Here's some good news for the bicycling weekend road warriors of King County.

The new bridge on S.E. May Valley Road is finished and the road is open at least three days ahead of schedule.

The creek crossing on the lightly-traveled rural road between Newcastle and Issaquah has been closed since June 21 for a bridge replacement project. I just passed there Friday afternoon (Aug. 27) and the bridge was open ....   more »

After I noticed this past weekend that Renton had lowered speed limits on the Cedar River Trail to 10 mph and imposed a $101 fine [see Monday's article], I contacted the Cascade Bicycle Club to see if they had an opinion about the city's action.

Here's the response from David Hiller, advocacy director for the Seattle-based bike club:

"We find Renton’s response to be unsound and grossly disproportionate. Though we promptly reached out to staff at the city following the tragic circumstances that led a pedestrian to die from a collision, none of our guidance was taken and, with the exception of one phone call from an apologetic staffer, the promised coordination never materialized.

"We continue to discuss mounting a full scale campaign to get Renton to reverse the course it has taken ....   more »

The City of Renton has lowered the speed limit for bicycles to 10 mph on most of the Cedar River Trail. Bicyclists must dismount on the remaining sections. [See maps below]

Violation of the speed limit carries a $101 fine, according to signs posted on the path.

The Cedar River Trail is a rail-trail that runs from the mouth of Lake Washington to Landsburg, a distance of about 17 miles. The restrictions of bicycle riders target only the western 4.5 miles of the trail in Renton.

The measures are a reaction to the death of an 83-year-old woman this spring after she stepped in front of a moving bicycle about a quarter-mile from where the trail passes under I-405.

Both the woman and the 57-year-old bicyclist fell to the ground and were knocked unconcious, according to news reports. The cyclist recovered at the scene, but the woman later died of her injuries at the hospital.

No charges were ever filed in that case. Renton's mayor and city council set about limiting or restricting bicycle use on the multi-use trail at its next meeting   more »

My quest to ride by bicycle down all of King County's historic roads led me to a scenic stretch of pavement last week that I've pedaled along more than once.

What I hadn't realized is that West Snoqualmie River Road dates back to among the earliest byways in the hills and valleys between Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains and hasn't changed that much over the years.

The "Dan Henrys" painted on the pavement for the Tour de Peaks and other rides attest to this lightly traveled roads' popularity among bicyclists. It's flat, winding, and passes organic vegetable farms, horse farms as well as dazzling fields of flowers grown for market ....   more »

A high school junior is organizing a charity bicycle ride for this Saturday up in Blaine on the Canadian border to raise funds for a family whose daughter is undergoing treatment for leukemia.

Olivia Sellinger pitched in to help when she heard that Jessica Walters, her 3-year-old neighbor, had been diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone marrow. Sellinger used to babysit for Jessica.

When she heard that Jessica was undergoing chemotherapy at Children's Hospital in Seattle, Sellinger began raising money to help offset the family's medical bills and launched plans for the "Ride for the Warrior Princess" bike ride ...   more »

We all know that Seattle is one of the top bicycling cities in the US, usually ranked near the top with the likes of Portland, Boulder and Minneapolis on the lists for "best 10 cities for bicyclists."

But how do Seattle's neighboring cities rank?

The Cascade Bicycle Club set out to determine that and published its results in a six-page publication -- Puget Sound Bicycle Scorecard -- released this week.

The top city was Kirkland, followed closely by Redmond and Renton. Bringing up the bottom of the list were Federal Way and Shoreline. ....   more »

A portion of the Cedar River Trail just east of Renton will be closed for repairs Aug. 16 - Sept. 3 as work crews repair damage to the levee from last year's storms.

The section to be closed starts at 154 Place SE and extends to 175 Avenue SE. That's essentially from the undercrossing just east of Ron Regis Park to the Riverbend Mobile & RV Park.

King County says the trail will be closed 24 hours a day and there will be no flagged reroute during construction.

To bypass the trail, bicyclists ....   more »

It's too early to sign up for next year's STP, but it isn't too early to plan for the 200-mile bike ride.

