A few months ago when my friend Davey mentioned that he and his pal Tyler were looking for someone to help out at their shop, G&O Family Cyclery, in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle I said "well, if you can use somebody one day a week, I'm free on Wednesdays." And ever since then I've been heading into Seattle on Wednesdays to help Davey, Tyler and Donald at G&O.
This post isn't about how much fun it is to work at G&O (it is!) or what a cool shop it is (it is!) It isn't even about all the cool cargo bikes and Brompton's that I get to work on at G&O. No, this post is about my awesome Wednesday commute. I could bike back and forth or take the bus the whole way but I tend to optimize my commutes for fun. And my Wednesday commute is just terrific.
I take the Sound Transit 554 bus from just outside my doorstep to downtown Seattle. I have my NYCeWheels KickPed folded up beside me on the bus. In downtown Seattle I could transfer to the Metro 5 bus but instead I unfold my KickPed and scoot from Westlake, through the South Lake Union neighborhood. At my scootering pace of six to seven miles per hour, I'm a bit faster in traffic than the cars, the bus or the South Lake Union Trolley. I scoot north along the lake. The views are awesome.
You don't have to take my word for this. My android phone has developed this odd habit of tagging certain pictures I take, deciding they're "awesome" and then applying some filter it calls "auto awesome" which turns them into, well, awesome little virtual paintings. I don't know how or why my phone decided to do this, it's just something the Google elves have decided to do. But as you can see below, my commute is awesome.
My extra Wednesday work means I get to spend some more time with pals and I have a bit of extra money to spend in coffee shops and used bookstores. And I get 12 miles of really great scooter riding in every Wednesday.
I know I'm a lucky guy. I live and work in a pretty awesome place with some awesome people.
Keep 'em rolling,
5 comments:
Good to have you in Greenwood Kent, and nice to run into you a few weeks back. I like your style mate!
Cheers,
Matt
Thought that was you I sat next to on the 554 back to Issaquah last week. (You -- and I, apparently -- usually look like you don't want to be bothered, so I respected the space.)
Kent - I think multi-modal transport might be the best of all worlds! I use car, brompton and ferry in Sydney daily and love the variety of stimulus that it brings. Travelling on Sydney harbour doesn't hurt either! The brompton tends to be a conversation starter too.
Do you scoot up Fremont Ave to the zoo? If so, that's a really steep scoot (with sometimes not-so-great sidewalk conditions)! That used to be on my commute; I saw people on skateboards going both directions, and I even saw someone on a freewheel BMX with no brakes descend it (he jammed his shoes against the road and back tire (!) to stop), but never a scooter.
Al,
When the hill, like parts of Fremont, gets too steep, I walk. I can kick up various slopes, but there's a point where walking is more efficient.
As for the not-so-great sidewalk, I'm pretty good at picking a line with the Kickped. It's much easier on my new SwiftyOne, which has bigger wheels and a bit better ground clearance.
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