Going by Bike in Tacoma

Today's guest blogger is Tacoma resident Carla Gramlich. Now that she is newly retired, she has more time for biking, photography, traveling, and guest blogging.  All photos by the author.

Since I am going to be out of town for almost a month, I decided to stay closer to town this last weekend.  There were some fun things to do in Tacoma and I was free to participate.  First up, was a Community Garden Bicycle Tour which met up at the Franklin Park Community Garden.  I noticed right away a different dynamic for this group ride--I was the oldest rider!  But that didn’t seem to matter to the rest of the riders and we went off to check out some Community Gardens.

The first garden was built on an old substation lot.  The fencing was recycled and was tall enough to keep out the deer that has been known to appear in this area.  It was a beautiful garden complete with a gazebo on a cement pad that was also a leftover from its former substation days.  A lovely sign over the gate was a welcome addition.

The second garden of the tour was the Orchard and Vine Community Garden and neighbors were having a bake sale to raise funds for the garden.  We were informed that the lot was vacant and unsightly before the transformation with raised boxes of fruits, vegetables and flowers.

We completed our tour with at the Baltimore Retirement Center.  This small garden included raised planting beds that were ADA accessible and volunteers that were excited to shows us art projects that were created by the seniors.  The ride ended up at the Proctor Farmers Market were I enjoyed lunch while listening to a jazz trio.

From the Farmer’s Market, I pedaled to the grand opening of the Tacoma Co-op.  It has taken lots of volunteer and recruiting many members to make this happen but it has finally opened.  It was interesting to hear about all the products that came from the Northwest and many that were from Tacoma.  The central location of the Co-op is a plus for bicyclists or those who prefer transit.  The City is helping with more bicycle parking and I parked at one of the newly installed bike racks.

I completed some errands, visited with some friends and had dinner at the Hub, a local bicycle hangout.  My grand total for mileage was 22 and I enjoyed riding with new and old friends on such a lovely day in Tacoma.