Ibike

If I am only in a place a short time I am a huge fan of taking a city tour you get to see a good portion of the city in a relatively short amount of time. My go to type tour is usually the hop on hop off style but when planning my recent trip to Seattle my friend suggested we try a bike tour. I had never done a bike tour before so I was intrigued but a little nervous about the weather. Looking around at tours the 1^st one I found was rather pricey but she found IBike which was much more reasonable, in addition to being personal and customized. Since she was so gun-​ho on a bike tour I figured why not it’s worth a try and it hopefully it won’t rain, well it did but it really wasn’t that bad. Don’t let the rain discourage you from taking this amazing tour.
We e-​mailed in a few question before we booked, David the owner was very responsive. After finding out we’d be able to use the limited loaner bikes and the half day tour was 4 – 5 hours we booked the half day tour. David set up for appropriate size bikes and helmets to be near our hotel where the tour would begin and Mark our guide for the day meet us in the lobby. He had extra gear for us in case we were under prepared in terms of rain gear and gloves, which we weren’t but it was awesome that he was so prepared and he went over a few options for our route before we set out.
Each tour is customized to your group, we asked to hit up a few spots but basically were looking for a past and current history of Seattle. We started in Pike Place Market were we stopped by Rachel the Pig, than made our way to the waterfront where we unfortunately couldn’t see the Olympic Mountains or Mount Renoir due to the overcast and rainy weather but Mark swore they were there, the day after our tour it had cleared up and we could see them so Mark didn’t lie to us.
We went along the water front area to Pioneer Square. Along the way there were a few stops where we learn about some current issue with the highways and waterways of the city as well as the past and how the city was created, what brought people here, the indigoes people of the area. From Pioneer Square we made our way past the stadium and through the International district to Japan town where we got our 1^st taste of the hills of Seattle on a bike. We opted for the hillier more neighborhood route but the tour can be made with limited hills, my friend and I are both very active and enjoyed the challenge but that’s not for everyone so don’t be discouraged if hills aren’t for you. I’m not that fast and took my time up the hill which wasn’t a problem with Mark at all he was glad to go at any pace.
From there we did make our way down a few busy street and up to the site of the Black Panther House and near the last school Jimi Hendrix attended. From there we stop near the major club area of Seattle learn more about some issue in the city and stop at the newly created Maple Leaf Reservoir Park. Then we made our way through Seattle University, which is no longer Jesuit and has the architecturally famous St Ignatius Church. From there it was on Volunteer Park where there is a nice view of the Space Needle and the Volunteer Park Water Tower although shorter due to being on a hill has the same view point as the Space Needle. We asked if we could go up and Mark was happy to let us but did inform us the tour might go a little over which was fine by us if he didn’t mind.
We got to go through some section of the city that looked like Seattle before it was developed and logged the trees weren’t as old as the original but you go the feel, it was beautiful. Along the way we pass through a variety of neighborhoods and see the various types of housing. Took side roads and paths there no way we would of know of or found on our own. We headed over to the University Of Washington Udub not UW we learned. There was an optional bathroom break at Gas Works Park which had an amazing view of downtown. We went through Fremont where we saw the troll and ended our tour at the Fremont Brewing Company.
Mark was great he knew so much about the city and was a wealth of information. He had extra granola bars which he shared with us midway through the ride. You were able to ask unlimited questions, it was very interactive. At the end he told us he’d email us a map of our route which he did and it was such a cool thing to have. We were also given bike maps to keep and bus schedules to get us back to our hotel. This was one of the best tours I’ve been on and I’ve been on a lot of tours.