Rare Saturday bike ride

Distance: 14.4 miles
Riding time: 87 minutes
Max speed: 32.3 mph
Average speed: 9.9 mph
Temperature: 60º with lots of rain
Soundtrack: Science Friday (return legs only)
Route:

  • Drove the van to Marine Drive and 43rd
  • NE Marine Drive to N Vancouver Ave
  • N Vancouver Ave to NE Broadway
  • NE Broadway across Broadway Bridge to NW Broadway
  • Broadway to Alder (and office)
  • Alder to Waterfront (for rally)
  • Max to NE 148th
  • 148th to Halsey to 162nd to home

Yesterday I attended the We Are All Traffic rally underneath the Hawthorne Bridge. Prior to the rally there were a number of memorial rides that originated at spots where bikers had been hurt or killed by cars. I chose to join the one where Bob Verrinder was struck while crossing Marine Drive back in October. Most of the people on the ride were Verrinder’s friends and members of the same cycling club.

The weather was good for riding up until the point the ride actually began. About a half mile after we started pedaling the rain was coming down in sheets and I was soaked to the skin before we were even halfway downtown. I remembered that I had stashed some spare clothes at work so I detoured there before joining the rest of the crowd under the Hawthorne Bridge. The rally went great and I really enjoyed all of the speakers but especially Siobhan Doyle and Susie Kubota. Most of my bike heroes (Jonathan Maus, Joe Kurmaskie, Ray Thomas) were there which also was cool.

Afterwards, I grabbed lunch from the nearest open food cart (gyros) and returned to the office long enough to eat it. I took the usual route home for bad weather which mostly involves reading on the Max.

A Cyclist Was Killed Here


IMG_0304

Originally uploaded by tufts_of_tafetta

Last night I rode on the memorial ride for Tracey Sparling, the young woman who was run over by a cement truck while trying to cross Burnside on her bike. The ride was mostly silent except for the constant tinkling of sad bike bells in the still night. None of my photos came out as well as this one which shows the “ghost bike” adorned with notes, flowers, candles, etc. See my earlier entry for more details about the accident. A number of people took pictures and posted them on Flickr.