A petition that asks Google to add bicycle routes in a "Bike There" application for finding directions at Google Maps is gaining a lot of support already.

The idea was broached by an Austin bicyclist at the Google Maps "Bike There" blog less than two weeks ago, and already a petition at PetitionOnline has more than 3,800 signatures.

Several commenters at blogs promoting the idea suggest that Google already is working on this, and plans to roll it out later in 2008 ...   more »

Sometimes statistics can be helpful in explaining problems and finding solutions; other times they can only confuse the issues.

The latter is the case in the annual "Measures, Markers and Mileposts" report issued by the Washington state Department of Transportation. The 100-plus page document gives in-depth performance reports for highway maintenance, pavement conditions, environmental control and pedestrian and bicycle safety.

But I found the 2 pages devoted to pedestrian and bicycle safety to be sorely lacking. The two tables of bicycle fatality statistics were drawn from federal and state databases and were offered with little explanation ...   more »

If you're a veteran and see this guy towing a bike trailer filled with his stuff across the southern US, you might want to stop and say hi.

He's Jerry Nelson, 56, a veteran of 15 years in the Navy and a Vietnam vet. He's pedaling cross-country to find some peace of mind.

After hiking last year from New Mexico to Washington DC, where he camped in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, he's now pedaling his Trek 850 hardtail and pulling a Burley trailer to Oregon. Along the way he's spending nights at American Legion posts and speaking to veterans groups....   more »

The Maryland House of Delegates is the latest legislature to take up the road safety issue that motorists must give bicycle riders a 3-foot clearance when passing.

Three-foot passing laws are in effect in at least a dozen states. Meanwhile, BIcycle Colorado distributes these nifty window stickers to car owners who purchase "Share the Road" license plates.

The Maryland bill is a top priority of One Less Car, which helped the Maryland Department of Transportation draft. It died in the House Environmental Matters Committee last year, so advocates are asking Maryland residents to contact their delegates, especially those on the committee ...   more »

"Please Do Not Run Me Over" is the title on an essay that Austin Miller of Beaverton, Oregon, wrote for his high school newspaper last year.

It surfaced again this week in Portland media outlets after the 15-year-old sophomore at the Art and Communication Magnet Academy was struck and killed by a bus while pedaling home from school on Feb. 11.

The story by the young bicycling enthusiast tells about a fictional town where the inhabitants abandoned their bicycles for motor vehicles. He later goes on to write about the poor state of motorist-biker relations and the need for bike lanes ...   more »

Four-legged bane of Trans-American bicycle tourers? Dogs. Four-legged bane of Iditarod snow-bikers? Moose.

The Human-powered Iditarod got underway in 10-degree temperatures on Sunday, and racers snow-biking the route have reported problems with moose along the trail, especially one particularly aggressive female moose.

Meanwhile, Jill Homer, whose Up in Alaska blog is one of the most popular bicycling blogs on the Internet, is posting good enough times to be on pace for a record-setting 350-mile ride into McGrath....   more »

The city of Ota in Japan thought it could help people who needed a ride around downtown by setting up a free bicycle loan program using abandoned bikes that had been repainted yellow.

The program started with 30 bicycles in mid-November. Within two months, all but three were missing.

That's an amazing rate of disappearance, but missing bicycles are common in yellow bike programs in the US. Since there's always a ready supply of discarded bicycles, the Austin Yellow Bike Program, for instance, simply puts more bikes on the street ...   more »

Out on my bike today I was thinking about the Amgen Tour of California that just wrapped up Sunday with George Hincapie winning the final stage and Levi Leipheimer winning the title.

I enjoyed this third Tour more than the previous ones. Here are five reasons why I think this was the best one yet. In no particular order:

1. The caliber of the competition. The participation of cyclists who have made their reputation in Europe was exciting. Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, David Millar all played a role in this year's Tour. But the highlight was definitely Mario Cipollini, left, who came out of retirement at 40 to join the Rock Racing team.

I expected he'd be just so much window dressing, but the guy came to race....   more »

They're going to have to rename this event if there are many more days like Sunday in the future for the Chilly Hilly bike rides.

