Mayor Mcginn speaks to riders before the ride
About 70 people rode 70 miles from Madison Valley’s MLK FAME Community Center to the Tilth Farm (United People’s Farm) in Auburn to raise funds for bike-loving urban farming collective Alleycat Acres.
Yours truly was among the Streets and Beets riders, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for a long cruise through south King County. My friend got bitten by a loose dog, but it was smooth sailing otherwise.
At the farm, riders ate lunch, and farmers lead tours of the land. It was pretty empowering to realize that I could ride to the farm where many of the vegetables I already ate were grown (their veggies are sold at Central Co-op). Like Alleycat Acres has said all along, bikes and urban agriculture go well together.
Mayor Mike McGinn spoke at the start of the ride, talking about the importance of local agriculture. But he also mentioned the many refugee farmers now living in Seattle who know how to grow food, but need help learning American business practices and getting started in a new place.
Basically, the ride left me all cheery, hopeful and tired. A great way to kick off the spring cycling rush. Now I’m headed to pick up some garden compost in the bike trailer…
Wait, I missed meeting you!? I’m in that photo. Darn!
Bummer! I’ll wear a big sign next time. Actually, I did have a sharrow on the back of my jacket. But then I took it off because it was so nice out.
I was admiring the sharrow jacket, but I didn’t make the connection.
That’s my neck of the woods (originally). What was the route?
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