SEATTLE, WA (BRAIN) — Before crossing Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island to visit BI Cycle and Classic Cycle, Day 2 of BRAIN’s Seattle Dealer Tour got under way with a sampling of urban riding highlighting the accomplishments of local advocates as well as the challenges they face in fostering two-wheel transit here.
Straight from our hotel base, we embarked on a stretch of Westlake Avenue where the designated cycling route consists largely of an aisle in a crowded parking lot off the waterfront. Here, advocacy group Cascade Bicycle Club seeks to establish a dedicated bike path to open up cycling on a major arterial flat enough to accommodate a wide range of bike commuters.
After our visit to performance road and training shop Herriott Sports Performance, the Dealer Tour pedaled up and over the semi-protected bike lane on Dexter Avenue, where public-transit stops are set on concrete islands several feet away from the curb to make way for cyclists. The well-traveled lane is viewed as a major win in the local cycling community.
We took Dexter to reach the freshly relocated Velo bike shop downtown, on the ground floor of high-rise apartment building Via6. In addition to being a well-stocked and elegantly designed shop (we recommend warming up in front of the gas fireplace on particularly cold mornings), Velo has secure indoor parking for 150 bikes. Owner Lloyd Tamura said Via6’s developer is a longtime customer who had a vision for an apartment development that included a bike shop and a bicycle club with indoor bike parking and showers for commuters.
Additionally, across the street from Velo the new Amazon.com headquarters under construction promises to bring Seattle its first fully protected cycle path, along Seventh Avenue.
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Former pro road racers Todd Herriott (left) and David Richter opened Herriott Sports Performance five years ago to bring bike fitting, training and a pro retail shop under one roof. A recent expansion has afforded HSP a much larger retail space, which includes an open-air service area that has become a focal point for customers. Bike fitting, coaching and training happen next door in the studio, which includes spin classes, medicine ball training, and conditioning using the Norwegian Red Cord core strengthening system. -
HSP's moto-pacing scooter has a custom roller attached to avoid an unfortunate outcome should the cyclist get a little too close. -
Wheeling down a section of protected bike lane on Day 2 of our Seattle Dealer Tour -
Downtown bike shop Velo has indoor parking for 150 bikes as well as lockers and showers for commuters. -
Stylish bike racks outside retailer Velo and apartment high rise Via6 -
It was a damp and foggy departure from Seattle on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. -
… But it was gloriously sunny by the time we reached Tom Clune’s Bainbridge Island Cycle. -
BI Cycle’s Clune leaves the lucrative tourist bike rental business to competitors, but he’s happy to serve any customer ranging from the commuter taking the daily ferry ride to Seattle, to the aspiring triathlete needing his BG Fit services on a top-end Specialized Shiv. “I’ve been fitting people to bikes since 1988,” he says. -
Bainbridge Island’s Classic Cycle is legendary for its bike museum. Paul Johnson, who co-owns the store with wife Jaime Amador, rents much of the museum for $1 a year from store founder Jeff Groman. Johnson has added to the collection himself, bringing in some BMX and early mountain bikes to supplement Johnson's collection of road and track racing bikes. Besides the museum, Classic serves island visitors with a rental fleet and offers bikes from Trek, Scott, Raleigh and Colnago. -
Classic Cycle also has a tidy workbench area with tastefully painted walls. Aluminum conduit provides storage for bike cables and a handy place for a few stickers.
