Seattle A Breath of Fresh Air

We arrived in Seattle Thursday evening, and the weather has been beautiful since our arrival.  My Uncle and Aunt have been unbelievably hospitable.  We have been eating gourmet meals morning, noon, and night.  I told them that if they continue to feed us like this we may for go the entire trip ride 7000 miles around the Seattle area and call it a day.  That would probably be fine by Jackie. She and my Uncle’s dog Euro have been hitting it off in a big way.

Riding in Seattle is a new experience, in a very good way.  I come from a riding environment in Virginia where it’s not uncommon to have someone throw something out of a moving car at you just to see if they can hit you.  Honking, cars swerving, not giving way and pushing you off the road are not uncommon experiences.  The thing about Virginia Beach is that there is a huge population of cyclist so you would think that it would be a safe place to ride.  Here in Seattle there are bike lanes on nearly every road, where there aren’t bike lanes the cars are extremely considerate.  There are hills, winding turning routes, great roads and friendly drivers. It is a cyclist’s paradise, or at least a paradise in comparison to VB.  The ride that I took yesterday and the one today were two of the most enjoyable rides I have ever been on.  So to the drivers of Seattle and politicians who approved the bike lanes and paths, Thank You, your City is a joy to ride in.

The new bike that my family bought for me arrived this morning and like a kid at Christmas I tore open the box and began to assemble it.  A few of the pieces were missing but that’s what happens when people have to rush mix and match parts to get you the biggest cyclo-cross frame that Cannondale makes.  Luckily the guys at Gregg’s Cycle inc., a local shop here, were very helpful and quickly pieced some stuff together for me.  My new bike was amazing, I can’t wait to get to Alaska to start riding it.  Well that’s all for now I have to hit the haystack, because we are leaving first thing in the morning to try and get across the border and cover some serious ground tomorrow.