The official "1st Ride" for West Seattle Spokespeople wasn't a group of public speakers. This was an eclectic assembly of people brought together by Sustainable West Seattle co-founder Bill Reiswig and Alki Bike and Board owner Stu Hennesey to learn more about bicycle transportation. Both Reiswig and Hennessey are long time bicycle commuters.

A small but hardy group of 8 people gathered at Alki Bike and Board at 2606 California Ave. S.W. on Sunday May 2 at 10:00 AM to ride six miles, largely parallel to California Avenue but along back streets, down to the the Morgan Junction with a stop at the West Seattle Farmer's Market in the Alaska Junction.

"There's actually a growing group of rides like this," said Hennessey, "and the whole idea of the ride is that it doesn't require super athletic status and racing type mentalities. It's to show people who are a little timid about using a bike in the car world, how to use a bike, how to choose a route, how to recognize obstacles, how to get around without having the conflicts that sometimes occur with the big metal machines."
The rides happen once a month on the first Sundays of the month, year round. The number of riders varies. While Sustainable West Seattle, and Alki Bike and Board are sponsors, "Cascade Bicycle Club is our overall sponsor," Hennessey said. They are on the web at Cascade.org.

People who have taken rides like this say they enjoy the chance to get out and exercise and enjoy riding in a group which makes them feel safer as well. "But they also feel as if they've learned something about how to use their bike in a next level use, like commuting," Hennessey explained.

The speed is generally between 8 and 13 miles per hour.

The bikes that this group rode ranged from Bill Bacon's classic 1949 Raleigh tours bike with customized wooden fenders and leather hand grips, "A state of the art bike in its' day," said Bacon, to John Reardon's handmade Bamboo and carbon fiber bike made at Bamboo Bike Studio in Brooklyn, New York. "The frame just goes together in one day," Reardon said, "and I brought it back here to bolt the components on" It's held together with carbon fiber tape and epoxy resin.