Over the past couple days on my rides to and (mostly) from work, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in the number of people on bikes. It’s encouraging to see that I’m not the only one making the change. I didn’t make it in on my bike today due to not being up and home in time to get ready, but I’ve done without my car for 13 days of commuting since June 25th. That’s 430 miles on my bike to save 520 miles on my car ($70 at $4/gal). I’m also quite a bit tanner and firming back up after my couple months of slacking.

It’s amazing to see the camaraderie that’s forming. Yesterday after coming up the hill from Lincoln Ave., some guy with WY plates did some whacked out 270 degree U-turn style flip around right in front of me. He clearly didn’t see me, and I stopped a couple feet away where he muttered a quick “sorry.” I wasn’t really pissed about it since I saw it coming and never got close enough to be in real danger. What happened next was completely unexpected. I started hearing random shouting from at least half a block away at the guy, and then another guy on a bike coming the other way calmly yelled at the guy “hey man, what the hell’s goin’ on, you need to get a fuckin’ brain man.” Outstanding.

Sorry about how long the Seattle photos are taking, I’m going to sit down and sort through at least the next day (probably the most photo-intensive day of the trip) tonight.