Check out these cyclists basking in the sun as they ride along Rockaway Beach Road on Bainbridge Island Sunday afternoon. That's downtown Seattle, with the famous Space Needle on the left, across Puget Sound with the snow-capped Cascades in the background. In many previous years, much of these scene would be hidden behind a cloud bank.

The Chilly Hilly bike ride is a 33-mile loop around Bainbridge Island. It has been sponsored for 35 years by the Cascade Bicycle Club, which named it for the usual cold, wet, and windy weather that greets cyclists coming out of their winter hibernation ...   more »

Two former US teammates capped off the third Amgen Tour of California with a thrilling one-two punch on Sunday.

George Hincapie took the Stage 7 win, vindicating his High Road team that had been ruled out of a stage victory the previous day. And Levi Leipheimer won his second straight Tour championship, his first as leader of the Astana team.

Joining Leipheimer on the podium were Slipstream cyclists David Millar of the UK and Christian Vande Velde of the US, who finished 2nd and 3rd behind Leipheimer ...   more »

Race judges awarded Stage 6 to Brazil's Luciano Pagliarini because the first man across the finish line, Mark Cavendish used a team car to regain the peloton after a crash by other riders at the Amgen Tour of California.

The 20-second penalty must be a huge disappointment for Cavendish's High Road Team, which has yet to win a stage or make a threat in the overall leader's race.

American Levi Leipheimer finished safely in the peloton and retained his lead in the Tour. He only has to hold it for one more day to win the event in the final stage to Pasadena on Sunday ...   more »

Colin and Julie Angus are two adventurers who are taking a 4,000-mile rowboat and bicycle expedition across Europe that you'll be able to follow online beginning in March.

The two experienced travellers from Canada are rowing down rivers, coastlines and canals from Scotland to Syria. When it's time to portage over passes or around dangerous rapids, they'll use the foldable bicycles and trailers stowed on board to tow their watercraft.

That makes it a completely human-powered expedition on old trade and migration routes from the Scottish highlands to the deserts of the Middle East. The trip also includes a component that enables children in classrooms around the world to interact with the travellers.

Larry Lagarde at the RideThisBike.com website tipped me off about this adventure. He also donated through his website the two full-sized folding mountain bikes the pair will use. Colin Angus will be riding a flat black SwissBike LX; Julie is riding a baby blue Montague CX ....   more »

American Levi Leipheimer blistered the 15-mile individual time trial at the Amgen Tour of California on Friday, beating his closest challenger by a full minute.

Two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, whose hopes for a golden jersey rested on this course around Solvang, had a disappointing day. Instead of climbing back into the lead that he held after the prologue, the Team CSC rider fell out of 2nd place .

The stage win by Leipheimer puts him closer to an overall victory for Tour of California for the second straight year. He'll be able to rely on his strong Astana team on the 105-mile stage from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita on Saturday, and the concluding 93-mile bike race into Pasadena on Sunday ...   more »

Something you'll be hearing a lot soon is that something "is your new bicycle." It started with a website called "Barack Obama is your new bicycle" which caught fire and already has a slew of imitators.

The term will probably reach a peak in a few weeks, when advertisers will start using it in their "hip" commercials. That's when we'll quickly get sick of hearing it, and the once-clever term will die out of use.

Here's what Matthew Honan, a San Francisco based writer for Wired magazine, told Eric Zorn at the Chicago Tribune about the website and how it got started....   more »

(The subject of this investigation committed suicide Saturday morning, the Seattle Times reported.)

This sounds more like an episode of CSI than your typical bike theft investigation where police take a report and file it away.

The police crime scene investigation in this case traced DNA on a coffee cup left behind in a Seattle neighborhood bike shop by a man who took a Cervelo R3 for a test ride and never returned.

Months later, a DNA match led them to a Longview, Washington, podiatrist who they charged with 12 counts of possessing or selling stolen bikes ...   more »

Do the Clinton-Obama or McCain-Huckabee campaigns get your political juices boiling? How would you like to direct a campaign that will make a real difference.

