If you're heading out this weekend for your first bike ride since the recent snowstorms, be prepared to do some bike cleaning when you return home.
The sand and gravel spread to improve traction in the snowstorm -- along with all kinds of road debris like tree twigs and glass chards -- has found its way to the sides of the road where we tend to ride.
If the road is wet, this stuff sticks to your bike like glue. It will grind down all the parts of your power train and wear grooves in your bike rims when you brake.
This stretch of road might not be recognizable here, but many Seattle area recreational cyclists have no doubt ridden it.
This is a WSDOT photo of Route 202 between Fall City and Snoqualmie Falls taken Thursday after the ice storm swept through the area. (See a summer-time photo below.)
That icy coating followed a snowstorm that already had caused chaos on Puget Sound area roads. In addition to the slick road conditions, the freezing rain on top of snow weighed down trees that toppled across power lines and onto roads.
The conditions here led to the closure of Route 202 ... more»
Snowmageddon. Snowpacolypse. Call it what you will, but this predicted snowstorm in Seattle is turning out to be the real thing, not SnowHyperbole.
I've ridden in the snow here in the past. It's nice. I threw the knobbies on my Rockhopper and went for a spin. No traffic. Really quiet. [No riding today, though. Wife's working from home and my daughter is home from school, so I'm minding the store, so to speak.]
Traction is an issue in the snow, even with the knobbies. I've gone down and lost grip with my rear wheel many times.
Short of buying a Surly Pugsly or other specially designed snow bike, here are a couple of ways to make your current ride more snow-friendly. Check out ... more»
My 3-year tradition of marking my birthday with a "years-equals-miles" bicycle ride is in the books.
Actually, it's recorded on BikeJournal.com, where I jumped from 1,423rd to 605th in a single day. That could be my high-water mark for the year.
Unlike previous years, this time I couldn't get out of my head the thought that I should have started this silliness years ago, when the distance would have been a lot shorter.
With pleasant weather promised on Sunday, I headed over to Issaquah from Bellevue, then south to Black Diamond and home via Renton for 62.8 miles.
My destination was the Green River Gorge Bridge, above, a 150-foot-high span over a raging river that drains the Cascades. Whenever I visit the single-lane bridge built in 1915 ... more»
It's time for Cascade Bicycle Club members to line up to register online for the club's most popular bicycle rides on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In order to prevent a repeat of last year's server meltdown of monumental proportions, the club is staggering the dates for registration this year and instituting a lottery system for the RSVP and RSVP2 (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party).
Here's the rundown:
On Tuesday, members-only registration opens for Chilly Hilly, Flying Wheels, STP and Ride Around Washington ... more»
A few days ago I posted a story about a short bicycle path opened in Bellevue that avoids some busy roads and intersections in the Factoria shopping district.
Here's a video the City of Bellevue posted online about the bike path.
One interesting note about this route is how the city used state and federal funds to help pay the ... more»
As bicycle paths go it isn't very long, less than a half mile.
But Bellevue city officials say it will make travel safer for bicyclists and pedestrians in the Factoria shopping area of Bellevue.
A work in progress since late summer, the 124th Avenue connector trail opened this week.
The 10-foot-wide path connects the I-90 bike trail (also known as the Mountains to Sound Trail) to 124th Avenue SE.
Meanwhile, the county says only part of Burke Gilman renovation will be ready by the end of the month, and Seattle returns to court to complete the "missing link" in Ballard... more»
Kirkland plans to buy its 5.5-mile section of the old Eastside railroad corridor that runs for 42 miles between Renton and Snohomish.
The city council approved the $5 million expenditure at a meeting Tuesday night. The final purchase would come through in March.
The abandoned railroad route could be improved into a biking and hiking trail in Kirkland, but there's talk of adding light rail or express buses to the corridor as well.
The cost of improving the abandoned railroad corridor ranges from $2.4 million to $82 million, depending on whether the path would be paved or .... more»
Update: Dec. 10, 2011 -- The driver of the vehicle, Nathan Godwin, 27, of Kirkland was bound over to the King County Jail on $500,000 bond on suspicion of vehicular homicide. His blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest was .078. He told authorities that he had taken the drug Suboxone to treat his opiate addiction; drug warnings urge avoiding alcohol while on that medication. Dec. 9, 2011 --Friends and family of the bicyclist killed in Kirkland early Thursday morning are planning a candlelight vigil at the scene of the crash from 4 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
The cyclist was identified as Bradley Nakatani, 36, of Kirkland. He was bicycling home from work as a software engineer in the Totem Lake area when he was struck by an SUV at the intersection of NE 124th Street and 132nd Avenue NE.
