After receiving well-deserved criticism from a reader about the timeliness of my bicycle ride calendars, I got to work Wednesday to bring them up to date for 2009.
I started with the list of California recreational bike rides and discovered I had 104 listings to update. I checked on all the links and was able to update about 80% with dates for 2009. Many clubs and organizations haven't set dates for their late fall rides yet.
So the California Bike Ride Calendar for 2009 is pretty much up to date. Next comes an overhaul of the Idaho, Oregon and Washington bicycle calendars, in that order.
Updating those California bike ride lists always brings back pleasant memories from when I lived there in the '80s and '90s. ... more»
A senior lecturer at the University of Washington became the second bicycling fatality of the year when she died Friday of injuries she suffered Wednesday morning when her bicycle collided with a car.
Carol Salomon, 60, was riding south on First Avenue Northeast when a Toyota Prius heading east on North 56th Street struck her.
My condolences go out to her husband, son, and friends, as well as her students who were sitting in class waiting for her to show up to teach that morning ... more»
Unfortunately I had limited time to tour around the Seattle International Bike Expo on Saturday. The weekend event is a great way to cover a lot of ground -- Northwest bicycling-wise.
The Cascade Bicycle Club's annual show features 150 displays in Hangar 30 and surrounding buildings and tents. There are hundreds of bikes on show and sale, as well as piles of bicycle gear, many organizations touting their upcoming rides and bike tours.
One of the tents had a few leaks and a soggy floor. That didn't seem to bother anyone, however, as this is a gathering of Seattle area bicyclists; we take our moisture in stride.
Seattle International Bike Expo; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Hangar 30, Magnuson Park, Seattle; $8 admission
I got a chance to get close-up looks at some new-style bikes, specifically some offerings from the chainless drive-shaft rides from Dynamic Bicycles and commuter and errand bikes from Civia Cycles. Madsen Cycles had a working display out in the parking lot, where interested folks could ride their utility bikes around.
Moots displayed some of its bicycles, "handbuilt in the Rockies," and the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Organization had a display area with lots of its members' works.
I had the chance to chat with some bicycling authors while I was there.
If you're in Seattle this weekend, you should head over to the 2009 Seattle International Bike Expo at Magnuson Park on Saturday and Sunday.
The show has been presented by the Cascade Bicycle Club annually since 1988. This year it features 150 displays of bicycles, cycling gear, bike touring opportunities and companies that offer health and fitness products.
The show has a rather nomadic past, traveling around to different locations in the Seattle area. This year it's back at Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park. It's easy to get to by bicycle (valet bike parking is available) and there's plenty of parking for cars a short walk away ... more»
We all know that bicycle commuting has many benefits. But an ardent bicyclist I know recently learned that cutting back mileage on his state vehicle can have some unexpected drawbacks.
A biologist employed by the state of Washington, Russell took notice last year when Gov. Christine Gregoire asked employees to cut fuel consumption by 5%. He uses a state vehicle for his wide-ranging field work and meetings at the headquarters, but he started "parking short" and riding his bicycle when he could ... more»
The Cascade Bicycle Club is taking an active role in attempting to curb a rash of attacks and robberies near the bike tunnel in Sam Smith Park in Seattle.
The club will hold a "safety-information fair" from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday in the park west of the I-90 tunnel in Mount Baker.
Cascade is discussing the problem with police and suggests that bicyclists wait up for other bike commuters before riding through the area ... more»
Now that the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show is history, the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association says it will hold its own show for handbuilt bicycles this fall.
The Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 will be the association's second such show (the first was in 2007). Members plan for it to become an annual show in the future.
The non-profit trade group in Oregon promotes hand-built bicycles, and its members had the opportunity to display their wares at the NAHBS that's been held on the West Coast the past couple of years ... more»
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»
The first thing that came into my mind as I lay in the street under my bicycle on Friday was, "This is a hell of a way to start a bike ride."
Then I realized I couldn't clip out of my right pedal, my right hip and elbow hurt like the dickens and my glasses were about a foot from my face.
I finally disengaged myself from my bike, stood up, picked up the stuff that had fallen off me and my bike, and limped back to the house. Fortunately, I had fallen within 10 feet of my driveway. Also, no one had witnessed it ... more»
Falling debris hazards in five John Wayne Pioneer Trail tunnels, including the 2.3-mile-long Snoqualmie Pass Tunnel at left, have convinced Washington state parks to close them until further notice.
The closures are bad news for the many bicyclists and hikers who pass through the tunnels at they hike and bike the 100-mile-long rail-trail over the Cascades from Cedar Falls to the Columbia River.
Shutting down the tunnels not only removes interesting historical landmarks from the Iron Horse State Park, which contains the rail-trail, but requires trail users to take long detours -- sometimes out to Interstate 90 -- to get through the remote area.
A request for funds to repair the tunnels, estimated at $9 million, are included in the 2009-2011 two-year budget cycle ... more»
David Rowe says he was taking the leap from recreational cyclist to ultra long-distance cyclist when he rode the arduous Torture 10,000 century in Oregon a few years ago.