America Bikes, a national coalition of bicycle and trail groups, is looking for a campaign director to dramatically improve funding for bicycling in the next federal transportation authorization bill, expected to go to Congress in 2009.

By ensuring that the transportation funding bill is bicycle-friendly, the group says the campaign director "will help address a number of key problems facing the United States, including climate change, dependence on foreign oil, road congestion, air quality, and childhood obesity. ...   more »

Staying with the breaks for 125 miles into a spitting rain paid off for Dominique Rollin on Thursday when he launched a solo break near the finish and won Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California.

Levi Leipheimer retained the leader's golden jersey, due to the efforts of his Astana team riding at the head of peloton and controlling the race.

If there is glamour in the sport of cycling, it wasn't in evidence in Thursday's stage. In addition to many cyclists being ravaged by stomach flu, the rest of the peloton spent the day pedaling down Pacific Coast Highway into rain and head- and side-winds for 135 miles between Seaside and San Luis Obispo.

How bad was it? The final results show that 15 riders dropped out during the stage, in addition to 3 who couldn't start in the morning. Among the drop-outs, Tom Danielson from Slipstream and Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing), who had just reclaimed the King of the Mountains jersey before climbing into an ambulance to be treated for hypothermia. ...   more »

You snow-cycling enthusiasts probably already know about this, but the Iditarod Trail Invitational starts this Sunday.

Billed as the world's longest human-powered race, the event starts in Anchorage and follows the famous Iditarod sled dog race course across a frozen landscape to either McGrath -- 350 miles, or Nome -- 1,110 miles.

Of the 46 entrants, 12 are going by bicycle to McGrath and 10 are riding their bikes to Nome. The rest are hiking or skiing ...   more »

American Levi Leipheimer won back the Amgen Tour of California's golden leader's jersey on Wednesday in his battle to defend his title from 2007.

At the finish line in San Jose, Leipheimer thanked stage winner Robert Gesink for his success, as the Rabobank cyclist helped Astana's Leipheimer hold off the peloton in the final miles after the grueling summit of Sierra Road.

Their cooperation ensured that Team CSC's Fabian Cancellara did not take back the leader's jersey on a day the peloton struggled up the beyond-category climb of Mount Hamilton, followed by the 1st-category Sierra Road...   more »

Without a doubt, Modesto has never hosted so many elite pro cyclists as are showing up to roll out Wednesday morning for Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California.

The Central Valley town used to be my home for about 10 years beginning in the mid-1980s. During that time Nelson Vails was the only prominent cyclist to ride within sight of the arch emblazoned with the slogan "Water Wealth Contentment Health."

Vails wasn't, or isn't, a household name for many. I had seen Vails win a silver medal in the individual sprint at the velodrome at the '84 Summer Games in Los Angeles. He also had small role in that atrocity, Quicksilver ...   more »

If you're bicycling around Pierce County in Washington state, keep an eye open for a maroon Mercedes Benz with some body damage and try to get a plate number.

The car's driver is the latest weasel to hit someone, move the bike and/or victim, then take off. And there's a $1,000 reward offered.

The 67-year-old bicycle rider was struck at the intersection of Ramsdell Street and Contra Costa Avenue in Fircrest about 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning. A streak of blood at the scene indicates someone from the car dragged the victim and her bike to the curb...   more »

Belgium's one-day race specialist Tom Boonen (left) took the final sprint in Sacramento on Tuesday, as Slipstream's Tyler Farrar (right) of Seattle stepped into the overall lead of the Amgen Tour of California.

The Stage 2 win marked the first in the US for Boonen, the leader of the QuickStep team. The 27-year-old is among the winningest riders in the peloton, with stage wins at the Tour de France and many of the spring classics trophies on his mantel.

The third cyclist across the line was a blast from the past, Mario Cipollini, who returned to pro cycling after two years of retirement. You gotta tip your helmet to the 40-year-old Rock Racing sprinter, who obviously did more than sit around cafes drinking wine the past two years.

Farrar's climb into the overall lead is a real bonus for the 23-year-old Wenatchee native and a credit to the Slipstream team...   more »

Calfee Designs is supplying its bamboo bikes to a California-based bicycle racing team composed exclusively of vegans.

