Chicks + Bikes = HOT

This movie plays only briefly in our fine city, but I think it’s worth a look-see.

Awesome Land

There are 1 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

My Bike is also a Cupcake Wagon

Today is my friend Sarah’s birthday, and I like to celebrate birthdays the same way as every other reasonable person in Seattle: with cupcakes. So today my work commute included a stop at a certain baked goods purveyor to pick up a cool half-dozen of the little joy-packed happiness cakes. I then secured my precious cargo to my bike rack with a couple bungee cords, and set off for work.

If you were one of the folks who passed me, giving my cupcakes the eyeball, thank you for not mugging me on the Burke Gilman. Sarah especially appreciates it.

Here are the cupcakes as they now sit on Sarah’s desk--the frosting got a bit compressed, but we bet they’ll still taste delicious. Happy Birthday Sarah!

There are 1 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

Playing Possum

One night a few weeks ago my ride home had an unexpected highlight: fresh possum-variety roadkill smack in the middle of the bike lane. I was running only my front flasher, which doesn’t do a great job of illumination, but I know that bike lane like the back of my hand, and it doesn’t generally include deceased wildlife. This newly dead rodent of unusual size lay bloated right where my front tire likes to be. I managed to see the mess and swerve to avoid catastrophe. Which would have been what, exactly? A weird sloppy sound and sudden slip accompanied by a slight whiff of death?

It took a couple days before the possum had been run over enough times to be considered flattish. At this point I rode over it, because it didn’t seem like there was much left for my tire to sink into. It was a weird lumpy bumpy feeling, but posed no danger. It did, however, make me feel like I’d done something wrong. That possum was, until quite recently, a living creature, and it sort of seemed disrespectful to run right over it, all willy nilly. And there was a smaller, satellite lump that may or may not have been possum offspring. So the idea that I had just ridden over someone’s mother...well...it was disconcerting.

The rest of that week I avoided riding across the possum. I would dutifully swerve to the right of it while greeting it with a “Hey there possum.”

This week I am feeling less inclined to avoid it. It’s really flat now, mostly dry, and no longer has easily recognizable features. It’s interesting to watch something go from looking like this:

To looking like this:

And every night on the ride home I get to ask myself “Robbie, do you want to ride around the possum or straight through it,” and practice cultivating spontaneity. At least until the next big rainstorm washes that possum away.

There are 6 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

The Stinky Spoke

So how do I motivate myself to mountain bike early on a Saturday morning in January? By signing up for the Stinky Spoke poker run, of course. I talked Zack into it by telling him it was a chance to ride his new 29er singlespeed. And then I talked Shawn into it by reminding him that his wife was out of town and he might as well. The free beer didn’t hurt, either.

This was the event’s biggest year ever with more than 600 riders signing up, and the start/finish area at Redhook Brewery was bustling by 8:30 a.m. After picking up our numbers and first playing cards, we took off, pedaling furiously to warm ourselves up. It was a blast riding from checkpoint to checkpoint along the 16-mile course to collect the rest of our cards. What a variety of bikes! Ti, carbon fiber, aluminum, steel--all the materials were represented. And then there were the riders: old and young, women and men, street clothes and team kits, and a guy wearing a white dress shirt and tie. There was even one plucky gal trail running the course while her partner rode.

I didn’t end up with a great poker hand, but I did have a great time. Judging by the smiles on the other riders’ faces, they were having a blast too. It didn’t even rain!!

Zack was having so much fun that he started taking pictures behind his back. Here’s one where Shawn and I were in the frame together. Props to the lovely Julie Mahan for turning me onto this event. FUN!

There are 1 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

The long route to Portage Bay Cafe

Got out for a ride today with friends--good times in the unexpected sunshine. Marne recently got herself a bike suited for pavement, so we took the long way from Ballard to Portage Bay Cafe, picking up the Belgian on the Burke Gilman in Fremont. We ran into my photographer friend Dean Forbes, who kindly snapped this shot for us. Then we spun over to Lake Washington and visited Seward Park before heading back to South Lake Union to eat our weight in French Toast. Ahhh. Now that’s a nice way to spend a Saturday.

From left: Marne, Shawn, me, Zack, the Belgian (Sylvie)

There are 3 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

Colonnade in the News Again

I have this vague and distant memory of a guy calling me out of the blue some months ago (not sure where he got my name or number) - and asking me a few questions about the Colonnade. He said he was writing an article, had a few questions. I had forgotten about it entirely, but whaddya know - he just let me know yesterday that the article is live. It’s a nice little writeup about the ‘nade with some fun photos, and it reminds me that mountain biking season is never “off” - time to bust out the lights and go for a little pre-work test run in preparation for my first “real” night ride on a trail - Tapeworm, probably (Robbie, we gotta talk). 

There are 1 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

Happy New Year!

I had this wacky idea to be on two wheels for New Year’s Eve, and my friends are on the fun side of crazy, so we slapped on our lighting systems and did a night ride out at Duthie Hill Park to ring in 2010. Rain, mud, fog and pandemonium all made appearances--so much fun!! The ride was followed by great food, beverages and baked goods. Who knows? Maybe it will be a new tradition!

Here’s Cooper waiting in the Toaster while we’re prepping to head out.

Beware the fog!

Marne and I crossing an A-Frame.

There are 6 comments on this story. Join the conversation!

Rollin’ through the Holidays

Christmas weekend, Robbie style. Green bike + candy cane sock action = seasonally appropriate mountain biking. The trails around Puget Sound are great right now, and not crowded, and what better way to offset the holiday eating than to get out there and pedal on dirt? Hope everyone is having great holidays!

There are 3 comments on this story. Join the conversation!