To start with, I offer my deepest apologies to any motorists, bicyclists, or pedestrians who may have been disturbed by my research this morning, and thank everyone whose image I captured. I spent the morning working on how to take pictures and ride my bike at the same time, while ostensibly doing some thesis research. Every Tuesday morning (weather permitting), I plan to document more of Seattle’s bicycling network, and started today off with a quick stop by Greenlake followed by a trip down the Burke-Gilman Trail from Brooklyn Ave. (U District) to its western terminus in Ballard.

My photography started off stationary:



Then progressed to some trials while moving. This was definitely the most dangerous part of the research, when I was still getting comfortable handling the camera in motion:


And I finally became confident enough to steer with one hand, snap with the other, and even look through the viewfinder and frame the shot most of the time:


The resulting 256 images are going to be a lot of fun to go through, label, process, and analyze! Preliminary thoughts follow…

_The ground graphics are the easiest to see…. When they are well maintained.
_I finally found out what the Wall of Death is all about! Just got introduced to the Cheshiahud Loop though.
_Speaking of the Cheshiahud Loop, those new signs use quite small type, and very complex little pictograms. Several times I saw that I had passed a sign I had not been able to read, and swung around to see what it was all about.
_Bollards. They’re interesting. I’m not sure what will happen there, but I think something will.
_Why does a bike trail crossing look exactly like a pedestrian crosswalk?
_Totally missed the exit for 34th Ave in Fremont. And I was looking for it.
_There’s a whole lot of graffiti in Ballard, and the signage is not holding up well to it.
_What were those red and white striped frames in the Fremont/Ballard interstitial area? They might have been on to something there…

Next week’s plan: The Lake Union Cheshiahud Loop. I want to see the rest of those signs, and how the Fairview/Valley/Westlake intersection area has shaped up.