OrganicAthlete launched its cycling team in 2007 and five of its athletes will be riding the bamboo bikes this year.

Although he experimented with bamboo about 10 years ago, Craig Calfee has been building the bamboo bikes at his Santa Cruz County shop for three or four years. The bamboo tubing is bound with a hemp-fiber wrap that helps create a green, renewable bicycle...   more »

When Trek president John Burke urged the bicycle industry to create a bike friendly world, the Canadians were listening.

The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada has awarded $25,000 to six different advocacy programs that put people back on two wheels.

The nonprofit group for suppliers and retailers sponsors the ExpoCycle (Canada's bike trade show) and lobbies the government on cycling issues. They issued the grants in advocacy, education and facility enhancement...   more »

Team CSC's Juan Jose Haedo won the sprint finish in Santa Rosa on Monday, marking the third year that the Argentine speedster has won a stage of the Amgen Tour of California.

Teammate Fabian Cancellara, who held on to the overall leader's yellow jersey, was seen cheering back in the bunch as Haedo won by about two bike lengths.

A bunch of 70-some cyclists made it into Santa Rosa in time to race in the three 3.1-mile circuits around town. It looked like QuickStep was leading out Tom Boonen, but CSC Bobby Julich took over and helped power Haedo toward the finish. BMC's Alexander Moos also attacked on the final circuit...   more »

Cycling fans who are shocked by the unfairness of the Astana cycling team's banishment from the Tour de France will want to sign a petition at LetLeviRide.com.

American cyclist Levi Leipheimer launched the campaign to petition the Amaury Sports Organization to allow his Astana team to compete in the Tour de France,  as well as Paris-Nice and other races it owns.

ASO announced it banned Astana from the Tour de France because of doping problems the past couple of years, in spite of the fact that management has been overhauled this year and many of the cyclists are new...   more »

With the precision of a Swiss timepiece, Fabian Cancellara grabbed the prologue win in Palo Alto for the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday.

The world champion time trial champion finished the 2.1-mile route in 3:51. Levi Leipheimer, defending champion and last year's prologue winner on a climbing course up to Coit Tower in San Francisco, finished in 4th place, about 6 seconds behind.

The best team effort was put in by Slipstream-Chipotle, which placed four riders in the top 10. They were Tyler Farrar, David Zabriskie, David Millar and Steven Cozza ...   more »

You've seen out-of-shape bicyclists get off their bikes and walk up steep hills on weekend bike tour events. But have you ever seen riders dismount because of a headwind?

Bike riders on the Jalapeno 100 through the Rio Grande Valley around Harlingen, Texas, were doing just that Saturday as wind gusts of 52 mph swept across the route.

Tailwinds above 40 mph are a good thing; but headwind or sidewinds are not. Sag wagons filled up during the day. The blogger at Texbiker.net gives this vivid account, which reads at times like it's a dispatch from the Dust Bowl era   more »

Can't make it to the roadside for the Amgen Tour of California, which rolls out Sunday through Feb. 24? There are many ways to watch it from the comfort of your office or home computer. 

I'm not encouraging slacking off at work, but computer users will get an enhanced Tour Tracker that offers video streaming, expert audio and other cool doo-dads at the official website this year. There's also "play-by-play" offered by VeloNews and CyclingNews, as well as the highlights presented by Versus on cable TV.

You'll  have to look for the link to Tour Tracker on the Amgen Tour of California website. This is the third year the Adobe and Computer Sciences Corp. have combined attempted this, and frankly the second year was much more reliable than the first. ...   more »

While we've been on the subject of globe-girdling bicycling with Annie Londonderry, 25-year-old Mark Beaumont completed his journey earlier today when he crossed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Beaumont's amazing feat? He shaved 81 days off the previous around-the-world solo bike tour record of 276 days.

No sag wagon accompanied him or carried his stuff. Beaumont toted his own 66 pounds of gear over the entire 18,000-mile journey for 195 days. Now he's looking to get some sleep...   more »

Imagine that you're a writer with a growing appetite for riding your bicycle.

