Biking season – tentative plans

So I am not going to do STP again this year (but I may attempt a single day ride next year). But I will definitely do flying wheels and I am considering doing the high pass challenge (basically biking up the back of Mt St Helens). Not sure if I am going to need a compact crank for the HPC.  Probably will but don’t want to spend the money. Any other cool rides you think I should participate in (has to be close to Seattle)?

Seattle tunnel/viaduct vote – it’s a no-no.

Update on my previous post.

So the results are in.  Seattlites voted no on the viaduct and no on the tunnel.  This may not be a bad outcome as perhaps the surface street option with public transportation and serious bike lanes may be considered.

Viaduct or tunnel: TUNNEL!

OK, I should state up front that I don’t know all the facts on the pros and cons of this one, so the argument is more of a gut thing than a rational argument.  So here goes.

Seattle’s waterfront has a long viaduct running along the length of the waterfront. The viaduct is ugly and not safe. It thus needs to be replaced. For the last couple of years the politicians here have been debating whether to replace the viaduct with a new viaduct or a tunnel. I don’t know why we would consider a new viaduct. The waterfront is really not very nice right now because of the viaduct and that would not change with a new viaduct (slight improvement but still a large blocking structure right on the waterfront). There are amazing views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains that are currently blocked. It could be just an amazing place. Seattle’s location on Puget Sound makes it a stunning downtown location.

So I don’t know all the details but it seems obvious to me that the tunnel should be the preferred choice. I lived in San Francisco when they tore down the Embarcadero freeway/viaduct after the Loma Prieta earthquake (was there for that too). In that case they did not replace the freeway with anything but just went put in a surface street. However, it changed that part of the waterfront for the better in a big way.

Yes, the construction will be painful but it will yeild a new and beautiful part of Seattle. I also think public transportation should be a huge part of the answer. Add a light rail that runs along the length of the tunnel. It could move a lot of people and cut down on car use. For that matter add really nice bike lanes. People here like to bike but we need to add more bike lanes to promote biking.

Here is a link to the mayor’s site that has some data.

My vote:  tunnel + public transportation + bike lanes.  And a beautiful waterfront for Seattle and all the tourists.

STP – Seattle to Portland

I am going to participate in STP with my son and his friend. It’s a 200 mile bike “race” in July. So I have to work myself up from 50 miles a week to 200 miles in a weekend by July. I am pretending it should be fun. Greg is my inspiration. He did this. Some day I would like to do this in the old country but I have not skied cross-country since I was a kid. It really was a hell of a lot of fun though. Growing up in northern Sweden was heavenly. Not much light in the winter but lots of snow and the forest in my backyard.