Saturday, May 18, 2013

On two wheels

Alas! I completely forgot that May 16th is National Sea-Monkey Day. Oh, the shame! I let myself down, I let my family down, but worst of all: I let my country down.

Ah, well.

May 17th, on the other hand, did not go unrecognized as I enthusiastically celebrated Bike to Work Day, a national event that promotes bicycle commuting to work. Living just above 3 km from FHCRC, biking there and back is really no big deal. To properly observe the holiday I therefore decided to take a small detour on my way to work on Friday morning.

Isaac picked me up at 6:50 am and we started our ride by crossing the Fremont Bridge and then followed the South Ship Canal trail towards the Ballard Locks. From there we went on to Golden Gardens where we turned back South. Unfortunately, in that very turn Isaac managed to get a flat tire and we had to take a 30 min break in the morning drizzle to patch his tube. A bummer, but I guess that's a part of bike commuting as well... After fixing his flat we pedalled on swiftly, making sure to stop at all the commute stations set up along the way, collecting free stuff like energy bars, cookies, patch kits (much needed, obviously), stickers, and various coupons. The whole ride ended up being around 21 km. Not too bad, eh?

Once arrived at FHCRC, we were greeted with bagels and coffee by the center's transportation department. As if that wasn't enough, Velo Bike Shop and ViaBike arranged a Bike to Work Day after party with free food, beer, and raffles in their new shop downtown. A cool store with some really beautiful bicycles that I'm pretty sure that some of you road bike enthusiasts would drool shamelessly over...

Cute invitation.


One law-abiding commuter wearing a helmet, and another not-so-law-abiding commuter wearing a ”helmet”.



Isaac getting his hands dirty at Golden Gardens.


Some of my hard earned goodies. My favorite? Probably the sweet little black patch kit with a heart-shaped chain. Adorable!


Don't worry sea-monkeys, next year it'll be all about you!

3 comments:

  1. Sea-monkey day!! Me like! :) I will start celebrating this as well. It is a shame that it is a whole year before it happens again :(

    It's good though that I do not need to wait that long to see you agian! :) :)

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    Replies
    1. Every day is Sea-Monkey Day...? Just go for it! :)

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  2. That was a great morning and evening. I look forward to something like that again.

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