Good grief, we're so close to opening customers are already trying to get around the construction fence out front! I'd like to thank all of our wonderful Seattle customers for waiting so patiently while we've been putting this beautiful new space together. While you might miss the “underground” ambiance of the old warehouse space, or the hilarious – if sometimes disturbing – antics of the regulars down at the boat launch, you'll have a wonderful time in the new shop. With a near-perfect double short americano in hand, I've already had some wonderfully relaxing mornings watching the increasingly large volume of bicycle traffic up and down Ballard Avenue in front of our gigantic glass front. In a few days, you'll be able to check out the new models from Linus or Civia – and of course Workcycles – out front, or take your coffee and wander towards the other end of the shop to take a look at some of the cool new parts and accessories populating all this new wall space.

So thanks again for waiting for us, Seattle, and in just a few days we'll be back in action; ready to tune your bikes, satisfy your practical bike cravings, and get you all wired on some great coffee.

If you've talked with any of us here at Dutch Bike in the past year, you've probably heard us talk about “the move.” While we're staying in the same area, we're moving the Seattle shop onto historic Ballard Avenue: the main street of one of Seattle's most interesting and vibrant neighborhoods. Ballard Ave perfectly balances the nightlife, boutiques, and restaurants we enjoy with the hardware, sheet metal, machining, and other light industrial businesses that keeps the neighborhood lively and living. Of course, because we could never forget our roots down by the boat launch in “scenic industrial Ballard,” we feel right at home in a building between a machine shop and 58 year old Ballard Hardware and Supply.

The building into which we're moving was for the first part of the century home to Kolstrand Manufacturing Co., a famous name in the Northwest marine industry. The Graham-Baba designed rebuild has maintained the old brick shell with even the remnants of the original “Kolstrand Mfg. Co.” paint intact while creating a polished and eminently usable retail and restaurant space inside.

Our designer and builder – David Lipe of 16D – has similarly reused much of the original wood and materials in the interior construction, including some beautiful and humorous touches that you'll just have to drop by to experience. Inside the shop we've also commissioned a mural by Ed Fotheringham, our friend responsible for our “flower girl” and “keg mover” posters.

In addition to Alex – the newest addition to the bike shop – we've got several great baristas (baristi for the language purists) warming up for the cafe component of the new shop. Your eyes do not deceive: the new Dutch Bike Seattle shop will be Seattle's first fully implemented bicycle cafe! We'll be brewing excellent and powerful coffee from local roaster Lighthouse, starting at six AM so you can start even your earliest morning rides with a bang. David has been updating the Flickr stream with the array of delicious snacks Julie has been designing for the shop, and the pictures will make you hungrier than anything I could write here. You'll also find made-to-order sandwiches, pastries from lauded local bakery Macrina, and some tasty – and surprisingly filling – cookies.

The finishing touches are going on the construction as I write this, and our grand opening is still on schedule for July 24^th. We'll be fully operational- tuning, repairing, upgrading, renting, and of course selling bicycles, and rolling out an expanded array of interesting accessories. With two expert mechanics our turnaround time for tune-ups and other in-depth maintenance will be close to the same you'd expect from your coffee orders. In fact, if you're ordering anything more complicated than an americano while you get your flat fixed, maybe we'll race you!

On a recent Saturday night, our friend Rick was pedaling home from a night out in Ballard back to his fishing boat at Seattle's Fisherman Terminal when he found himself off the docks and plunged into the dark waters. Not a great way to end a night.

Luckily he was packing Schwalbe Fat Frank tires on his Rivendell and was able to swim out and locate his bike floating upside down by her cream tires. A few months ago Rick equipped his Rivendell with Schwalbe Fat Franks tires, the cream balloon racers. If you've never had the pleasure of cruising on these marshmallows over brutal winter streets you may want to consider it. Cheers to Schwalbe for making tires that save our bikes from swimming with the fishes.

The February 12th Greendrinks event will be hosted by Second Use Building materials at 7953 2nd Ave S.

January Greendrinks will be hosted by BabyLegs and held at Maya Whole Health Studio, 701 N 36th St in Fremont. For logistical questions regarding the January Greendrinks, call 206.734.4000. Event stars at 5:30 PM.

StreetFilms subtitle is "Filming the New York City Streets Renaissance". StreetFilms work is expanding around the globe, documenting the re-humanization of city streets everywhere. Their most recent blog post documents the livable streets initiatives going on in Bogotá, Colombia. The above video is a 30 minute love-fest for for Portland's bike and pedestrian-friendly city and the leaders who made it so. It also reminded me to post a link to the November 5th, NY Times article In Portland, Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels.

December's Greendrinks is being hosted downtown at the PR firm Porter Novelli's offices in the Dexter Horton building, at 710 2nd Ave, Suite 1200.

EcoTuesday is happening here in Seattle: Tuesday evening, Nov 27th at the Karma Lounge in Belltown. Register for the event here.

"EcoTuesday is a forum to network, collaborate, and engage with environmental and socially responsible business leaders."

OK, this is old news, but worth highlighting. The Seattle Times' Mike Lindblom reports on Seattle's Master Bike Plan.