Then consider that a researcher who had contacted your mother years earlier about your great-grandfather's sister -- no one in the immediate family had ever heard of her  -- gets back in touch and asks if you had learned anything more about her.

Oh, and by way, that great-grandaunt had bicycled around the world more than 100 years ago.

There you have the circumstances that launched Peter Zheutlin on his quest to research and write a book about Annie Kopchovsky (aka Annie Londonderry): "Around the World on Two Wheels, Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride."

His pursuit of Annie Londonderry's story across time is full of as many twists and turns as Annie's solo bike ride in 1894 and 1895. And just as Annie started her journey with big dreams but little knowledge of bicycling, Zheutlin started with a virtually blank slate about his once famous relative. ...   more »

If you're familiar with the world of bicycle touring, you probably already know that the first cyclist to pedal around the world was Tom Stevens, who left San Francisco on a penny farthing in 1884.

But who was the first woman to accomplish the feat?

Let me introduce you to Annie Londonderry, a Bostonian in her early 20s who undertook the journey 10 years later in 1894. Credited with accomplishing the bicycle journey by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and countless other newspapers at the time, her story is one of high adventure and extreme risk for a woman travelling alone in the late 19th century.

Her stories involve run-ins with bandits, nights spent sleeping in barns or open fields, visiting the front of the China-Japan war where she was wounded and taken prisoner, accidents out on the road, and tiger hunts in the jungle from atop an elephant. She did it all to win a bet that a woman could bicycle around the world. ...   more »

It looks like two of the top 3 finishers in last year's Tour de France will have three weeks of vacation come July. The owners of the Tour de France announced that the Astana pro cycling team cannot compete in that race, or any other that it hosts in 2008.

That means Spain's Alberto Contador can't defend his titles in the 2007 Paris-Nice or Tour de France. No. 3 Tour de France finisher Levi Leipheimer won't be able to compete in the race either

Banning cycling teams from races, in spite of team-management and internal doping-control overhauls, seems to be the fashion this year; the Giro d'Italia already banned Astana and Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile).

   more »

Some of pro cycling's top guns are expected in Palo Alto on Sunday to kick off the competition for the 3rd annual Amgen Tour of California.

On Tuesday, organizers issued a list of 10 "big names" that are signed up to compete in the 650-mile, eight-day race. A complete roster from the 17 teams is expected on Thursday.

The names on the list include not only the usual suspects from US racing, but international stars as well. They are: ...   more »

What is it about hitting a bicyclist that causes some people not to stop and try to help? A GhostCycle.org survey revealed that one in five bike accidents involving another vehicle were hit-and-run. Here are two recent cases that are particularly despicable:

Police in Beaumont, Texas, have a suspect in a Saturday night hit-and-run that killed a 26-year-old man who was riding a bicycle. According to witnesses, the woman stopped after striking the man and dragging him for 20 feet, pulled his bicycle out from under the car, then continued on her way. ....

A 23-year-old Oshkosh, Wisconsin, man faces the possibility of 25 years, 6 months in prison and $101,100 in fines. He's charged with hit-and-run causing a death and his second offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated ...   more »

(Left to right: High Road, Slipstream, BMC)

 

 

When the Discovery Channel pro cycling team closed up shop at the end of last season, I was afraid my days of rooting for a US-based "home team" at the major European races were over.

Instead, I'll have to choose from three: High Road Sports, BMC Racing and Slipstream Chipotle-H3O.

High Road Sports is the team that T-Mobile abandoned after the disclosure of the team's long history of doping became public last year. Earlier this month, the team of George Hincapie moved its HQ from Germany to San Luis Obispo, making it the only US-based ProTour team.

Then the UCI government body of pro cycling announced it would include two US-based Pro Continental teams -- BMC and Slipstream -- among the 15 continental teams allowed to compete on the international level on the UCI ProTour. Now, instead of no teams, I have three. ...   more »

The city of London is taking a tip from the Parisians and will begin an urban bicycle rental program using 6,000 bicycles in the summer of 2010.

