My bike touring buddy took this picture as I paused at the top of a climb on our overnight bicycle ride on the Olympic Peninsula over Labor Day weekend. It seems like a year ago.
I was suffering from carrying too much weight on a rollercoaster route through the Kitsap Peninsula, across the Hood Canal Bridge, and then along the shoreline on the lightly traveled but hilly Paradise Bay Road.
It was my highlight ride of the bicycling month, which has come to an early end because of pending surgery.... more»
A couple of blog items involving bicyclists convinces me that things are as bad as ever out on the streets.
The LAist blog writes about a cyclist getting handcuffed by police after his bicycle was damaged by a bus and Cyclelicious had an item about a struck cyclist who shoots at a motorist .... more»
Tour of Missouri on Versus cable network: 4-6 p.m. (ET) Wednesday
Photo by Tamara Painter Young fans meet racers
One of the major goals of the Tour of Missouri bike race this year was to boost tourism to the Show Me state.
But the bicycle race had the spillover effect of introducing a lot of folks to professional cyclists and winning a slight measure of respect for those who ride their bikes on Missouri's streets.
Blog reader Jack Painter wrote to me after the race that his family members were thrilled to meet many of the racers. And Kansas City Star columnist Bill Graham writes that following the race, "We need to keep working on making bicycling a bigger pastime in our communities." ... more»
The folks at the Bellevue transportation department are planning to release the details of the 2007 Walk & Roll Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan on Thursday.
The city is basing its recommendations partly on a survey and focus groups from earlier this year. The staff is suggesting where bicycling improvements can be made and how to get them funded.
The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., Room 1E-108. If you're like me and can't make the meeting, the draft will be posted online after the meeting at the Bellevue transportation website (2007 Ped-Bike Plan.).... more»
If you rode your bicycle in Vancouver this weekend, there's a good chance that Lance Armstrong was riding nearby.
Armstrong helped draw cyclists to the inaugural Tour of Courage charity ride in Vancouver this weekend to raise nearly $3 million for the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
Hundreds of cyclists raised more than $1,000 each for the privilege to ride with Lance Armstrong at the event on Sunday; 50 high-rollers raised an average $21,000 each to ride with him on a bike ride on Saturday.... more»
"I'd love to answer the question but unfortunately I'm out of that business. I'm here to fight cancer. I haven't looked online. I still love the bike and ride all the time but on the competitive side I'm just not engaged."
Lance Armstrong in response to reporter's questions regarding Floyd Landis losing his appeal of doping charges raised after the 2006 ... more»
The Screens N Spokes bike team is a group of artists who are raising money for this month's City-to-Shore MS150 bike ride by selling limited edition bike posters.
The last time I checked, there are 18 different posters on sale. The one at left was created by strawberryluna. This is a cool idea to celebrate the bicycle in art and raise money for a good cause at the same time.
All proceeds support the Greater Delaware Chapter of the National MS Society, which is hosting the 27th edition of the City to Shore bike ride on Sept. 29-30 that leaves from Philadelphia and ends at Ocean City. ... more»
A newly opened pedestrian bridge in the Salt Lake Valley will enable cyclists to cross between two bike trails that had been separated by a six-lane Interstate 215 in Utah.
The 280-foot steel-truss bike and hike bridge was opened Friday. Costing $3.5 million, it connects the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in the east to the Jordan River Trail to the west over Parley's Trail.
Known as Parley's Crossing, it was originally envisioned as a tunnel under the freeway. ... more»
The three-judge arbitration panel that heard the doping case of Floyd Landis this spring has voted 2-1 to uphold the allegation that the American used synthetic testosterone during last year's Tour de France.
The ruling means that Landis faces a two-year ban from professional cycling, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007, and that he must forfeit his Tour de France championship.
Oddly enough, however, Landis won a major part of his argument about the French lab doing sloppy work, but lost the case.
