Today's "daily outrage" comes from Australia, where several cyclists in a pack of 50 slammed into the back of a car after the driver passed the group then stopped abruptly.
The hit-and-run driver later called a talk show to give his version.
Among those in the bunch cycling in Sydney were Olympic cyclists Ben Kersten, Michelle Ferris, Matthew White, Kevin Nichols and daughter Kate Nichols, who was injured in the 2005 car vs. bicycle crash in Germany that claimed the life of Amy Gillett and injured other members of the Australian cycling team ... more»
From about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 10 weekend days this spring and summer, city crews will close off a four-mile section of Lake Washington Boulevard between Mount Baker Beach and Seward Park to vehicular traffic.
This makes for a flat, winding ride along a two-lane, lakeside road that is ideal for families. It's also a portion of road to throw in for a longer weekend ride. There's also a two-mile loop around Seward Park, which juts into Lake Washington... more»
Once again, you'll be able to bring live action from the 2008 Giro d'Italia right to your home or office computer with video streaming or text updates.
The Versus cable network is offering a live video feed from the bike race across Italy via Cycling.tv. The $29.99 offer includes the live feed and daily highlights, as well as this year's Milan-San Remo and Tirreno Adriatico. Sign up at the Versus-Cycling.tv Giro package site.
The one catch is that the offer doesn't include any Sunday stages, as they will be televised by Versus on cable during Cyclysm Sundays. Dates and times for Giro coverage on Cyclysm Sundays: 4 p.m. May 11, May 18 and May 25 and 3 p.m. on June 1 (all times are ET.... more»
Rumors about the excellent bicycle touring opportunities in my big back yard, the Pacific Northwest, will be confirmed by the latest set of maps published by the Adventure Cycling Association.
The Washington Parks bicycle route is an 870-mile double loop within easy access from Seattle. One loop takes in the Olympic Peninsula in the west. The other climbs over and around the soaring Cascades in the east.
The routes take in three national parks -- Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and North Cascade -- along with wild ocean views, tranquil islands, steep mountain passes, and orchards and vineyards. ... more»
Although it's only May, George Hincapie says he'll defend his title in the upcoming Tour of Missouri scheduled Sept. 8-14.
Hincapie won the inaugural Missouri stage bike race last year as a member of the Discovery Channel pro cycling team. He's now a member of Team High Road, officially registered in San Luis Obispo, California.
Hincapie recently finished the Tour of Georgia, where High Road teammate Kanstantin Sivtsov won the race with a decisive attack on Brasstown Bald .... more»
The Baseball Hall of Fame has a home in Cooperstown, and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is based in Cleveland. What about cycling?
The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame is currently housed in a temporary space in Somerville, New Jersey. The directors are seeking a new home for the hall after its original location of some 20 years was sold for redevelopment.
The Hall displays bicycles, jerseys, photos, trophies and other memorabilia of more than 100 years of US cycling history. It also celebrates the sport of cycling by inducting Hall of Famers every year and coordinating annual bike races ... more»
Read Gillian's personal message in comments below...
Touring bicyclists who benefitted from Gillian Hoggard's hospitality on the hot, dry plains of eastern Colorado in recent years are paying her back.
After a wildfire swept across her home and property last month and destroyed everything in its path, a "reforestation fund" has been set up and at least one work party is heading to her land near Ordway.
It's heartening to see touring cyclists come together to lend a hand to someone whose efforts on their behalf earned her the "Trail Angel" award from Adventure Cycling Association... more»
In spite of an early prohibition, Giro d'Italia organizers are allowing the Astana pro cycling team into the three-week race that begins Saturday in Palermo.
That means US cyclist Levi Leipheimer will race in the Italian classic, along with teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour de France last year. (No word on whether the Tour de France chiefs may change their position on Astana.)
Only three of the 22 teams are sending US cyclists to the Giro this year; most of the US riders are members of the Slipstream team. In addition to Leipheimer, other US competitors are Jason McCartney of Team CSC and Jonathan Patrick McCarty, Danny Pate, Christian VandeVelde and David Zabriskie, all of Slipstream... more»
One of the most compelling on-the-road bike journals has rolled to a halt as Nevada photographer Rick Gunn completed his around the world bicycle trek this past weekend.
The Tahoe Daily Tribune has set some of his many photos to a slideshow, left, and music that it published online today.
