I did an actual head count of 225 by 8:30, including a Poor Saps (who hoped to get an iPad without a reservation) Line of more than 100. Apple told me more than 700 Pads had been reserved at U Village, and by the time doors opened there were about half that waiting. The line didn’t quit once doors opened, and at 10 a.m. there were still more than 300 folks waiting.

When you got to the door an Applette took your name and checked your reservation, then handed you off to your personal Apple dude, who helpfully guided you to the accessories shelves, where I got a cover with flap that doubles as an upright iPad stand. Very nice, especially for typing. Then he took my cc number and we chatted a bit — no hurry which was great — and I was on my own. I hung around a bit shooting video and soaking up the vibe, then headed on my bike for Herkimer in the U District and a wi-fi connection.

Funny scene. Of course the minute I get the Pad box out I’ve got a crowd around me. “Ladies and gentlemen,” one guy announces, “there’s an iPad in the house!!!” So I have to hurry thru the reg procedure (done via iTunes) and then pass the thing around. “I could just run off with this thing,” one guy joked. “Yeah and you’d have 10 guys on your tail!” another said.

There was so much commotion the head waitress called out from behind the counter, “I’m sorry sir, you’re going to have to leave.” Everyone was getting into the spirit.

Then to my astonishment up walks Jeff Reifman, the guy who broke the Microsoft tax dodge story and continues great journalism on his blog in pursuit of the Redmond tax cheat. “Now I know why you didn’t answer my emails!” he jokes. Of course he wants to play with the thing too (Jeff’s a Mac ace who’s getting his Pad delivered later today). So we chat awhile, he shows me his newspaper app for Facebook which really rocks, and we agree to get together soon.

Then my iPhone rings and it’s my wife Cecile asking where I am. When I tell her she says “Can you PLEASE come home now? I want to see it!!!”

So my dreaded “spousal elective” scenario starts forming whereby Cecile loves the Pad so much she “appropriates” it. This is what happened with the iPhone. She liked it so much I had to get another one for myself.

Not to be scammed once again, my plan is simply to let her use it all she wants and then get the 3G for myself. At the end of the month when they become available. After standing in line another 2 hours. Aaaaaaarrrggghhhh!! I love it!!

UPDATE: After I arrived home I saw the UPS truck delivering iPads in the hood. “It’s fun,” the driver said, “I can hear people literally running to the door when I ring.”

He said UPS delivered crateloads of iPads to the U Village store earlier that morning. “The one you got was probably hot off the plane,” he said. I hope not. Even for a company as precise as Apple, that’s cutting things a bit close.

Obviously the answer is no. Otherwise we would have voted for George Bush, an avid and by most accounts fairly adept mountain biker. The problem was, as much as he loved to ride, Bush did virtually nothing to promote, promulgate or even support cycling while he was in office. In some cases he was outright anti-mountain biking, as when he tried to railroad through drilling rights in Moab’s majestic outlands.

It’s been one of fate’s cruelest twists that all our adult life we wished for a mountain biking president, and when we finally got one, it was George W. Bush.

That said, in the case of Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn, we think cyclists voting for a cyclist makes eminently good sense. McGinn is not only a committed rider, he’s a cyclist with a track record of civic commitment, an progressive with an acute understanding of how cities work, and a leader with a vision for a better Seattle.

The case for McGinn is even easier given the utter fecklessness of his rival, Joe Mallahan. Mallahan has not only shown no interest in Seattle governance previous to this race, he has a voting record spotty as an August windshield. We’d rather vote for the nearest sock puppet than Mallahan. Come to think of it, there isn’t much difference between the two.

Kind of lost in the election shuffle this year, because he’s pretty popular and has only token opposition, is bike commuter and incumbent city council member Richard Conlin. I’ve been at civic events where Richard shows up on his bike, wearing biking togs, and delivers his speech/performs his duties as though he were in pinstripes and tie. I like that about him, because it helps to normalize the image of a cyclist as an executive and dignitary. In other words, a helmet and shorts can be just as much of a statement as blazer and slacks.

Although not the cycling fiends that McGinn and Conlin are, Mike O’Brien for Seattle city council and Dow Constantine for King County executive also have proven supportive of bike causes. Like McGinn, they’re endorsed by Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club.

We’re excited to have cycling proponents like these running for office in Seattle/King County. The prospect of having elected leaders who not only understand and appreciate bikes but will go out of their way to further cycling causes is a luxury we’ve never had in Seattle, nor in few U.S. communities anywhere outside of Davis CA and Portland OR. If these guys get elected, get ready to rock ‘n roll … especially roll!

SeattleLikesBikes likes McGinn. Unlikes Mallahan.

Jeff Reifman rips Mallahan a new one (also see Jeff’s amazing report on Microsoft’s $1 billion Washington State tax dodge).