Biking on Bainbridge:

Whether you live on, been to, know of, or never heard of Bainbridge Island, it's where I live. Most people come and go through Bainbridge as it's a major commuter hub with a short 35 minute ferry ride taking one from Eagle Harbor to downtown Seattle. It's also a semi-rural place that has experience sharing the road with cyclist, whether it be the person who occasionally tours, someone biking for fitness, or the everyday commuter to work.

My husband and I, along with our Airedale terrier, Cheddar Pancakes moved to the island 3 years ago. Previously living in Wisconsin, Texas, and California; all states in which I never once thought about letting go of my car, it of course came with us to Washington. Promptly, I found a job with the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and thus I joined the ranks of the daily ferry commuters. After about a year of observing countless of bike commuters in bright colorful outfits zip by me and make the ferry with time to spare as I desperately ran in order to not be left behind on an island, with no choice but to wait and fret on the fact that I was going to be late to work, for the next 50 minutes until the next ferry left; I decided to become one of them.

Ok, so there's not that many bike commuters that take the ferry on a daily basis (maybe if one counted bikers from all the different commuter times, in the summer).

At the age of 27 I timidly started biking. (Growing up biking and I had a hazardous relationship with me becoming light-headed with minimal effort anytime I was biking. Looking back I think it was the combination of poor nutrition and the beating sun of central California and Texas.) Now I can't imagine ever stopping, however that doesn't make me a stuck-up, entitled, rich, biker that likes wearing neon colors and tight pants. I bike because I enjoy it, PERIOD. Biking can give so much to people, and it can also take everything away.

In the 2+ years that I've been biking I have seen and learned a lot, and not just about sharing the roads with motorists in the city, suburbs, rural roads, and small towns, but about our cultural views, societal politics, myself, and who I want to be. The purpose of this blog is to share that knowledge in the hope that we'll eventually create a culture that strives to keep us all happy and safe.

So feel free to share your knowledge by leaving a comment, liking/sharing a post, or, if you're ever on island, I love coffee and chatting with people. : )