As darkness once again descends around us, your bicycle is a torch to illuminate the path and keep the monsters away.
It’s brutal to end daylight savings time the same week as we hold an election with foreboding implications. Nightfall has suddenly jumped an hour earlier, matching my emotional state. Though it is not the solution to the core causes of these problems, your bicycle could at least be medicine to help you through it all.
Even in non-election years, the annual fall time change is a shock for many people who find their moods affected by the sudden change in seasons (can we please stop the clock changes already?). For many, bike rides home from work have been plunged into darkness, and with the change in seasons comes more rain. Every year, some people choose to leave their bikes in storage around this time. I am here to urge you to try doing the opposite. Try embracing fall and winter biking as seasonal therapy. Getting outside no matter the conditions is empowering, especially once you have figured out all the gear solutions you need to make a rainy and dark bike ride not just manageable but enjoyable.
As the saying goes, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” You do not need to suffer in order to bike through the winter. Finding the gear that actually works for you is an investment that will pay off as you save money by biking.
Every person’s body and sense of style is different, so there’s no single solution to suggest for you. Below is a list of rainy season biking gear, ranked roughly in order of importance in my opinion. Got advice I left out? Share it in the comments below.
The Seattle Transportation Levy appears to be sailing to a landslide victory after the initial drop of ballots showed the measure passing with 67% of the vote, a margin that could grow as more ballots are counted.
Over eight years, the levy promises to invest more than $160 million in Vision Zero, $193 million in sidewalks and crosswalks and $133 million in bicycle safety. Those three categories total $487 million for direct investments into safer streets, about double the annual amount in the expiring Move Seattle Levy. It also promises $151 million for transit improvements and $66.5 million for public spaces in addition to $221 million for bridges and $403 million for street maintenance. It does not include any funding for new or expanded roadways.
With these funds in hand, Seattle has the means to make a meaningful push to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030, the city’s stated goal since 2015. The city also has the means to make meaningful progress on reducing its largest source of greenhouse gas emissions: Road transportation.
Washington State voters also appear to have rejected I-2117, an effort to repeal the Climate Commitment Act’s carbon tax that funds a lot of active transportation and trail work in the state’s budget. The initial results from election night show 62% of voters rejecting the initiative. This is another huge win for climate action, biking and walking safety, and many other investments. This result should also give WSDOT the state the green light to begin its delayed e-bike rebate program.
The approval these votes by such wide margins are much-needed rays of hope in our community on a very grim day for the nation. I see our community believing in itself and investing in a better tomorrow. We’re not giving up just because the problem seems difficult, even insurmountable at times.
“Tonight’s results demonstrate that Seattle voters are committed to advancing a safer transportation system that benefits all,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell in a statement declaring victory for the levy.
Unfortunately, there are strong echos of 2016 here, when the region passed Sound Transit 3 funding in the same election that Trump won the first time. I went to the ST3 party, and it was grim. People were in tears everywhere, and it was hard to muster much of a cheer when the transit measure passed. It was a big local win overshadowed by a much larger loss.
I know a lot of you are feeling horrible today. It has taken me hours to write this story because my mind keeps drifting back into the doom spiral thinking about our nation’s future. I am grateful that I had a rec league hockey game scheduled last night in Mountlake Terrace. An hour and a half of biking round trip was very helpful for my mental health. Getting outside and moving my body broke up that painful ball of anxiety in my gut so I could at least start working through it. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t come up with any answers to fix our nation’s problems, but I found strength in this thought: Remember that your community loves you.
As I wrote in 2015, the path to the Move Seattle levy “was paved by the lives of people who did not need to die.” The same is unfortunately true in 2024. But Seattle has defiantly responded to a rise in traffic deaths with a rise in traffic safety funding. We refuse to accept that beloved members of our community must die to preserve the status quo on our streets.
Thank you to everyone who worked to make this transportation levy as good as possible, and then everyone who worked to get out the vote and make sure it passed. Special thank you to Rita Hulsman, who did not allow our city’s leaders to take their eye off what really matters in this levy. We have done a genuinely good thing that will save lives and make our city a healthier and better-connected place.
I biked my ballot to the drop box near Gas Works Park the other day, which got me wondering: Is this the most bike-friendly ballot drop box in Seattle? It’s across the street from the Burke-Gilman Trail, so that’s got to be hard to beat. I threw together this map overlaying ballot drop box locations on the Seattle bike facilities map, and there are a lot of bike-friendly drop boxes around town. This close to election day, it is best to take your ballot to a drop box rather than use the mail just in case it doesn’t get postmarked by election day or get lost en route.
Speaking of voting, if you are already registered in King County but lost yours or never received it because you forgot to change your address, there is still time to print out a replacement ballot online. If you have not yet registered, you missed the deadline to do so online. But you can still register in person up to and including election day by going to the King County Elections Office in Renton (919 SW Grady Way, Suite 100, Renton, WA 98057). Election info for other nearby counties: Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish.
Both Lime and Bird are offering a pair of free rides through election day to encourage people to vote. Use code VOTE2024 in the Lime app or code RockTheVote2024 in the Bird app.
There are still volunteer opportunities to help pass Seattle’s Proposition 1, the Seattle Transportation Levy. The No on I-2117 campaign is also hosting a big get out the vote phone banking day tomorrow. You can join from anywhere. The polls have looked decent, but we also have no idea how accurate they are this year. It seems like polls get shakier and shakier each election cycle as fewer people answer unknown numbers. We have to assume these two measures that are vital to biking and walking safety in our region will come down to the wire and that we will need every last vote we can get.
