Last year's sunny blue skies aren't expected to make a repeat performance at the 2009 Chilly Hilly bike ride that kicks off the Puget Sound area recreational cycling season on Sunday.

It might be sunny on Friday, but the weather forecast for Bainbridge Island on Sunday is flat-out rain.

I hope the forecasters are wrong on that, but I'll suggest reattaching fenders, tightening up the brakes a bit, and digging out the Gor-Tex raingear. Probably take along an extra pair of gloves and maybe wool socks ...   more »

The legislatures in six states -- Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington -- are considering bills in 2009 that require motorists leave at least 3 feet of clearance when passing a person riding a bicycle.

Twelve states presently require the 3-foot margin. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. (Connecticut and New Hampshire enacted laws last year; South Carolina enacted "safe operating distance".)

A lawmaker, Jamie Pedersen, who represents Seattle submitted the bill in Washington state, entitled House Bill 1491. Pedersen commutes to work by bicycle when he's not in the state capitol in Olympia ...   more »

The Alki Rubicon bicycle racing club is inviting anyone and everyone who knew Kevin Black to participate in a memorial bicycle ride and potluck gathering at Golden Gardens park on Sunday.

Kevin died on Wednesday in a collision with a van in Ballard. He was an avid cyclist who belonged to the Alki Rubicon Racing club and worked as a molecular neurobiologist for the UW Department of Physiology and Biophysics.

The following details are posted at the Alki Rubicon website ...   more »

Seattle news outlets are reporting that the cyclist in Wednesday morning's collision with a van in Ballard has died.

The 39-year-old man, identified as Kevin Black, was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The collision occurred shortly before 9 a.m. near the intersection of 24th Avenue NW and NW 65th Street.

Police told the Seattle Times that the cyclist was heading downhill on 24th when he moved into the two-way left-turn lane to pass a van. When the van entered the left-turn lane the bicycle went under it.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles Black in a story that has quotes  from coworkers and friends who gathered at the intersection last night. A molecular neurobiologist for the UW Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Black leaves behind two daughters. He was an avid cyclist who belonged to Alki Rubicon Racing Team ...   more »

The Wenatchee World has published an inspiring story about bicyclist Ed Farrar's rehabilitation from spinal injuries he suffered in October when a car crossed the centerline and crashed into him head-on.

People in central Washington know Farrar, 57, as a respected surgeon with Wenatchee Orthaepedics. Cycling fans know him as the father of Tyler Farrar, 24, a sprinter on Garmin Chipotle.

Some 13 weeks after the collision, Farrar has returned home and is getting used to life in a wheelchair. Everyone agrees that the crash could have killed him, but a set of circumstances combined to accelerate this treatment ...   more »