The happiest rush hour of the year is just two days away! Bike Everywhere Day 2018 (formerly known as “Bike to Work Day”) is Friday, and the city will be flush with snacks and swag and group rides and smiling faces.
There is usually an extra surge of people in the city’s bike routes, and there is no better day for someone to give biking to work (or school or the park or wherever) to give it a try. Biking gets safer and more comfortable as more people do it.
One great way to participate: Join a group ride to City Hall. Rides are starting all over the city. Details from the event listing:
- Beacon Hill, Beacon Hill Light Rail Station, Beacon Ave S and Lander St (meets at 7:30 am; departs 7:45 am)
- Columbia City, Bikeworks, 3709 S Ferdinand St (meets at 7:00 am, departs 7:15 am)
- Fremont, Florentia & 4th Ave. N. (meets at 7:15 am, departs 7:30 am)
- Ravenna, Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, (meets at 7:15 am; departs 7:30 am)
- West Seattle, Beneath the West Seattle Bridge (meets at 7:15 am, departs 7:30 am)
Or you can make your own way to the 8 a.m. rally outside City Hall, which will include a “surprise action.”
And thanks to bike share, people don’t even need their own bike (or get it fixed) to participate anymore. To sweeten the pot, all three companies are offering free rides Friday according to Commute Seattle, which is hosting three Bagels & Bikes events:
- Ofo: 2 free rides up to 60 minutes each using promo code Biketowork2018 (case sensitive)
- Limebike: Get $4 in ride credit by entering promo code LIMEBIKE2WORK
- Spin: $2 in free rides for new riders using promo code BIKEEVERYWHEREMAY
People and organizations will host “celebration stations” all over town Friday morning, often giving out coffee or snacks or some extra encouragement to people on bikes. So leave home a bit earlier than usual to give yourself some extra time to stop at stations on the way. Or if you don’t work, spend your morning visiting as many stations as you can. It’s a lot fun. Here’s a map:
More details on the Ride and Rally from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways/Cascade Bicycle Club:
Seattle needs a connected, cohesive map of safe bicycle lanes that can move people to and around downtown. That’s the vision of the Basic Bike Network.
We’re taking this message — by bike — to City Hall this Bike Everywhere Day. And we need you to join us.
WHEN: Friday, May 18th, 8:00am-8:45am
WHERE: Seattle City Hall, 4th Ave side
WHAT:
* 8:00am sharp — Gather for coffee, donuts and a surprise action. We need lots of folks for this! If you’d like to participate in the action, contact [email protected]
* 8:00am-8:15am — Greet 5 group rides as they arrive from separate corners of the city (Beacon Hill, Columbia City, West Seattle, Fremont, and Ravenna)!* 8:15am — Rally with featured speakers, vendors, etc
We’ll bring: Donuts, coffee, booths and swag.
You’ll bring: Friends on bikes!Ride with us: Meet at locations below to join a Neighborhood Ride. Or, meet at City Hall Plaza for the Rally.
>> Beacon Hill, Beacon Hill Light Rail Station, Beacon Ave S and Lander St (meets at 7:30 am; departs 7:45 am)
>> Columbia City, Bikeworks, 3709 S Ferdinand St (meets at 7:00 am, departs 7:15 am)
>> Fremont, Florentia & 4th Ave. N. (meets at 7:15 am, departs 7:30 am)
>> Ravenna, Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, (meets at 7:15 am; departs 7:30 am)
>> West Seattle, Beneath the West Seattle Bridge (meets at 7:15 am, departs 7:30 am)
Or, ride on your own/with your neighborhood pals!
Everyone: Meet at Seattle City Hall to Rally at 8:00 a.m. for coffee donuts and a surprise action. Rally starts at 8:15 am.
Check here to RSVP: https://p2a.co/DXwnZJd
Check here for more information on the Basic Bike Network: http://
seattlegreenways.org/blog/ 2018/05/07/7403/
Comments
4 responses to “Bike Everywhere Day is Friday + Where to join a morning ride to City Hall or visit a ‘Celebration Station’”
[…] Hill Seattle Blog and Seattle Bike Blog both cover tomorrow’s Bike Everywhere […]
Ha, so this year there isn’t going to be a table blocking half the Burke at Stone/34th, but it looks like there is going to be a table at the curve just west of there. I guess we can hope it’s set up on the non-blind side at least…
On the good side, a lot of stations are going to be located in the middle of major bike-network gaps (the Starbucks and Outdoor Research stations on 1st Ave S, the Union Station one).
Rumor has it the Columbia City ride will be going on Rainier (like last year) in case anyone didn’t get the memo. (I missed the memo last time!)
I was disappointed at the lack of stations on either end of the I-90 bridge (and the one on the Bellevue side didn’t have any water – but setting off with an empty water bottle – that’s on me!), but I was even more disappointed by the SDOT/Vision Zero signs along the route reading “Keep it Safe, Maximum pace 15 mph”
Unless you’re a British football commentator, pace is such a super weasel word: the implication of a speed limit but with no legal force. 20 mph bicycles are not the problem here. SDOT and Vision Zero need to take a look elsewhere if they really want to save lives.
That said, last year on Bike to Work day I got hit by a teenage driver and ended up in the emergency room and was mailed a citation my the Mercer Island Police Dept, so I guess this year was a marked improvement.