We had another nice day for an urban Coker ride on Sunday, 15 February in Seattle. This time we had a big herd of seven Cokers which just means more fun and partner riding opportunities. George Pendergast, Tom Jackson, Steve DeKoekkoek, John Childs, Irene Genelin, and myself. In addition, we were lucky to have Andy Cotter visiting here as a guest from Minneapolis and we have SPARE cokers for people to ride. The weather turned out to be OK. It started out to be very overcast but cleared up well enought that “doc” (George Pendergast) has to don his shades as evidenced from my pictures here is this gallery.
We started from my house at about 12:30 and went straight to what is our first photo op on the Ballard bridge. We’ve lost about 200 feet in altitude at that point but are still about 100 feet above the water. One of the fireboats was practicing there.
The next group of photos are at the beginning of the pier 91 bicycle trail, one of Irene’s favorites. Alot of time was spent there viewing George’s Coker which, for some reason, appears dead on the ground
This bike trail ends at the first of the two downtown waterfront parks, Elliot Bay and Myrtle Edwards. Here I took some riding pictures because my last Coker write up included only posed shots. I have several of riders passing a cargo ship out on the Sound. I have eight photos of riders in this area.
The trail through the two parks dumps into the downtown waterfront where I got a few more riding photos. Lots of ships and water. VERY pretty. We met a woman at the waterfront who was curious about the Cokers, having never seen one. We found out she was a rider, sized her up to fit Steve DeKoekkoek’s cycle the best and in no time had her on and riding unassisted. A sequnce of three photos of her riding starts here. We ultimately found out that she was at the Minneapolis Nationals in 1997(?) and she remembered who Andy and Connie were. If I didn’t know anything about geography I’d say that it was a small world. It’s not. It’s a big world.
Several photos follow of Pike’s Place Market, one of the most colorful and busy places in Seattle. We couldn’t get Irene the pansy to idle a Coker and catch fish this time. We did get some good photos of the appropriate riding team member in front of a huge garbage chute. Is he emerging or entering?
We left the market and rode back up the waterfront and waterfront parks and took a detour at the Ballard Bridge turnoff to go the the Hiram Chittenden Locks. These are poorly portrayed in the six photos following the link.
We ended the trip going along Shilshole Marina with its thousands of colorfuls boats in slips. Steve left earlier to get home but took a short detour to Sunset View Park as shown in these next three photos. The best shot of the trip was when we were still down at Shilshole and Steve was 300 feet above as at the park on Loyal Heights Bluff. He got an excellent shot of the six remaining riders below at sea level. He must have used a 10x zoom to get the shot. What timing. Hopefully he will post his photos as will Tom Jackson and Irene.
Come and visit us in Seattle and we will take you on this 18 mile loop with LOTS of rests. Our group even has some spare Cokers to loan, now. We finished back at my place just before 6:00 PM, had some beers and root beers and went to the sushi place just up the street from my house.
Highlights of this ride:
Watching Tom Jackson ride the switchbacks the entire way from Shilshole Marina to Loyal Heights Bluff, 300 feet in altitude gain.
Getting George Pendergast to ride with us a second week in a row, meeting his wife and daughter, and having them go to dinner with us.
Andy Cotter visiting again.
Steve DeKoekoek’s shot of Shilshole Marina.
Getting a bystander up and riding a Coker. And a cute one at that.
Having Irene around to ride with a bunch of geezers. Having her ride better than us, look better than us, and teach us some techniques about group touring.
Just being in the same group as a wild animal like John (you can’t stop me I’m a locomotive) Childs. And that’s heavy on the “loco”.
Dinner afterwards and my wife Karen’s chocolate cakes. And her tolerance for goofy unicyclists in our home.
