#30DaysofBiking: Signs of Spring

The days are getting longer and warmer. Weekends are super busy at the bike shop now, but I squeezed in a quick ride this morning before work. I rode over to the Pickering Barn to check out the first farmer's market of the season.

4 miles for the day.

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Riding in the Rain

There is a saying that "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." This is, of course, wrong. Both bad weather and bad clothing exist and the combination is certainly miserable. Good clothing can make bad weather a far less miserable experience, but all the wool and waterproofs won't make a cold rainy day as pleasant as a warm ride in the sunshine.

But I am not made of sugar or beautiful wickedness like a certain western witch, so I gather up my rain jacket, rain pants and bicycle with fenders and venture forth.

If it was sunnier I'd go farther but it's damp so I don't. As I've explained to my lovely wife, rain is Nature's way of prompting you to stop for coffee.

That seems like a wise course of action for the day.

After coffee by the fire, I roll back toward home. 4 more miles for the month.

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: The Quarry in the 'Quah

Some letters in the Blogging From A to Z Challenge are harder than others. I didn't have any great ideas for today's letter, Q, until I woke up this morning. "The Quarry!" I exclaimed, "there's a quarry here in 'Quah!" Christine, who'd also just woken up, said "you're quite pleased about that, aren't you?" Indeed I was. Indeed I am.

And so, armed with my trusty bike and my trusty camera, I rode over to the north side of the freeway, at the base of the Plateau, where the quarry is. It's hard to get a good picture from ground level, so I rode up the Issaquah-Fall City Road and across on Black Nugget Road to the Highlands where I could get a better view.

While I was up on the Plateau, I took a few more pictures of some of the more recent developments in this part of town. They are building more homes up here. In another couple of years, the quarry may be replaced by more homes and businesses. 

The new Swedish Hospital is up on the Plateau as well and the grounds feature some nice hiking & biking trails.

A pedestrian bridge is being installed across Highlands Drive.

6 miles for the day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: The Path and the Plateau

We have a lot of paths here in Issaquah and soon the path that is the best way under the freeway will be closed for paving. Last year they paved the northern part of this trail in Redmond and this year the Issaquah end is getting a layer of asphalt. So far, the section of the trail that is in Sammamish, along the lake shore, remains fine gravel.






Today I turned east at SE 43rd and rode up the Plateau. While many of the mountains here have names (Tiger, Squak, Cougar, etc.) the Plateau has always been just called the Plateau for as long as I've been here. As a youth my first exposure to the word "Plateau" came from Arthur Conan Doyle's book "The Lost World" To this day I expect the upper reaches of plateaus to be populated by dinosaurs. I tend to be disappointed by what I actually find on the plateaus.




OK, the sign promising "Monster Yards" got my hopes up, but all the yards I saw just had grass. A few had swing sets. None had monsters.


I rolled down from the plateau and returned to the path by the lake.


One of the smaller yards is trying to grow their own dinosaur.


The people who got stuck with this crummy, non-level lot built a little shack on it.

They do have a nice view of the water. The view from the bike path is almost as good.

11 miles for the day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Oxymoron

This morning's ride is brief, six miles from home to take a picture of a sign. Because I favor the kinds of roads the poet assures us make all the difference, the roads less traveled by, and because I travel slowly, I have the time to note items of interest. Perhaps it is a bird on a branch or a snake lying in the sun. Or perhaps a stupid sign.

Signs like this one amuse me, a warning to expect no warnings. It's the kind of logic I recall Captain Kirk using to reign in malevolent machines run amok. We can be too logical, too cautious, too efficient at times. Perhaps our clever signs are here to remind us of our own stupidity.

12 miles today, for no good reason. And perhaps that's one of the best reasons to ride.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Nocturnal

It was a dark and stormy night. Not really, it's actually morning, very early morning but it's dark and dank and drizzly. After a weekend of lovely weather, the rain has returned to Issaquah. The letter theme in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge today is "N", so I chose to be Nocturnal and join my wife on her early morning commute. She starts work at 5:00 AM, and her early commute is in the dark for most of the year. At this very early hour there is practically no traffic and the town is very quiet. Sometimes, she will cross paths with raccoons who are finishing up their night foraging.

I swing by the post office on my way home to drop off the taxes ("good thing you didn't leave that 'til the last minute," my son commented last night. "No point paying the man any sooner than I have to," I replied. It's a holiday in D.C. today, so I'm actually a day ahead.)

It's a full day of work at the shop and it looks like day will continue to be damp. So three miles for the day. Three nocturnal miles in the #30DaysofBiking.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Sunday Morning Ride

This is another day off in Blogging From A to Z Challenge but it is another day in the #30DaysofBiking, so I spent a couple of pleasant hours this morning on some of the quiet roads and trails that run near the rivers and creeks that wind their way through the mountains just east of town. Nineteen miles for the day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Meeting Matt

Matt suggested the theme for today: Meeting Matt. I've known Matt through the internet and his great blog Front Door Adventures for a while but we never actually met in real life until today. Matt rode over to Issaquah from Seattle and met me at the shop shortly before closing. We then walked the four blocks to my home where I grabbed the Octocog and we rode a quick loop up the Issaquah-Preston Trail to Highpoint, under I-90, back west along the northern edge of Tradition Lake, along the trail under the powerline and then back past the high school to my place. Matt's a very cool guy, adventurous and philosophical and not nearly as blurry in real life as he appears in the pictures I hastily snapped. We're already plotting future adventures together.

7 miles for the day. Matt wound up with a lot more, he rode back to Seattle.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

#30DaysofBiking: Low Light on the Lake

Today I don't get out on my bike until the early evening. The light is low and the shadows are growing long. I ride over to Lake Sammamish State Park and see a duck swimming along as the last of the daylight stretches across the water.

