Seattle + Bikes

Our family has made Seattle our home for the past few years. One thing that’s nice about Seattle is that the weather is always terrible actually pretty moderate. Fun Story: when we moved up here from Memphis, TN, we didn’t change USDA Plant Hardiness Zones.

Seattle’s got some 🚲/👟 trails by which you can ️🚲️ throughout the city. This is very nice when the weather’s good. We have access to almost all parts of town that we care to visit, including a “beach”, from our home without having to ride too much on city streets. Hopefully, we’ll soon be able to get around exclusively on Protected Bike Lanes. If the city can finish what it started, we’ll be able to do just that.

Bike infrastructure here leaves something to be desired, but the bike setup is better than anything I’ve ever had access to before. Plus you don’t have to sweat like a pig in 110% relative humidity. The whole family gets into it, and it’s a real good time. Here are our bikes at a local park ( the second park that we rode to this morning ).

A Kid’s Bike

It was pretty clear coming into this summer that KidOneAndOnly had outgrown her first two-wheel bike. It had been through two summers, which is kind of a lot when you’re in the under 10 age bracket. Her original two wheeler had removable training wheels, coaster brakes, and only one gear. Having only one gear sounds like no big deal, until you start looking at the topography of Seattle. Much like Rome before it, Seattle is a city of a Seven Hills.

All those hills make at least half of any bike ride quite a bit of fun 😜. KidOneAndOnly has been feeling the pain of having what’s almost a fixie as her primary, and she was ready for a new ride. Last year, it had fit perfectly, this year… not so much.

Not A Kid’s Bike

My wife found a great deal on some discontinued-soon-to-be-old-stock 20” bikes made at a company here in Washington, called Raleigh. It came in a box about 80% assembled. The outside of the box mentioned it was likely 30 minutes of assembly if you’re a professional bike mechanic, and more like 2 hours if you’re just some jerk with a wrench. Our assembly time settled out a little closer to an hour and 15 or so minutes. It was pretty straightforward, as this sort of thing goes. Don’t fear it, if you’re thinking about grabbing one for your family/kid(s). The riding position’s a little aggressive for my tastes, but it’s nothing a new handlebar stem won’t fix.

Here we are on the inagural ride

This is the prideful smile of a young girl who just helped to assemble her own bike with a shifter and hand brakes. She earned it! 🔧👧🚲😁