Bike And Pedestrian Count And A Reminisce

Today was my day to count at the intersection of Addison and Rowan this morning. It started off slow but picked up after 8:00 am when the kids started heading to school.

The school crossing guard program is much different than when I was a crossing guard back in 1968. These days they have adult supervision. Back when I was a Crossing Guard Sergeant at Bryant Elementary (thanks to my buddy Jessie Powell who was the Crossing Guard Captain, which incensed the hell out of Helen Eggleston who certainly deserved to be Sergeant because she had way more time on the squad than me), our flags consisted of heavy metal rods with a red STOP flag. We made great sport of waiting until the cars were just about on us and we'd jump out with our flags. We wore a white canvas belt with a strap that crossed diagonally across the chest and over the shoulder with a kind of highway patrol look to it. And we had a metal badge on that strap. I don't think safety orange had been invented yet. Ah, the good old days.

All Else Pales

I saw the police car and three cyclists off in the distance. One rider was bent over his bike much lower than the other two. As the group approached the intersection one of the people in our group yelled, "You're awesome, Hector!" The riders stopped at the light and the guy who was bent over so low sat up and yelled, "Hey!" Although I was expecting to see him, I couldn't help but be taken aback at the sight of a man with no arms riding a bike.

Hector Picard arrived in Spokane around the noon hour today. I and several other cyclists, most of them from the Baddlands Racing Club, met him on South 57th and rode with him to Jameson Davis's house in north Spokane. Hector is a double arm amputee with three Iron Man competitions and a number of triathlons under his belt. The purpose of his cross country trip was to raise money to pay for prosthetics for Jameson. Jameson is 15 months old and he was born without forearms and hands.

Hector said he connected with Jameson through a teammate who went to school with Jameson's uncle. Brooke, Jameson's mother, has a blog in which she writes about her family and Jameson's special needs. Hector said he read it and was inspired to do something so he decided to ride across the country and raise money to help.

He doesn't normally ride with his prosthetic arm attached to his bike, but he decided to during the ride to help emphasize the significance and purpose of the ride. Hector said he likes to stretch when he stops at red lights. "Everybody looks." He smiles. "They can't help but look. And then they go home and talk about how they saw a man with no arms riding a bike."

As if that wasn't remarkable enough. The man just rode about 3100 miles in 36 days. His bike was stolen before he started so he rode his triathlon bike from Miami to Denver. To shift gears, he would unclip his shoe from the pedal and reach up with his foot to nudge the shifter. Arriving in Denver, he received a new bike courtesy of the I Will Foundation. This bike was better suited for him. He presses his thigh against a lever on the right side to brake. He operates two buttons for electronic shifting up or down the front chain ring with his left knee. He uses the stump of his left arm to press electronic shift buttons for the rear cassette.

A police escort kept the traffic at bay during our ride through Spokane. Several members of the Davis family met us on Market and we all continued to escort Hector who was thrilled to finally be meeting Jameson.

A huge crowd welcomed Hector at the Davis home. TV stations were there, too. Hector met the Davis family for the first time and it was an emotional moment for everyone. Hector spoke about various parts of his trip. There was a fund raiser in Alabama attended by only two families. It was on Father's Day. And yet a 16-year-old young man donated his $500 savings. He saw his first wheat field in Kansas. By the third day in Kansas he was pretty tired of seeing wheat fields. He had five flats on the Sacajawea Historic Byway in Idaho. People all along his route were welcoming and generous.

Brooke Davis, Hector Picard, Jameson Davis, and Jim Davis.

It's a day like today that makes you remember just how small the small things are.

Spokane River Cleanup

Steph and I signed up to help. We applied to work in the area on the north bank just west of the Sandifur Bridge, but were reassigned to the east side of Latah Creek opposite of High Bridge Park.

 Bright orange was a common color this year.

 The infantry will form up here and wait until after the artillery barrage...oh, wait...we're picking up garbage, right?

 I found a water heater in Latah Creek. Tomás and I managed to move it up to where it could be hefted onto a truck.

Statewide Bike/Pedestrian Count

So today was the first (and main) day for the bike and pedestrian counts at various intersections in a number of cities. During my commute in this morning, I saw a hi-viz jacket at the intersection of Post and Buckeye so I swung by to be counted and say hello. It was Gary, a very nice guy, retired boilermaker, and as you can tell from the photo, a cyclist.

Gary marking down cyclist number four.

I had the afternoon shift at Rowen and Addison. I'm glad I wasn't counting cars. That would've been overwhelming. After an hour the guy living in the corner house came out to see me. He said he didn't appreciate me hanging around on his property and he was concerned about criminal activity. I was on the sidewalk, but instead of getting in a pissing contest I explained what I was doing and asked if I could stay there for another hour. He was cool with that. I wonder what kind of heinous criminal activity he expected out of a gray-haired man wearing a bike jersey and shorts.

This fellow showed off his double trailer set up. He carries his camping and fishing gear in the front trailer and the dog in the back. 

Of the 23 cyclists I counted, 12 were not wearing helmets. Ten blew through the four-way stop like they owned the intersection. 

