Some 2,000 cyclists left the Seattle Center on Sunday for the LiveStrong Challenge ride through Seattle and the eastside cities of Mercer Island, Bellevue, Redmond, Newcastle and Renton.
Together with the runners, the group raised nearly $900,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The most money -- $143,963 -- was raised by blogger Elden Nelson's team -- Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting for Susan.
The cyclists faced a grueling day. Although a partial cloud cover promised to keep temperatures lower, there were plenty of climbs the cyclists had to deal with.
Participants were even greeted by The Devil, above, on the first major climb of the day. Later on, the cyclists faced the toughest climb through the Monteaux neighborhood that connected to Lakemont Boulevard on Cougar Mountain ... more»
Temperatures in the low 60s didn't deter painted bicyclists at Fremont Solstice Parade on Saturday.
Keeping warm under 8 ounces of body paint, the cyclists celebrated the first day of summer along with thousands of onlookers who jammed the parade route in the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont.
Although a few wore a strategically placed loincloth or pasty, most only wore their paint. While some just covered themselves in one color from head-to-toe, others painted themselves in elaborate wardrobes or costumes.
It's a lot of work, and many showed up at Hale's Ale for the painting to begin at 7 a.m. The parade didn't start until noon. ... more»
Early arrivals for the LiveStrong Challenge bike ride check out the LiveStrong Village at the Seattle Center on Saturday.
Some 2,000 cyclists and runners have raised more than $700,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
They'll hit the streets Sunday morning for 5K runs or bike rides of up to 100 miles.
Those bike riders will pass through Seattle, cross the Lake Washington bridges and head into the hills on the Eastside before heading back to the Seattle Center finish line. ... more»
The 2,000 participants in the inaugural LiveStrong Challenge in Seattle this Sunday might be disappointed to learn that Lance Armstrong won't be appearing at the charity bicycle ride.
Instead, Armstrong announced Tuesday that he and teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be racing at the Nevada City Classic that day.
Responding on his Twitter account to a discouraged fan, Armstrong wrote:
"I hear ya. If it weren't for the TdF then I'd be there. Have to get some racing in prior to the big race. Tough to balance it all." ... more»
Sometimes when the planets align correctly and all other conditions are just right, we have the perfect storm of recreational bicycle tours. It's a good thing.
Such is the case this weekend.
If you live in Washington state and you can't find a ride this weekend, then you aren't trying very hard.
I count eight organized bicycle rides this weekend from Seattle to Winthrop to Walla Walla. Seven compete for our attention on Saturday, while the LiveStrong Challenge has Sunday all to itself when 2,000 hit the roads in the Seattle and the Eastside.
Here's a rundown (also available on the June Bicycle Ride Calendar at BikingBis):
Saturday
-- Painted Cyclists Solstice Parade: Leave the spandex at home for this ride. Participants in the annual Fremont parade ride au naturel beneath about 8 ounces of paint ... more»
Bicycle thefts on college campuses can be frequent and commonplace, but I've been surprised this year by some of those held responsible.
First was the case of the University of South Florida dean whose involvement in a bicycle theft at the campus hospital was caught on tape. The dean, who earned $384,000 a year, is shown on tape helping his handyman take the bike.
Now, Washington State University in Pullman has suspended two freshmen football players from team activities after they were arrested in connection with bicycle thefts from a dormitory ... more»
From early reports, it sounds like the new Hood Canal Bridge is a vast improvement for bicyclists.
The mile-long span was a narrow, traffic congested -- yet unavoidable -- link between the Kitsap and North Olympic peninsulas. The few times I used it, I always had the desire to kiss the ground on reaching the opposite bank.
The replacement floating-bridge, whose installation was completed last Wednesday after about five weeks of work, has 8-foot wide emergency lanes all the way across that bicyclists can use ... more»
Volunteers ensure the success of the hundreds of the bicycling charity events that take place every year in the U.S., and the LiveStrong Challenge bike ride is no exception.
Checking last night, it looked like the LiveStrong Seattle is in dire need of volunteers, with more than 450 volunteer positions open for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check volunteer registration page.
The LiveStrong Challenge in Seattle takes place on Sunday, June 21, with a 5K walk/run and bicycle ride options of 10, 45, 70 and 100 miles. It's preceded by LiveStrong Village at the Seattle Center on Saturday and followed by a post-ride party, also at the Seattle Center from 9 to 5 p.m. Sunday ... more»
Have you been waiting for the last-minute to decide whether to ride the 30th anniversary Seattle-to-Portland bicycle classic on July 11-12?
Too late. Time's up! The Cascade Bicycle Club sold the last of 10,000 tickets to the event this morning.
