Earlier this week, I pedaled my Rockhopper up the John Wayne Pioneer Trail east of North Bend in search of snow.

It's been warmer than normal in the Seattle area so far this winter, and I had to ride 12 to 13 miles up to Carter Creek Camp before I found any white stuff. I didn't have time to explore any further, so I don't know the conditions closer to the now-closed Snoqualmie Tunnel.

Along the way I came across this fallen boulder partially blocking the trail. It looked like a fairly recent fall. I rode my bike up this way in the autumn and don't remember it, and there's some fresh gouge marks in the trail where it looked like it hit.

Seeing this boulder on the trail, got me to thinking about how work crews for the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway company -- aka The Milwaukee Road -- made this route .....   more »

The text-messaging motorist who struck and killed his former high school teacher told the court: "This was not intentional. It was an accident. I'm so sorry."

Clark County (Vancouver, Washington) Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett didn't buy it.

"I've heard the term 'accident' used quite a bit today. But this was no accident."

He then sentenced Antonio Cellestine, 18, to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and felony hit and run ....   more »

Update: Feb. 8 -- Vulnerable user bill, SB 5838, approved by Judiciary Committee. Next stop is Senate Rules Committee then a vote on the Senate floor.

--Cascade Bicycle Club blog

It's time that vulernable users of the road -- such as people riding bikes or walking -- get more protection from the law.

A measure that increases penalties for motorists whose right-of-way violations cause injury or death faces a major hurdle at the Washington State Capitol this coming week.

A distracted driver's inattention can cause crumpled fenders between cars, but lead to serious injury or death when the victim is on a bike or on foot.

Regardless of the outcome, in too many cases police can only issue minor traffic citations that often don't even require a court appearance.

The Cascade Bicycle Club is working to change that by getting the Vulnerable User Bill (SB 5838) passed into law. They're calling on Washington bicyclists to contact their legislators to ask them to support the bill ...   more »

Update: Jan. 23 -- Executive director Jake Beattie says response to the burglary at Seattle's Bike Works has been huge. The shop had its biggest volunteer work party last week, and a Mercer Island police officer has pulled together a collection of "evidence bikes" that area agencies had been storing.

The program also received enough donations to cover the cost of increasing security in its storage yard.

"Thanks to all of you who helped turn a negative situation into an expression of community and care," Beattie said. ....   more »

Good news for Seattle bicycle commuters who combine their bike ride with the bus:

Beginning Feb. 6, bicyclists can load and unload their bikes on all Metro buses at any time. That means for the first time, bicyclists can load and unload their bicycles in the busy downtown core, which has been closed to such activity.

King County Metro says this is a one-year demonstration project to determine whether loading and unloading bikes on the front racks on buses slows down the schedule. They'll evaluate safety and operations at the end of the 12-month period ...   more »

Cyclists on the Stinky Spoke bike ride emerge out of the fog Saturday morning on the Sammamish River Trail. More than 600 rode the fund-raiser for the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center near Redmond, Washington.

The 16-mile round trip started and ended at the Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville. While the riders started in the fog, the weather cleared after they left the paved Sammamish River Trail. The route took the mountain bikers along a dirt powerline trail and then home on the hilly Tolt Pipeline Trail. ....   more »

(Update: Jan. 21 -- Trail cleared and reopened on Wednesday) A fallen tree blocks the Burke-Gilman Trail just north of Seattle. Cyclists were directed onto a sidestreet to detour the mudslide that brought the tree down.

Neighbors say this tree in Lake Forest came down about 5:30 Friday morning. The trail was also blocked further south. The area has undergone some precip just about everyday the past two weeks.

This narrow section of the Burke Gilman ...   more »

He who hesitates is lost. That proverb is ringing true for some Cascade Bicycle Club members who discovered available spaces for the 2010 RSVP bike ride filled up quickly this week.

Members-only registration for the Seattle-based bicycle club's eight bike rides in 2010 opened at 9 a.m. Monday; Ride from Seattle to Vancouver BC and Party on Aug. 13-14 was booked before the end of the day.

Based on past experience, I'd expect Ride Around Washington, which visits the "forgotten corner" of northeast Washington for a week of bike touring from July 31 to Aug. 7, to sell out of spaces next. It was 75% sold out the first day. .....   more »

A 49-year-old bike rider was seriously injured on Saturday when he steered into a ditch to avoid being struck head-on by a minivan east of Sammamish.

The Washington State Patrol is asking any witnesses to contact Detective Stacy Moate at 425-401-7746.

The injured man, identified as the Seattle P-I's bike blogger David Longdon, was among a group of cyclists training for the Cancer Care Alliance Starbucks Cycling Team. They were heading westbound on Redmond-Fall City Road (Route 202) near Ames Lake Road about 11:45 a.m. Saturday ...   more »