is this Saturday, I'll certainly post how (bad) I did when it's all said and done. And here's the profile of the 3rd Carnation TT:

Mercer Island Loop - Great Views, Great Training Too

One of my favorite rides is the mercer island loop, a popular Seattle-area ride that takes you on Mercer Island Way, one of the few low-traffic roads in the area. Just head east over the I-90 bike trail and you can be there in 15 minutes from Capitol Hill.

Here's the elevation graph of the route:


Since I got my cyclo-computer I've been watching the numbers (hopefully not too much), and this is a great ride (with no stop signs or lights for 15 miles or so!) to test your mettle and see just how high you can push the numbers. Small rolling hills, nice flats, plenty of turns to test your cornering abilities.

As per usual, I was coming up on folks also riding the loop, some more serious than others. I passed one guy that I figured I could easily drop, but sure enough I looked back a minute later and saw his shadow next to mine. Damn! Time to turn up the juice! (At this point my average speed was 20.x mph, pretty fast for me)

So I kicked up the pace and tried to keep it at 24-26 mph, but he's just sitting back there drafting, enjoying the good life! I couldn't drop him, but he eventually turned off the road and I continued on. It's not that I can drop anyone on the road, hell I don't really even race, but on Mercer Island I haven't been dropped once yet, although I'm sure my day will come. Last week there was a dude with tatoo-sleeves that I started semi-racing with, and eventually dropped him after the big climb. Damn that feels gooood!

My average speed was up to 21.x mph at the end of the loop, but then it's all uphill on the way back to Capitol Hill. By the time I got home my average was down to 18.8 mph, but I'm pretty happy with that, considering the terrain.

So if you get a chance, check out the Mercer Island Loop, you'll be glad you did! And if I see you out there (I ride a celeste bianchi eros and usually wear a 'Washington' jersey), let's see who can drop who!!

A Silent Ride, For Better Or Worse

Yesterday I did the ride of silence, an annual (world-wide) ride for fallen cyclists. Similar to Critical Mass, but without the merry-making/hootin/hollerin that usually ensues. I was running late to the start, but caught up with the group on Eastlake. I wasn't sure if it was an STP training ride or not, what with sea of neon/lycra and yellow rain jackets. And yes, that was me that rode up to the pack and asked, "Is this the ride of silence?" The response, as you might guess, was a stern nod from one fellow (oh yeah, the ride of SILENCE!!)... oh well, glad I made it, even if I was one of the only peeps on a fixie and not dressed in a full race kit. (But hey, I wear lycra too when the time is right.)

It was way different than a Critical Mass ride, and I felt less safe too. We always stayed in only one lane (allowing cars to try to squeeze by in the left or center lane, yikes), and we didn't cork red-lights, so the pack was constantly split up. In CM, the 'mass' of cyclists creates a safety-barrier in which no cars are allowed to pass, and red-lights are blocked (only briefly, mind you!) to ensure that nobody is split from the group. The other issue I have with it is communication; since it is a 'silent' ride, most questions from onlookers ("what are you doing?" etc) are greeted by icy glances, since we're all trying to be 'silent.' Seems to me that at some point you're got to say wtf is going on, otherwise people are none the wiser.

One highlight of the ride was on 1st Ave downtown, when a young red-neck type sitting in a (parked!) black pickup started yelling "GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!" and repeatedly honking his horn. He made himself look ridiculous, I thought. And only if it had been critical mass, the hoots he would have generated would've drowned out his puny car horn!

Capitol Hill to Ballard, the long way

Here's part of the route I did tonight, it was tough but a great workout. Going down Denny is such a rush, and I think I hit 38 mph or so, but I was scared to look too much!

Total distance: 19 miles
Total gain: ~1300 feet
Avg Speed: 15.,7 mph


I feel like the average should be higher, but at one point climbing Queen Anne I looked down to see the cyclo-computer reading at a whopping 3 miles-per-fucking-hour! Which, by the way, is still faster than walking up Queen Anne. It makes the 10th Ave clibmb up Capitol Hill seem like a piece of cake! It's something like 500 feet of gain in about 7 blocks!!

On some of the flats I was averaging 25-28 mph, man that felt goood! Now if only I can do that when it's race-time, and if my smoker's lungs can hold the pace, it'll be a great racing season.

April 2007 Seattle Critical Mass report

I made it to Mass down in the Westlake Center just in time for everyone to roll out. Sometimes I'm late, but even then it's not hard to find 200+ cyclists going less than 5 mph; just look for the honking traffic and cheering from peeps on bikes!

It was a strong turn-out, I'm guessing it was about 200 people, maybe more. The route was pretty crazy, at one point we turned up Yesler (I think) and started climbing! It's always funny to do a big hill climb at Mass, so many old road bikes (that apparently haven't gone up a hill since '87) start throwing their chains, people are falling, people walking their bikes. But the fixies, like what I was riding, somehow stay in front. It's a steep hill, see for yourself.

There were some peeps with drums on their bikes, wish my bell was working, I could've added to the sounds of Mass.

I heard some civilians (on-lookers) say, "This could only happen in Seattle," as the mass of cyclists rode by. Funny thing is, that's soooo not the case! This is a world-wide event people, betta know that!