The Cascade Bicycle Club released the dates for next year's Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic -- July 9 and 10, 2011.

As with all the Cascade bike rides next year, registration for members opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4. Registration for nonmembers opens Feb. 1.

If history is any indication ....   more »

It's been a while since I've written about my monthly bicycling mileage totals, but July represents a good all-around biking month for me.

My monthly "tale of the tape" was a common topic of this blog back in 2008 when I was shooting for a 4,000-mile year; I finally achieved it by plowing my bike through the snow on the last day of the year.

With no goal in mind for 2009, I bicycled 2,496 miles. So far in 2010, I've covered 2,046 miles on either my road bike or mountain bike.

I don't have a hard and fast goal set for 2010, except for one objective: Stay ahead of Barry ....   more »

At least one of the 1,000 cyclists who rode in the Seattle Century on Saturday is all smiles after crossing Lake Washington on the I-90 bridge bike trail.

This was the last leg of the ride for the cyclists who headed from Seattle and into the eastside hills to the spectacular Snoqualmie Falls. The ride ended at Magnuson Park with ...   more »

Hundreds of cyclists dressed up in their favorite costumes and rode their bikes in the Tour de Fat bike parade around Seattle's Fremont neighborhood on Saturday.

The parade is the opening event in the day-long bike festival presented for the past three years here by New Belgium Brewery, for Fort Collins, Colorado.

After returning to the home base at Gas ...   more »

For the Seattle bicycling community, the arrival of Tour de Fat is something like the circus coming to town.

The festival at Gas Works Park on Saturday is just one of the bicycling events in the Seattle area this weekend. Others include the return of the Seattle Century and a bike collection drive in West Seattle for the Village Bicycle Project.

This is the third visit to Seattle by Tour de Fat, a celebration of the bicycle put on by New Belgium Brewery, the makers of Fat Tire beer.

As always, the festival starts with a parade of decorated bicycles around the Fremont neighborhood .....   more »

www.flickr.com

Some 10,000 bicyclists took to the streets in Seattle on Saturday morning for the 31st annual Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic.

The popularity of this one- or two-day bike ride along 200 miles of scenic roads to Portland is growing every year. Although ridership has been capped at 10,000 for several years, registrations sold out in mid April. That's 2 1/2 months earlier than in 2009.

As you can see from these photos, the ride is not reserved for standard two-wheeled bicycles. There are recumbent bikes and trikes, handcycles, cargo bikes ....   more »

The 10,000 cyclists making the 200-mile ride from Seattle to Portland this weekend will face light clouds changing to sunny weather the whole way. Look for highs in the mid 70s on Saturday, rising to the low 80s in Portland on Sunday.

At the risk of jinxing the ride for everyone, I'll tell you there's no chance for precipitation in the forecast. You can leave that rain gear at home.

This weekend marks the 31st anniversary of the STP Bicycle Classic, the Cascade Bicycle Club's premier presentation of the year. Popularity of the ride is so high that it sold out in April this year, earlier than ever.

Cascade has made a last-minute route change on the approach to Portland this year. Instead of taking the St. John's  Bridge, cyclists will be routed over the Steel Bridge. ...   more »

If you like riding your bicycle along scenic S.E. May Valley Road between Newcastle and Issaquah, Washington, then I've got horrible news for you.

The road will be blocked to bicycles and motor vehicles through the end of August at a small bridge that the county is replacing just east of the intersection with State Route 900.

Bicyclists will either have to head north over the pass between Squak and Cougar mountains, or south to East 4th Street in the Renton Highlands. Both routes have higher traffic volumes and a lot more hills than the pleasant ride past the farms and horse ranches along May Creek.

To be honest, I probably ride this route at least 25 times a year and I never really noticed the bridge just east of State Route 900. Built in 1950, it's a short culvert-like affair over a portion of the creek that is so overgrown...    more »

More than 900 members of the LiveStrong army took to the streets in Seattle and the hilly Eastside on Sunday to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

It was the second year in a row that the charity bike ride visited Seattle to raise funds.

