A Bike-Tree Grows On Vashon

On Vashon Island, there's an unusual local attraction.

It's an old, red, child's bicycle that's growing out of a tree.

Local residents say somebody must have put it on a branch on a fir tree in the 1950s, and the tree grew up around it.

It's been vandalized a number of times, but one man has been making sure the bike in the tree has its parts.

Jeff Ammon used to own Vashon's only bike shop.

He told KUOW's Lisa Brooks that he's been replacing the handlebars and wheels when they disappear.

“Over the years I have replaced the handlebars two or three – four times – I put a front wheel on it once. I just took over taking care of it,” he said.

He added, “It’s a hard bike to find parts for because it’s a little kid’s bike. It’s a low quality bike.”

He believes the bike is being picked apart by locals.

“It’s one of those things, there’s no signage, unless you know right where it is, you would have a hard time finding it,” he said.

In case you want to find the bike in the tree, it's at Vashon Highway Southwest and Southwest 204th streets, near the north end of the parking lot behind a building called Sound Food.

It's just across the footbridge.