It's feeling like spring time and these are the busy days at the bike shop. But here, on the shore of this lake at the end of very full day, it is very quiet, clear and calm. It grows cooler as the sun goes down and now it's time for me to roll on.

My bike's own light punches a small hole in the growing darkness, a tunnel that leads me home.

5 miles for the day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

Bike Works is Hiring!

Bike Works in the Columbia City neigborhood of Seattle is a great shop with a great mission. They are currently looking for someone to help them out this summer so I'm doing my bit to get the word out. Here's the info:

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Bike Works, the Seattle bike education and community-focused non-profit, is hiring for a summer position in our community bike shop. The position is approximately 40 hours per week (paid hourly), and runs from June 1, 2012 until August 31, 2012.

Bike Works serves people of many racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and religious beliefs. Bike Works actively recruits people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Bike Works is committed to combating racism and oppression and seeks to do so in all areas of our organization, including within our community bike shop.

Job Overview
This is Customer Service/Mechanic position in our community bike shop will report to the Shop Director. This position will focus primarily on providing attentive, quality customer service in a small, fast-paced bike shop. In addition, this staff person will be asked to perform bike repairs as needed, especially walk-in repairs during busy summer days in the shop. The Bike Works community bike shop is a safe space for anyone, and aims to break down barriers so that anyone will feel comfortable and welcome in the bike shop, regardless of riding skill, mechanical knowledge, gender, race, sexuality, class, etc.

Primary Duties
• Deliver professional, accessible, and helpful customer service to a diverse customer base
• Perform bicycle repair, maintenance, and walk-in services on customer bicycles as needed
• Support daily bike shop operations
• Represent Bike Works in the neighborhood and act as a resource for the community
• Work in partnership with all Bike Works staff and community stakeholders to contribute to the organization's vision, participate in organization-wide programs, and help create a sustainable organizational culture

Desired Qualifications
• Excellent customer service skills (minimum three years of experience in busy retail setting)
• Solid foundation of bike knowledge with strong bike mechanical skills required
• Ability to work with youth and adults of diverse backgrounds
• Self-directed, energetic, flexible and personable
• Must be able to work independently and as part of a team
• Ability to work competently with computers, including Point of Sale software, word processor and spreadsheet applications.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a friendly outgoing attitude with a desire to work with the public
• Ability to mentor youth ages 16 to 18 in engaging and empowering apprenticeship relationship
• Ability to multi-task in a fast paced environment

Organizational Overview
Bike Works, based in Seattle, builds sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. Bike Works has been working for kids, bikes, and community in Seattle since 1996. Our programs and services invest in young people and encourage bicycling through a community of adult volunteers. Our programs include Earn-a-Bike and weekly riding programs for youth, summer bike camps, a community bike shop, our annual Kids Bike Swap, adult classes and numerous volunteer opportunities. Our Bike Shop serves a large customer base with used bike sales, affordable repairs, and new and used parts and accessories. Each year approximately 300 youth, ages 9 to 17, participate in our programs and gain the skills and resources they need to translate lessons about confidence and leadership into their own lives. We also redistribute over 3,500 used bicycles annually to families in Seattle and internationally. We value and seek diverse team members who are passionate, innovative, collaborative, professional, fun, responsible and solution-oriented.

Compensation
$11 - $12 per hour, full-time non-exempt (starting salary depends on experience), in a flexible work schedule/environment.

How to Apply
Please visit our website at www.bikeworks.org for more information about Bike Works. Email your resume, cover letter, and contact information for three references to steve@bikeworks.org. Position open until filled; applications received by April 30 will receive priority consideration.

#30DaysofBiking: Kickstand Kind

In this world of bikes and riders there are many bicycles and many ways to ride. There are riders who race, or at least who rush, and those seeking speed favor minimalist machines. We do tend to move quicker when less burdened, so these riders are wise to be wary of weight. If your goal is to go with the least effort, take only what you need.

This is why you don't see kickstands in the Tour de France.

But there are other ways to ride and if your trips are anything like mine, they may involve at least as much stopping as going. If you saunter more than sprint, then perhaps you are not a racer. Perhaps you are another kind of rider, on another kind of ride.

Perhaps you are the kickstand kind.

A kickstand does nothing to make the bike go, but it's there for you when you stop. For me, on my rides, it's worth it's weight.

I stop and take pictures. I stop and eat. I stop sometimes just for the sake of stopping.

I am the kickstand kind.

I'll go riding later today, after the sun is up. I'm not sure yet where I'll go, but I'll update this post later with a mileage total.

I'm not sure where I'll ride, but it'll be somewhere. And I'll be stopping and putting down the kickstand.

Because I am the kickstand kind.

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

Evening update. 4 miles of riding around town. The best picture from the day is this one of McNugget the Rooster. He lives in a little house next to the espresso stand on Front Street.

#30DaysofBiking: Journey to see the Jets

Last week a fellow was raving in the grocery store to another customer about the wonders of the Museum of Flight. This guy was quite convincing and I realized that in all the years I've lived here, I've never actually been inside the Museum of Flight. I also realized that I had today off from work and that the letter for the day was "J". I decided to make a Journey to see the Jets.

I rode down the Issaquah Hobart Road, turned right at the Cedar Grove Road and then rode the Cedar River Trail to Renton. I'd arranged to meet my friend Mark Canizaro at Renton's unique public library. What's unique about the library is that is built over the Cedar River.

After lunch Mark and I worked our way west to the Green River and then rode north to Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight. Mark had other places to go but I paid my admission and spent a couple of very interesting hours in the museum.

Below are a bunch of pictures from the day.

After my museum visit, I rode north to Seattle and stopped for a warming coffee at Zeitgeist before riding home.

53 miles for the day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA