If you’ve always wanted to take a trip to Vashon Island to see the famous bike in a tree but just don’t care enough to pay the $18 ferry fare, worry not. There’s a much closer—albeit less romantic—local substitute. Not much is known about the bike before its life as a seabird perch but a few clues may narrow down the search for its installer.
Here’s what we know: The bike is a Sears Tote-Cycle and is actually fairly old; probably from the ‘60s. The Tote-Cycle was one of the precursors to today’s foldable bikes. Technically it doesn’t fold, but it does break into two pieces for easier carrying and storage. The triangular flanges in the center are what made it easy to mount to the piling.
Going by date-stamped photos of the area, the bike was evidently put up sometime in 2014. The only other clue is a now faded and flaking sticker just below the handlebars that reads “Caravansary”. So if anyone out there knows a classical sort of traveller with boat and a penchant for small vintage bikes, you might have an opportunity to bring resolution to an intriguing local mystery.
Update:
Since publishing this story, we’ve found the artists involved in the bike’s installation and learned a couple interesting things. You can read a little bit about that in the followup piece on the other red bike further up Ruston Way. The other important thing to note is that in late 2024, the pilings around Dickman Mill Park were removed, including the ones that held the original bike.
The pilings were treated with toxic creosote and had been slated for removal since 2023 as part of a plan from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The Dickman Mill pilings were among the most polluting but as far as we know, there is no immediate plan to remove other pilings along Ruston Way.
We helped get Metro Parks Tacoma in touch with the artists so the bike could be safely removed and relocated. As of January 2025, the bike is being refurbished and will be reinstalled at a new site, yet to be determined.
Photos by Sierra Hartman.
