My Ballard

The notorious “missing link” in the Burke-Gilman trail may be connected by 2010. Mayor Nickels has proposed $8.6 million for the trail in his upcoming two-year budget. The “missing link” is a confusing and often dangerous stretch of roadway from 11th Ave. to the Locks — a source of much frustration from bicyclists over the years. Work could start as early as April of next year.

Earlier: Bike road rage along the “missing link”

Check out the new bike lanes on 8th Ave. between Market and Leary.

Thanks Marloes for the photo!

Hundreds of colorfully dressed riders on often misshapen and mutant bicycles kicked off the 13th annual Dead Baby Downhill Race at El Chupacabra on Phinney Ridge Friday evening.

Friday’s race, which finished in Ballard, is part of a weekend of events celebrating mutant bicycle culture.

There was tall bike jousting, bands, bike dance perfromances and other activities at “the greatest party known to mankind,” which was held last night at the Bit Saloon and The Station along Leary.

Not to be confused with the Critical Mass, of course.

Last summer Terry McMacken was riding across the Ballard Bridge next to that low concrete wall when he was thrown into traffic and struck by a car. He lost his arm in the accident, and now he’s suing the city of Seattle, reports the Seattle PI. McMacken’s attorney says the city had received prior complaints that the Ballard Bridge guardrail is too low to protect cyclists. The city has not yet responded to the suit in court. (Thanks Nina for the link!)

In the last hours of Ballard SeafoodFest, Sustainable Ballard announced the winners of the Ballard Bike Rack Design Contest.

Over 100 entries were submitted, many from middle school and high school students. The judges include architects, designers and the Chamber of Commerce. All are Ballard residents.

Sustainable Ballard’s Craig Benjamin (left) announced the six winners. They’ll get to see their designs built and placed around Ballard as early as September. Three of the locations are already determined, but the other three have yet to be approved. Click through below for the winning designs…

Typewriter keys form this bike rack designed by Henrietta Coffington, which will be placed right in front of the Ballard Library.

These poles with Native-American style orcas on top were designed by Linton Rowan. They’ll be positioned at the Ballard Locks.

Bicycles hang from this big fishing pole, which will also be placed at the Locks. Design by Marin Bork and Katie Bang.

Middle schooler Kaila Crosby designed this bike rack, which was a favorite among the judges. The proposed location is along Ballard Ave.

These circles by Carl Sanden give this bike rack a trendy, futuristic look. Also proposed for Ballard Ave.

And finally, the “Fossilmobile” is the shell of an old car, by Jason Hirst. The proposed location is Ballard Ave., but Sustainable Ballard admits it may be a little challenging to get buy-in to install it in Old Ballard.

No, the Googie design did not win. “The judges weren’t really into it,” Benjamin said. Some had hoped that it could be placed at Market St. and 15th Ave. in remembrance of the Manning’s Cafeteria.

This is out of the neighborhood, but nonetheless interesting considering Critical Mass came through Ballard the last time around, resulting in quite the discussion here on My Ballard. Last night on Capitol Hill, Critical Mass cyclists surrounded a Subaru and assaulted the driver after two riders were hit. The sequence of events is unclear: did the driver hit the cyclists while attempting to escape? Or was the driver threatening them to begin with? One thing is clear, though. Tension between motorists and cyclists has been intensifying of late, especially as more people are riding their bikes to work.

Update: More details on what happened from the Seattle Times
Earlier this month: Bike road rage on Burke Gilman ‘missing link’

8th Ave N.W. is a busy street for cars, buses and bicyclists. There are designated bike lanes north of Market St., but when you get south of Market the bike lanes mysteriously disappear. On our way to work, we spotted what look like markings to add bike lanes south of that intersection.

We’ve got calls into Seattle Dept. of Transportation to get more info. Meanwhile, does anyone know of any more new bike lanes in Ballard? (Tip from Russ via our Ballard Twitter page — our first Twitter tip!)

Update: We spoke with Rick Sheridan at SDOT who said that the markings are indeed the prep work for the bike lanes. They hope to have the markings completed by Monday and then will move on to notifying the neighborhood about the lanes. Within the 2-4 weeks following the notification, the bike lanes will be installed. This stretch of roadway is considered a “priority bike corridor” as the city works to install 30 miles of bike lanes this year.

In the forum: Anyone else see those strange signs along 8th Ave?

Tomorrow is World Naked Bike Ride Day, so of course Seattle bikers will be making their way through the nude biking capital of Fremont. The “beginners” ride starts at Gas Works Park at 1 p.m. (with body painting at 10 a.m.) and travels through Wallingford, down to Fremont then toward downtown. There are a couple of other rides throughout the day in other parts of the city and “yoga in the park” at a location that is still TBA.

My Ballard reader Benton says he saw a road rage incident involving a pickup truck and a bicyclist along 45th St. near Fred Meyer today. That stretch of road (map below) is known as the “missing link” in the Burke Gilman Trail — a confusing, dangerous stretch of roadway. “I was on a scooter and watched in horror as a frustrated driver in a pickup truck raced to come up next to a bicyclist and then proceeded to swerve into him, running him onto the railroad tracks,” Benton writes about the incident. “Thankfully, the agile rider jumped his bike to avoid being snarled by the tracks.” Benton says the incident underlines the need to find a solution for the stretch of roadway.

Three months ago, Ballard resident David Sylvester took off on his bike with his dog Chiva in tow on a 15-month trek. His goal is to bike across the country, climbing the tallest mountain of every state along the way. His blog describes it best: “Exploring the world with dog and bicycle to promote canine companionship, environmental awareness and living it up!” David and Chiva are currently in Dubois, Wyoming. You can follow their trek via his blog, where he’s snapping photos along the way.

Thursday marks the third annual National Dump the Pump Day, and the Cascade Bicycle Club is hosting a celebration from 4-6 p.m. at Gas Works Park. “Oh, the irony,” they say on their site. Indeed. Transit agencies, including Metro are encouraging people to get out of their cars (as if $4.20+ a gallon gas isn’t enough), but only Cascade appears to be offering up inducements, including light refreshments, “mini” bike fits and helmet adjustments.

At least two hundred cyclists rode up the middle of 15th, across the Ballard Bridge, down Market and all the way to Golden Gardens around 7 p.m. Friday evening. It’s all part of the Seattle Critical Mass — a monthly event that can leave many Seattle drivers confused and angry.

“A couple motorists tried pushing into the cyclists at Market & 24th, but a couple drivers with two tons of cars isn’t much of a match for hundreds of cyclists,” writes Michael, who sent us these photos.

Here’s the scene on 15th. “In the future, please have patience. It only happens once a month,” he writes. (Thanks for the photos Michael!)