That'll teach you to procrastinate. This is the first time I remember STP selling out this early, but we shouldn't be surprised. The Cascade Bicycle Club's Ride Around Washington (RAW) and Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party (RSVP) both sold out within a week of going on sale Jan. 1 this year... more»
Here's a welcome sign for pedestrians and bicyclists: Street closed to traffic on Sunday.
Alki Avenue along the beach in West Seattle is reserved for people on bicycles and on foot this Sunday.
Cars and trucks will be banned on the usually busy street that runs beside Alki Beach. Instead, visitors can see stunt bike shows, bicycle art and maintenance booths, a kids' bike parade and more.
Getting there
If you're going, I'd recommend riding your bicycle or taking the water taxi, or both. That's what I did on Friday when I visited the area... more»
Here's my reward on Thursday for a half-hour drive and nearly an hour of butt-busting climbing on my old Rockhopper mountain bike.
That's me checking out the view of Mount Rainier from the east summit of Tiger Mountain. It was such a wonderful day for Seattle -- sunny and 70s -- that I wanted to commemorate it with a new bicycle route.
Earlier in the week I had stopped by Half Price Books and stumbled across Mountain Bike Adventures in Washington's South Cascades and Puget Sound by Tom Kirkendall. What a great find and a great bargain, I thought, until I got home and realized the book was 14 years old.
With warm temperatures and blue skies, I was willing to see if these routes still exist. .. more»
Now there's an online resource where you can tell the world about problems you've encounted while bicycling.
The Cascade Bicycle Club has created www.bikewise.org to map the locations of bicycle crashes, road hazards and bicycle thefts.
Although it was created by the Seattle-based bicycle club, it's available for use anywhere in the world, and the developers are encouraging bicycle riders in other regions to use it.
BikeWise is more than just someplace to vent your anger about the location of a dangerous intersection or poorly maintained construction site. Check into the detailed reports of crashes, for instance, and you see a section on "lessons learned." ... more»
I've always enjoyed sharing my favorite bicycle routes with friends; even more so when it's my son.
So when Memorial Day dawned clear and warm, we headed up to the Iron Horse State Park just east of North Bend where I introduced him to the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.
In spite of a sign at the trailhead that warned the Snoqualmie Tunnel was closed 20 miles ahead, we saw dozens of bicyclists out on the rail-trail of the Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Pacific Railroad -- aka The Milwaukee Road.
Since there's no way through, or around, the 2.3-mile tunnel, the only destination for these bicyclists was an out-and-back trail ride to stretch their legs and enjoy the sunny, blue skies.... more»
Bicyclists who want to use the interim Hood Canal ferry during the 6-week replacement project won't have to mess around with shuttle buses anymore.
Bicyclists can now ride directly to the water shuttle docks at South Point or Lofall.
Earlier, bicycle riders had to board a shuttle bus in Port Gamble on the east side, or take a transit bus from the Olympic Gateway Visitor's Center on the west side.
The only catch is that bicyclists have to dismount and walk their bicyclists in the vicinity of the shuttle docks; a minor inconvenience compared to the hassles of taking the buses. ... more»
One of the most important factors in the success of Bike to Work Day in Seattle on Friday was the forecast: No rain; just partly cloudy skies with highs reaching 67 in the afternoon.
I bicycled down to the Bellevue Commute Station Friday morning. The kiosk at the base of the I-90 bike path across Lake Washington was one of 44 set up around the Seattle area by the Cascade Bicycle Club.
More than 300 folks had stopped by in the first 1 1/2 hours, slightly ahead of last year at this time. Just eyeballing the cyclists, I'd say eastbound and westbound cyclists were split nearly 50-50, with a slight edge going to those heading to Seattle .... more»
When your company does something that you're proud of, you want the world to know.
That's the impression I got from Ryan Burns, an employee at the Logos Bible Software company up in Bellingham.
With Bike-to-Work Day coming up on May 15, he wanted to brag a little about the in-house bicycle shop that Logos has funded.
You wouldn't be surprised to hear something like this about Microsoft, which has a bike repair shop for its hundreds of employees at the sprawling campus in Redmond. But Logos has just 170 employees, many of whom are serious bicyclists who work on their own bicycles.
A Seattle-based outdoors magazine is offering a new Norco bicycle as first prize to the person who tells the best bicycle commuting story -- in 300 words or less.