The panel rejected the results from testosterone-epitestosterone ratio tests .... more»
Last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the death of 15-year-old North Carolina resident Rachel Giblin on a charity bicycle ride in South Carolina.
As the Breakaway to the Beach went off again as scheduled, Rachel's parents talked about their efforts to raise the awareness of motorists to make things safer for bicyclists on the road.
The family has launched a website entitled "Share the Road for Rachel," and they're distributing magnets and stickers with that slogan. More than 1,000 have gone out so far.... more»
Here is a tale of two cities, one in the real world and another in the Bizarro World; one that rewards for helmet use and another that considers punishing accident victims for not wearing a helmet.
The first is Salina, Kansas, where firefighters are handing out candy coupons from a local grocer to bicyclists who are wearing helmets. Nice and positive.
The other is a suburb of Toronto where police are considering charging a 16-year-old cyclist for not wearing a helmet after she was struck by a truck. They want to interview her about it, but she's still unconscious more»
It seems fitting that the 225-mile Katy Trail in Missouri should be named to the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame during the same year as the inaugural run of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race.
The crushed limestone bike and hike trail stretches nearly across the state, between St. Charles, on the outskirts of St. Louis, to Clinton in the west. It's used by local recreational cyclists to stretch their legs or touring bicyclists who jump off the trail to taste the local culture along the way.
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has begun honoring the best 25 bike and hike trails in the US, a five-year task ... more»
This might seem a little odd, but there's an exercise book that recommends workouts based on your astrological sign.
"Zodiaction: Fat-Burning Fitness Tailored to Your Personal Star Quality" was written by TV fitness personality Ellen Barrett and astrologer Barrie Dolnick.
A newspaper story summarized findings for the different signs of the Zodiac and told which exercises were most appropriate for each group. Which signs are aligned with bicycling? ... more»
There's something very odd going on with the Discovery Channel pro cycling team at the Tour of Missouri.
This year's winner of the Tour de France, Alberto Contador, is working as a domestique to the Tour's yellow jersey wearer, George Hincapie. When's that last time that happened on this team? What a difference two months can make.
After retaining the yellow jersey after Stage 4 on Friday, Hincapie told VeloNews:
"Everyone is working well. I have the reigning Tour de France champion bringing me bottles. That's not a normal thing, but it's a great honor to lead the race. I will do everything I can to keep the jersey." ... more»
If the "How I bicycled my summer vacation" poll is any indicator, Biking Bis readers are an independent bunch.
That's how Missouri's Lazy Louie would have described the style of bicycling that half of my poll respondents said they preferred this summer.
Lazy Louie ran a roadside camp for bicycle tourists between Hartsville and Marshfield on the BikeCentennial Route. He was quite a character who had his own lingo for bikes that passed his way. There were Trucks (Treks), P Joes (Peugots) and Motor Pecans (Motobecans) ... more»
Here's an image of George Hincapie by the Spare Cycles blog author Ken Conley, a cycling photographer based in California who made the trip to Missouri to shoot the race.
It's certainly great to see Hincapie in yellow for the second day at the Tour of Missouri, especially considering the hard-luck bumps his career occasionally takes. (Ken has more pix at kwc at flickr.com .)
On Thursday's 18-mile individual time trial around Branson, Hincapie finished in 6th place, but that was good enough to not only retain the lead but put a 1-minute-40 margin over second place William Fischkorn of Slipstream in the overall standings.
The winner on the day was Discovery Channel teammate Levi Leipheimer, who added Wednesday's win to ITT victories at the Tour of California, Tour de Georgia and Tour de France this year. ... more»
The ever-popular George Hincapie won Stage 2 of the Tour of Missouri on Wednesday, propelling himself into the yellow jersey.
The 34-year-old Greenville, SC, resident is longest-standing member of the soon-to-be-defunct cycling team sponsored by the Discovery Channel. He's the only Discovery member to have accompanied Lance Armstrong on all of his 7 Tour de France victories.
Winner of the USA Cycling pro road championship in 2006, Hincapie wore the stars and stripes at races in the US and Europe this year, but gave up the title to Levi Leipheimer at the nationals over Labor Day weekend. ... more»
A Georgia firefighter is set to begin a cross-country bicycle tour to raises money for the families of nine Charleston, S.C., firefighters who died in a furniture store fire.
The deaths of the so-called Charleston Nine earlier this summer is the largest loss of life of firefighters in the US since 343 died in New York City on 9/11. That's why the cyclist, Laddie Williams of Augusta, chose to embark on his trip at this time of year.
Williams is set to begin riding from Los Angeles soon. He expects he'll arrive in Charleston in mid-October, spending the nights in fire stations along the way. Firefighters along the route will raise money for the families as he continues his bike ride ... more»
The first cyclist to wear the Tour of Missouri yellow jersey is Ivan Dominguez, a Cuban riding for the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team who wn the stage in a mass sprint.
The previous big win this year for the 31-year-old sprinter, who defected from Cuba to ride in the US, was the final stage of the Tour of California ... more»
The understatement in this sentence in the Tour of Missouri (it starts today) pre-race write-up at VeloNews gave me a chuckle:
"Though the course lacks any major climbs, the rolling roads of Missouri are expected to take a cumulative toll."
When my friend and I rode our bicycles across Missouri on the cross-country bike tour, we suffered one climb after another through the Ozarks in the center of the state ..... more»
There are days, typically in the autumn, when the clouds clear away and we can enjoy the scenic views around Seattle.
I took these photos on a bike ride around Seattle a few weeks ago, and if the current weather holds, many of the same views can be enjoyed by bicyclists on the Cascade Bicycle Club's Spawning Cycle bike ride on Sunday.
At least one of the five bike ride options passes through the Magnolia neighborhood, where I took the above photo of Mt. Rainier across Elliott Bay. .... more»
I received an email from Jack Painter, an avid cyclist and advocate who lives in St. Louis. He's concerned, and rightly so, that the Tour of Missouri isn't getting adequate coverage in its home state. He was surprised, and so am I, that few cyclists on a local bike ride even knew about it.
Once again: The Tour of Missouri starts Tuesday in Kansas City and ends Sunday in St. Louis. It visits many points in between. It features many of America's top cyclists, as well as the winner of the 2007 Tour de France.
Here's Jack's email:
Worried? You and all cycling advocates should be. I won't go into great detail but, if I wasn't a daily reader of numerous cycling blogs, I would have no idea that a major cycling event is to be held here ... more»
Here are some suggestions on where to watch the Tour of Missouri, beginning Tuesday in Kansas City and ending Sunday in St. Louis.
The Tour of Missouri website is linking the Adobe Live Tour Tracker (video, chatroom, GPS, VeloNews updates) and live video from Justin.tv (live video feed is expected to begin between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday, according to website).
The first big stage bicycle race for Missouri and one of the last for the Discovery Channel pro cycling team begins Tuesday in Kansas City.
The Tour of Missouri is the last-man-standing of three multi-stage bicycle races in the US that were supposed to launch this year but folded before reaching the starting line. (Tour of Utah and Montreal-Boston Tour didn't make it.)
Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel is sending some of its most popular cyclists to compete -- including Americans George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer, as well as Alberto Contador of Spain, winner of the 2007 Tour de France... more»
One of the first writing assignments I always faced when I returned to school in the fall was "How did you spend your summer vacation?"
Now that we're all grown up, let's hear about your summer bicycle vacation. I know there are a couple of across-state tours left -- namely Arizona and Oregon. But summer is over, the days are getting shorter, and it's time to take stock.
I've created a poll at the top of the right column with several bike touring options. You'll learn the poll results as you vote; the final answers will be published next week .... more»
Ordered to stay off the bicycle for 10 days in early August by my doctor, I returned to cycling with an easy ride around a town that bills itself as the most remote in the lower 48 states.