Many participants wore the LiveStrong, Mellow Johnny or Fat Cyclist jerseys and seemed reluctant to cover them up with rain gear as a steady drizzle fell on the course.

All the bicycle riders started at the Seattle Center near the Space Needle on Sunday morning and took off on rides of 10, 45, 70 or 100 miles ....   more »

For a bike snob, that Eben Weiss is certainly one popular guy.

About 130 fans of his BikeSnobNYC blog showed up at University Book Store in Seattle on Saturday afternoon to hear him speak and to get autographs of his recently released book.

Weiss is making a tour of the western states to promote the book "Bike Snob, Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling."

It's a good thing that Weiss bikes regularly, because he needs his stamina. He had just flown in, with his bike, from San Jose where he participated in an event called "Bike Party" that lasted far into the night ....   more »

Scores of painted bicyclists made the ultimate sacrifice for their art on Saturday when they bared their skin for the brush and spray-can at the Fremont Solstice Parade.

Although the parade celebrates the coming of summer, the temperatures hovered in the upper 50s and a windy drizzle swept off the Puget Sound.

In such conditions, even two coats of body paint won't keep a person warm.

More than a hundred cyclists participated in the parade this year, in spite of the chilly weather. The painted cyclists have been a fixture at the parade hosted by the Fremont Arts Council .....   more »

Update: June 17, 2010 -- The days of waiting until the last minute to sign up for Cascade Bicycle Club events -- such as the 2010 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic -- are over.

STP sold out in April, 3 months before the July 17-18 bike ride. The club caps registrations at 10,000.

The Cascade blog reports it will reopen a brief late registration beginning at 9 a.m. June 22. Because of the interest in riding and the number of registrations available, Cascade expects the late registrations will sell out within minutes. Repeat, minutes.

Here are the instructions offered by Cascade for the best opportunity to acquire one of these last-chance registrations ....   more »

Naked bicycle riders, bike snob devotees and the Livestrong Army converge on Seattle this weekend for bike parades, book signings and a massive anti-cancer charity bike ride.

Partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 60s or 70s Temperatures in the low 60s with a high chance of precipitation will greet bicyclists this weekend. The warmish forecast must be appreciated by the Painted Cyclists at the Fremont Solstice Parade on Saturday.

The cyclists covered in paint -- and little else -- are a long-standing highlight of the parade sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council. Although most people attending the parade expect to see cyclists enjoying a ride without clothing, organizers caution the cyclists to show a little discretion ...   more »

This can be a busy weekend for two-wheeled, human-powered adventurers in Washington state.

At least six recreational bike rides (four in Puget Sound region), a couple of bike races in Seattle and clear weather Saturday and only 40% chance of rain on Sunday.

A new bike ride launching Saturday is the LifeCycle Bremerton, a fund-raiser for the American Red Cross. The West Sound Cycling Club, which has plenty of experience putting on first-rate bike rides ...   more »

Six bicyclists injured a few years ago on the newly laid South Lake Union Trolley (S.L.U.T.) tracks are suing Seattle.

The Seattle Times reports that the lawsuit claims that the city was warned about the unsafe conditions before the December 2007 opening of the trolley line, but it went ahead with its plans anyway.

The tracks were installed in a groove in the pavement that can catch narrow road-bike tires and flip a bike. Dozens of cyclists fell victim to the tracks.

Since the opening of the 1.3-mile trolley line, the city has installed warning signs ...   more »

Started talking to this guy about the weather and his RSVP jersey along the Burke-Gilman on Tuesday and discovered that he was taking a very special bike ride.

His name is Bill Glaeser and his 70th birthday is Wednesday. Thanks to Tuesday's break in the chilly "liquid sunshine" that's been inundating the Seattle area the past week or so, he chose to celebrate his birthday with a 70-mile ride a day early. He's been taking such a ride for the past four years.

I've read about people doing this over the years, so I started my own tradition by riding 60 miles on my birthday back in January. An old college friend who lives in Portland saw what I did, and so knocked out his own birthday ride this spring.

It's a ride that's just going to get longer every year, and I hope I'm up to it at Bill's age.

