Farewell from Madi! I’ve had a wonderful eight years in Seattle and a wonderful five years with Seattle Critical Lass. There’s a lot I’ll miss about Seattle, and Critical Lass is near the top of the list. This last loop was a lovely final ding of my bike bell.
As always, I snapped many photos of our adventure: Flickr album: Critical Lass and Friends: Last Loop with Madi – August 13, 2017 – 131 photos. The photos and captions give a fuller recap of the ride than will this blog post.
To reiterate the sentiments of my original Critical Lass and Friends: Last Loop with Madi post: I started Seattle Critical Lass with three friends as a welcoming and inclusive social ride to get more women-identified/trans Seattleites bicycling. The intention was for our rides to appeal to both new and seasoned riders, enabling anyone with a bit of experience in urban cycling to feel like a mentor and to build confidence for all our participants. Of particular interest for me was sharing my love of getting everywhere around Seattle by bike by demonstrating the many places we can access safely and scenically.
I think it worked!
I hope I have always given the impression that WE ARE ALL CRITICAL LASS. Just because I was the main ride leader of late, doesn’t mean Seattle Critical Lass shouldn’t have many ride leaders. Especially now, it would be wonderful for more help! I’ve handed over the reins (handlebars?) to Morgan Scherer of Familybike Seattle, who has taught more people to ride bikes and led more rides than anyone I know. She’s incredibly cool and knowledgable and I’m so happy she’s game to take this on. Email morgan@familybike.org if you’d like to be involved. You don’t need to be a Cascade Bicycle Club volunteer Ride Leader or a League of American Bicyclists League Cycling Instructor (LCI) (both terrific programs if you’d like an official title, though!), you just need to have the interest and time. Feel free to repeat past rides–there’s a lot in our archives with maps and descriptions–or create something new and convenient for where you’d like to start and/or end up. This last loop may have been a vehicle for my returning a stack of library books to the Ballard Library book drop, ha.
I look forward to visiting Seattle to join a Critical Lass ride and see changes to the bicycling landscape. I still can’t get over the fact that there are two intersecting Neighborhood Greenways in Ballard now! I never thought I’d see the day of things connecting. I’m sure there’s much more to come.