Seattle Smitty

Friday, September 30, 2011

Moved

Seattle Smitty has moved... both in the real world and on the interweb. The new blog is here: http://smittyagogo.wordpress.com

cheers,

Smitty

Monday, August 15, 2011

There were 3 route options for the 2011 Bridge Pedal in Portland, OR this past weekend. We chose the shortest route... 6 bridges in 13 miles. Mrs Smitty and I rousted ourselves and the kids out of bed and got ourselves and our bikes onto the MAX light-rail into downtown from our hotel in the suburbs. We got there in plenty of time to sign-in and make our 9am start time.

I read a bit of criticism from more serious bicycle riders that this is a ride to avoid because of inexperienced adult riders, the number of kids on the course (also inexperienced) , and crowding in general along the route.

Yes, there were a lot of people, and it seemed as though many of them weren't frequent riders, but everyone that we came across seemed to be there to have a good time and enjoy the ride. Even the 30-minute line to get to the start was a fun party-like atmosphere.

Once we were on our way people naturally spread out and the route opened up.

Each bridge offered a unique perspective on the Rose City.

For whatever reason we didn't take pictures on/of/from all the bridges. But each bridge had its own beauty even under mostly overcast skies.

I was impressed by the number of kids that pedaled the route themselves. That's not to say there weren't plenty of kids-as-cargo getting a free ride. There were even a few adults enjoying the "ride" who didn't have to pedal.

The final bridge had a merging + sharp turn thingy that acted as a bottle neck and created a bit of a back up.

Due to a limited time window to keep I-5 closed to motor vehicles for the Bridge Pedal, we ended up being in the final wave of people allowed across the Fremont Bridge (Portlands highest bridge). We more-less had to keep riding to avoid provoking a "Keep it moving" from the Police escort bringing up the rear.

I don't know how many other states still have a statewide 55mph maximum speed limit as Oregon does. Once over the Fremont Bridge (I-5) we merged the Big Dummy into the left lane and put the hammer down but never quite got up to double nickels.

The finish seemed to come too soon. We're interested to do the Bridge Pedal again and might opt for a longer route with more bridges next time.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Westward Ho!

I had never even considered riding the bike to West Seattle because it seemed to far to even think about pedaling with the kids, but someone else planned it and invited team Smitty to come along, so we went. We rode from Smitty HQ in Shoreline to Alki Beach in West Seattle. We even rode most of the way back.

The first leg of the trip was one we've done several times... Smitty HQ to the Ballard Locks. It's mostly downhill and either on paved trail or side streets, so Little Girl Smitty rode her own bike. At the Locks we met up with the Family Ride crew, secured Anza's bike to the Big Dummy, used the indoor plumbing, and had a snack break. We got back on the road and headed south to parts less traveled. There was stint on a bike lane then we were on the trail that cuts through the interbay railroad yard and down along the Seattle waterfront. The area with all the tourist attractions was chock full of tourists. Our convoy moved at pedestrian pace for several blocks but once past the kitch and into the industrial zone we once again had the trail to ourselves. Even though I have driven the road next to the trail many times over the years I had never ridden the trail south from the waterfront so it sort of felt like new territory.

The trail from Downtown to the West Seattle bridge was imposingly industrial. Once across the West Seattle bridge the concrete and chain-link gave way to grass, trees and waterfront views.

Once we were into friendlier territory Little Girl Smitty was elated to be back on her own bike.

Here's a shot of the Family Ride crew on their family bike. This bike doesn't have the cargo capacity of my Big Dummy but it's more maneuverable and the kid seats will one day come off and it'll be a "normal" bike again. The Big Dummy will always be a Big Dummy.

The destination/reason for our trip to West Seattle was to see the Navy ships come in for Seafair. We set up camp at Alki Beach and watched a bunch of craft go by. The biggest was this Aircraft Carrier, but the tug boats, jets, helicopters, and hovercraft were more popular with the kiddos.

Eventually the armada all found their way to their respective docks and the waters of Elliot Bay were largely vacant. The kids turned their interest to their immediate surroundings. With great effort they set this piece of wood afloat.

The kids didn't really want to leave the beach but the time came to pack up and start heading home. We took the water taxi back to the downtown waterfront. The view of the Seattle skyline from the taxi dock are spectacular. The kids wanted to pose in front of their favorite Seattle landmark... "The Wheedle on the Needle". If you don't know the reference, look it up and check it out from the library.

Bikes are allowed (and free) on the water taxi. The Big Dummy was easy to navigate on a mostly empty boat. Had the water taxi been more full it might have been easier to just pedal the 5 miles back over the West Seattle bridge.

One-way adult fare is $3.50. kids 5 and under ride free. It was a pretty cheap and scenic boat ride if you ask me.

