I was just in Seattle visiting family last week and I was amazed at the number of cyclists everywhere! How lucky that you live in a bike friendly city! As a strictly rural rider (so far), riding on those busy streets with traffic seems terrifying...but terrifying in a good way. I'd love to ditch my car but it's really not practical where I live. I also noticed your hills. We were staying up in the Fremont area near the zoo...wow, loads of hills!!! With loads of cyclists riding them!

Enjoy riding and good luck deciding on the new bike!