He wasn't surprised by the length or elevation gain -- more than 13,000 feet. What surprised him was seeing so many sag wagons filled with the bikes of participants who had thrown in the towel.
"It was clear that they didn't think about what they were getting into."
So David set out to write the recently published eBook "The Ride of Your Life." It covers an aspect of cycling that doesn't get the attention it deserves -- mental preparation ... more»
Imagine living in a place where you're not breaking the law by rolling through an intersection without coming to a complete halt at a stop sign.
Residents in Idaho don't have to imagine it. They live in a state where lawmakers decriminalized stop sign-running 27 years ago. Now legislators in Montana will consider passing a similar law, and bike advocates in Oregon are seeking a similar law.
Bill Schneider at New West magazine reports that Robin Hamilton (D-Missoula) has proposed such a law. Schneider lays out the language here ... more»
King County touts bicycle commuting as a great way to reduce stress, increase health, and help the environment. It has been forced by economic conditions, however, to suspend an incentive program for its own bike commuting workers downtown.
County employees who work outside of downtown Seattle can continue to earn the $20 Commuter Bonus Plus voucher for any month in which they bike bike, carpool or walk to work more than half their work days or half of their commute miles.
The county announced at its employee transportation website that the King County Council has postponed extending those $20 vouchers to employees who walk or ride their bikes to work in downtown Seattle. ... more»
Two Seattle-area female cycling coaches are offering a three-day clinic for women who are interested in getting into bicycling.
While helpful to all skill levels, the 2009 Women's Bicycle Retreat in Leavenworth, Washington, is geared to beginning cyclists. It's coached by Lisa Brudvik and Amy Pieper.
Last year's clinic hosted women ages 30-58 who attended clinics, rode their bicycles under the supervision of coaches and relaxed at the Mountain Springs Lodge. This year's clinic runs June 12-14 ... more»
Here's a photo I shot of cycling personality Bob Roll when he last appeared at the Seattle International Bicycle Expo in 2005.
Not exactly the clean-cut Versus TV commentator that appears on cable, but his humor and stories were just as good, if not better, in person.
Bobke is returning to Seattle to speak at the Cascade Bicycle Club's Friday evening, March 13, special presentation that precedes the bike expo on March 14 and 15. He won't be appearing during the expo like he did four years ago ... more»
King County (WA) is getting closer to filling some missing links in its countywide bicycle route network.
The latest proposal is a 17-mile trail that links four other bike paths as it rolls between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington south of Seattle.
Dubbed the Lake-to-Sound Trail, the bike path is designed to intersect the Cedar River Trail, the Green River Trail, the Westside Trail and the Des Moines Creek Trail. It will pass through Renton, Tukwila, Burien, SeaTac, Normandy Park and Des Moines. The trail also visits the Tukwila light-rail station ... more»
A Seattle bicycle rider was killed about 6:30 a.m. Thursday in Renton when a motorist made a left turn in front of him, according to Sheriff's deputies.
The 56-year-old cyclist has not been identified; neither has the 79-year-old Renton man who was driving the car.
No charges have been filed against the driver of the 1997 Lincoln Town Car, although the investigation is continuing ... more»
I downloaded sections of the online version that directed me to regional trails and lightly traveled rural roads over here on the Eastside. For the most part it helped me spend my cycling time riding confidently along, instead of trying to figure out where the hell I was.
The staff is asking cyclists to take a quick survey to tell how they use the map. The bike map survey is available here and takes about two minutes. The deadline is Dec. 19.
These lovely ladies are featured in a calendar that benefits Bike Works and its earn-a-bike program.
Entitled "Lovely Ladies on Beautiful Bikes," the calendar features some of the Emerald City's many female cyclists riding their mountain and road bikes around town.
You can order the calendar online at Bike Calendar Girls 2009, or show up at the release party at 8 p.m., Dec. 12, at Conor Byrne Pub, 5140 Ballard Ave., NW, Seattle ... more»
That tired old proposal about bicycle license fees has been broached again, this time from James F. Vesely, editorial page editor at the Seattle Times.
He proposes that bicyclists pay a $25 annual fee for owning a bike. It would make us members of the world of transportation, he writes, "rather than free riders on the tax rolls."
Like so many of the previously misinformed, he writes about the benefits of bicycle pathways and bicycle lanes that are bestowed upon bicyclists by "the remarkable generosity of Puget Sound taxpayers." ... more»
Even though I still take frequent bike rides, this is the time of year that I'm not so interested in laying down a lot of mileage. This is when I slow down to explore and poke around, maybe learn some roadside or trailside history.
Cougar Mountain, which lies a few miles east of my house, is a good destination for this. I've written about the old coal mining industry that thrived there at the turn of the century; this past week I've been learning about its role in the Cold War defense of Seattle.
