Yesterday Washington Bike Law took the afternoon off to go for a bike ride in honor of John’s birthday. I (Bob) ended up in the rear most of the way. But, in defense, Dave’s family bike has an electric assist and, Mister Fifty– John– is a bike racer, not just a bike commuter. Anyway, if you are not the lead dog, the view is always the same. Something like this:
We went, on John’s request, to see an enormous yacht apparently owned by some Russian vodka billionaire. John was inspired, I think, but he ended up getting a bit smaller vessel for his birthday– and, sorry for him, one without a landing pad for a helicopter or a crew of 50– a single kayak.
We rode by a dangerous sewer grate that I had noticed before, but could not remember the location.
Thankfully, as we age, we have smart phones to record what we forget:
So this dangerous grate is not the worse I’ve seen… that would be this arm-breaker:
The grate we saw yesterday is actually in a bike lane. How is it that SDOT has not replaced it? Let’s let them know, shall we? But how? SDOT has a pothole reporting form, but no obvious way to report a dangerous condition that it affirmatively created.
Cascade’s Bikewise has a form for hazards… let’s try it. Hmmm… I must have forgotten my password. Reset… No email helping me yet. I hope this danger does not continue… Can anyone else report this?
One possible outcome of such a grate is a flat tire. That would be the least of someone’s worries, but that is what happened to me on our ride (though not because of the grate).
Thankfully, a tow truck took my bike in and, by the time I walked to the bike shop, it was ready to roll. About that tow truck… watch it in action here: tow truck