That jersey, by the way, is from the 2005 .....   more »

With rain threatening and temperatures hovering in the low 40s, the 2010 Bike to Work Day in the Seattle area on Friday was a real test of road warrior commitment for bike commuters.

The tally at the Bellevue Commuter Station, one of 44 set up by the Cascade Bicycle Club throughout the Puget Sound region, was off compared to previous years. Early indications show numbers were down throughout the region.

Still, a steady stream of good-natured bicyclists making the commute over the Lake Washington bridges between Bellevue and Seattle stopped to pick up water bottles, energy bars and other hand-outs. For many, rain and cold mean nothing when bicycling to work.

Based on the rate of cyclists passing through early on...   more »

The Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic sold out earlier than ever this year -- on April 16 -- catching off guard some folks who wanted to make the 200-mile ride.

The Cascade Bicycle Club has announced two ways that interested bicyclists can earn a spot in the July 17-18 event. One takes extra money. The other takes some extra time.

The club announced Wednesday that it's putting 10 registrations up for auction on eBay ....   more »

For the third year in a row, the League of American Bicyclists has ranked Washington state at the top of its list of Bicycle Friendly States.

That's quite an honor for bicycle advocates and state officials in the Emerald State, which has led the list ever since it was conceived in 2008.

Wisconsin and Maine follow in 2nd and 3rd place, according to the rankings announced Wednesday. Oregon dropped for the first time from 4th to 5th, supplanted by Minnesota.

Alabama held a firm grip on last place for the second year in a row. Other bottom feeders were New Mexico (46), West Virginia (47), Montana (48) and North Dakota (49). ......   more »

A couple of question and answer sessions regarding Seattle bicycling in general and a bike lane project in Bellevue are on tap this week.

The Stranger online website is hosting a Bike Q&A at Questionland in response to Bike to Work Week. The panel of experts includes reps from Mobius Cycle, Cascade Bicycle Club (David Hiller), and Bike Works (Qamuuqin Maxwell) and bike advocate Bryan McClellan.

Some of the questions they've tackled so far ...   more »

In spite of objections from some users, a east-west street in Seattle will be undergoing a road diet this summer.

Seattle's bike-riding mayor, Michael McGinn, said the re-striping of West Nickerson Street should encourage bicycling and walking and slow down speeding motorists.

Currently the mile-long section of Nickerson between Warren Avenue and 13th Avenue West is a four-lane street with on-street parking. It will be reduced to two traffic lanes in each direction with a center turn lane. A bicycle lane will be added on up uphill portions, and sharrows on the downhill portions. The on-street curb parking will remain.

It's similar to street rechannelizations ....   more »

A section of the Sammamish River Trail in Redmond will be closed until Friday, May 14, while work crews repair a 200-foot section.

Access by bicycle riders and walkers will be shut down between Northeast Marymoor Way (the western access to the park) and Leary Way.

King County suggests that bicyclists find alternate access to the section of trail north of Leary Way as there's no detour through the work area.....   more »

As I paused at this quiet spot to shoot this red brick road near Redmond the other day, I had a hard time believing that this was a section of the transcontinental Yellowstone Trail highway back in the early 1900s.

At one-time it buzzed with automobiles heading back and forth across the Northern Tier states. People traveled it for business and pleasure.

Today it's a 1-mile-long connector between the busy Redmond-Fall City Road (Route 202) and Union Hill Road on the outskirts of Redmond. A historical marker notes that it's the longest remaining brick road in King County.

Now renamed 196th Avenue NE, the present alignment of Mattson Road ....   more »

May is 2010 National Bike Month and advocates want to put more bicyclists on the streets than ever before, especially during Bike to Work Week, May 17-21, and Bike to Work Day, May 21.

In the Puget Sound region, that means preparatory classes and get-togethers about bicycle commuting, contest challenges, and post-event parties and presentation celebrations.

The Cascade Bicycle Club's goal is to surpass last year's record 24,000 bike commuters in the region.

