Organizers for the 2007 Breakaway to the Beach MS150 bicycle tour are changing the route for the first time in 12 years.

The Breakaway -- touted as the largest bicycling event in the Southeast with 2,500 riders -- ended tragically last year when 15-year-old Rachel Giblin and her brother, Tommy, were struck by a passing pickup truck pulling a trailer. Rachel died.

Instead of taking a two-day route from Columbia to North Myrtle Beach, this year the Breakaway to the Beach starts, overnights and finishes at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The fund-raiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society is scheduled for Sept. 15-16.

Anne Marie Forbes, president of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, told me about the change of plans ...   more »

Newspapers in California are beginning to pick up on the proposed legislation that would require motorists to give bicycles three feet of space when they drive past.

A story, "Cyclists like push for safety in bill" (that unfortunately quotes just one cyclist), printed by several MediaNews newspapers around the state reports that the same opponents to an earlier version of the bill that was defeated last April are lining up again.

From what I read, here's the major argument posed by the opponents: ...   more »

Looks like the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin might be searching for a new executive director.

The Wisconsin bicycle advocacy group's executive committee has removed Darwin Ward, executive director since the fall of 2002, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. No explanation was given for the removal.

Members were surprised by the action and some were disturbed by the way it happened....   more »

Bicyclists and motorcyclists have more in common than just their desire to tool around on two wheels. Along with pedestrians, both types of bikers are extremely vulnerable to mistakes motorists make.

The American Motorcycle Association has taken a leading role in pushing for traffic justice through state capitols across the nation. When the League of American Bicyclists meets in Washington DC for its annual National Bike Summit March 13-16, representatives from the motorcycle association will be on hand to discuss their efforts.

The motorcycle group's Justice for All Campaign focuses on inadequate sentencing of drivers who injure or kill others on the road. They seek 3 changes in state laws ...   more »

UPDATED: Jan. 16 -- South Carolina police said Monday that no charges will be filed in the bicycling death of Rachel Giblin, a 15-year-old girl who was struck by a pickup truck during a MS 150 bike ride last September.

Rachel and her brother, Tommy, were riding a tandem bicycle in the Breakaway to the Beach fund-raiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on Sept. 16, 2006, with their parents.

In the months following the fatality, Highway Patrol investigators determined that Rachel and her brother fell and were hit as the pickup truck passed.

Rachel's parents dispute that version and want the case reopened. ...   more »

Bicycle advocates in California and Texas are lobbying for state laws that would require passing vehicles to give at least 3 feet of clearance when passing bicycles.

Efforts to pass 3-foot legislation have failed in both states before.

The California bill, entitled AB 60, was introduced by Assemblyman Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara in memory of a cyclist killed by a passing truck on a narrow road. The Texas bill has yet to be filed. If the bills pass, the two states would join seven others that currently have similar laws ...   more »

Where is it that a main thoroughfare has stop signs, but private driveways have none? At car crossings for the Burke-Gilman trail in Lake Forest Park near Seattle.

For years, bicyclists on the heavily used paved trail have had to stop at numerous driveways and minor street crossings that access waterfront properties on Lake Washington. At times, police have even issued tickets to cyclists who didn't come to a full stop.

Now that Lake Forest Park has upheld this law in Ordinance 951, the Cascade Bicycle Club is appealing that decision ...   more »