Intro

If it were my first, rather than my 500 and somethingth Point83 ride, what would I think?  

I’d notice, at first, that it was mostly all dudes and most of them were older than I might have expected.  This one guy, for instance, was clearly pushing 70 and even the younger ones looked like their 20s were well in the rearview mirror.

There would be a shirtless guy who wore his watch on his arm, and a guy with a kind of summer mullet and tight shorts; one dude would have an electric tallbike, that would be pretty cool, and he wouldn’t seem too badly hurt when he crashed coming out of the parking garage.

That would be something new, by the way: climbing ten circular stories to the top of a downtown parking garage.  The spectacular view of Elliot Bay and the entire industrial core of Seattle, including to the north, the newly-renovated pier and Aquarium alongside the lit-up big wheel at sunset would be a first; I’d probably never had had the opportunity to share a beer with someone ten stories up outside like that, either.

And while I may have navigated Pioneer Square before, this would be the first time I’d done it in a group with such little regard for “sidewalk closed” signs and traffic lights; crossing the Jose Rizal bridge my not have been novel, although I probably never would have enjoyed such long shadows doing so and admired both stadiums lit up so brightly before.

I would never have taken the route to Jefferson Park from the Beacon Hill Red Apple through the alleyways before, and I surely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to stand around a little one-pallet fire in the park for so long; even to those more experienced than me, the cheery blaze really seemed to linger.

I probably wouldn’t have stayed to the end; Irish goodbyes always in order.

Would I come back?  

Same time next week.