Trail supporters to meet Thursday in Kirkland

The Cascade Bicycle Club is rallying support to preserve a future abandoned rail bed as a main link for off-road bicycle travel through Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland.

In a scheme that gets more complicated as time goes on, the Port of Seattle plans to buy the 42-mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad right-of-way for future use as a commuter corridor with rail and a hike-bike trail. The devil is in the details, though, as the Port wants the rail line to have priority over the trail, while King County wants the uses "coequal."

Cascade warns that the Port's position leaves the possibility of a trail in doubt.

"However, the Port of Seattle and the King County Council’s latest plan would give the Port of Seattle veto authority over a future trail, and subordinates trail construction to any “transportation use” – which does not include bicycle commuters on a trail." ...   more »

Bicycling through history

At least once a month, I test my conditioning by pedaling up to the top of Cougar Mountain. It's a 5-mile ride from my home, and my goal one day is to reach it in 25 minutes.

About three-quarters of the way up, across the entrance to the Cougar Mountain Regional Park, I pass an open field where there's an old, mossy concrete wall that has a tree growing out of it.

I was surprised to learn a few months ago that this is the ruins of a hotel built about 100 years ago in an area once heavily populated by workers in the coal mine industry...   more »

Although our neighborhood is surrounded by suburban sprawl in every direction, I'm fortunate that there's still a low-traffic farm road that's great for bicycling not four miles away.

If I ride east for about 8 miles, then south for another 8, I'm presented with this panorama of the Green River valley just 20 miles from home. It comes at the top of a climb, and it's not hard to imagine that it's a rewarding scenic overlook 1,000 miles into a bike tour.

It's also not hard to imagine I'm a hobbit looking out over Fangorn Forest in Middle Earth. If you look closely, you can even see spots where the orks have been busy clear-cutting the timber. ...   more »

A cold spring delayed the main tulip bloom for the 27th annual Tulip Pedal up in Skagit County on Saturday.

Even so, bicyclists found it convenient to pedal in bunches as a strong wind raked the course all day long.

Cyclists on the 40- and 20-mile routes reported seeing plenty of white and yellow daffodils in roadside fields, but blooming tulips were few and far between.

Now, if it's daffodils you like, check out the Daffodil Classic next Sunday in Orting. Sponsored by the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club, it features loops of 40, 60 and 100 miles ...   more »

My decision to renew interest in some of my old bicycle routes by peeling back the history of my small slice of western Washington has led to some startling discoveries, at least to me.

Just the other day I decided to explore some side roads off a hill climb I often make up to Cougar Mountain. I stumbled across this old cabin, which turns out to be one of the oldest buildings still standing in King County.

It's called the Baima Cabin. It's an old coal company town house dating from about the 1880s. That's only about 30 years after the first white settlers showed up over in Seattle; ancient history in these parts...   more »