The bike rental plan is just one part of $1 billion that London Mayor Ken Livingstone wants to invest in bicycling in order to cut 60% of carbon emissions in the city by 2025.

The bikes being considered won't be stylish. They're described as "grannyish," with heavy frames, front baskets and mudguards. Said one advocate: "We want to encourage the view of bicycles as a tool rather than a fashion accessory....   more »

After a very successful weekend in Portland, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is heading out to Indianapolis for its 5th annual event next year.

Apparently show owner Don Walker likes to keep his show on the road to give more people a chance to fall in love with those beautiful hand-built bicycles. Can't argue with that.

Also, the UrbanVelo blog says that Indianapolis (home to Monon Trail, above) is within a day's drive of 100 million people out there in the Heartland. Nearby cities include Chicago and St. Louis, as well as Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Detroit...   more »

Are you ready to roll? The Versus cable network returns to its Cyclysm Sunday pro cycling coverage this weekend with Tour of Qatar on Saturday and the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday.

Versus will continue its coverage of the California bicycle race all week with nightly rebroadcasts of the daily race action, culminating in coverage of Stage 6 in Santa Clarita and Stage 7 in Pasadena on Feb. 23 and 24. (See "TV schedule for 2008 Tour of California")

Pro cycling coverage continues throughout the spring and summer with the European spring classics, Sunday coverage of the three-week Giro d'Italia and daily coverage of the Tour de France. ...   more »

Pedalers on the three Colorado week-long bicycle tours this summer will be treated to views like the one I shot while bicycling down Route 550 between Montrose and Ouray.

In fact, two of the bike tours start in Durango a week apart and tackle the San Juans Mountains (shown here) on the first or second day.

This is the second year that Colorado mountain pass-climbing enthusiasts have a choice of three bike tours - the Denver Post's Ride the Rockies June 15-21; Bicycle Tour of Colorado June 22-28; and Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour Aug. 3-9.

Here's a summary of the three bike tours...   more »

 This is a photo of my son and other bicyclists on the Ride Around Washington a few years ago heading up to Washington Pass on Highway 20.

Believe me, to discover the North Cascades for the first time on a bicycle is a never-to-be-forgotten experience. I'd say it's one of the best rides around.

The editors of Adventure Cyclist magazine, the official publication of the Adventure Cycling Association, think so too. They chose the North Cascades and Okanogan region of northcentral Washington as one of the top 10 cyclotouring destinations in North America.

Deputy editor Aaron Teasdale explains that with interest in bicycle touring at an all time high, "We wanted to spotlight the best places for people to head out for a week and ride." ...   more »

If you're ever looking for a reason why it's good to have elected officials who share your passion for riding a bike, here's one:

Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley is a bike enthusiast who helped put the city on the League of American Bicyclist's Bicycle Friendly Community list in 2005. Now he wants to beef up penalties for motorists who recklessly endanger bicyclists.

Daley has proposed fines of  $150 -- $500 if there's a bike crash -- against motorists who open car doors in front of cyclists, turn in front of them or pass too close...   more »

Trek Bicycle is recalling 49,000 girls mountain bikes after receiving 13 reports that the frames broke, resulting in four injuries.

The recall, in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, covers the Trek MT220 girls bicycles sold through authorized Trek dealers from April 2004 through June 2007 for about $300.

The bicycles were manufactured in China and Taiwan for the Waterloo, Wisconsin-based bike maker...   more »

If you're anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, you should be reminded that this weekend is the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Portland.

This is the show's first year in Portland, where some 155 exhibitors will show their wares to the public at the Oregon Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday (Friday is industry only day).

Organized by Don Walker and in its fourth year, the handbuilt bike show has helped focus more attention on this cottage industry that not only produces unique, high-quality machines but is also an early bellwether of changes in the bike industry...   more »

It's all about the bicycle in Davis. I visited the college town last week to get a glimpse of what life would be like in the US if everyone decided to stop feeding ExxonMobil's profits and turned to bicycling instead.

It was perfect, two-wheeled bliss. Miles of bicycle lanes criss-cross the town and acres of bike parking are spread across the UC-Davis campus.

