Alki Christmas Ships Ride – Sat Dec 12

DSC05917Decorate and light up your bikes and come join West Seattle Bike Connections for a fun all ages, all abilities, all faiths, family-friendly ride from Seacrest Marina to Alki Bathhouse to the see Christmas ShipsDSC05903, and to hear and join the carolers. Seattle Parks will have hot cider and cookies at the bathhouse and a bonfire on the beach to keep us warm.
Please arrive by 4:15 to sign in. We’ll roll at 4:30 in fading light, and arrive as it is getting dark. The Christmas Ships are due to be at Alki from 5:10 to 5:30.
2.2 perfectly flat miles on the Alki Trail. Return trip is on your own, because it is hard to regroup at this event, but the ride leader will be happy to accompany riders on request for the return trip at 5:30. This will be a Cascade Bicycle Club free daily ride, with waiver form to sign.
Bike rack parking is available at Seacrest and Bathhouse. Car parking is available on the street at Seacrest, or just west at Don Armeni boat launch public lot. Sorry, the Water Taxi and #37 bus are NOT running on weekends at this time of year. The #21 bus is the nearest, running from downtown to stop #15460 at SW Spokane St & 26th Ave SW (WB) along the Alki Trail, 1.5 miles from Seacrest.
Restrooms are available at start, at Alki Bathhouse, and points between.
The Christmas Ships will be off Lowman Beach Park at 4:20-4:40 pm. Optional to start there on your own, and join us at ~5 pm at Alki.

Duwamish Revealed – Ride #2

6:oo pm Friday, August 21

Ride to the Duwamish Revealed performance Signal/Senal at T-107 Park.
10 miles R/T at leisurely 10-12 mph pace using Alki Trail, West Seattle Bridge Trail, Duwamish Trail, with stops to see temporary artwork installations along the way.  Performance is 7 to 9 pm.

From Jack Block Park, 2130 Harbor Ave SW.Start point is first set of restrooms by the colorful anchor floats. Via Alki Trail, West Seattle Bridge Trail, Duwamish Trail, to T-107 Park. 

If driving to Jack Block Park, park OUTSIDE the park on Harbor Ave. The park closes at 9:00 pm. We will get back after 9:00 pm.

Lights and helmets required. Bring a lock, too.

Free, but you need a free ticket to the performance, in advance.
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2074171

Duwamish Revealed — Water Festival Ride 8/16

Sunday, August 16, 10:15 am

Ride from Jack Block Park to visit this summer’s Duwamish Revealed art installations along the west bank of Seattle’s only river, and arrive at the Water Festival/Festival de Agua in South Park for Mexican music, food and drink, dragon boat and work boat racing, and Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling)!

Leisurely pace with stops to see artworks at Jack Block Park, T105 Park, T107 Park, Herring’s House Park along the way to Duwamish Waterway Park in South Park. We will stay together on the ride there, using the mostly flat Alki Trail, West Seattle Bridge Trail, and West Duwamish Trail, planning to arrive at the festival about noon. Ride with leader at 4 pm or ride back earlier or later on your own. The festival goes from noon to 8 pm.

This is the second West Seattle Bike Connections/ Cascade Bicycle Club “Parks and Art” ride.

14 miles round trip.

Families welcome. Parents please follow Cascade’s policies for riding with children, and call Don at 206 963-9312 in advance for permission for kids under 15 to ride their own bike on this ride.

West Seattle Little STP – We Made It!

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~25 people and 1 dog finished the ride from SW Seattle St to SW Portland St, with an unexpected welcome from a mother and daughter who live at the corner and treated us to ice cold otter pops!

We had a one year old who promptly fell asleep on dad’s bike; a 4 year old who rode the flats and downhills on his own, and had mom strap his bike on hers while he rode in a seat on dad’s bike; a 6 year old who rode the whole thing; a family with three kids, all accomplished riders, who rode from Queen Anne to ride with us; and capable young, middle-aged and older adults, some on their first organized ride, and some veterans of many “big STP’s”.  Pretty much all ages and abilities on this one.DSC09496

Most of us rode back to SummerFest and Green Life at the Junction, where Stu and Eric from DIY Bikes and Morgan Scherer from FamilyBike Seattle welcomed us to the festival.