The publishers of Outdoors NW are looking for real-life bicycle commuting experiences from the Northwest:
"Stories may include your experiences about your first bike commute, why you decided to start commuting, your best - or worst - commuting day, your rainiest commute, how it helped you get in shape, how it changed your life, etc. Stories may be funny, sad, contemplative ... anything goes... more»
Back in the years before I moved to the Pacific Northwest, a rainy day like today would have kept me indoors. Not anymore.
Here's a small club ride I ran into along rolling May Valley Road between Issaquah and Newcastle on Saturday morning.
Why do you find so many bicyclists out on a rainy day on the first weekend of May? Here are some reasons:
-- If you're going to ride your bike here, you have to do a lot of riding in the rain. I never heard this saying until I got here: "There's no bad weather for bicycling, only bad gear." ... more»
Car-free days for bicycling along Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle return this Sunday, but the event is better than ever this year.
Renamed as Bicycle Sundays, the event is scheduled on 19 Sundays from May through September this year. That's every Sunday except July 5, 26, and August 2.
In previous years, the lake-side road was closed to cars two or three times a month on alternate Saturdays and Sundays. This year the city upped the ante to just about every Sunday ... more»
The Hood Canal Bridge will be closed for repairs for six weeks beginning Friday, but there will be limited service for bicyclists who want to cross the waterway.
Bicycle riders can use a free passenger-only ferry between Lofall on the Kitsap Peninsula and South Point on the Olympic Peninsula that runs every 30 minutes.
The catch is that the ferry can take only five bicycles at a time, and they must arrive by shuttle bus from nearby park-and-ride lots (bicyclists cannot ride directly to the ferry). Those shuttle buses can only carry three bicycles per trip.
Shuttle and pickups
On the Kitsap Peninsula (east) side, the bicycle riders can catch the shuttle bus at Port Gamble Park & Ride lot at the old waterfront mill site in Port Gamble. It's right off State Route 104.
On the west side in Jefferson County, bicyclists cannot use the Shine Pit Park & Ride (the one marked for cars) because of a dangerous road into the parking lot. Bicyclists must use the Olympic Gateway Visitor Center at 93 Beaver Valley Road (or State Route 19), where they will pick up a Jefferson County transit bus to the South Point water shuttle.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says there will be bicycle racks at the Port Gamble Park & Ride and the Olympic Gateway Visitor Center Park & Ride (none at the Shine Pit because bicycles aren't allowed there). .... more»
When I found this washout (at left) along the Cedar River Trail back in January, I was afraid the trail would be closed for good or another good gully-washer would take out the rest of the river bank.
So I was surprised when I returned there Tuesday (right) to find tons of rip-rap had been dumped along the stream channel to prevent it from eroding away.
Great job for the King County Parks to jump on this problem before it got worse.
The 17-mile Cedar River Trail runs from Renton to Landsburg along the historic old Burlington Northern Railroad grade ... more»
Unseasonably warm temperatures in the 60s and 70s are hitting the Seattle area, but the high country along the North Cascades Highway still has plenty of snow.
Washington state highway snow-clearing crews working from the east have hit bare pavement on the way to the 5,477-foot Washington Pass on Highway 20.
They're trying to clear by May 1 arguably one of the nation's most spectacular stretches of highway. It's a big draw not only for motorists but for touring bicyclists.
A county government in Washington state has agreed to pay $3.5 million to bicyclist who fell and suffered permanent brain injuries on a road the county promoted as a bike route.
King County, home of the city of Seattle, agreed to the out-of-court settlement to pay for life-long care for the Jeffrey Totten, who was 31 years old at the time of the accident in September 2006.
The lawsuit alleged that the county promoted Novelty Hill Road as a bike route but failed to maintain it in a safe condition.
Totten was on a training ride with friends when he struck a hole that had developed around a survey monument in the road. He was in a coma for seven months, spent time in a group home and now lives in a group home where he receives around the clock care... more»
Some 2,000 cyclists left the Seattle Center on Sunday for the LiveStrong Challenge ride through Seattle and the eastside cities of Mercer Island, Bellevue, Redmond, Newcastle and Renton.
The 2,000 participants in the inaugural LiveStrong Challenge in Seattle this Sunday might be disappointed to learn that Lance Armstrong won't be appearing at the charity bicycle ride.
Have you been waiting for the last-minute to decide whether to ride the 30th anniversary Seattle-to-Portland bicycle classic on July 11-12?
Now there's an online resource where you can tell the world about problems you've encounted while bicycling.
I've always enjoyed sharing my favorite bicycle routes with friends; even more so when it's my son.
A Seattle-based outdoors magazine is offering a new Norco bicycle as first prize to the person who tells the best bicycle commuting story -- in 300 words or less.
The 50-some miles of Highway 20 between Mazama and Newhalem in the 