To check on what's happening in cities around the US, check the League of American Bicyclists' state-by-state event calendar for National Bike Month. Bike to Work events planned in Washington state: ..   more »

An elderly woman has died after she was struck this past weekend by a passing bicyclist on the Cedar River Trail in Renton.

News sources report that the 83-year-old woman was walking on the path about 4:45 p.m. Sunday about a 1/4-mile from the Interstate 405 overpass when she stepped out in front of the bicyclist, 57, who was passing her on the left.

Both were knocked to the ground and lost consciousness. The cyclist came to and was treated for minor injuries by EMTs; the woman was rushed to the hospital where she died Monday morning ...   more »

When I first stumbled across King County's Historic and Scenic Corridors Project online, I made up my mind to ride my bicycle along all 12 routes this year.

Researching a ride I did late last week along the Old Sunset Highway toward Snoqualmie Pass, I'm discovering that I frequently ride my bike along parts of a historic automobile route that date back nearly 100 years.

The Sunset Highway was the evocative name given to a road that connected Seattle with the Idaho border via Snoqualmie Pass in 1915. The Sunset road name survives in some sections of streets and highways that I've been riding for years in Renton and Issaquah without knowing the route's early history. .....   more »

A Benton County (WA) Superior Court judge sentenced a man to 5 years and 3 months in prison for vehicular assault after he struck a woman on a charity bike ride last year.

The 32-year-old man apologized to the victim, who was not in court, then told the judge that he believed the crash "was an accident" and "I feel bad about this whole situation."

Although the judge agreed with the word "accident" in terms that the man didn't intend to run into the cyclist, he pointed out on Friday that the driver was under the influence of a stimulant and the crash shouldn't have happened ......   more »

Seattle might be a gold level bicycle friendly city on one list and ranked 4th best in the nation on another, but bicyclists and the city are having a devil of a time getting a major bike trail completed.

Bicyclists using the 27-mile-long Burke-Gilman Trail to commute to work or college or to run errands must deal with a 1 1/2-mile gap in the trail known as the "missing link."

... On Friday, a judge ruled on the latest tactic to delay the trail completion -- a lawsuit filed by area businesses. The superior court judge ruled against the businesses on all but one count, the need for an environmental report....    more »

Three cities in the Pacific Northwest landed among the top five of Bicycling Magazine's list of Top 50 Bike-Friendly cities, but Minneapolis took the Number 1 spot.

In spite of winter conditions that many wouldn't consider conducive to bicycling, Minneapolis got the nod because of its active bicycle culture and the doubling of bike commuters in just a 3-year-period.

Rounding out the Top 5 are Portland, Oregon (#2), Boulder, Colorado (#3), Seattle (#4, at left) and Eugene, Oregon (#5).

The region also ranked high among cities under 100,000 population. The top 5 are Davis, California (#1), Corvallis, Oregon (#2), Bellingham, Washington (#3) ...   more »

I have a bad habit of riding the same old routes on my bicycle, so I'm always trying to keep things fresh by looking for new roads. Scenic is good; points of interest or historic landmarks are a bonus.

That's why I was happy to stumble across the recently published Historic and Scenic Corridors Project of King County. Although not a bicycling map book, it contains a treasure trove of new roads to explore by bicycle.

The first ride I set out on did not disappoint. The Issaquah-Fall City Road described in the booklet, also published online, put me on a 5-mile route that has changed little from the early days of settlement when it was used as a wagon road by farmers before the arrival of the railroad to the region.

Originally seen as only a trace on early maps, it was officially established in 1883 ....   more »

Did you buy a bicycle off Seattle's Craiglist recently from a guy who advertised "Road Bikes Galore!"?

You shouldn't be surprised that there's a very good chance the bike was stolen.

The latest stolen bicycle caper comes from a 10-by-10-foot storage unit in Seattle's Lake City neighborhood filled "floor to ceiling" with bikes and bike parts. Two suspects in the case apparently lived in the storage unit.

