How bikes, politics and protest converged on Seattle’s uphill ride to the top
interview by Cathy Carroll
Despite Seattle’s rain, hills and a carfirst culture, the city is now celebrated as the nation’s top bike town. In Biking Uphill in the Rain: The Story of Seattle from Behind the Handlebars, finalist for a 2024 Washington State Book Award, independent journalist Tom Fucoloro uncovers how cycling became a force for culture, politics and protest—and what that means for its future.
How has the bicycle intersected with social change in Seattle?
Bicycling has meant wildly different things in Seattle society at different times. When the bicycle first arrived in 1879, it was the hottest hobby for well-to-do residents and politically powerful men. In 1907, UPS started in downtown Seattle as a bicycle messenger service.
In the 1960s and ’70s, biking was bipartisan in Washington. It was seen across party lines as patriotic to conserve gasoline for the good of the nation. Republicans and Democrats competed to improve bicycling conditions.
We had a Republican mayoral candidate campaigning at Bicycle Sunday on Lake Washington Boulevard, a Democratic mayor building the first bike lanes, a Republican King County executive and governor supporting the Burke-Gilman Trail and a Democratic U.S. Senator leading mass group bike rides through downtown Seattle.
In the 1990s, bicycles became tools for protest and creative expression through the leaderless Critical Mass rides and the Fremont Solstice painted bike ride. In the 2020s, folks have used bikes to support protests as a flexible traffic control and safety crew. Seattle keeps changing, but one constant is that people are always using their bikes to achieve something bigger.
What turning points in Seattle cycling continue to influence the city?
The first Bicycle Sunday in 1968 was a big moment. Some community members proposed closing part of Lake Washington Boulevard to cars for a few hours of biking. The city expected a few hundred people, but 5,000 to 10,000 people showed up. City agencies saw the interest, and riders organized to make biking easier and safer. The Cascade Bicycle Club formed as well as the group that pushed to build the Burke-Gilman Trail, which set federal policy precedents for others across the nation.
After the 2009 election of bike-riding mayor Mike McGinn, the city experienced an intense “bikelash”—with folks accusing the city of waging a “war on cars” and organizing to stop bike lanes.
But in 2011, three people died in separate crashes within a couple months. Those deaths so close together triggered something within Seattle’s heart. Their stories showed they weren’t waging a “war”—they were just trying to get home. Even some media outlets that were often critical of the mayor were calling for safer streets.
The city convened agencies and advocates, leading to a plan to eliminate traffic deaths and injuries (now called Vision Zero). People have fought bike lane projects since, and sometimes won, but the city has made extraordinary progress on building a connected and protected bike network since that terrible summer.
What are the biggest opportunities—and challenges—for biking in Seattle?
Seattle has a 20-year transportation plan, and voters in 2024 chose to fund it at an unprecedented level. The city has the means and support to improve safety, connect walking and biking routes, and make transit faster and more reliable. However, we still need our mayor and City Council to uphold these plans and keep them on schedule. They also need to push the Seattle Department of Transportation to tackle safety and mobility challenges without easy, low-cost solutions, such as Rainier Avenue South. It will not be easy to reach Vision Zero by 2030, the city’s goal, but I believe we can do it if leaders push hard.