The 44-year-old photographer started his journey at the Golden Gate Bridge in July 2005, returning 34 months later. Along the way he covered 25,811 miles on his 90-pound loaded bicycle, visited 33 countries, and camped out more than 800 times ... more»
Ron W has posted more than 280 photos of fully loaded touring bikes "at work" that have been submitted by their proud owners. The bikes are identified -- everything from the Seven Vacanza to the Surly Long Haul Trucker -- and you can see how they're packed.
Now he's added the FLT Gallery Profiles Page that features examples of the photographic work of touring cyclists and links to their websites. It's about more than the bike. It's about where the bike can take you .... more»
Bicycling along the Cedar River Trail between Renton and Maple Valley, I often pass this old two-story building across the road that's home to a compost and landscape material business.
It's the biggest and most imposing structure in the suburbs that are sprawling into the rural area between the two towns, and I always thought that it was the former site of a school, or a county jail or something.
When I took the time to ask at the Renton History Museum a few weeks ago, I learned it's another remnant of the once-lucrative coal mining industry that drove commerce in the hills east of Seattle ... more»
A 1952-vintage Schwinn bicycle that carried Donald Deer and his family all around Evansville for a half-century was stolen from outside a McDonald's recently.
While that Schwinn might be a museum piece for some, it was just a way to get around town for Deer, 64.
The local newspaper tells how Deer won the bicycle as a fourth grader by penning the winning fire safety slogan (Fire prevention week is OK, but let's make it a practice every day)... more»
Two outstanding communities for bicycling on the Olympic Peninsula -- Bainbridge Island and Port Townsend -- have been named among the 11 new Bicycle Friendly communities by the League of American Bicyclists.
The others are Colorado Springs and Durango, Colorado, and Minneapolis, Minnesota (all silver level), and Arcata, California, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlottesville, Virginia, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Oxford, Mississippi, and Sitka, Alaska (bronze).
Seattle cyclists are familiar with Bainbridge Island for hosting February's Chilly Hilly bike ride, above, when more than 4,000 bicycle riders take the ferry and jam up a 33-mile loop around the island.
Port Townsend, also a ferry stop on the Olympic Peninsula, is a destination for bike touring enthusiasts who enjoy stress-free rural roads. ... more»
If you're a bicycle commuter, or would like to be, May is certainly your month.
Communities across the US are sponsoring bike-to-work activities in May to urge people out of their cars and onto their bikes. In many places that support evaporates quickly, but by then it's hoped that commuters have been inspired to ride their bikes regularly.
Many month-long bike commuter contests begin today. Other dates to remember are National Bike Week from May 12 - 16, and Bike to Work Day on May 16 (other dates in some locales). Check the League of American Bicyclists Bike Month Events page for local listings.
Five dads are pedaling out of Lansing, Michigan, this August to begin a five-day, 758-mile bicycle tour to Washington DC.
That might not be an epic bike ride, but these guys who will be riding 150 miles a day aren't exactly ultra-athletes. And they'll be tackling some challenging terrain as they pass through Pennsylvania.
The five are undertaking the Equal Parenting Bike Trek to call attention to the need for children to have equal time with both parents, who are willing and fit, after a divorce. They maintain that parents also have the right for equal time with their children ... more»
The Cascade Bicycle Club is rallying support to preserve a future abandoned rail bed as a main link for off-road bicycle travel through Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland.
In a scheme that gets more complicated as time goes on, the Port of Seattle plans to buy the 42-mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad right-of-way for future use as a commuter corridor with rail and a hike-bike trail. The devil is in the details, though, as the Port wants the rail line to have priority over the trail, while King County wants the uses "coequal."
Cascade warns that the Port's position leaves the possibility of a trail in doubt.
"However, the Port of Seattle and the King County Council’s latest plan would give the Port of Seattle veto authority over a future trail, and subordinates trail construction to any “transportation use” – which does not include bicycle commuters on a trail." ... more»
Portland has become the first large US city to achieve the Platinum-level as a Bicycle Friendly Community, following only Davis, California, with the designation. The announcement was made Tuesday by the League of American Bicyclists.
Congratulations go to a wide group of activists, politicians, bureaucrats and even the local bike blogger who kept their eyes on the prize in recent years and helped push bicycling into the mainstream of the city's transportation and culture.
Let's hope it gives bicycling enthusiasts elsewhere the incentive to do the work to get their cities added to the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities that currently stands at 72 ... more»
If you filed a 2007 tax return, and I hope you did, you'll be receiving an economic stimulus tax rebate one of these days soon. Consider bicycling when you're thinking about ways to spend that money.
