30 June 2011
28 June 2011
An Earthquake Is Coming
Seattle is in a very earthquake prone region. It took some getting used to. I don't like the ground to move!
For the first 10 years i lived in Seattle we had an earthquake every 13.5 months (by my calculations). For the second ten years i've been here we've had exactly ZERO earthquakes. Or so it seems. Right now we know an earthquake is coming. It's expected on October 29th. No, i know it's impossible to predict earthquakes, but something interesting has been happening. Let me explain.
The first two years i was in Washington there were no earthquakes. Since then there have been eight. I graphed them here:
(bubbles are magnitude, height is time since previous quake in days)
Nine earthquakes in less than 8 years and then nothing for over 11 years? Well, it's possible, and THE BIG ONE could still happen any day. (I'm involved with HAM radio neighborhood emergency training for just that possibility.)
But it turns out that in fact, we HAVE had earthquakes since 2001, seven or eight of them, all around 7.0 on the Richter scale. But instead of lasting for 17 seconds or 52 or 31 or even 138 seconds, they've lasted for 28 days! The plates still slip, the same amount of energy is released, but over a much longer period of time.
Because the energy is spread out over such a long time, they were called Silent Earthquakes when the were first discovered (here in Washington) in 2003, which soon after changed to Slow Earthquakes when the reasons were discovered. Now they are officially called ETS events, Episodic Tremor and Slip, but i like the term Slow Earthquake better. They have since found them in Hawaii, Indonesia and a number of other places around the world. Central Washington University has a nice detailed explanation.
So yes, i know this all sounds like i made it up, it's just so strange. And wait... it gets weirder! Most amazing of all, they come at regular intervals, every 14 months reasonably dependably. They are predictable! With some data from The University of Washington and The Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network i made some charts and calculated averages.
You can see the regularity of the events (the 2008 ETS had a long tail, it seemed to end on time, but then there were continuing effects for a couple of months). So using that average, 13.7 months, i came up with a date of October 29th for the start of the next Slow Earthquake. Just this week the PNSN added a prediction of late October to their ETS page [fixed dead link 2013]-- so i guess i came close. I made a calender graph of when the seven well documented ETS events have happened, and used some mathematical modeling to estimate previous, and future events.
The PNSN ETS page, http://www.pnsn.org/NEWS/PRESS_RELEASES/TREMOR_05.html, [fixed dead link 2013]- has all the data on previous Tremors and usually has day to day updates on events when they happen. So keep an eye on it, and be ready for a silent earthquake on Halloween!
For the first 10 years i lived in Seattle we had an earthquake every 13.5 months (by my calculations). For the second ten years i've been here we've had exactly ZERO earthquakes. Or so it seems. Right now we know an earthquake is coming. It's expected on October 29th. No, i know it's impossible to predict earthquakes, but something interesting has been happening. Let me explain.
The first two years i was in Washington there were no earthquakes. Since then there have been eight. I graphed them here:
- Thu 25 Mar 1993 13:34, magnitude 5.6 in Scott Mills OR (far away)
A small earthquake (here). I didn't feel it although many people did. I was at a fast food restaurant in Factoria.
- Sat 28 Jan 1995 19:11 5.0 at Robinson Point in Puget Sound (very close!)
It was cold and rainy and i was just out of the shower and making mac & cheese. It scared the heck out of me!! It was my first earthquake, so maybe my memory is exaggerated, but it seemed huge.
- Thu 02 May 1996 21:04 5.3 near Duvall (close by)
A little less scary but still disturbing. I was at home listening to baseball on the radio - the announcer left the booth and there was dead air.
- Sun 09 Feb 1997 20:26 3.5 under Seattle (very close)
I felt it, but it was quite small.
- Mon 23 Jun 1997 12:13 4.9 near Bremerton (near by)
I was at work at PSC. I was in the bathroom. When i got back to my desk everyone was freaked out about the quake, but i hadn't felt it.
- Tue 03 Nov 1998 02:40 3.1 near Bremerton (close by)
It was in the middle of the night and i didn't wake up.
