Two minute video summary: https://youtu.be/2fNquOaH03s May is National Bike Month, celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to giving biking a try. Bike to Work Week 2021 will take place May 17-23, 2021 and Bike to Work Day is on Friday, May 21 – next Friday. There are many ways to celebrate Bike Month. Whether you’re riding for fun, fitness or with family, or taking essential trips to work or shop, you are part of the movement for safer streets, connected communities, a healthier planet, and happier people. “Think of bicycles as ridable art that can just about save the world.” — Grant Petersen, bicycle designer. With 68 hikes in the latest edition of Hiking Close to Home, there are many, many places to lose yourself and find yourself in our neighborhoods and nearby parklands. Some of these trails make for wonderful biking opportunities too, to tax and relax our minds and bodies as the trail gives us challenges to meet and play with. Some are just perfect for a gentle pedal or at a fast race on a bike, or a delightful walk, or a roller skate tour or a wheelchair ramble or for pushing a stroller or taking a jog or riding a hoverboard or anything else we can think of that moves our bodies with our own energy. And one trail in particular has all of these opportunities, while connecting a downtown area with two ferry routes, with the transit hub for Fidalgo Island, with the Samish tribal center and dozens of local businesses, all while safe from traffic, hugging the water and even crossing over the bay on a trestle. I am of course referring to the Tommy Thompson Trail in and around Anacortes. It starts (or ends) near the downtown Safeway, and flows south past the boat yards, separated from highway traffic, and out onto the shaded stretch that follows the west shore of Fidalgo Bay, past the Samish conference center and campground, and then east across the trestle to March’s Point and the Skagit/Island Transit bus hub. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of riding from La Conner to the TTT as I call it and back to my home in Anacortes. Other than some highway riding just outside La Conner, I was on a separated path or on quiet roads which eventually led me to the final four miles of the TTT, which took me home. And Maribeth and I have ridden our bikes from downtown Anacortes west to the Guemes Ferry, and also out to the San Juan ferry. Unfortunately, the route to the San Juan ferry is Highway 20, with a shoulder lane for bicycles but still close to the very busy roadway. The Guemes Channel Trail can help solve this dilemma in the near future. We need to finish the connection between the ferry and Anacortes at the boat yards, to allow bicycles to ride safely off the road, along the waterfront like the TTT, and get to and from downtown Anacortes. Eventually the trail could stretch from the east end of Fidalgo Island all the way to its western tip at Washington Park. The dream is there, the plans are in place. We can make it happen. “Bicycles are the indicator species of a community, like shellfish in a bay.” — P. Martin Scott This week I had a grandpa’s joy of helping a granddaughter learn to ride a bike. Words cannot share the release that she felt of achieving the accomplishment and now having the freedom of riding a bike on her own. There’s no stopping her now. We will be looking for safe trails for her. The Tommy Thompson will be one of the first we will try. - jack (The photos are in the video.) Directions: In Anacortes, you can park at the Cap Sante Marina or at Anthony's Restaurant across from Safeway, or where 34th Street crosses the trail near the water. There is a small parking lot at Fidalgo Bay RV for trail users. You can also park at the March's Point Park and Ride and then hike or bike the 3/4 mile to the beginning of the trestle.
Transit Access: from the March's Point Park and Ride, as mentioned above, or Skagit Transit bus 410 into Anacortes, stopping at the 10th and Q bus stop. Accessibility: the trail is paved the entire four miles except for the trestle, which is partly wooden deck boards and partly composite deck boards. It is level or nearly level the entire way, about ten feet wide, with scenery to enjoy for nearly every minute on the trail. There are a handful of street crossings at the north end of the trail; only one once you go south from 34th Street, at the RV resort.
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Maribeth Crandell has been a hiking guide in the Pacific NW for over 20 years. She's lived on Whidbey and Fidalgo Island for decades. As a frequent bus rider she easily makes connections between trails and transit. Archives by date
April 2024
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