Welcome to the wonders of Washington State cycling from Timothy and Paula!
That’s quite a statement, coming from two diehard New York City-based cycling fanatics and deeply engrained members of the New York Cycle Club. We’ve had some of the best times of our lives riding bikes in New York, and we met during an NYCC event. So winning us over was a bit of a hard sell when we moved to Seattle. Especially since we arrived in December. Rain, anyone? Fenders on road bikes??
But after a bit of a slow start, we’ve become converts. The roads around here seem made for cycling — wide open, surrounded by vast expanses of forest and flowers and water and blue sky (OK, gray sky too), gentle rollers and steep pitches, deer and sheep and horses and otters. So much variety, so beautiful, so easily accessible.
“The whole state is like one big resort,” Timothy said on one of our rides. “Much of Washington is seen through trees,” he said on another.
And so we begin a chronicle of our two-wheeled Washington adventures. The first 13 posts retrace some of our bigger and-or more photogenic rides in the first half of the year. After that we stay current.
Oh, the name of the blog … it arises in part from one of Seattle’s monikers: The Emerald City. Which in turn arises from the sheer greenness of not just Seattle, but much of the state, and that’s one of the things we love about cycling around here. And so, we celebrate it.
Dreambox Discoveries 
I can’t remember how I ended up on your blog today. But what fun to see your rides. I ride at some point every day as we gave up a car last year. So, I travel year round by bike and bus from Ravenna to Microsoft. It’s great to have you among us–great to have some more year-round riders. Enjoy everything from here till late October, and then consider what to do in November–that is often the nastiest weather of the year. But, by February, things are OK many days. So, welcome, welcome. Hope to see you out on the road.
Thanks so much, Ian! It really is a treat to ride around here – an endless variety of great roads and great people. I (Paula) wish I could commute by bike/bus too; that had been my plan when we moved here. But the timing just doesn’t work out as I need to juggle morning conference calls from the East Coast with “regular” time meetings here first thing in the morning. So, we just ride after work and then explore a lot on the weekends. See you on the road!
Hi there! Just wanted to stop by again and to say thanks for following my blog! I look forward to reading more of your posts!!
Arrived on your site via Sequim Lavender Tour. Living in Port Townsend I often ride a big loop around the Sequim area. I think this ride would be more enjoyable if the organizers switched to that next year. Talking to one of the organizers that was mentioned by a few riders.
Great site, great pictures.
Thanks, Michael! And we tend to agree that a big ride around Sequim would be better. Probably more scenic, with less traffic than riding from Kingston. For us coming from Seattle and wanting to stay for two nights, the big challenge was the car if we were to ride our bikes from Kingston. There we’d be in Sequim, car-less! I bet others would have the same concerns — even with the shuttle that was offered on Sunday from Sequim to Kingston (that didn’t help us, since we were returning Monday). But any way you look at it, riding in that area was fantastic. And on Monday we visited Port Townsend by car and foot, and will definitely be back to spend more time in your town.