Cold dry weather in the Seattle area has been responsible for some spectacular views of the distant mountain ranges lately.

Above, a guy on a bicycle leashed up his dogs and took them for a run on the bike path at Myrtle Edwards Park along the Seattle waterfront on Tuesday.

On the left of the picture you can see the snow-capped Olympic Mountains across the Puget Sound. Those peaks are about 50 miles away as the eagle flies..   more »

If you live on an island or peninsula, sometimes the quickest way from Point A to Point B is by water. That goes for bike commuting, too.

The Seattle Times has a front page story Tuesday about two Puget Sound area residents who ride waterbikes as part of their commute to work. They're saving money and keeping fit by their daily excursions on the water.

The Times shows Bob Barrett on his HydroBike. The contraption might appear unstable, but Barrett told the Times that he's only been turned back by the wind six times in the past six years...   more »

Did you give yourself a new bicycle or new bike gear for Christmas and need to get rid of some old stuff, or are you just looking for bargains?

Either way, the next couple of months are popular times for bicycle swap meets where you'll find retail dealers or your neighbors offering great prices on bicycles and equipment.

Some of the larger bicycle clubs put together these swap meets, which are sometimes paired with an overall bicycle expo or classic bike show. Here are a few of the high profile ones in St. Louis, Seattle, Baltimore, Tucson, and western New York, among others (check your local bicycle club for local listings)...   more »

The first road hazard I ever fell victim to on a bicycle was a storm drain with openings that ran parallel to the road. I picked myself up, danced around as I waited for my road-burned palms to cool off, and said to myself, "I'll never do that again."

That would have been in the early 1960s. Those road grates have disappeared in many places since then, although they're still quite common on the streets of Seattle.

Replacing those storms grates is a problem in Seattle and other cities. Storm grates cost about $500 apiece, not counting labor and other drain work that might be needed ...   more »

Once every winter the rain stops, the winds die down, the clouds part and the sun shines. Every few years that day falls on a weekend.

I exaggerate, but only slightly. Sunday was such a day in Seattle. After several weeks of nearly daily rain and drizzle, the sun shone in the Puget Sound area and temperatures rose to the low 50s.

The weather drew lots of bicyclists outdoors. Lots of their bikes had fenders and buddy flaps. Those machines looked kind of grungy. I figure those folks would have been riding Sunday anyway -- rain or shine...   more »

Let's hope you weren't standing at a bus stop with your trusty bicycle Monday morning and discovered you had no place to mount it on the bus.

King County Metro (Seattle) determined that its three-bike carrier racks aren't secure and tried swapping them out with two-bike carriers over the weekend. Unfortunately, the other carriers are in short supply and buses on more than a dozen routes ran without the racks.

The following routes don't have bicycle racks, which will be replaced as they become available: Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 14, 49 and 70, and some trips on routes 7, 36, 43 and 44.

Metro uses bicycle racks manufactured by Sportworks in Woodinville, Washington. ...   more »

Those of us who frequently ride our bicycles along the east side of the Lake Washington bike route have been watching the construction at the Seattle Seahawks training facility on a lakefront tract in Renton.

Here you can see a bicyclist pedaling past the indoor practice facility on Friday. The building under construction is as big as a football field and tall enough to contain the highest of punts.

This little-used stretch of road will certainly get more traffic when the facility opens in the summer of 2008. A couple of waterfront industries made their homes here, but traffic was minimal. Cyclists are going to have to pay greater heed when they enter the road from a nearby bike path, especially as there will be accommodations for some 3,000 fans during training camps...   more »