That "most remote" claim can be challenged, I suppose, but it's one that certainly held up on our visit there.
Stehekin (pop. 80) sits at the northern end of Lake Chelan in central Washington state. There are no roads in or out of this town. As a matter of fact, the only way in is to hike over the Cascades or take a boat from the town of Chelan some 50 miles away at the opposite side of the lake... more»
Tandem bicycles are built to take the rigors of the road, not mistreatment by the airlines.
Dr. David Cleveland and Stacey Butterfield of British Columbia rode their tandem on a 5,000-mile bike trip across Canada this summer to raise at least $10,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Returning to Vancouver, they discovered that the tandem had been smashed while on the Air Canada flight home. The back end of the frame was "badly damaged" and the rear wheel was bent. ... more»
With time running out for a summertime bicycle tour, a neighbor and I took an overnight bicycle trip up to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula this Labor Day weekend.
The Olympic Peninsula is a great bicycling destination. Cyclists take a ferry across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. After a few miles on busy roads, they have a choice of busy well-graded roads with shoulders or narrower country roads with a lot of steep ups and downs.
Either way, they enjoy spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains and sweeping vistas of the Puget Sound and its tributaries... more»
A 43-year woman who inspired many by her unwillingness to give in to cancer died at her home in central England on Monday.
Jane Tomlinson's accomplishments were highlighted in this blog last year after she undertook a cross-country bicycle tour in the US that later became a documentary -- "Jane Tomlinson: Across the USA."
Tomlinson learned she had breast cancer in 1990 and was told in 2000 that she had only months to live. She battled the odds with aggressive treatment as well as participating in endurance sports ... more»
A black bear attacked a mountain biker in Banner Forest Heritage Park in Olalla on Sunday while the 51-year-old man rode through the park with his two dogs.
The man was treated for arm, face, back, neck and ear wounds by paramedics and taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.
It's at least the second time in the Pacific Northwest this summer that a bear-mountain biker encounter has resulted in an attack. In July, a 31-year-old woman was mauled to death by a black bear at the Panorama Mountain Resort in eastern British Columbia. ... more»
We'll be seeing Dave Zabriskie (left) and Levi Leipheimer (right) in the stars and stripes when they take to the cycling peloton next year.
Both won at the USA Cycling Pro Championships in Greenville, South Carolina, over the weekend. As national champions, each gets to festoon their regular bicycle team jersey with the red, white and blue in 2008.
Zabriskie, winner of the individual time trial for the second year in a row, will be bicycling for the up-and-coming US-based Team Slipstream/Chipotle. Leipheimer, who won the road championship from Discovery teammate George Hincapie, has yet to sign a contract with another team for next year... more»
The folks at the Bellevue transportation department are planning to release the details of the 2007 Walk & Roll Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan on Thursday.
The three-judge arbitration panel that heard the doping case of Floyd Landis this spring has voted 2-1 to uphold the allegation that the American used synthetic testosterone during last year's Tour de France.
Last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the death of 15-year-old North Carolina resident Rachel Giblin on a charity bicycle ride in South Carolina.
There's something very odd going on with the Discovery Channel pro cycling team at the Tour of Missouri.
If the "How I bicycled my summer vacation" poll is any indicator, Biking Bis readers are an independent bunch.
The ever-popular George Hincapie won Stage 2 of the Tour of Missouri on Wednesday, propelling himself into the yellow jersey.
The first cyclist to wear the Tour of Missouri yellow jersey is
The understatement in this sentence in the Tour of Missouri (it starts today) pre-race write-up at VeloNews gave me a chuckle:
There are days, typically in the autumn, when the clouds clear away and we can enjoy the scenic views around Seattle.
Ordered to stay off the bicycle for 10 days in early August by my doctor, I returned to cycling with an easy ride around a town that bills itself as the most remote in the lower 48 states.
We'll be seeing Dave Zabriskie (left) and Levi Leipheimer (right) in the stars and stripes when they take to the cycling peloton next year.
