Neglect

It feels like I've been neglecting this here site lately. Summer is upon us in the bike industry and we're all running around like we're on fire.

Everyone here is enjoying a break in the the Seattle winter and getting some vitamin B while riding in. We've started a 'Commute Challenge' that I'm going to tell ya'll about in another post. It's got a lot of people pretty excited and riding into work more than I've ever seen. People on bikes...I know it's radical concept, but we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, this past week we started our summer of Bike in Movies at my house. Seems simple enough. Bikes, BBQ, movies outside, and your favorite beverage in your hand. We're trying to run an entire Bike theme this summer. So we started with Better Off Dead. A classic John Cusack movie about a boy, a french girl, a mountain, Pig Burgers, and the never ending quest for $2. I'm looking for more suggestions of Movies with Bikes in em...got any?

This weekend Fremont hosted the Summer Solstice Parade with some Raleigh and Diamond Back bikes. I still think the Portland Naked Bike Ride is trying to play catch up to us. Saturday nite I rode to, what has become, a Seattle institution. The Mariners suck, the Sonics are leaving, it's another couple months until we're all let down by the Seahawks again, but Roller Derby...that's the ticket. When the bouts were over the Seattle Travel Squad proved, once again, why they're one of the best teams in the nation and they got their groove on. On the tables, on the bar, on the town!




Sunday was all about the ride. The ride and trying to find some locations to shoot some new Lifestyle shots. Yup...that time of year again. I'm going to try and do as good of a job as Carey did last year in giving ya'll a little sneak peak as to what the 09 bikes are going to look like and what we're offering. Stay tuned.

This week. Did a quick photo shoot. Considering I asked one of my baristas at All City to be a model, the morning of the shoot, I think it turned out pretty good. This is the Circa...

Yesterday, found myself riding home with yet anther bike attached to my back. Another? Yup. I had a Team Time Trial frame attached to me on Friday to drop off at a local shop. Yesterday, I drug home a Supercourse that I used in an Ad shot that will be appearing in Road Magazine in a month or so. I may ride with a messenger bag, and not be a messenger...but dang does that sucker get loaded up!

The weeks almost over...but I'll let you in on some of the weekend happs tomorrow.

Go Ride.

NIER COLD STORAGE & ICE

{words carey}

Yesterday morning Brian and I rode through Georgetown with a heavier heart than normal because the Rainier Cold Storage & Ice building was a skeletal mess of re-bar, brick, and glass. This building was home to three breweries in 1893 and of those three, Rainier Beer was one, that would help put this building on the map as being one of the sixth-largest brewing facility in the world.

So, now the "vacant warehouses standing tall on the edge of Airport Way, making you feel like you're riding through an urban canyon" will no longer be a highlight to our rides in the morning. It is sad and as I had mentioned in an earlier post, "Georgetown is one of the last little pockets in Seattle's industrial area that hasn't been taken over by the LOFTIES"

We can only hope that this vacant lot doesn't become home to the "lofties."

For a more detailed article click...here

Looking south down Airport Way.

After photographing the Rainier Cold Storage building we found this clown in a nearby window and Brain swore it was the clown from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

What do you think?

The result of me photographing Brain...

...the result of Brain photographing me.
Who's camera is better?

Do you think it will hold?

A bit of frost sparkling in the morning sun...

If you look at my face closely my smile is laced with pain...

...I suppose because my toe was frozen.

MINOR TRANSIENT IMAGES OF THE DAY

It's been great having new voices on this blog; I am happy and relieved that you will be entertained by others. This week in Seattle has been gorgeous and it seems our skin is showing signs of sun exposer (finally!). Here is a quick post in pictures; as always click on them to see the details.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post; it will include one eyed artists, drag races, routes, commuting stats & some visions.

{bicycles will always be bigger than cars!}

SMUG

{words by brian}

This past week, on two separate occasions, I was reminded of why I often feel superior when riding bicycles.
Mind you, I don’t really need a reason to feel good about riding my bicycle instead of sitting in a car, but these two incidents just helped remind me why trying to get around in a car (and polluting the city) is just plain silly.

Incident #1: Mariners vs. White Socks.
First I’d like to thank SAFECO Field for providing bicycle parking at the stadium. The lovely “No Parking” street signs spaced every 50 yards is the best you can do? Honestly, how hard is it to add a couple bicycle racks in the initial planning of the stadium?!

But I digress … my moment of smugness came after the game; the hordes of fans pouring out of the stadium were making mad dashes to the parking garages in order to beat/sit in traffic. Luckily, I was bicycle bound, weaving in and out of the people crossing the street and passing the cars tied up in the post game rush. This just brought a huge smile to my face with every pedal stroke. I couldn’t help but think, "I’ll be home before some of these people even get out of the parking garage - I love my bike."

Incident #2: Going to meet friends for Apres Labor

The only time I re-think living in the South end of Seattle is when I go to meet friends. The South end isn’t exactly the "popular" place to live or visit, so most everyone I hang with lives up north, which means I have to make the long haul in order to be social. Taking the quickest route I know heading northbound, I encountered a small traffic “diversion.” Apparently one of the three bridges that cross the Lake Union Canal in Seattle was closed (a sink hole sucked a bit of the bridge's foundation with it). Bummer for the folks caught in rush hour traffic; they had to take another bridge.

Moment of smugness came on my way through this diversion. Cars had now clogged the streets for miles and I was able to ride along with relative ease. I figured I added maybe 10 minutes to my commute while these poor saps added at least 40 minutes to their's. I can only hope a few of them saw me passing as they burned away $3.50 a gallon, and wondered…

A LITTLE LOCAL PLANNING

Our Mayor Greg Nickels has released a new "Bicycle Master Plan" for Seattle, which would include the addition of 100 miles of new bike lanes. Check it out here.