The kids were having a hard time staying awake on the back of the Big Dummy so we took a quick detour through the South Lake Union Spray Park. The unexpected dousing with cold water brought a few tears and screams but it woke everyone up. Back on the familiar soil of north Seattle we rode the Burke Gilman Trail past the other end of Lake Union...

...to a blackberry patch.

In addition to eating a bunch of berries the kids were excited to fill one of our now-empty lunch containers with berries for mom.

The plan was to meet Mrs. Smitty at Dick's Drive-In on 45th for dinner and ice cream. The kids were getting pretty tired by now. We'd been on the road for about 9 hours at this point. It was a long slog up the 10 blocks to 45th but the kids perked right up when they saw Mrs. Smitty waiting for us.

Burgers and ice cream cones energize everyone for the hour-long ride home.

Here we are waiting to cross Aurora at 83rd.

We rolled into our yard at 9:15pm just as the last light of day faded to night. Heads were on pillows shortly after.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Canoe Of Deception

We made our annual multi-family sojourn into the wilds of America this past weekend. Up until this year we've always gone someplace new, but last year we were so impressed with Deception Pass State Park that we decided to go there again. Deception Pass is Washington's busiest state park, so we made our reservation in February to camp at the end of July. Even though the place was packed there's plenty of forest around to make it seem small and reasonably private.

For a change of scenery we decided to take the Ferry to Whidbey Island and drive up the island rather than drive up I-5. The driving mileage is shorter but when you factor in waiting for the ferry and the lower speed limit on the island, it's not the fast way. That was fine with us though because we got a relatively early start and didn't need to be there by any particular time.

The Rs met us there that afternoon. Things were pretty low key. We got camp set up, while the kids explored forest and trails around the campsite. It's so much fun to watch the kids explore. I recognize that there's only 20ft of woods between us and the next camp site, but the kids run around like they're deep in the wild forest.

With enough imagination a toy boat or sandcastle mold can be a stylish hat.

And no matter where you are a toy car can always crash into another toy car.

As evening approached we got a fire going and the Rs cooked some hobo packets on the grate over the fire ring while I made sure the chairs stayed put.

Mini hobo packets for the kids and full size hobo packets for the adults. They were delicious.

Morning came. It was a bit overcast so we got a fire going to warm our bones. The kids enjoyed their sugary cereal by the flames.

Little girl Smitty took the camera around and got a few shots from her perspective. This one of the reflections in the stainless steel cook pot struck me as particularly interesting.

The Gs showed up after breakfast. Just in time for the overcast skies to burn off and the day to warm up. We went to the beach for the late morning.

The State Park has a freshwater lake with a sandy beach and kid friendly swim area as well as several miles of Puget Sound shoreline with more rocky beaches. It's nice to have the choice.

After some beach time the kids that nap and their parents went back to camp for a siesta. I convinced Mrs. Smitty that we should launch the canoe in the "surf" (1-1.5 ft face wind waves) and paddle out to explore a small rocky island not too far off shore. She hesitantly went along. One thing led to another and we ended up swamping the canoe before we even got it launched. We got everyone and all our stuff back on the beach OK but the kids were hysterical, our stuff was soaked, and I was smart enough to not suggest we try launching again. I later went to explore the little island by myself.

The main reason I brought the canoe was to paddle around Pass Island, which means paddling through Deception and Canoe Passes. It didn't take much convincing to get MrG to sign on as first mate. The current in the passes can get treacherous so we timmed our journey around slack tide (the brief moment when the tide changes between rising and falling). We set out from a rocky cove paddling toward Deception Pass. Deception Pass on right, Canoe Pass on left, Pass Island in between. MrG wearing white hat.

Our timing was perfect to get through Deception Pass. The water was calm and not flowing. In the few minutes it took us to get to the end of Pass Island the tide was starting to flow. There was a small area at the point of the island that had a few small standing waves and whirlpools but we paddled through it pretty easily. We rounded the island and started to make our return trip through Canoe Pass.

Slack water was definitely over by this time and the tide was noticeably flowing. Fortunately we chose a window that the tide would be in our favor. We barely needed to paddle to keep the boat moving toward Canoe Pass. As the channel narrowed we were able to just go with the flow and enjoy the scenery. The current whisked us through the pass and was sending us toward some small but growing standing waves with white caps.

We were able to paddle out of the flow into calm water behind Pass Island and watch 2 kayakers come through the pass behind us. They were a bit more bold about confronting the rough water. We sat in our protected spot for a few minutes and watched the waves and turbulence build. We decided to get out of there before the seas got too intense.

Back at the campsite it was time to get to work on dinner. I'm relatively new to the world of dutch oven cooking but this seemed like as good an opportunity as any to get some practice. First step was to get some coals hot in the fire. Then move some coals out of the fire to get the dutch oven hot.