The driver of that SUV, identified as Nathan J. Godwin, 27, of Redmond, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Kirkland police told the Seattle Times that they want to increase those charges to vehicular homicide ... more»
A rainy winter day is a perfect time to ponder a bicycle ride across the dry side of Washington state.
That's the destination for Ride Around Washington 2012, announced last week by the Cascade Bicycle Club.
The 400-mile supported bicycle tour rolls out Aug. 5-11 through the Ponderosa pines to the wide-open hills of the Palouse and back again. Along the way, riders will spend a couple of nights in western Idaho.
My son and I bicycled previous RAW tours that individually visited these regions. The roads ... more»
A new bicycle century ride that benefits World Bicycle Relief is coming to the Seattle area in 2012.
The Cascade Bicycle Club is presenting the Red-Bell 100 on June 30 next year. Registration opens Jan. 25.
As you can probably guess, the charity ride rolls out from Marymoor Park in Redmond and ends with a party in Bellingham. It follows bike trails and low-traffic roads that will be familiar to cyclists on Day 1 of the RSVP ... more»
Ultra marathon bicyclists will be marking next year's calendars for the Redmond-based Coup de Cascades on Aug. 14-15 after the Race Across America chose it as a qualifier this week.
Since the 2012 RAAM starts in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 13, the Coup de Cascades will be one of the qualifying events for the 2013 RAAM.
The 425-mile loop around the Cascades launched in 2011 as a polio fund-raiser for the Redmond Rousers Rotary. The weekend event also featured a century and half-century ride for those ... more»
At least 24 Cranksgiving bicycle food drives are coming up and most are taking place this final weekend before Thanksgiving.
Four of the Cranksgiving bike rides are scheduled this weekend in Washington -- Olympia, Seattle and Sequim on Saturday, and Bellingham on Sunday.
In all, 36 Cranksgiving food drives were on tap this month, according to a list at New York City's Cranksgiving, the oldest food drive ride now in its 13th year.
Most are alley-cat style "races" in which participants try to be the first to the finish after stopping ... more»
A week-long bicycle tour that celebrates the common tree and raises money for tree research is rolling into Oregon next year.
It marks only the fourth time that the Tour des Trees bicycle tour has visited the Pacific Northwest. The inaugural ride rolled from Seattle to Oakland in 1992, then started in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 1997 and Seattle again in 2002.
Next year's Stihl Tour des Trees (Aug. 5-11, 2012) encompasses a 585-mile loop that includes Pacific Coast rain forests and the central high deserts. When they aren't bicycling, tree lovers will be planting trees or offering tree-education programs to kids.
While the warning "On your left!" is a common refrain .... more»
If you're heading out this weekend for your first bike ride since the recent snowstorms, be prepared to do some bike cleaning when you return home.
Snowmageddon. Snowpacolypse. Call it what you will, but this predicted snowstorm in Seattle is turning out to be the real thing, not SnowHyperbole.
It's time for Cascade Bicycle Club members to line up to 
As bicycle paths go it isn't very long, less than a half mile.
Kirkland plans to buy its 5.5-mile section of the old Eastside railroad corridor that runs for 42 miles between Renton and Snohomish.
Update: Dec. 10, 2011 -- The driver of the vehicle, Nathan Godwin, 27, of Kirkland was bound over to the King County Jail on $500,000 bond on suspicion of vehicular homicide. His blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest was .078. He told authorities that he had taken the drug Suboxone to treat his opiate addiction; drug warnings urge avoiding alcohol while on that medication.
A rainy winter day is a perfect time to ponder a bicycle ride across the dry side of Washington state.
A new bicycle century ride that benefits World Bicycle Relief is coming to the Seattle area in 2012.
Ultra marathon bicyclists will be marking next year's calendars for the Redmond-based Coup de Cascades on Aug. 14-15 after the Race Across America chose it as a qualifier this week.
At least 24 Cranksgiving bicycle food drives are coming up and most are taking place this final weekend before Thanksgiving.
A week-long bicycle tour that celebrates the common tree and raises money for tree research is rolling into Oregon next year.