First Crossing
This month (April 2016) marks the grand opening of the of the Longest Floating Bridge in the World. The 520 bridge which spans Lake Washington east of Seattle celebrated its grand opening the weekend of April 2nd with two major events, the Bridge Run, and the inaugural Emerald City Bike Ride (ECBR). The ECBR was sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club. Dad was lucky enough to get a spot in the ECBR, and the morning of April 3rd found him loading up his bike into the back of the truck, while explaining to Mongo why Dad was flying solo that day.
Mongo gave Dad his best sad puppy look, but Dad did not waver. It did not take a rocket scientist to realize that bike trips were not for Mongo. In fact, Mongo gets very upset when the wheeled-monster throws Dad on its back and kidnaps him. Sometimes Dad leaves the yard with that monstrosity, and doesn’t return for hours!!! So Mongo consistently tries to knock the monster out from under Dad, presumably to keep Dad safe. This is not a good long-term plan for Dad or Mongo. Fortunately, other bicyclists do not upset Mongo. His is not a universal crusade to rid the world of Schwinns, but is just aimed to keep his Dad safe.
So Dad distracted Mongo with a nice soup bone, and headed out the back gate.
The inaugural route was very exciting. The cyclists left from the University of Washington Stadium and then crossed over the new 520 bridge and back. From there, the route went through Seattle to the I-5 express lanes which had been reserved for cyclists for the day.
The route reached it’s first rest area in the International District in south Seattle. From there it headed north to Madrona Park, and then finished back at the stadium.
!st ECRB Route
The weather was superb, and after the huge goat roping contest at the start, smoothed out to a fantastic ride for the remaining 18 miles or so.
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- Chaos at the start – 30 Minutes of waiting and walking before crossing the start.
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- Cyclists on the New 520 Bridge
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- Dad on the 520 Bridge
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- Riding on I-5
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- Dad at the Ship Canal on I-5
7 responses to “First Crossing”
Leave a Reply to Midwestern Plant Girl Cancel reply
Mongo’s gallery
Mongolope 
don’t be sad Mongo a soupbone is great too :o) maybe your daddy can buy a trailer and you can bike with him that way? My momma tried that once, but I’m no trailer doggie and her dream bursted like a soap bubble.
I ‘ahem’ couldn’t see you riding in a trailer staring at Mom’s butt while she peddled. I would burst that bubble too 😉
that’s what my dad said too… but the mama had to waste 119 bucks furst to face that :o)
Wow! A floating bridge! That’s pretty cool. I’ll have to ask the internet about that.
Yeah, our boys don’t ‘get’ the whole bike or motorcycle thing. And yes, thank goodness it’s more on saving us, not everyone. At least Mongo fell for the soup bone thang!
I embedded the Wiki link in my post because I was just sure that SOMEONE would be interested in the world’s longest floating bridge. YOU are that SOMEONE!! 🙂
I’m always interested in cool stuff… I’m like the dog in the movie Up. “Squirrel!!”
There were tailer pups on that ride, but not every dog is meant to be a trailer pup. Our Kimi tried to put Pippin (a devoted golden retriever who loved to ride in everything from wheel barrows to police cruisers) in a trailer and she also refused to stay put. So Easy, there is no shame in being your own dog, and not just going along for the ride.