- Fri 02 Jul 1999 18:43 5.8 Satsop (not close)
I don't remember this, maybe i didn't feel it.
- Wed 28 Feb 2001 10:54 6.8 near Olympia (not close)
This was very big in Olympia, but only 4.2 in Seattle. Still, it was the biggest i've felt. My computer monitor fell in my lap, i ran out of the apartment, thought better of crossing the skybridge and got out of the 100 year old brick building.
- Incidentally, i was in another earthquake, although not in Seattle
Mon 10 Jan 2000 22:27 magnitude 2.8 Trapani, Italy
Very surreal. I was in a hostel in Sicily in even though it wasn't strong, it was long, and we were right on top of it. I took it in stride, but the other people in the hostel, especially the Moroccan students Josef & Rashid in the next room were very scared!
Nine earthquakes in less than 8 years and then nothing for over 11 years? Well, it's possible, and THE BIG ONE could still happen any day. (I'm involved with HAM radio neighborhood emergency training for just that possibility.)
But it turns out that in fact, we HAVE had earthquakes since 2001, seven or eight of them, all around 7.0 on the Richter scale. But instead of lasting for 17 seconds or 52 or 31 or even 138 seconds, they've lasted for 28 days! The plates still slip, the same amount of energy is released, but over a much longer period of time.
Because the energy is spread out over such a long time, they were called Silent Earthquakes when the were first discovered (here in Washington) in 2003, which soon after changed to Slow Earthquakes when the reasons were discovered. Now they are officially called ETS events, Episodic Tremor and Slip, but i like the term Slow Earthquake better. They have since found them in Hawaii, Indonesia and a number of other places around the world. Central Washington University has a nice detailed explanation.
So yes, i know this all sounds like i made it up, it's just so strange. And wait... it gets weirder! Most amazing of all, they come at regular intervals, every 14 months reasonably dependably. They are predictable! With some data from The University of Washington and The Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network i made some charts and calculated averages.
22 June 2011
Stairway
How can Stairway to Heaven be the best song ever when it isn't even the THIRD best song on it's own album?
Seriously, The Runes Album has at least 3 songs that are clearly better:
Rock & Roll
Bron-Y-R Stomp
and especially
Misty Mountain Hop
Seriously, The Runes Album has at least 3 songs that are clearly better:
Rock & Roll
Bron-Y-R Stomp
and especially
Misty Mountain Hop
31 May 2011
roads ridden in May
In April i posted a map of all of my rides for the whole month.
Here's May. In May i rode 503 miles. I rode 26 of the 31 days (81%).
Here's May. In May i rode 503 miles. I rode 26 of the 31 days (81%).
Kitsap weekend
Needing to sleep outdoors, wanting some miles, looking for a holiday weekend activity, i accepted Nadine's invitation (after several years) to camp at Manchester State Park.
I put the tent and sleeping bag on my back, filled my trunk bag with food and pedaled down to West Seattle. Johnathon rode with me. We went over the hill instead of around Alki because i was running short of time.
At the ferry terminal i met four folks on really pretty bikes. I only remember two names, Stuart & Annie. They were heading for a ride on Vashon Island. I recommended Burma Road.
The ride up to Manchester was fast. I set up the tent, ate well, walked in the woods (never saw the water!) and slept very well. Late morning i packed up and as everyone got in their cars i hopped on the bike hoping that the Port Orchard ferry was running on this Sunday in the era of budget cuts. It was. That prevented an 8 mile detour on the freeway. I was happy. From the other end of the ferry it was an easy, hilly ride to my friend Gene's house for a Memorial Day picnic and Gene's beer can chicken.
I crashed on Gene's couch and in the morning decided, instead of riding the 5 miles to the Bremerton Ferry, i'd ride in the rain to Bainbridge Island. I got lost a little in Keyport (it's a peninsula and i couldn't get off). 29 miles later i caught my 4th ferry and was just 2 miles from home!
I put the tent and sleeping bag on my back, filled my trunk bag with food and pedaled down to West Seattle. Johnathon rode with me. We went over the hill instead of around Alki because i was running short of time.