This guy came ripping down the road but was hardly pedaling. Once he was close enough, I saw and heard why. He's motorized. That's a sweet looking bike.

Bicycle And Pedestrian Documentation Project

It's time of year again to count cyclists and pedestrians to help determine usage and plan ahead. Only three more spots in Spokane need to be covered. You hang out at an intersection for two hours and make tick marks showing the direction each pedestrian and cyclist is going. If you want to get counted, come through the intersection of Addison and Rowan next Tuesday afternoon.

Summer Parkways

Steph and I volunteered for Summer Parkways last night but this time we were at separate locations. My services weren't needed at the quiet intersection I was at and I was moved to a very busy and excellent photo opportunity location - Tekoa and Manito Park. Lots of smiling faces and at least one kind of scary downhill skier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloomsday Tradeshow

Steph and I hung out in the Spokane Bikes booth for a couple of hours yesterday and chatted with quite a few people. Most of the questions we fielded were about Summer Parkways and Spokefest. 

Perhaps dealing with all those members of the public, including that one guy who opened a water bottle, sniffed the inside and then put it back, made the drive home a little more stressful than normal.

But the tension was relieved when we saw the recently made famous sign.

I'm so easily confused. I was looking at the number on my race bib and for a split second thought there was a printing mistake.

That's better. Whoever got 8698 is probably saying, "Hey, everyone, check this out."

Cyclist And Pedestrian Count

As part of the Washington State Documentation Project, and for the fourth year running, it's time to count cyclists and pedestrians. The intent is to collect data on demand and usage to help measure the benefits of investing in these modes, especially when compared to the other transportation modes.

The Cascade Bicycle Club is coordinating the volunteer sign up. Counting will be done on Sep 27, 28 and 29. There are two shifts each day: 7-9 am, and 4-6 pm. Go to their web site if you want to sign up for a shift. Volunteers are needed in Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bothell, Bremerton, Burien, Ellensburg, Everett, Ferndale, Issaquah, Kelso, Kent, Kirkland, Longview, Lynden, Mercer Island, Mountlake Terrace, Oak Harbor, Olympia, Redmond, Renton, Richland, Seattle, Shoreline, Spokane, Tacoma, Tukwila, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima.

Spokane River Cleanup

Steph and I showed up for clean up duty this morning. We were assigned to the Black Bear group led by Paul Dillon and Steve Salvatori. Everyone received a high-viz green pack containing bags for trash and recycle. After our safety briefing and some encouraging words from Councilman Jon Snyder the crews headed out to their respective areas.

Along with the multitude of beer cans and plastic bottles, our area also included an abandoned camp that required a lot of bags to haul everything off. The strangest item I found was a hand written note advertising a certain "service" and specifying the vehicle said service was available, but only if the person seeking the service was endowed enough. Weird.

Steph puzzled over this fire hydrant. Why is it out here in the middle of nothing?

We didn't stick around for the contests, but I thought the keg was very characteristic of Spokane. There was another table for Best Outfit. A woman came up and started pulling some clothes out, but she began retching so bad that she gave up and took the stuff to the trash. Truth be told, I made Steph go with me. She did a good job and actually had a good time.

Well, except for the snake on the asphalt path as we rode up from the Sandifur Bridge to the West Central neighborhood.

Me: "Cool, there's a snake."

Steph: "OMIGAWD! It's a snake!"

Spokefest Volunteer Night

This evening about 200 volunteers converged on Silver Auctions where they finished up their preparations for this weekend's event.

David's Pizza fed the crew.

Nom, nom, nom.

Four lines of people manned each side of two sets of tables to stuff bags. I have stuffed bags for Bloomsday before and that was nothing compared to this. There's a ton of stuff in each bag.

Various group leaders, course marshals, medical, set up, registration, etc., gathered their respective crews together to go over their plans.

And there was a drawing for various door prizes. Sam Compogno was the lucky winner of the grand prize.

See you on the course on Sunday. Kathy and Josh are riding singles. I'll be captaining the tandem and Steph will be my stoker. No drafting unless we're going uphill.

Preparing For Summer Parkways

This evening Bill Bender gave us the lowdown on our very easy duties for this Sunday's Summer Parkways. "Thank you" to Mike Starr of David's Pizza for coming out in the fire truck and cooking up some pies for us.

From Good Intentions Are Not Enough

A different perspective of volunteering overseas.

Now imagine that you are told that a Kenyan or Chinese college student is coming to your town to help solve your problems. They'd like you to help find housing for the student (preferably in someone's house so they can experience the local culture), you'll need to get them a translator, they'll need to be brought in to meet with local government officials, you'll need to call together meetings of your neighbors and other stakeholders, and it'll all need to be done very fast because they only have a couple of months off for their summer vacation (or a semester off depending on the school and program).

Read the entire article here.

Something to think about.

Street Music Week

Today was the last day of the 8th Annual Street Music Week. Last year Doug Clark and his fellow buskers raised $4,250 for Second Harvest. Hopefully the bad weather this week didn't put a damper on their fund raising. I took a walk during lunch today and caught some of the musicians. The variety was wonderful. I heard a lot of great music and saw a lot of happy volunteers.