Today the mountain is a mix of flashy, big box homes and golf courses and the 3,000-acre Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. Although the park's trails are closed to bicycling, the two Cold War-era military bases are accessible by short dirt roads from residential streets ... more»
The loss of the Tour de Georgia for next year was sad news. But the Oregon Pro Cycling Classic is setting out to prove that there's good news for the sport of cycling as well.
Known for the past six years as the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the race is undergoing a makeover that will expand it to seven days and raise its difficulty in an attempt to rival the Amgen Tour of California.
The $50,000 event is listed on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar from May 11 - 17, 2009 ... more»
Officials who want to build a commuter railway and bicycle trail on the abandoned BNSF railroad in Seattle's Eastside suburbs might be suffering sticker shock today.
A report estimates the cost for the 42-mile corridor at between $1 billion to $1.2 billion for the railway alone between Renton and Woodinville.
The cost of the 34.4-mile parallel bicycle / pedestrian trail is put at between $245 million to $359 million, or $7.1 million to $10.4 million per mile.
That's too much, says the Cascadia Center in its response, pointing out that the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy estimates rail-trail conversions cost between $227,000 and $1 million per mile. Cascadia says the commuter railway could be built for one-third the cost ... more»
A short-lived attempt to ban nudity in public parks in Seattle raised the issue of the legality of public nudity here.
The city has a tradition of painted bicyclists taking to the streets for the Summer Solstice Parade in the Fremont neighborhood, right, and for World Naked Bike Rides.
Those traditions are safe.
The city doesn't have a law regulating nudity, and Washington state law says that public nudity is not illegal unless it is an affront to someone else or causes alarm ... more»
Many media outlets reported anecdotes over the summer about how the soaring price of gasoline was putting more people on their bicycles to commute and run errands.
It's good to finally get some meat on that story.
The city of Portland reports a 28% increase in overall bicycle use for 2008; the biggest increase ever recorded. In fact, bicycling in Portland has increased threefold since 2001. .... more»
About a year ago the Seattle city council endorsed a 10-year Bicycle Master Plan. Now three of its neighbors on the east side of Lake Washington are in the midst of reviewing bicycle plans for their communities.
Kirkland and Renton are looking for comments on their plans for active transportation at meetings Wednesday night. Bellevue will be reviewing a comprehensive plan, which will have an effect on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.
The Cascade Bicycle Club is asking for citizen cyclists to show up at the those meetings to review the plans and "help them get it right."
These cities appear to be making a good faith effort to provide upgrades for the bicycling on city streets. You can check out their efforts online and offer your suggestions at their meetings .... more»
Pro cyclist Tyler Farrar will lead a community bike ride around Wenatchee, Washington, on Sunday in support of his father, Dr. Ed Farrar, left.
Dr. Farrar is hospitalized with a spinal injury after being struck head-on by a car the morning of Oct. 22 while riding his bicycle to work. He's still listed in serious condition.
An orthopedic surgeon and cycling enthusiast, Dr. Farrar helped form Wenatchee Valley Velo and encourage many people to get into cycling as a form of rehabilitation and exercise. People in the community came up with the "Rally for Ed" to show their support ... more»
After receiving well-deserved criticism from a reader about the timeliness of my bicycle ride calendars, I got to work Wednesday to bring them up to date for 2009.
If you're in Seattle this weekend, you should head over to the 2009 Seattle International Bike Expo at Magnuson Park on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cascade Bicycle Club is taking an active role in attempting to curb a rash of attacks and robberies near the bike tunnel in Sam Smith Park in Seattle.
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.
The first thing that came into my mind as I lay in the street under my bicycle on Friday was, "This is a hell of a way to start a bike ride."
Falling debris hazards in five John Wayne Pioneer Trail tunnels, including the 2.3-mile-long Snoqualmie Pass Tunnel at left, have convinced Washington state parks to close them until further notice.
David Rowe says he was taking the leap from recreational cyclist to ultra long-distance cyclist when he rode the arduous Torture 10,000 century in Oregon a few years ago.
King County touts bicycle commuting as a great way to reduce stress, increase health, and help the environment. It has been forced by economic conditions, however, to suspend an incentive program for its own bike commuting workers downtown.
Here's a photo I shot of cycling personality Bob Roll when he last appeared at the Seattle International Bicycle Expo in 2005.
King County (WA) is getting closer to filling some missing links in its countywide bicycle route network.
The picture pretty much says it all.
That tired old proposal about bicycle license fees has been broached again, this time from James F. Vesely, editorial page editor at the Seattle Times.
Even though I still take frequent bike rides, this is the time of year that I'm not so interested in laying down a lot of mileage. This is when I slow down to explore and poke around, maybe learn some roadside or trailside history.
The loss of the Tour de Georgia for next year was sad news. But the Oregon Pro Cycling Classic is setting out to prove that there's good news for the sport of cycling as well.
About a year ago the Seattle city council endorsed a 10-year Bicycle Master Plan. Now three of its neighbors on the east side of Lake Washington are in the midst of reviewing bicycle plans for their communities.