At the ferry terminal i met four folks on really pretty bikes. I only remember two names, Stuart & Annie. They were heading for a ride on Vashon Island. I recommended Burma Road.
The ride up to Manchester was fast. I set up the tent, ate well, walked in the woods (never saw the water!) and slept very well. Late morning i packed up and as everyone got in their cars i hopped on the bike hoping that the Port Orchard ferry was running on this Sunday in the era of budget cuts. It was. That prevented an 8 mile detour on the freeway. I was happy. From the other end of the ferry it was an easy, hilly ride to my friend Gene's house for a Memorial Day picnic and Gene's beer can chicken.
I crashed on Gene's couch and in the morning decided, instead of riding the 5 miles to the Bremerton Ferry, i'd ride in the rain to Bainbridge Island. I got lost a little in Keyport (it's a peninsula and i couldn't get off). 29 miles later i caught my 4th ferry and was just 2 miles from home!
28 May 2011
Medowdale Park
Jeanette and i wanted to get some miles in and after batting around some ideas we decided that a ride to Edmonds might do the job. I had a route in mind but Jeanette was interested in another route, so we agreed that she would lead. It's always nice to follow along.
The Leader instructs.
We wandered around a bit by Shoreline Community College and found our way along the big hills to the forest north of Edmonds.
We're on route.
We stopped at a nice farmers market, grabbed a bit to eat and decided we were not quite ready to turn around so we went north along the shoreline from Edmonds. 'Along the shoreline' in a fjord basin like Puget Sound inevitably means lots of up and down!
Finally we found our selves in a nice park called Meadowdale. We spent a few minutes enjoying the view on the beach and found the gravel trail east out of park. We checked the sign, it said bikes were OK on the trail so we started riding. It was a very pleasant trail through the woods, and reasonably flat.
We were quite enjoying it and finding it pretty easy so we thought it was odd that all the walkers that we passed were congratulating us and treating us as if we were super heros. We commented on how odd it was, it hadn't been a hard ride at all.
Then we encountered the hill. It was about a 35% grade. Walking the bike up it was difficult. Very difficult. We had to rest a while at the top. Then we we worked our way across Lynnwood, mostly on residential streets but also on a few of the big scary multi-lane boulevards that Lynnwood is famous for, until we found the intermittent Interurban trail. That was almost a straight shot back down to Jeanette's house where her husband Richard brought us Indian food and we watched a movie before i took my routine lovely trip back home via Ravenna and Interlaken Parks. It was a good day. I rode 49.8 miles.
We wandered around a bit by Shoreline Community College and found our way along the big hills to the forest north of Edmonds.
We stopped at a nice farmers market, grabbed a bit to eat and decided we were not quite ready to turn around so we went north along the shoreline from Edmonds. 'Along the shoreline' in a fjord basin like Puget Sound inevitably means lots of up and down!
Finally we found our selves in a nice park called Meadowdale. We spent a few minutes enjoying the view on the beach and found the gravel trail east out of park. We checked the sign, it said bikes were OK on the trail so we started riding. It was a very pleasant trail through the woods, and reasonably flat.
We were quite enjoying it and finding it pretty easy so we thought it was odd that all the walkers that we passed were congratulating us and treating us as if we were super heros. We commented on how odd it was, it hadn't been a hard ride at all.
Then we encountered the hill. It was about a 35% grade. Walking the bike up it was difficult. Very difficult. We had to rest a while at the top. Then we we worked our way across Lynnwood, mostly on residential streets but also on a few of the big scary multi-lane boulevards that Lynnwood is famous for, until we found the intermittent Interurban trail. That was almost a straight shot back down to Jeanette's house where her husband Richard brought us Indian food and we watched a movie before i took my routine lovely trip back home via Ravenna and Interlaken Parks. It was a good day. I rode 49.8 miles.
23 May 2011
Blewett Pass - old and new
For a couple of weeks we had been talking about trying to ride Washington route 20, The North Cascades Highway, before it opened to cars for the summer.