This is the bicycle-friendliest community in the US. That's not me saying it. The League of American Bicyclists bestowed the "platinum level" to Davis in the Bicycle Friendly program in 2005.

With just a couple of hours to visit Davis, I rented a bike...   more »

Cyclists in Columbus, Georgia, are mourning the death of Matthew Scott Matty, a 47-year amateur bicycle racer who was killed on a training ride on Sunday.

Matty and a companion, Jeffrey Davis, 39, had broken off from the main group of cyclists from Columbus Bicycle Racing club so they could get home to spend time with their families when they were struck from behind by a Ford Explorer.

Other club members of the ride learned about the collision by cell phone calls they received after they stopped for lunch...   more »

Two bicycle safety instructors from Portland are touring the Andes by bicycle after deciding it was pointless to put off the trip any longer.

Andy McKerrow and Elicia Cardenas had individually wondered for years when they would be ready to bike tour in South America until they recognized they each had the same idea and there was nothing stopping them doing it.

They set off a few weeks ago, and now they're sharing their adventures on a blog at Wend Magazine entitled "Elicia and Andy's Ride through the Andes."...   more »

When I rode my bicycle out in the Central Valley of California, I always had to keep my eyes open for ground squirrels.

Those big, fat suckers would hang out in the shade of a haystack at a roadside dairyfarm, then kick up a small cloud of dust as they scampered across the road. It was always the squirrel's agility, not my bike handling skills, that averted disaster.

A 61-year-old wasn't so lucky. In spite of four transAmerica bike trips, Anthony Ricupero lost his first squirrel vs. bike tangle last weekend on a club ride near Greenwich, Conn...   more »

(The blog feeds for Sheldon Brown tributes has been moved to the upper sidebar of the Biking Bis "Feed Zone" page.)

The foremost Internet authority on bicycles and bicycle maintenance died last night of a massive heart attack.

Sheldon Brown's websites were the first place many of us bike geeks landed when we needed authoritative information about our rides. Those ending up at the Harris Cyclery web pages today saw the following message:

"Dear Harris Cyclery friends and customers, It is with heavy hearts that we convey to you the news that Sheldon Brown has passed away. Our thoughts go out to his family at this time. The cycling community has lost one of it's most passionate members."

Noah over at Blue Collar Mountain Biking notes that Sheldon, 63, posted some advice over at Bike Forums at 9:31 p.m. That might have been the last help he gave while he was alive. He'll surely continue to help many others as his words and advice live on through the Internet.

More about Sheldon Brown at wikipedia. Also, leave a comment at the Recalling Sheldon Brown blog; 293 comments last I checked.

Ownership of the Cannondale Bicycle Corp. is headed north of the border with its purchase by Montreal-based Dorel Industries.

A huge consumer products company, Dorel markets Schwinn, Mongoose, GT, Roadmaster, Murray, InSTEP and Playsafe through its Pacific Cycle division.

In announcing the $200 million purchase, company officials said Cannondale would operate as a separate group aimed at independent bicycle dealers, while the other bike brands will continue to target the mass merchandisers ...   more »

An outdoor trade organization named the Adventure Cycling Association among its finalists for the 2008 Outdoor Industry Ambassador Award.

Although the award ultimately went to Mountain Gear for training more than 1,000 climbers a year, the bicycle touring group said it was proud to included among the finalists and honored to be the only cycling group cited.

Adventure Cycling was chosen for its Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, which has drawn new audiences, including African-Americans, to recreational bicycle touring...   more »

(Feb. 16: High Road reinstated; VeloNews)

Giro d'Italia officials took punitive measures against top-flight pro cycling teams Astana and High Road by denying them admission to three-week race that begins May 10.

It's seems unfortunate and a bit unfair that the likes of Americans Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner (Astana) and George Hincapie (High Road), as well as Spain's Alberto Contador, won't be able to compete because of lax drug oversight by those teams in previous years.

It also raises the possibility that the Tour de France may follow suit, which would prevent Contador from defending his 2007 title and Leipheimer and Hincapie from a chance at wearing the yellow jersey.   more »