The rebates are $600 for an individual, $1,200 for a couple and an additional $300 per child.
The economists are worried that people will use the rebates to offset the higher costs of gasoline, thus benefitting the oil companies. We know that nothing sticks it to Big Oil like riding a bicycle.
If you don't want to put that check into savings, I came up with a few ideas on spending it on your bike:
1. Take a fully loaded bicycle tour. If you have the proper gear, you can roll right down the driveway and be on your way ... more»
The 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race certainly didn't follow any script.
It was full of surprises. Among them:
1. Fifty-one US cyclists rode in the 120-man peloton.
--Not one US cyclist won a stage. Not one US cyclist wore the yellow jersey. (Jason McCartney of CSC did win KOM.)
Interestingly, when Slipstream-Chipotle -- a team with 8 US cyclists -- won the Stage 4 Team Time Trial, it was Australian Trent Lowe who crossed the finish line first. That's how he ended up in the yellow jersey after the next stage.
2. The peloton hosted two former Tour de Georgia champions and many veteran contenders, including the winners of February's Tour of California and last fall's Tour of Missouri.
-- It was 25-year-old Kanstantin Sivtsov, right, from Belarus who made the decisive move on Brasstown Bald on Saturday. He passed 23-year-old Trent Lowe and 10-year cycling pro Levi Leipheimer to capture the stage and eventually the Tour.
3. Team High Road dominated the Tour, with three stage wins and four yellow jerseys.
-- If you had told me that before the race, I would have expected South Carolina's George Hincapie to be wearing the yellow jersey ... more»
That bike-sharing rental program called SmartBike DC is set to start next month in the nation's capital with 120 bicycles available at 10 spots around the city.
Operated by the Clear Channel outdoor advertising company, it's the first such project in the US and will be similar to other advertising-based bike rental programs in Paris, Lyon, Rennes and Barcelona, Spain. London is expected to get on board by 2010.
San Francisco will host a SmartBike program in the future, and Clear Channel is negotiating in Chicago and Portland ... more»
I committed a real "Dewey Defeats Truman" blunder at Biking Bis on Saturday when I named Trent Lowe at the overall leader of the Tour de Georgia following the Brasstown Bald stage.
It was Kanstantin Sivtsov (Belarus) of Team High Road who actually captured the overall lead after powering ahead of Trent Lowe and Levi Leipheimer in the final yards on the mountain.
I had listened to and watched the video stream of the end of the final stage, rushed to file a story on the results, then logged off for the day as I undertook to catch up on my one-person parenting duties while my wife is out of town. Big mistake.... more»
In spite of what appears to be an Australian invasion controlling the Tour de Georgia after Friday's stage, the US favorites have climbed in the standings for a battle on Brasstown Bald on Saturday.
Aussie Richard England, right, riding for the Bissell cycling team, challenged and beat countryman Rory Sutherland (HealthNet) in a sprint to the Stage 5 finish line in Dahlonega on Friday.
Meanwhile, Slipstream's Trent Lowe, also from Australia, donned the yellow jersey although he's in a tie with two teammates. Lowe finished first in Slipstream's winning team time trial on Thursday, so he gets the honor of wearing the yellow ... more»
Here's another way Bolivia's Highway of Death gets its name:
On Thursday, a Toyota Land Cruiser packed with 12 passengers plus a driver plowed into a group of bicyclists on a Downhill Madness bike tour who had just set out on their journey down the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway.
Twenty-two-year-old cyclist Tom Austin of the UK was killed in the collision. The SUV then rolled 300 feet down an embankment, killing eight more people inside. Two bicyclists and five people in the SUV were injured .... more»
This is a hit-and-run driver story with a happy ending; at least the bicyclist victim is alive to talk about it.
I wrote about this case back in February, shortly after a motorist hit the Fircrest, Washington, bicyclist, dragged her and her bicycle to the side of the road, then drove off and disappeared into the morning twilight.
The Slipstream-Chipotle team used its horsepower to win the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta on Thursday, Stage 4 of the 2008 Tour de Georgia.
Greg Henderson held onto the yellow jersey, however, in spite of his Team High Road's 3rd place finish, less than 4 seconds behind. Astana finished in 2nd place, about 2 seconds behind. Team CSC finished 4th.
The win by Slipstream helps to set up former Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson in a good position ... more»
"Outside" magazine sent out a newsletter recently naming 15 century bike rides (listed below) around the US this spring and summer for enthusiasts to train for and ride.