I was interested in some climbing and i love the mountains, Nadine is signed up a charity ride with three mountain passes so she needed some training. The North Cascades is a stunningly gorgeous area in the big mountains. It's a bit of a challenge to keep track of the snow clearing operation on the highway and time it so you get out there when the road is clear of snow and rock (and snowplows!), but the gate hasn't opened yet. This year was more compelling than usual because, sadly, they plan to replace the nice smooth pavement with chipseal in the next few months. In the end we decided it was just too far: close to four hours in the car each way! But Nadine had the brilliant idea to try to ride BOTH Blewett Passes, new and old!
New Blewett Pass, actually Swauk Pass, but what everyone calls Blewett Pass, is a 2 lane highway (US highway 97), a busy north south connector east of the crest of the Cascade Mountains; i've cycled it several times. Old Blewett Pass is a lightly maintained, paved, but rarely used pass that the highway crossed decades ago. It's semi legendary in the cycling community and i had never been on it. Both are nice mountain passes, not nearly as far from Seattle. And they're not a high as the North Cascades -- better on our legs early in the year.
They are considerably closer to Seattle, but it's still a bit of a drive up there, i was thankful to Nadine for driving. After a lunch in Cle Eleum we parked near the bottom of the pass and prepared for our ride.
The climb on the highway was not bad. The shoulders were wide and although the traffic was heavy, there was construction behind us with a flagger, so the cars and trucks came in waves, with quiet periods between. While the cars could be scary, we found the trucks to be very professional and courteous... except for one Washington Department of Transportation dump truck which decided that bicyclists on the shoulder was an opportunity to try to nick some elbows.
We took frequent short breaks at slow vehicle pull-outs. At our first rest, Linda showed off her water bottle shaped iPod speaker system.
It was dry at first and i started out in shorts, but about halfway up the rain started. When it cooled down i put bike tights on. The rain was not unpleasant except for the spray when a big RV passed us.
It's a short climb, only 6 miles, and we did it pretty quickly. Our new cyclist Karen proved to be a very strong climber (we weren't surprised!). I got a photo of her topping the pass.
Then followed the obligatory top of the pass photos:
The rain got considerably heavier on our long, five mile descent. The scenery was beautiful, and i do love the rain, but i have to say, this was a very challenging descent. The speed, the rain, the heavy car traffic, the spray from the cars, the debris on the road required extreme focus for 10 or 15 minutes. We were all a bit frazzled after that. And those without fenders had pretty good mud stripes up their backs!
Instead of riding the 18 miles down the mountain to Leavenworth, we turned on Scotty Creek Road, almost a U turn, and suddenly found ourselves in a beautiful river valley. The rain stopped pretty much right after we turned. An old beat up pickup with a camper on the back turned on to the road right in front of us. After 10 minutes it came back passed us as it returned the highway -- i guess they decided this wasn't the road for them. That was the last car we saw for the rest of the day!!
This old road would take us back to where we parked, but Dennis and Linda couldn't quite decide which way we should go! (Either way meant going up and over the mountain!) Climbing on this peaceful, pretty mountain road was glorious. I really enjoyed it.
The road was easily passable, but it was not well maintained. Descending this would have been quite a challenge, and i was a little worried about when we headed down the other side, but climbing it was fine. The rockfalls just added to the fun.
Partway up the mountain, Linda's saddle broke! The plastic in the seat cracked which meant the saddle wouldn't stay flat, so she was sliding off the side of it. Well, we make do with what we have, so i devised a fancy road fix for her. We had rocks. Lots of them. I stuck a rock between the seat rail and the plastic shell of the saddle. It took a few tries to find the ideal sized rock, but once we did, the fix worked! It held the rest of the day perfectly. I was excited.
The road cut sometimes went sharply through the side of the mountain. I was fascinated by this tree root searching, searching, searching for some soil, for some water.
And there were several places where rocks had long ago fallen. The hole left by the boulder that dropped out of this spot dwarfs Dennis!
About halfway up we came across a fairly major rockfall.
The climbing was very pleasant. Further up the mountain there was a tree across the road -- clearly cars had passed through, so it wasn't a problem, but it sure was fun to climb right through the tree!!
