Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring

Beating the bike lane grit left behind by snowstorms

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:27:00 -0800

If you're heading out this weekend for your first bike ride since the recent snowstorms, be prepared to do some bike cleaning when you return home.

The sand and gravel spread to improve traction in the snowstorm -- along with all kinds of road debris like tree twigs and glass chards -- has found its way to the sides of the road where we tend to ride.

If the road is wet, this stuff sticks to your bike like glue. It will grind down all the parts of your power train and wear grooves in your bike rims when you brake.

Even if it's dry, the glass works ...

Weather-related bike-riding conditions improve in Seattle area

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:47:00 -0800

This stretch of road might not be recognizable here, but many Seattle area recreational cyclists have no doubt ridden it.

This is a WSDOT photo of Route 202 between Fall City and Snoqualmie Falls taken Thursday after the ice storm swept through the area. (See a summer-time photo below.)

That icy coating followed a snowstorm that already had caused chaos on Puget Sound area roads. In addition to the slick road conditions, the freezing rain on top of snow weighed down trees that toppled across power lines and onto roads.

The conditions here led to the closure of Route 202 ...

Making your bike snow-friendly

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:24:00 -0800

Snowmageddon. Snowpacolypse. Call it what you will, but this predicted snowstorm in Seattle is turning out to be the real thing, not SnowHyperbole.

I've ridden in the snow here in the past. It's nice. I threw the knobbies on my Rockhopper and went for a spin. No traffic. Really quiet. [No riding today, though. Wife's working from home and my daughter is home from school, so I'm minding the store, so to speak.]

Traction is an issue in the snow, even with the knobbies. I've gone down and lost grip with my rear wheel many times.

Short of buying a Surly Pugsly or other specially designed snow bike, here are a couple of ways to make your current ride more snow-friendly. Check out ...

Chalking up another birthday bicycle ride

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 -0800

My 3-year tradition of marking my birthday with a "years-equals-miles" bicycle ride is in the books.

Actually, it's recorded on BikeJournal.com, where I jumped from 1,423rd to 605th in a single day. That could be my high-water mark for the year.

Unlike previous years, this time I couldn't get out of my head the thought that I should have started this silliness years ago, when the distance would have been a lot shorter.

With pleasant weather promised on Sunday, I headed over to Issaquah from Bellevue, then south to Black Diamond and home via Renton for 62.8 miles.

My destination was the Green River Gorge Bridge, above, a 150-foot-high span over a raging river that drains the Cascades. Whenever I visit the single-lane bridge built in 1915 ...

Registration opens this week for most Cascade bike rides

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:42:00 -0800

It's time for Cascade Bicycle Club members to line up to register online for the club's most popular bicycle rides on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In order to prevent a repeat of last year's server meltdown of monumental proportions, the club is staggering the dates for registration this year and instituting a lottery system for the RSVP and RSVP2 (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party).

Here's the rundown:

On Tuesday, members-only registration opens for Chilly Hilly, Flying Wheels, STP and Ride Around Washington ...

That new bicycle path in Bellevue

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:19:00 -0800

A few days ago I posted a story about a short bicycle path opened in Bellevue that avoids some busy roads and intersections in the Factoria shopping district.

Here's a video the City of Bellevue posted online about the bike path.

One interesting note about this route is how the city used state and federal funds to help pay the ...

New bike path in Bellevue; Burke-Gilman update

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:20:00 -0800

As bicycle paths go it isn't very long, less than a half mile.

But Bellevue city officials say it will make travel safer for bicyclists and pedestrians in the Factoria shopping area of Bellevue.

A work in progress since late summer, the 124th Avenue connector trail opened this week.

The 10-foot-wide path connects the I-90 bike trail (also known as the Mountains to Sound Trail) to 124th Avenue SE.

Meanwhile, the county says only part of Burke Gilman renovation will be ready by the end of the month, and Seattle returns to court to complete the "missing link" in Ballard...

Kirkland to buy railroad corridor for future bike trail

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:46:00 -0800

Kirkland plans to buy its 5.5-mile section of the old Eastside railroad corridor that runs for 42 miles between Renton and Snohomish.

The city council approved the $5 million expenditure at a meeting Tuesday night. The final purchase would come through in March.

The abandoned railroad route could be improved into a biking and hiking trail in Kirkland, but there's talk of adding light rail or express buses to the corridor as well.

The cost of improving the abandoned railroad corridor ranges from $2.4 million to $82 million, depending on whether the path would be paved or ....

Driver in Kirkland bicycle fatality booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:41:00 -0800

Update: Dec. 10, 2011 -- The driver of the vehicle, Nathan Godwin, 27, of Kirkland was bound over to the King County Jail on $500,000 bond on suspicion of vehicular homicide. His blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest was .078. He told authorities that he had taken the drug Suboxone to treat his opiate addiction; drug warnings urge avoiding alcohol while on that medication.

Dec. 9, 2011 --Friends and family of the bicyclist killed in Kirkland early Thursday morning are planning a candlelight vigil at the scene of the crash from 4 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The cyclist was identified as Bradley Nakatani, 36, of Kirkland. He was bicycling home from work as a software engineer in the Totem Lake area when he was struck by an SUV at the intersection of NE 124th Street and 132nd Avenue NE.

The driver of that SUV, identified as Nathan J. Godwin, 27, of Redmond, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Kirkland police told the Seattle Times that they want to increase those charges to vehicular homicide ...

Bicyclist killed in Thursday morning crash in Kirkland

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:03:00 -0800

A 35-year-old bicycle commuter from Bellevue was killed in Kirkland early Thursday morning after he was struck by a man driving an SUV.

Kirkland police told reporters the driver of the SUV has been booked on suspicion of driving under the influence.

News reports say the collision happened about 3 a.m. at the intersection of NE 124th Street and 132 ...