By 8 p.m. Tuesday, no home should contain both a bicycle and a ballot. Let’s win this thing.
I’ll be giving a presentation about some of my book research followed by a conversation and Q&A with Center founder Cory Potts. I’ll also be happy to talk and sign books afterwards. There will be snacks and drinks. More details from the Center for Bicycle Repair:
The Center for Bicycle Repair and Restoration became a business on Halloween, back in 2018. Since then, the shop moved from a condemned store front space below an Odd Fellows lodge in Kent to a former florist and jewelers in Seattle’s Little Saigon Neighborhood.
On November 2nd, at 1pm, we’re celebrating our anniversary with a talk and reading in the shop by Seattle Bike Blog’s Tom Fucoloro, who will be speaking about his book, Biking Uphill in the Rain. Everyone is invited: we will have treats and Seattle Bike Blog swag for you.
The 2015 Move Seattle Levy added nearly 100 miles to Seattle’s bike network, repaired or replaced 44 public staircases, built 1,600 new accessible curb ramps, made 293 transit improvements, repaired 220 blocks of sidewalk and built 350 new blocks of sidewalk. This is in addition to all the other road and bridge maintenance work.
It’s easy to forget how much Seattle has accomplished since voting in 2015 to nearly triple its transportation levy. Now that voters are in the process of deciding whether to increase the levy by yet another 88% annually by voting YES on Seattle’s Proposition 1, it is worth revisiting what the expiring levy has accomplished.
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, which has endorsed Prop 1 and has been working to get out the vote, created a StoryMap highlighting just a few of the projects that only exist because voters in 2015 approved the levy. Some of my favorite projects that they didn’t list include the Duwamish Trail connection just south of the West Seattle Bridge, the SW Admiral Way bike lanes (do you all remember how scary that climb used to be?), and the Rainier Valley Neighborhood Greenway (though it’s not an effective alternative to Rainier Ave bike lanes, it is a great project on its own). A few more major levy-funded additions are still pending construction, including the Georgetown to Downtown bike route, the Alaskan Way bikeway completing the Elliott Bay Trail, and the in-construction project on 11st/12th Ave NE that will connect to the Eastlake bike lanes as part of the under-construction RapidRide J project.
I, for one, am excited to see what SDOT can accomplish with 86% more annual funding for Vision Zero, 105% more funding for sidewalks, curb ramps and crosswalks, and 108% more funding for bicycle safety. Vote YES on Proposition 1! If you want to help further, sign up for a volunteer effort to get out the vote.
The 15th Annual Seattle Cranksgiving is November 23. Last year’s Cranksgiving was a record-breaker, with 168 riders hauling 3,699 pounds of donations. Can we do even better in 2024?
Seattle Bike Blog is once again partnering with Cascade Bicycle Club’s Pedaling Relief Project to host the annual food drive bike ride to benefit Rainier Valley Food Bank, University District Food Bank and The Market food bank at Byrd Barr Place. Central Cinema will host the after party.
Invite your friends and join us for a day of smiles, silly challenges and serious love for your community. It is free to enter, and there is no pre-registration. Just show up at the start with a bike, a bike lock, a pen, a way to carry groceries and some cash to buy them. You can ride solo or as a team of up to four people. We ask people to spend a minimum of $20 on purchases for donation, but most riders end up spending more. You are basically going grocery shopping but for your community.
At the start line, we will give you a list of items the food banks have requested as well as a list of places to buy those items. You get a point for each place you shop and each item type you purchase (no points for duplicate items, though the food banks will appreciate them). You can also score bonus points for completing some extra challenges. Much like an alleycat race or scavenger hunt there is no set route, so it will be up to you and your team to use your bike navigation skills.
Meet up starting 9 a.m. in front of Byrd Barr Place (722 18th Ave, between Columbia and Cherry Streets) to check in. The ride starts promptly at 10 a.m. Must finish back at Byrd Barr Place no later than 2 p.m. After party at nearby Central Cinema goes from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.
Teams will start by heading to either University District Food Bank or Bike Works, which is hosting a drop off point for Rainier Valley Food Bank, hitting shopping points along the way. There, they will get a second list with items and shops to hit on the way back to the start line. Total riding will be somewhere in the 12–15 mile range depending on your route choices. We will also have a shorter round-trip option (3–5 miles) if that seems more your speed. There will be prizes for the top point earners as well as a prize raffle (must be present to claim).
We ride rain or shine.
In order to make sure it all runs smoothly, we need volunteers! Check out Cascade’s Cranksgiving volunteer sign-up page. If you would like to donate a prize or have any other inquiries, email me at [email protected] and/or Landon Welsh at landonw (at) cascade.org.
Cranksgiving began 1999 on the east coast as a bike messenger event in New York City. The idea has since spread across the nation. I started Seattle’s Cranksgiving in 2010, and I’ve been organizing it through Seattle Bike Blog every year since. The event quickly became one of Rainier Valley Food Bank’s largest food drives, with riders restocking their shelves during their busiest week of the year. After two very scaled back versions in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and the loss of our usual start and end venue, the event was at risk of falling apart. That’s when Cascade’s Pedaling Relief Project and Central Cinema partnered with Seattle Bike Blog to revamp the event in 2022, building it into the fun multi-stop version it is today. This is my favorite version of Seattle’s Cranksgiving, and I hope you all enjoy it.