Sunday, July 23, 2006

Tour de Seattle - Electric Boost for Hills


I spied this pedal-electric bicycle locked at a high rise building's bike rack near Spring Street (pictured here).


You might be interested in this mode of transportation if your commute includes terrain such as this streetscape. Pedal-powered bicycles with electric motor assists that kick in when you most need it have become VERY popular in Seattle. This city is built on a series of hills. For the average person who wants to commute by bike, the terrain can be a challenge. Electric Bikes Northwest in the Fremont district is a great commuter's resource for electric assisted bikes and folding bikes (although I don't know if they carry the brand I photographed downtown).

Seattle has a pretty good system of bike lanes throughout. There are also fabulous urban recreational trails, chief among them the Burke-Gilman Trail which takes riders all the way from Salmon Bay at the mouth of the Puget Sound along the shipping canal through the Ballard and Fremont neighborhoods, under the Aurora bridge, past Gas Works Park, Chihuly's studio (not open to public) and Ivar's Salmon House, under the I-5, past the University of Washington, and around the west shore to the top of Lake Washington. Bicycling in general is HUGE here. Riding bikes more is one small way we can each help reduce the harmful effects of fossil fuels.
c. 2006 Seattle Daily Photo

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kim,

I'm loving this blog. You KNOW so much about the city, it's just facinating. I have something to ask you though...

Could you please email me?
susan at ivory dot com

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Oops!

It's not dot com. It's dot org my fingers got away from me. :)

Dawn said...

Quite an interesting type of bicycle. Over here in Bloemfontein and in the rest of SA you actually risk your life if you ride a bicycle or even a scooter, because there are no lanes for bicycles as in other parts of the world. It is ok in the quieter streets of the suburbs, but you can't risk going into the busier areas. Most of the people drive by car and Bloem is not that busy as Johannesburg or some of the other big cities, but with our petrol price that keeps on rising I suppose that we will have no choice but to turn to bicycles sooner or later.

Irredento Urbanita said...

excellent, you introduce us in the daily life of seattle. what wprries me is the big quantity of water of that river. is that normal?

Greetings from Perú.

Icarus said...

Oh, yes, oh YES!! I want one! I need one!! Without going into details, where I'm living now this would be so perfect! Hills? The hills have hills here. But I'd estimate that they might arrive in Vila france de Xira around 2070, so dream on.....

Kim said...

Susan- okay, soon.

Dawn- many riders are hit by cars here! It has it's dangers in any city. The cyclists here ride defensively and it is legal to ride on the sidewalk here (in many places it is not). See NYC Daily Photo about a memorial to a cyclist recently killed there! Where a helmet, wherever you are. . .

Irridento- Seattle is literally surrounded by water. It's normal, I assure you.

Nowhere Man- and others without access to local e-bike merchants: The bike shop I linked to gladly ships orders made via web or phone, as I understand it. I am not affilliated with them in any way, BTW. I just know some folks who are REALLY into bikes and have bought some there and were pleased.

Luggi- Nah, your still red! :-) (I've always loved your graphic).

John Nez said...

Awesome blog! As a Seattle resident I'd say you've done a great job of catching the city in photos and words...

Amazing electric bikes! I saw one on the Burke Gilman trail once and wondered about them... sure would help with some of the hills around here.

I know for myself, no day is complete without a bike ride down the BG trail... which luckily is just 2 blocks away from my house. Not only is it good excercise, but it makes doing chores like going to the bank or video store a snap.

No parking... and no traffic to fight!

John Nez said...

Awesome blog! As a Seattle resident I'd say you've done a great job of catching the city in photos and words...

Amazing electric bikes! I saw one on the Burke Gilman trail once and wondered about them... sure would help with some of the hills around here.

I know for myself, no day is complete without a bike ride down the BG trail... which luckily is just 2 blocks away from my house. Not only is it good excercise, but it makes doing chores like going to the bank or video store a snap.

No parking... and no traffic to fight!