It doesn't rival the Toronto crime spree that scored nearly 3,000 bikes, but it's amazing by local standards ......   more »

When I first started riding a bicycle as an adult back in the late 1970s in Maryland, one of the first things I did was to buy a guidebook of bicycle rides in the region that encompassed Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Looking back, I think I primarily needed that book because I really didn't know what made a good or bad bicycle route. That sounds funny now, but I didn't have a sixth sense about finding good roads for bicycling.

There's been such a guidebook of bike rides available for western Washington for a few years now. It's written by ardent local bicyclist and author Bill Thorness. He shares his wisdom gleaned from 20 years of bicycling in "Biking Puget Sound: 50 rides from Olympia to the San Juans."

Although I'm long past needing to know what makes a good bike route, I'll have to admit that my ride choices tend to get stale. .....   more »

The World Champion artistic cyclists from Germany were among the featured attractions at the 21st annual Seattle Bicycle Expo, but the new digs for the show at the spacious Smith Cove Cruise Terminal was definitely a huge drawing card.

It seems that whenever the Cascade Bicycle Club moves its expo to larger quarters, the number of exhibitors and visitors fill the space to capacity.

That appeared to be the case on Saturday, as the same interest in bicycling that drew record numbers to the Chilly Hilly bike ride two weeks ago, also prompted bicycling enthusiasts of all stripes -- racers, tourers, commuters, recreational riders .....   more »

Long ago but in not so far away Idaho, Joe Kurmaskie got the nickname Metal Cowboy from a blind rancher.

Since then he's traveled near and far by bicycle, reporting his adventures through a series of humorous books, lectures and magazine articles.

His latest book is "Mud, Sweat and Gears." It tells the story of how he involved his wife and three kids in a trans-Canada bike tour...   more »

As someone who is challenged by a track stand at a stoplight or a bunny hop over a stick in the road, I was astounded by the wonderful performances of the artistic bicyclists from Germany at Saturday's Seattle Bicycle Expo.

If synchronized swimming can be an Olympic sport, so should this. In fact, artistic cycling is a popular UCI-licensed sport in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

The Cascade Bicycle Club brought the reigning World Champion in single artistic women, Corrina Hein, to Seattle for the expo, along with leading men's pair competitors Stefan Musu and Lukas Matla.

The UCI competitions ...   more »

This weekend's Seattle Bike Expo, the largest consumer bicycle show in the US, has landed at yet another location this year.

The Smith Cove Cruise Terminal 91 in Magnolia is the new home for the all-things-bicycling show, open from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Here's a link for easy bicycling and driving directions. Car parking (2,500 capacity) costs $5 and the exhibition hall is about a half-mile walk; a shuttle bus also will run during the show. Secure bike parking is provided by BikeWorks right at the entrance.

From the Eastside, I'll probably head across .....   more »

Take it from me; don't poo-poo the bike ride over to Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain east of Seattle.

After easily tackling the Chilly Hilly bike ride Sunday on Bainbridge Island, I made the quick decision a couple of days later to pedal my Rockhopper over to the launch point for those paragliders I've seen soaring south of Issaquah.

Quickly checking my Green Trails Map for Tiger Mountain, I saw the trailhead of the old logging road was at 1,400 feet elevation and my destination was 1,780 feet. I should have looked at the route more closely, instead of rushing out of the house. Or, checked with the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance wiki for Poo Poo Point. ...   more »

Right on the heels of the record-breaking Chilly Hilly presented Sunday by the Cascade Bicycle Club, I stumbled across news that a couple of charity rides in Central Washington have been canceled in 2010.

The biggest shock came from the Mike Utley Foundation, which was canceling its popular Dam2Dam bike tour in Wenatachee because of economic stresses.

On a somewhat better note, Group Health Wine Country Trek and Group Health Yakima Ridges bicycle tours in the Yakima area have been discontinued after 8 years because the events fulfilled their funding targets for a community skateboard park ....   more »

There comes a point on some organized bicycle rides when I wonder what I'm doing there.

That point came very early on the 2010 Chilly Hilly ride on Sunday as I stood in line with several thousand other cyclists and wondered if I was ever going to make the ferry to Bainbridge Island for the start of the ride.