July 12 West Seattle STP #3

Save the date: Sunday July 12, 9:30 am

Have you ever wanted to do the Seattle to Portland bike ride? Or even wanted to do the 1-day STP? And never trained for it? Or remembered to sign up in time? Here is your big fat chance! Do it in 2 hours easy, and end up at a huge finish line party!

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We’ll be riding again from SW Seattle Street in the Admiral neighborhood to SW Portland St in Fauntlee Hills, and back north to Summerfest at the West Seattle Junction, led by experienced Cascade Ride Leader Marge Evans. Family friendly, 7 miles (10 if you go back to the Hamilton Viewpoint start.)

 

Up to date details will be in the Calendar here, and on Events on our Facebook page.

Parks & Arts Ride #1

Two dozen young, middle-aged and older people on bikes had a great time this morning exploring and playing in Jack Block Park and north Delridge. We saw Coast Salish art, and a steel plant and trains. We rode down a Dead End that wasn’t, if you were on a bike, and went to a giant dragonfly. We rode on gravel along a creek in a green tunnel to a salmon bridge. Some of us tried a skatepark and climbed on a climbing rock and one of us climbed up some artwork. We rode on a greenway street and got counted, and on a street with beautiful raingardens and sidewalks, and we went back to the bay where all the water all goes.

We’ll do another one! Let’s boost the family riders in West Seattle by exploring more of the public art and parks that we can enjoy by bike.

We have reached out to the Duwamish Revealed organizers. They would love to have us lead a ride to the art projects that are going in along the Duwamish this summer.  Want to help plan? Your ideas and volunteering for other rides are DSC09045 DSC09041 DSC09039 DSC09034welcome, too.

Parks & Arts Ride – Saturday June 6

Come ride with us this Saturday! Bring the family! 9:30 am at Jack Block Park, at the first set of restrooms and parking spaces.

Ride details here  Parents please see the information for children riding their own bikes.

A West Seattle Bike Connections / Cascade Bicycle Club ride.  If this one is a hit, we’ll try others exploring West Seattle and South Park parks and public art by bike, including the Duwamish Revealed projects happening this summer. IMG_1898 DSC08976IMG_1911 DSC08979

South Park celebration and ride

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Fun celebration and ride! From West Seattle Bridge into South Park with CM Tom Rasmussen. Opening celebration and ride.  And then some of us rode to Marination Ma Kai to celebrate Robin Randels birthday.

DSC06863CM Tom Rasmussen, SPU Director Ray Hoffman, and Seattle Parks & Recreation Director of Planning and Development Michael Shiosaki

Opening celebration for paving, storm sewers and protected bike lane on Portland Ave S, South Park, Seattle.  This extends the West Duwamish Trail in South Park. With SDOT, SPU, Seattle Parks, South Park Neighborhood Association, West Seattle Bike Connections, Cascade Bicycle Club.

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From West Duwamish Trail at S. Holden St/ Hwy 509, instead of taking Holden east, the the trail is now extended south to S Portland Street. Crossing of Holden is improved (except the bike/ped crossing button is out of order, and wayfinding signage could be improved). The path next to 509 is awesome – it did not look like there was room to do that.  Then S Portland from 509 to 8th Ave S has been transformed from a potholed, mostly gravel street with no storm drainage, no defined edges, and wild west parking and loading, to a beautifully paved road with drainage into a gravel strip that defines a protected bike and walking lane.

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Before (2013) and now

On a quiet weekend morning, the protected bike lane seems unnecessary. Come back on a weekday with semi’s traveling these streets, and forklifts loading trucks in the roadway, and it’s a different story!

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New storm sewers will help reduce the flooding and sewage backups that have plagued South Park residents and industries. That is the invisible and expensive part of the project.  SDOT and SPU broke out of the silos and really made this work for everyone!  Parks and Rec, too!  Special thank to Bob Winship from Seattle Bike Connections for many months of volunteering with South Park Neighborhood Association’s Transportation Committee to help this project work for the residents and businesses of South Park.  And Dagmar Cronn from SPNA – no project without Dagmar. And SDOT, SPU and Parks, for breaking out of the silos and making this a win on so many fronts. And Councilmember Rasmussen for pushing it forward.

DSC06846Dagmar Cronn

Next:  Get King County to step up and connect from South Park to the Green River Trail.  First, that miserable muddy patch by the Machinists’ Union to get from 14th Ave S to road parallel to 509.