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Community celebrates Halloween through bike riding

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Community members participate in the fifth annual Bike-O-Ween bike ride Saturday, Oct. 29. // Photo by Jessie Mulrine
Bicyclists in dinosaur costumes, wigs and masks pedaled through downtown Bellingham with a chorus of ringing bells. The Hub Community Bike Shop on State Street hosted its fifth annual Bike-O-Ween bike ride and party Saturday, Oct. 29. A crowd of approximately 30 people participated in the bike ride. Participants flew along the streets of Railroad, Holly and Champion. Maritime Heritage Park, trails and fish hatcheries were also spots bike riders traveled to. The grand finale of the ride was taking on the roundabout on State Street, circling several times with cheers and bells, blocking traffic for several turns. “The first year was cool,” Kyle Morris, founder of the Hub, said. “I had a couple of musicians and I pedaled one on the back on my cargo bike, and my friend had a rickshaw and he pedaled one or two musicians. So they played music as we rode through town.” Morris estimates that routes were between three and five miles. After the ride, a grill typically gets fired up for a fried chicken feed, but this year food served included grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

“You can dig through parts forever,” Lazenby said. “I’ve been here when all kinds of weird stuff comes in. I was here once when a pedal boat came in that had been converted to be used on pavement.”

Western alumnus Oliver Lazenby
The event was born out of heartbreak, Morris said. After a break up with an old partner, Morris knew he needed to get out of his funk. “And so often when that happens for me, I just come up with some grand idea that’s a painful amount of work in the future,” Morris said. Kether Scharff-Gray and Phoebe Waahl were a couple of this year’s participants, it being the first year for Waahl while Gray has attended each one. Gray has built both of her bikes at The Hub as well.
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Community members gather inside The Hub Community Bike Shop on State Street Saturday, Oct. 29. // Photo by Jessie Mulrine
“I think it lived up to my expectations,” Waahl said. “I was expecting a bunch of wild folks in costumes, biking and hollering, and that’s what I got.” Waahl’s favorite part of the ride was when all the drivers got mad at the roundabout. “I was like, ‘this is what it’s like not to be [in] a car.’ And they’re in power, so they’re mad because their power is being taken away,” Waahl said. “I was proud of us at that moment, I felt we could conquer the world on bikes.” Western alumnus Oliver Lazenby participated in the event for his second time this year.   Lazenby likes to come to the the Hub mainly to maintain his bike since it is open to the public. He also enjoys coming to the Hub to look at all the pictures, postcards and art on the walls, Lazenby said. “You can dig through parts forever,” Lazenby said. “I’ve been here when all kinds of weird stuff comes in. I was here once when a pedal boat came in that had been converted to be used on pavement.” There has never been a bad moment at Bike-O-Ween, only good stuff, Lazenby said.

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