But I came to understand what I was doing there -- to enjoy the camaraderie of 6,000 fellow cyclists -- later on down the road.

The promise of partly sunny skies had organizers expecting record numbers for the 37th annual bike ride sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club. The 33-mile tour marking the end of winter is a rite of passage for bicyclists in the Seattle area, and more tend to take those rites when the temperature is in the 50s.

In fact, Sunday was such a great day that Cascade reported 6,028 riders participated this year, an all-time record for the ride.

In spite of arriving early, we missed the first first ferry ....   more »

This Sunday's Chilly Hilly marks the traditional launch of the recreational bike ride season in the Pacific Northwest.

Presented by the Cascade Bicycle Club, the 33-mile bike loop around Bainbridge Island isn't that long compared to most organized bike rides.

It becomes more of a challenge, however, when you factor in the 2,875 feet of elevation gain over a dozen steep climbs, the possibility of cold and wet weather and the fact that this is the first time some riders have had their bicycles out of the garage in several months.

This Sunday's weather on Bainbridge Island certainly aims to damage Chilly Hilly's reputation as an ordeal to be survived ....   more »

The drive to make bicycling safer hit severe roadblocks in three state legislatures last week.

The bad week started in Virginia where a bill to require cars to give bicycles 3 feet of clearance failed on Monday in the House of Delegates by a 54-43 vote.

Then on Tuesday, Washington's state's "vulnerable user" bill died when it failed to meet a Senate deadline for transfer to the House. On Thursday, the South Dakota Senate rejected a 3-foot passing law by a 10-24 vote.

It makes us wonder what bicyclists have to do to protect our safety out on the road. Keep demanding changes in the laws, I suppose ....   more »

Some nattily attired bicyclists are planning to take to the streets on Sunday for Seattle's first "tweed bike ride" and they're inviting anyone to join in.

Dapper attire, preferably tweed, is highly encouraged. In fact, the invitation states that lycra is forbidden -- "We're trying to be British."

If you're wondering what to wear, check out the gentleman at left from a recent San Francisco bike ride shot by juicyrai at Flickr.com or other images from the SF Tweed pool.

Attendees are invited to gather at the Cal Anderson Fountain at noon on Sunday for tea, followed by a mellow group ride ...   more »

You better start practicing your bicycle jousting skills, your two-wheeled balance and your good humor as the New Belgium Brewery's Urban Assault Rides are coming to 13 cities in 2010.

Essentially, a two-person team sets out to visit 11 checkpoints around town to complete a challenge at each location. There's no route. The team to complete all 11 obstacles in the shortest time wins.

Three cities have been added to the Urban Assault Ride tour in 2010. The 13 are:

Tucson -- April 18
Berkeley -- May 2
Seattle -- May 16
Portland -- May 23
.....   more »

Every Sunday and holiday, some 70 miles of streets in Bogota, Colombia, are closed to motor vehicles, allowing bicycle riders, skaters and pedestrians to roam free.

That ciclovia-style celebration has been catching on in some U.S. cities, where a thoroughfare or city park is ruled car-free for one or more weekend days in the spring and summer.

Now, more U.S. cities are ready to join those that already make their streets more liveable for at least one day a year.

Planning its first ciclovia is Spokane, Washington. Among cities that have a history of ciclovia-style events are Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York City, San Jose, Kansas City and Chicago ...   more »

Earlier this week, I pedaled my Rockhopper up the John Wayne Pioneer Trail east of North Bend in search of snow.

It's been warmer than normal in the Seattle area so far this winter, and I had to ride 12 to 13 miles up to Carter Creek Camp before I found any white stuff. I didn't have time to explore any further, so I don't know the conditions closer to the now-closed Snoqualmie Tunnel.

Along the way I came across this fallen boulder partially blocking the trail. It looked like a fairly recent fall. I rode my bike up this way in the autumn and don't remember it, and there's some fresh gouge marks in the trail where it looked like it hit.

Seeing this boulder on the trail, got me to thinking about how work crews for the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway company -- aka The Milwaukee Road -- made this route .....   more »

The text-messaging motorist who struck and killed his former high school teacher told the court: "This was not intentional. It was an accident. I'm so sorry."