I dropped back a bit when i stopped to take my tights off -- the sun had come out and my UW surplus bike-cop shorts were all i needed. Looking up through the switchbacks i caught a glimpse of Linda and Karen pushing up towards the top of the pass.
Twice during the ride up we saw very large Elk in the woods, one of the we startled and then she startled us as she ran away. I'm pretty quick with the camera, it stays in my jersey pocket and i can grab a quick snap. Needless to say i wasn't quick enough for the Elk!
At the top of the valley we started seeing a few cabins, and what looked like a camp or resort. It's a beautiful spot.
Linda reaches the top of her second pass of the day!
The road down was clear and smooth, wide curves and no cars. A really fun descent. Nadine and i stopped at one of the bigger switchbacks to get a view of highway 97, where her car was, below.
A smooth, fast descent and we were back at the car and ready for the drive back home. It was a great ride, not very long, only 25 miles, and not very hard, i was much more tired two days earlier after riding the 8 person pedal powered truck 7 miles! Here are the maps:
I was interested in some climbing and i love the mountains, Nadine is signed up a charity ride with three mountain passes so she needed some training. The North Cascades is a stunningly gorgeous area in the big mountains. It's a bit of a challenge to keep track of the snow clearing operation on the highway and time it so you get out there when the road is clear of snow and rock (and snowplows!), but the gate hasn't opened yet. This year was more compelling than usual because, sadly, they plan to replace the nice smooth pavement with chipseal in the next few months. In the end we decided it was just too far: close to four hours in the car each way! But Nadine had the brilliant idea to try to ride BOTH Blewett Passes, new and old!
New Blewett Pass, actually Swauk Pass, but what everyone calls Blewett Pass, is a 2 lane highway (US highway 97), a busy north south connector east of the crest of the Cascade Mountains; i've cycled it several times. Old Blewett Pass is a lightly maintained, paved, but rarely used pass that the highway crossed decades ago. It's semi legendary in the cycling community and i had never been on it. Both are nice mountain passes, not nearly as far from Seattle. And they're not a high as the North Cascades -- better on our legs early in the year.
They are considerably closer to Seattle, but it's still a bit of a drive up there, i was thankful to Nadine for driving. After a lunch in Cle Eleum we parked near the bottom of the pass and prepared for our ride.
The climb on the highway was not bad. The shoulders were wide and although the traffic was heavy, there was construction behind us with a flagger, so the cars and trucks came in waves, with quiet periods between. While the cars could be scary, we found the trucks to be very professional and courteous... except for one Washington Department of Transportation dump truck which decided that bicyclists on the shoulder was an opportunity to try to nick some elbows.
We took frequent short breaks at slow vehicle pull-outs. At our first rest, Linda showed off her water bottle shaped iPod speaker system.
It was dry at first and i started out in shorts, but about halfway up the rain started. When it cooled down i put bike tights on. The rain was not unpleasant except for the spray when a big RV passed us.
It's a short climb, only 6 miles, and we did it pretty quickly. Our new cyclist Karen proved to be a very strong climber (we weren't surprised!). I got a photo of her topping the pass.
Then followed the obligatory top of the pass photos:
The rain got considerably heavier on our long, five mile descent. The scenery was beautiful, and i do love the rain, but i have to say, this was a very challenging descent. The speed, the rain, the heavy car traffic, the spray from the cars, the debris on the road required extreme focus for 10 or 15 minutes. We were all a bit frazzled after that. And those without fenders had pretty good mud stripes up their backs!
Instead of riding the 18 miles down the mountain to Leavenworth, we turned on Scotty Creek Road, almost a U turn, and suddenly found ourselves in a beautiful river valley. The rain stopped pretty much right after we turned. An old beat up pickup with a camper on the back turned on to the road right in front of us. After 10 minutes it came back passed us as it returned the highway -- i guess they decided this wasn't the road for them. That was the last car we saw for the rest of the day!!
This old road would take us back to where we parked, but Dennis and Linda couldn't quite decide which way we should go! (Either way meant going up and over the mountain!) Climbing on this peaceful, pretty mountain road was glorious. I really enjoyed it.
