June 3, 2016

  • Emerald City Bike Ride

    We all know it as the 520 floating bridge ride. The state updated the bridge and added new lanes. A previous post shows the pontoons passing through the Ballard Locks. Before opening the new lanes to motor vehicles, The Cascade Bicycle Club put this ride together. It sold out! The whole family rode and had a fabulous time.
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    The very packed Ride start. The middle shows us queuing up along the edge. Étienne and I rode my friends Kuwahara tandem.

    The ride started about 4 miles from our house. We had two friends from Whidbey Island spend the night to make the early start more palatable. Four miles may sound far but I know it is all downhill. Add the downhill to a cool humid morning and it took about two minutes for the kids to complain of frozen hands. So much for all my prep work the night before. I handed over my brand new Specialized rain gloves. Bummer. Once we arrived, things started looking up. With so many riders, people that drove were parking up to a mile away. The ride start was being staggered every 5 minutes to relieve some of the congestion. As it was, we rode about 35 yards and then walked two tenths of a mile. I could feel the frustration but was glad people kept the conversation light. I took time to admire the many other tandems.

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    View of 520 Floating Bridge. View from Interstate 5 Express lanes crossing Lk Union. Chinatown Rest Stop.

    After walking at the start, the route turned to get on the 520 bridge. That is when the congestion opened up and we could ride. We still rode shoulder to shoulder and several riders should not have been permitted to ride a single. Unskilled riders were weaving, skidding tires, and not looking ahead. A tandem, tag-a-long, trailer, or just staying home would have been the prudent choice for these moving road hazards. As it was, we navigated the commotion without incident. We opted for the longer ride and sure enough, as soon as we passed the Start/Finish, most of the riders (all of the wobbly ones) stopped.

    We continued along the second loop to enjoy a unique chance to ride the Interstate 5 Express lanes. These lanes occupy the lower level of a very tall bridge over the ship canal and Lk Union. We all have driven these lanes but to ride a bike and stop to enjoy the vista...WOW!!! Five lanes to ourselves. The best part was when I realized that Étienne and I were on a tandem! Sounds like a carpool to me. So we headed over to that far left lane and let it go. The Kuwahara has something called half step shifting. Running through the gears I cranked the bike up to a smooth 45 miles per hour. Étienne blew the train whistle with all his might but we still startled a few riders. We blew by so fast they never had a chance to catch our wheel. Great stoking Étienne.

    Meanwhile, Veronica, Carlton & Judy took their time and enjoyed the view. At one point Veronica was riding in the middle lane of I5, coasting downhill with her hands outstretched. No photos, but here were some Twitter updates from other riders experiencing the same joy.

    I-5

    https://twitter.com/seabikeblog/status/716654068727328769


    https://twitter.com/suppliesattack/status/716663815715172356


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    This last picture shows sad Veronica. Remember I said the route from our house to the ride start was downhill? About a half mile from our house, Veronica dropped her chain. She hopped off and walked the rest of the way up the hill. Sad Veronica. Once home I had to hop on the bike and show her how easy it is to shift the front derailleur and get the chain back on. I have since adjusted the derailleur. Oh, that is happy Étienne showing off that we rode 45 MPH!