Clark County (Vancouver, Washington) Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett didn't buy it.

"I've heard the term 'accident' used quite a bit today. But this was no accident."

He then sentenced Antonio Cellestine, 18, to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and felony hit and run ....   more »

Update: Feb. 8 -- Vulnerable user bill, SB 5838, approved by Judiciary Committee. Next stop is Senate Rules Committee then a vote on the Senate floor.

--Cascade Bicycle Club blog

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It's time that vulernable users of the road -- such as people riding bikes or walking -- get more protection from the law.

A measure that increases penalties for motorists whose right-of-way violations cause injury or death faces a major hurdle at the Washington State Capitol this coming week.

A distracted driver's inattention can cause crumpled fenders between cars, but lead to serious injury or death when the victim is on a bike or on foot.

Regardless of the outcome, in too many cases police can only issue minor traffic citations that often don't even require a court appearance.

The Cascade Bicycle Club is working to change that by getting the Vulnerable User Bill (SB 5838) passed into law. They're calling on Washington bicyclists to contact their legislators to ask them to support the bill ...   more »

Update: Jan. 23 -- Executive director Jake Beattie says response to the burglary at Seattle's Bike Works has been huge. The shop had its biggest volunteer work party last week, and a Mercer Island police officer has pulled together a collection of "evidence bikes" that area agencies had been storing.

The program also received enough donations to cover the cost of increasing security in its storage yard.

"Thanks to all of you who helped turn a negative situation into an expression of community and care," Beattie said. ....   more »

Good news for Seattle bicycle commuters who combine their bike ride with the bus:

Beginning Feb. 6, bicyclists can load and unload their bikes on all Metro buses at any time. That means for the first time, bicyclists can load and unload their bicycles in the busy downtown core, which has been closed to such activity.

King County Metro says this is a one-year demonstration project to determine whether loading and unloading bikes on the front racks on buses slows down the schedule. They'll evaluate safety and operations at the end of the 12-month period ...   more »

Cyclists on the Stinky Spoke bike ride emerge out of the fog Saturday morning on the Sammamish River Trail. More than 600 rode the fund-raiser for the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center near Redmond, Washington.

The 16-mile round trip started and ended at the Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville. While the riders started in the fog, the weather cleared after they left the paved Sammamish River Trail. The route took the mountain bikers along a dirt powerline trail and then home on the hilly Tolt Pipeline Trail. ....   more »

(Update: Jan. 21 -- Trail cleared and reopened on Wednesday) A fallen tree blocks the Burke-Gilman Trail just north of Seattle. Cyclists were directed onto a sidestreet to detour the mudslide that brought the tree down.

Neighbors say this tree in Lake Forest came down about 5:30 Friday morning. The trail was also blocked further south. The area has undergone some precip just about everyday the past two weeks.

This narrow section of the Burke Gilman ...   more »

He who hesitates is lost. That proverb is ringing true for some Cascade Bicycle Club members who discovered available spaces for the 2010 RSVP bike ride filled up quickly this week.

Members-only registration for the Seattle-based bicycle club's eight bike rides in 2010 opened at 9 a.m. Monday; Ride from Seattle to Vancouver BC and Party on Aug. 13-14 was booked before the end of the day.

Based on past experience, I'd expect Ride Around Washington, which visits the "forgotten corner" of northeast Washington for a week of bike touring from July 31 to Aug. 7, to sell out of spaces next. It was 75% sold out the first day. .....   more »

A 49-year-old bike rider was seriously injured on Saturday when he steered into a ditch to avoid being struck head-on by a minivan east of Sammamish.

The Washington State Patrol is asking any witnesses to contact Detective Stacy Moate at 425-401-7746.

The injured man, identified as the Seattle P-I's bike blogger David Longdon, was among a group of cyclists training for the Cancer Care Alliance Starbucks Cycling Team. They were heading westbound on Redmond-Fall City Road (Route 202) near Ames Lake Road about 11:45 a.m. Saturday ...   more »