If you haven’t left yet – we have a report from the road that while it’s cloudy, it’s dry! There are two “commute stations” in White Center for Bike to Work Day 2012 – Caffé Delia on 16th and Dubsea Coffee on 8th. Full Tilt Ice Cream’s ice-cream bike is part of the festivities at nearby CD. We’ve got a crew out for photos and will add them later. Bicyclists are welcome to stop by till 9 am.

ADDED 8:19 AM: Adding photos – top, if you don’t recognize him out of uniform, it’s Storefront Deputy BJ Myers, with Full Tilt’s Justin and Caffé Delia’s Matt and Delia. Next, a bicycling family that stopped at Caffé D – Alicia, Tom, and daughter Trixie:

More Bike to Work Day info can be found on the Cascade Bicycle Club‘s website.

… Seven kids got their bikes worked on. At least one had *major* issues, and we failed on parts ($3 brake pad, anyone?), but the bikes were all running when our mechanics were done. When clients could pump tires themselves, it expedited the work mechanics could do. Paul, a regular food bank volunteer, worked steadily on many bikes that day, even sustaining an injury in the line of duty. One of the DubSea clients, an acupuncturist, quickly stepped in to provide healing. Brian, aka DJ GoBriGo, brought smooth tunes and a can-do attitude. Aaron, a late arrival, was not fazed by the fact that we had 3 mechanics and only 2 stands – he produced a device designed to suspend a bike from a door frame and quickly got up to speed. Sixteen people total signed up but two got turned away due to time. One guy, a former auto mechanic, raided the West Seattle Tool Library’s Bike Tool Kit for allen wrenches and did the work himself.

Thanks to our awesome mechanics who worked wonders and to all who just came by to give moral support. And thanks to the White Center Food Bank for supporting our mission to promote safe cycling in White Center! We collected 6 cans for the food bank. One client brought a case of water bottles and offered them to all. That parking lot takes up half of a dead-end street and backs up against the trails of Lakewood Park. When the weather is good, it is a lot of space to spread out in. Executive Director Rick Jump confided that it would be a great location for a Food Truck Roundup, with proceeds going to the Food Bank, of course. It made us wonder what else could happen in that open White Center space while bikes are getting some love?

Look for DubSea Bikes at Cambodian New Year, Saturday, April 28th, 10:30 am – 5pm, on SW 98th Street at a table sponsored by Noise w/o Sound. In 1 month we’ll be greeting AM cycle commuters at Dubsea Coffee *and * Caffè Delia on Bike To Work Day, Friday, May 18th and celebrating their return to the neighborhood with a massive Afterparty at Proletariat Pizza.

5:50 AM: The now-famous White Center bike racks are spotlighted in that King County TV video (along with storefront Sheriff’s Deputy BJ Myers) published online a few days ago. But they aren’t the only evidence of the push toward a biking boom in WC and vicinity. DubSea Bikes is in action again today – this time at White Center Food Bank HQ, 10829 8th SW, 2-4 pm. As per the announcement on DubSea Bikes’ new Facebook page – which you can “like” by going here – it’s all about “providing free minor bike repair to White Center families. Fixing flats, chain lube and brake repair are some of the services offered by our volunteer mechanics. More extensive repairs may be referred to some of the fine bike shops in West Seattle or Burien.”

ADDED 3:30 PM: We dropped by in the first hour of DubSea Bikes – photo added above.

Look out, White Center! On February 11th, 2012, Feet First will be distributing 1000 free Neighborhoods on Foot White Center walking maps door-to-door throughout the community. The maps have been known to increase foot traffic in business districts, build understanding of walking and transit routes, bolster neighborhood identity, and raise awareness of vital community resources.

White Center Free Map Distribution
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm

If you do not receive a map and would like one, please contact Feet First by calling 206-652-2310 ext. 5 to have one mailed directly to you. This distribution is made possible by community partners Seattle Works, King County Parks and Recreation, and the White Center Community Development Association.

Please come to our planning meeting for DubSea Bikes at noon this Thursday, February 2nd, at Caffe Delia, 9622 16th Ave SW (in Proletariat Pizza). We’ll be talking about our four-month run at Full Tilt Ice Cream, looking forward to a partnership with the White Center Food Bank, and planning events in the Spring & Summer.

P.S. It’s already on our calendar, but another reminder, WC Food Bank is where you’ll find the next DubSea Bikes “bring yours to get it fixed up and on the road” event, 2-4 pm February 12th.

While King County Metro Transit bus routes remain on snow routing through the end of Friday, the agency hopes to begin returning to normal operations over the weekend.

People riding the bus Saturday and Sunday should check the Metro website before traveling, and do not expect all routes to return to regular service at the same time. Some parts of the county are still dealing with slushy and tree-covered roads, and snow routes or detours for the buses may be necessary for a few days in those areas.

It continues to be very important for Metro customers to watch for updated information online or through Transit Alerts.

Metro uses an online color-coded map to keep riders informed of the status of its bus service during storms. All bus routes are assigned into one or more of seven geographic areas within King County. When there is snow or ice on the roads, the service status of each area will be color coded and displayed on the online map.

Green indicates buses are operating on normal routes; yellow that some – but not all – routes in the area are on snow routes; and red tells you that all bus routes in the entire geographic area are on snow routing.

People can also call the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Due to the volume of calls, there may be longer-than-normal waits on the phone.

Once again, Metro would like to thank its customer for their patience in dealing with service disruptions and delays caused by this week’s series of storms.

Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation plan to repair a hand rail this week on First Avenue (South) and Olson Place [map]. They will close the right lane of both streets at this location from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on January 11, 12 and 13. This work is subject to change in the event they are called to respond to an emergency at another location.

As mentioned earlier – today was another edition of Dubsea Bikes. We were in downtown WC checking out something else (story to come) and caught Stu Hennessey on camera just as things were getting under way. No rain, mild temperature, so a great day for 2-wheeling.