Interestingly, it didn't label them "The Best," the "Most Difficult," the "Most Scenic," or the "Best Provisioned." It just directed us to choose one of these rides and start training. OK. Will do.
Three of the rides are on the Pacific Coast. If you're interested in bike rides in the Pacific Time Zone, I've listed 97 rides for California, 69 in Washington and 30 in Oregon on the BikingBis monthly bike calendar pages ... more»
Performance is recalling three models of resistance bicycle trainers because springs can become unattached and fly through the air. There are 3 reports of malfunctions, but no injuries.
All three are folding stands that can be attached to the rear wheel of a bicycle. The models are: Travel Trac Inertial (catalog 40-3834), Travel Trac Force I-Wireless (40-3833) and Travel Trac Millennium ... more»
In just one race stage, the 2008 Tour de Georgia is all about Greg Henderson of the High Road team.
The 31-year-old sprint and track specialist from New Zealand won the broken field sprint in Gainesville on Wednesday afternoon to take Stage 3. With yellow jersey holder Ivan Dominguez finishing far back, Henderson also took the over race lead.
And with intermediate and finish line sprint points building up for the past three stages, Henderson also took the lead in the points classification... more»
In spite of logging thousands of bicycle touring miles in my life, I've never owned a strictly production touring bicycle. I've taken whatever bike I had at the time and modified it for carrying gear over the long haul -- sometimes more successfully than others.
That's why the article about choosing a touring bicycle in Adventure Cyclist's April issue was so interesting for me. Technical editor John Schubert gives an excellent primer on what to look for in a touring bike, then reviews some of the top contenders in several price ranges.
Adventure Cycling Association, the magazine's publisher, has posted the story -- "Buying a touring bike in 2008"-- online so you can check it out.... more»
You could probably guess that if Argentine sprinter J.J. Haedo was signed up for the Tour de Georgia, he wouldn't be quiet for long.
We heard from the Team CSC speedster at the close of Stage 2 on Tuesday, when he missed a crash on the final turn in Augusta and passed an isolated Ivan Dominguez to capture his sixth win of the season.
Monday's winner Dominguez (Toyota-United) hung on to finish in third place, after Team High Road's Greg Henderson, and retain the yellow jersey for another day as overall race leader ... more»
Earth Day is a good time to write about what some people are doing to save the planet.
Consider David Kroodsma. Last fall he finished a three-year, 21,000-mile bicycle tour throughout Latin America and across the US to spread the word about global warming and possible solutions to the crisis.
Now he working with this September's Climate Ride 2008, billed as the first multi-day bike ride to raise money and awareness for climate change and renewable energy legislation.
Participants in the bike tour will ride 320 miles from New York City to Washington DC over five days -- Sept. 20-25. Experts will talk with cyclists and community residents along the way about the science, policies and solutions for global warming ... more»
A 56-year-old U.S. tourist is the latest person to die on the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway -- judged the world's most dangerous highway -- in the mountains near La Paz, Bolivia.
Kenneth Mitchell was on one-day excursion with outfitter Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking when he tumbled off his rented mountain bike and fell to his death down a 200-foot cliff.
That outfitter is one of more than a dozen companies that carry customers to the high Andean plains of the La Cumbre at 15,400 feet and guide them along the winding 30-mile dirt road into the jungle 11,800 feet below... more»
As cyclists strapped on their cleats to tackle Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, a former winner of that race was lacing up his running shoes to participate in the 2008 Boston Marathon.
Lance Armstrong, running in his third marathon, finished the fabled race in an unofficial time of 2:50:58. The 7-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor was running to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Cuban cyclist Ivan Dominguez won Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia in a bunch sprint on Monday.
While Rock Racing, High Road and Gerolsteiner battled for position at the front of the peloton, the "Cuban Missile" slipped past their sprinters and rocketed across the finish line.
Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson and Gerolsteiner's Robert Forster finished second and third on the 70-mile stage from Tybee Island to Savannah... more»
Tragedy struck the Sea Otter Classic when an experienced mountain biker and component designer crashed and died during a downhill run on Saturday.
The man was identified by authorities as Mark Reynolds, 48, of San Jose. He was owner and product developer for Wicked Racin, a company that makes bike components for downhill, black diamond and free ride specialists.
