A Big Finish to Tacoma's Inaugural Kidical Mass Summer

Last weekend we wrapped up Tacoma's first season of Kidical Mass with our fifth and final ride of the summer. Kidical Mass went Point-to-Point with over 100 kids, parents and friends riding together on the new waterfront trail from Point Defiance Park down to the playground at the Point Ruston development. 

With nearly 250 participants pre-registered for the ride, I was amazed to see so many families turn up on what was a very wet and chilly day. It's evident that Tacomans want their kids to ride!

The Point-to-Point ride was just one component of MetroParks's Downtown To Defiance Sunday Parkways event, a first-of-its-kind activity for Tacoma that opened a 7 mile stretch of our beautiful waterfront solely to cyclists, runners, and pedestrians. MetroParks estimates over 800 people took the opportunity to ride, run or walk part of the trail that morning. 

On behalf of our riders, THANK YOU to the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club, Hilltop Pop Shop, Point Ruston, Defiance Bicycles, Downtown On The Go, MetroParks, and the City of Tacoma for organizing this event and supporting Kidical Mass in Tacoma. We're already looking forward to more family rides in 2014!

Counting Bikes and Pedestrians Next Week

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Count is coming up October 1-3 and Cascade Bicycle Club is looking for volunteers to help.  These counts are extremely important in helping to gauge the success of our city's current infrastructure and plan for future projects. 

A bike commuter climbs the newly reopened Murray Morgan Bridge

You can help by signing up to sit at an intersection on one of these three days from 7 – 9 a.m. and/or from 4 – 6 p.m. and tally the number of cyclists and pedestrians you see. You can also help by recruiting friends, family, coworkers, and anyone else willing to help. 

Sign up here and follow these steps:

1. Scroll down and click “Tacoma – Bike & Pedestrian Counts”
2. Choose which intersection and time slot(s) you would like to sign up for and click the registration button at the bottom of the page
3. Print out the count form and instructions
4. Head out to your intersection at the designated time on Oct. 1, 2, or 3 and start tallying!
5. Follow the directions on your count form for returning the data to Cascade Bicycle Club

Alternatively, if you'll be walking or biking on those days, be sure to tally your commute miles with Pierce Trips. It's a great way for the city to gauge how many people are using alternative transportation options throughout the year, plus you can be entered to win some cool rewards.

Pedal to Peril this Saturday

via @LordRocktober

Don't forget your helmet!

Get Creative: Decorate Your Helmet

After Kidical Mass #4, I rode downtown to the Tacoma Art Museum where local artists were busy decorating bike helmets. (Many thanks to Tinkertopia owner RR Anderson for the heads-up on this event!)

According to TAM:

"Participating artists will receive a bicycle helmet to decorate, an assortment of mixed media supplies, receive 20 dollars of credit at Tinkertopia, and an honorarium of 50 dollars for participating. During the event there will be a ballot box for people to vote for their favorite helmet. At 3 pm the first, second, and third place will be announced.

After the festival the helmets will be on display at Tacoma Art Museum in the community art space until September 21. On September 22 during the Dome to Defiance Sunday Parkways bicycling event the helmets will be worn by special guests."

It was a beautiful day to work outside and every artist seemed to have a completely different design concept.

Some helmets were already completed and on display inside the museum.

Make sure you attend the Downtown to Defiance event on September 22 to see these works of art in action. TBR will be there to help with Kidical Mass #5: Point to Point. It's going to be rad. 

Kidical Mass #5: Point Defiance to Point Ruston

Tacoma's first Kidical Mass summer is winding down!

Our fifth and final ride of the season will be Sunday, September 22 as part of the Downtown to Defiance: Sunday Parkways event.

Kidical Mass goes Point to Point

Kidical Mass will lead a family-friendly bike ride from the entrance of Point Defiance Park down to Point Ruston on the newly finished section of the waterfront trail. Kids can play on the playground at the halfway point before heading back up the hill for a frozen treat from Hilltop Pop Shop.

The ride starts at 11am, but activities at Point Defiance begin at 10am so plan to arrive early. Look for the Kidical Mass bike corral! Everyone is welcome to join us. 

Visit DowntownToDefiance.com to register for the ride and check-out a full listing of activities.

Downtown to Defiance

The Kidical Mass Point to Point ride is just a small part of the Downtown to Defiance event. MetroParks will close some lanes of Dock Street and Schuster Parkway to car traffic for a limited time in the morning to allow cyclists, runners, skateboarders, etc., to enjoy a waterfront route from the Tacoma Dome to Point Defiance Park. The event will showcase the completion of the interim waterfront trail through the Point Ruston development.

View Downtown To Defiance in a larger map

The whole route is about 7 miles and there will be stops along the way with lots of activities provided by MetroParks. Be sure to visit DowntownToDefiance.com for more details and to register for longer rides with the Tacoma Wheelmen and the VeloFemmes.

If you ride all or part of the Downtown to Defiance route earlier in the morning, you should have plenty of time to join Kidical Mass at 11am. Everyone is welcome.

Point Ruston Waterfront Trail

The interim trail is the missing link between the well developed Ruston Way trail and the many trails and pathways in Point Defiance Park. As of August 23, the trail is roughly graded and will be paved soon.

The trail will be the on the graded roadway on the right

The trail switchbacks around the cliffside above Point Ruston

The trail climbs up a 5% grade from the Copperline Apartments at the north end of Ruston Way. This may be a challenging climb for younger riders, but it also makes a nice walk!

Feel free to leave questions and comments below. We are really excited to be a part of this first-of-its-kind event in Tacoma!