The road was easily passable, but it was not well maintained. Descending this would have been quite a challenge, and i was a little worried about when we headed down the other side, but climbing it was fine. The rockfalls just added to the fun.
Partway up the mountain, Linda's saddle broke! The plastic in the seat cracked which meant the saddle wouldn't stay flat, so she was sliding off the side of it. Well, we make do with what we have, so i devised a fancy road fix for her. We had rocks. Lots of them. I stuck a rock between the seat rail and the plastic shell of the saddle. It took a few tries to find the ideal sized rock, but once we did, the fix worked! It held the rest of the day perfectly. I was excited.
The road cut sometimes went sharply through the side of the mountain. I was fascinated by this tree root searching, searching, searching for some soil, for some water.
And there were several places where rocks had long ago fallen. The hole left by the boulder that dropped out of this spot dwarfs Dennis!
About halfway up we came across a fairly major rockfall.
The climbing was very pleasant. Further up the mountain there was a tree across the road -- clearly cars had passed through, so it wasn't a problem, but it sure was fun to climb right through the tree!!
I dropped back a bit when i stopped to take my tights off -- the sun had come out and my UW surplus bike-cop shorts were all i needed. Looking up through the switchbacks i caught a glimpse of Linda and Karen pushing up towards the top of the pass.
Twice during the ride up we saw very large Elk in the woods, one of the we startled and then she startled us as she ran away. I'm pretty quick with the camera, it stays in my jersey pocket and i can grab a quick snap. Needless to say i wasn't quick enough for the Elk!
At the top of the valley we started seeing a few cabins, and what looked like a camp or resort. It's a beautiful spot.
Linda reaches the top of her second pass of the day!
The road down was clear and smooth, wide curves and no cars. A really fun descent. Nadine and i stopped at one of the bigger switchbacks to get a view of highway 97, where her car was, below.
A smooth, fast descent and we were back at the car and ready for the drive back home. It was a great ride, not very long, only 25 miles, and not very hard, i was much more tired two days earlier after riding the 8 person pedal powered truck 7 miles! Here are the maps:
21 May 2011
BB PPPP & Colin's machine
At Bike Works a few weeks ago Ryan, a fellow volunteer, asked if anyone wanted to help pedal a weird & wonderful 8 person human powered Machine in a parade. How could i say no?! I finally got to ride the legendary Spirit of Muckle Flugga (future blog post there!) in a parade a few years ago -- i couldn't pass this up.
The Spirit of Muckle Flugga
This parade was the Beacon Bikes People Powered Park Parade. Iit was up on Beacon Hill and the Machine was not. So Friday afternoon, after a significant amount of logistical planning, my friend Aurilee and i bicycled to Beacon Hill, locked up our bikes at the light rail station, took light rail and the #48 bus to the Central District and met up with Ryan, Liz from Bike Works, and a cool group of folks in order to MOVE THE MACHINE. We needed to position it for tomorrow's parade. We only had to go 3 and half miles.
We climbed aboard and started figuring out The Machine.
photo by Aurilee Gamboa
This wonderful Machine was built by the amazing Haulin' Colin. It's built on the chassis of a Toyota pickup truck. It still has the wheels, breaks, drive shaft, universal joint, transmission, steering, even the speedometer. But the drive, the power, is the three upright and four recumbent cycling positions. The driver doesn't pedal, but she does shift for all of us. Getting into fourth was really nice.
From the start point we had to immediately head up a big hill and almost over the ridge before we could turn south towards Jackson St. When we started up the hill; i didn't think we could make it, it was HARD. But we did make it, and it was FUN!! Aurilee couldn't believe how much fun it was. We were all whooping with joy!
While we kept the speed around 3 or 4 mph much of the time, ocne we started down the hill on S Jackson St (a major arterial) we got going much faster!
photo by Aurilee Gamboa
Once we started up Beacon Hill we needed a little push.
Or two. John was just on his commute home from work when he found us heading up Beacon Hill. He pushed us for blocks!