According to reports, Reynolds failed to negotiate a narrow wooden bridge and struck a dirt embankment shortly after noon on Saturday. It was reported that he suffered head and neck injuries and was airlifted to Natividad Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death this week. ... more»
At least once a month, I test my conditioning by pedaling up to the top of Cougar Mountain. It's a 5-mile ride from my home, and my goal one day is to reach it in 25 minutes.
About three-quarters of the way up, across the entrance to the Cougar Mountain Regional Park, I pass an open field where there's an old, mossy concrete wall that has a tree growing out of it.
I was surprised to learn a few months ago that this is the ruins of a hotel built about 100 years ago in an area once heavily populated by workers in the coal mine industry... more»
Here's a video report from Japan about an automated bicycle parking garage in Tokyo that can hold 9,400 bicycles.
The facility is located at the Kasai metro station and aims to solve the problem of finding a location to park a lot of bicycles in a small area.
The video isn't translated, but it appears that after you swipe a card, your bicycle is automatically whisked away and stored. When you return, swipe your card again, and the robot retrieves your bike and delivers it in 22 seconds ... more»
There are 54 mountain peaks surpassing 14,000 feet elevation in Colorado, and Andy Henrichs plans to bike to each and every one of them this summer then trudge to the summit.
The athletic trainer for Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale is setting out on the quest to raise money for World Bicycle Relief's Project Zambia. He hopes to raise enough money to supply two bikes to the project each peak he climbs.
At Henrichs' website, where he's accepting donations for World Bicycle Relief, Henrichs estimates the journey will involve bicycling some 1,400 miles on his Xtracycle-equipped mountain bike and hiking over 350 miles. He expects the trek to take 52 days; that's like 1 summit a day ... more»
Tomorrow marks the beginning of
In spite of an early prohibition, Giro d'Italia organizers are allowing the Astana pro cycling team into the three-week race that begins Saturday in Palermo.
Bicycling along the Cedar River Trail between Renton and Maple Valley, I often pass this old two-story building across the road that's home to a compost and landscape material business.
Communities across the US are sponsoring bike-to-work activities in May to urge people out of their cars and onto their bikes. In many places that support evaporates quickly, but by then it's hoped that commuters have been inspired to ride their bikes regularly.
Five dads are pedaling out of Lansing, Michigan, this August to begin a five-day, 758-mile bicycle tour to Washington DC. 
The Cascade Bicycle Club is rallying support to preserve a future abandoned rail bed as a main link for off-road bicycle travel through Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland.
Portland has become the first large US city to achieve the Platinum-level as a Bicycle Friendly Community, following only Davis, California, with the designation. The announcement was made Tuesday by the League of American Bicyclists.
If you filed a 2007 tax return, and I hope you did, you'll be receiving an economic stimulus tax rebate one of these days soon. Consider bicycling when you're thinking about ways to spend that money.
The 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race certainly didn't follow any script. 
2. The peloton hosted two former Tour de Georgia champions and many veteran contenders, including the winners of February's Tour of California and last fall's Tour of Missouri.
That bike-sharing rental program called SmartBike DC is set to start next month in the nation's capital with 120 bicycles available at 10 spots around the city.
In spite of what appears to be an Australian invasion controlling the Tour de Georgia after Friday's stage, the US favorites have climbed in the standings for a battle on Brasstown Bald on Saturday.
The Slipstream-Chipotle team used its horsepower to win the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta on Thursday, Stage 4 of the 
"Outside" magazine sent out a newsletter recently naming 15 century bike rides (listed below) around the US this spring and summer for enthusiasts to train for and ride.
In just one race stage, the 2008 Tour de Georgia is all about Greg Henderson of the High Road team.
You could probably guess that if Argentine sprinter J.J. Haedo was signed up for the Tour de Georgia, he wouldn't be quiet for long.
A 56-year-old U.S. tourist is the latest person to die on the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway -- judged the world's most dangerous highway -- in the mountains near La Paz, Bolivia.
As cyclists strapped on their cleats to tackle Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, a former winner of that race was lacing up his running shoes to participate in the 2008 Boston Marathon.
Cuban cyclist Ivan Dominguez won Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia in a bunch sprint on Monday.
At least once a month, I test my conditioning by pedaling up to the top of Cougar Mountain. It's a 5-mile ride from my home, and my goal one day is to reach it in 25 minutes.
There are 54 mountain peaks surpassing 14,000 feet elevation in Colorado, and Andy Henrichs plans to bike to each and every one of them this summer then trudge to the summit.