Now i don't mean to sound negative, but if you had 9 people on bicycles, riding 4 or 5 miles per hour together, in a full lane, through rush hour traffic on a sunny Friday afternoon, i'm pretty sure drivers would go batshit crazy. They would hate us for just existing. We were certainly wondering what the reaction was going to be, especially because we were SLOW! It took an hour and a half to go 3.7 miles.
In fact we didn't get a single negative reaction. People waved and laughed and some just stared slack jawed in amazement. And hundreds of people took out their cameras and took photos!
Saturday morning was cloudy and cool -- no short sleeve shirts today as we pulled out to ride a block or two to Jefferson Park for the start of the parade. Now this seemed old hat, but i was still amazed at the way The Machine moved.
A couple of Seattle City council members were going to join us in the Parade. Here i am lobbying councilmember Tom Rasmussen for better bicycle transportation.
And we were off, with 2/7 of the city council pedaling. Councilmember Sally Clark is up front.
The parade wound through Beacon Hill neighborhoods, primarily following the route of the planned bike boulevard.
Behind us was a great neighborhood parade of parents and kids on bikes.
Arriving at Lewis Park!
The Machine, with Liz changing shoes.
photo by Aurilee Gamboa
After the speeches and the music we got to ride it BACK up the hill, which was equally fun. I had brought my own pedals and one came out of the crank arm on the way up the hill.
It was great fun!
This parade was the Beacon Bikes People Powered Park Parade. Iit was up on Beacon Hill and the Machine was not. So Friday afternoon, after a significant amount of logistical planning, my friend Aurilee and i bicycled to Beacon Hill, locked up our bikes at the light rail station, took light rail and the #48 bus to the Central District and met up with Ryan, Liz from Bike Works, and a cool group of folks in order to MOVE THE MACHINE. We needed to position it for tomorrow's parade. We only had to go 3 and half miles.
We climbed aboard and started figuring out The Machine.
This wonderful Machine was built by the amazing Haulin' Colin. It's built on the chassis of a Toyota pickup truck. It still has the wheels, breaks, drive shaft, universal joint, transmission, steering, even the speedometer. But the drive, the power, is the three upright and four recumbent cycling positions. The driver doesn't pedal, but she does shift for all of us. Getting into fourth was really nice.
From the start point we had to immediately head up a big hill and almost over the ridge before we could turn south towards Jackson St. When we started up the hill; i didn't think we could make it, it was HARD. But we did make it, and it was FUN!! Aurilee couldn't believe how much fun it was. We were all whooping with joy!
While we kept the speed around 3 or 4 mph much of the time, ocne we started down the hill on S Jackson St (a major arterial) we got going much faster!
Once we started up Beacon Hill we needed a little push.
Or two. John was just on his commute home from work when he found us heading up Beacon Hill. He pushed us for blocks!
Now i don't mean to sound negative, but if you had 9 people on bicycles, riding 4 or 5 miles per hour together, in a full lane, through rush hour traffic on a sunny Friday afternoon, i'm pretty sure drivers would go batshit crazy. They would hate us for just existing. We were certainly wondering what the reaction was going to be, especially because we were SLOW! It took an hour and a half to go 3.7 miles.
In fact we didn't get a single negative reaction. People waved and laughed and some just stared slack jawed in amazement. And hundreds of people took out their cameras and took photos!
Saturday morning was cloudy and cool -- no short sleeve shirts today as we pulled out to ride a block or two to Jefferson Park for the start of the parade. Now this seemed old hat, but i was still amazed at the way The Machine moved.
A couple of Seattle City council members were going to join us in the Parade. Here i am lobbying councilmember Tom Rasmussen for better bicycle transportation.
And we were off, with 2/7 of the city council pedaling. Councilmember Sally Clark is up front.
The parade wound through Beacon Hill neighborhoods, primarily following the route of the planned bike boulevard.
Behind us was a great neighborhood parade of parents and kids on bikes.
Arriving at Lewis Park!
The Machine, with Liz changing shoes.
After the speeches and the music we got to ride it BACK up the hill, which was equally fun. I had brought my own pedals and one came out of the crank arm on the way up the hill.
It was great fun!
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