Bicycle guru Sheldon Brown, who passed away in February, was fond of April Fool's jokes. That's why bicyclists in Seattle and Portland are picking Tuesday as the day for memorial rides.

In Portland (BikePortland): 6 p.m. Col. Summers Park, SE 20th and Belmont.

In Seattle (Kent's Bike Blog): 6 p.m. BikeStation 311 3rd Ave. South.

If you'd like to see a classic Sheldon April Fool's joke, here's his foolproof method to clean a bike chain...   more »

Congratulations to Kirkland's Jennie Reed for winning the gold medal in keirin at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

The 29-year-old also won a bronze in the individual pursuit; Sarah Hammer, 24, of Temecula, California, won the silver medal in that event.

Both are looking ahead to gold medals in track in this summer's 2008 Olympics in Beijing...   more »

Six West Seattle students -- ages 10 - 18 -- were to begin a 22-day bicycle ride across the US today to deliver a message about global warming.

Their 5,400-mile route is charted to take the group through 65 cities that have signed on with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickel's Climate Action Now program. The noble endeavor is led by a Chief Sealth High School teacher who has organized similar rides in the past.

They're calling the bike tour "An Inconvenient Ride," borrowing from Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth campaign ...   more »

As amazed as I was a month ago with the nice weather for Chilly Hilly, I was equally stunned at this cold snap that had dumped snow throughout the Puget Sound region the past few days.

But when the snow starts falling around here and I have an itch to ride, sometimes I'll head uphill where the snow is deeper.

That was the case this morning. In addition to the snow on our lawn, I could see what looked like a thicker covering up toward Somerset and Cougar Mountain...   more »

Most racers do it as a team

In 10 weeks, that great sleep-deprivation bicycling event known as the Race Across America gets underway as the 3,008-mile endurance race begins in Oceanside, California, setting off for the first time to Annapolis, Maryland.

In addition to the men and women who pedal and suffer in solitude, there are two-, four-, and eight-person teams that complete the race relay style. Most of these are raising money for charity, and quite few are comprised of older bicyclists, possibility inspired by images of Lon Haldeman and Pete Penseyres from more than 20 years ago.

The Aged Wisconsin Cheese Heads, for instance, is a team of five men and three women who average 59 years of age. They'll race four at a time, covering five miles before switching with their teammates ...   more »

"Before the accident, I could ride 50 miles without breaking a sweat. Now, I can't get halfway up the stairs without breaking for a nap. I can't put enough weight on my arms to get out of a chair by myself, and I haven't voluntarily farted in 10 days. I can't cough, and a sneeze could be fatal. Otherwise, I'm peachy!...

"I felt a violent blow to my back, and I went flying through the air. I landed on my left side, on my left shoulder. I took a good crack to my helmet. ... It was still a violent thud of a landing. It was Olympian. I got scores of 6.9 for artistic impression, but I couldn't stick the landing...   more »

Bicyclists are celebrating today's official opening of a 10.6-mile rail-to-trail that links Sarasota and Venice.

The Legacy Trail takes the place of an abandoned CSX Transportation railway line that was purchased for $14.5 million in 2004. It's one of more than 1,460 rail-trails in the US that stretch across nearly 14,000 miles of landscape.

The paved path is 12 feet wide and is already popular with walkers and rollerbladers as well as cyclists. It has six trailheads ...   more »

Top fund-raisers for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure charity ride will get to bike with Greg LeMond again this year. The one-day ride sets out from Redmond (Washington) on May 17.

The 3-time winner of the Tour de France is the honorary chairman of the nationwide Tour de Cure series, which sponsors nearly 80 rides in 40 states and raised some $13 million to support the diabetes foundation last year.

I doubt that he can participate in all of the rides, but the Redmond ride is convenient for LeMond because it's located near the home offices for LeMond Fitness Inc. in Woodinville. LeMond lives in the Minneapolis area, but travels here every few weeks   more »

If you didn't find your dream job in "Bicycling advocacy jobs: You call this working?", then here are two more jobs that are available for the East Coast.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine is looking for a new executive director after Jeffrey Miller accepted a position as head of the Thunderhead Alliance.

Also, you bicycle bloggers might be interested to know that the East Coast Greenway Alliance is seeking a travel writer...   more »

All the obituaries for Richard Widmark, 93, talk about his roles as a villain in films, but I remember him mainly as Jim Bowie in "The Alamo" in 1960.

What I didn't know is that the Minnesota-born actor became interested in acting while giving lectures after a bicycle tour he made through Nazi Germany.

Apparently Widmark went on his bike tour of Deutschland in the early 1930s. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to visit a camp for political prisoners named Dachau, which later became one of Hitler's infamous extermination camps. However, he did sneak into a youth camp ...   more »

And tips on stopping aggressive dogs

This is an amusing -- and frightening -- segment from the Judge Judy Show a couple of years ago in which she rules in favor of the cyclist, Kevin Gilmore, who was injured when a dog ran into his path.

It's amusing because the dog's owners are so clueless about who's responsible for the injury, and frightening because their argument -- that the cyclist caused the accident by riding down the highway instead of using one of the state's hundreds of miles of bike paths -- is probably a common perception among a lot of people...   more »

While the lion's share of bicycling advocacy and development work seems to fall to dedicated volunteers, there are quite a few paying gigs in those fields that are being advertised this spring, including three in Seattle.

Two of those are offered by the Cascade Bicycle Club and one by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. There also are positions in Berkeley and Sonoma County, California, Lansing, Michigan, and Washington, DC.

There's nothing wrong with making a living out of what you love. Check out this list. It's not comprehensive; just a few jobs that I've stumbled across recently....   more »

There's no arguing that I'm a dyed-in-the-wool roadie. But I've been thinking about narrow, muddy trails ever since I borrowed my son's Gary Fisher Wahoo for a few rides a couple of years ago.

The more places that I discovered here in the Pacific Northwest where I couldn't take my road bike, the more I thought about getting a mountain bike.

Last week, I stumbled across this hardtail for sale at Craigslist and, after some light haggling, bought this Specialized RockHopper. The guy was the second owner, so this bike has been around, but it's in pretty decent shape. I'd put the year at 1991. ...   more »

The League of American Bicyclists calls our attention to an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle that was published in reaction to media coverage of the tragic deaths of Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough in Cupertino earlier this month.

Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, writes that there's a "looming prejudice" against those who ride bikes.

There have been media reports about which streets are "most dangerous" for bicycles, the frequency that bicycles are considered at fault by police and reports of cyclists not following the rules of the road.

"The Cupertino tragedy has been portrayed as a "bicycle safety" story, instead of what it really is, a story about the risks of dangerous driving. ...

"Yet, the public dialogue has not focused on which streets are most dangerous for driving, bad behavior by drivers, or the fact that 40,000 people a year are killed in motor vehicle collisions in our nation. ...   more »

Some engineering students at Rowan University in New Jersey are developing a way to harness bicycle-pedal power to run a small grain crusher.

It's latest effort I've read about in the ongoing attempts at many colleges and nongovernmental agencies to jump-start small-scale economies in developing nations where electricity is scarce and expensive.

In the Rowan  project, an aluminum grain crusher is attached to the bicycle, which is mounted on a stand. Pedalling the bicycle crushes the corn, lentils, split peas and barley fine enough for cooking   more »

The city of Tempe is launching an experiment to paint bike lanes red at intersections to caution motorists to look out for bicycles.

Portland has chosen the color green and will be repainting all of its blue bike lanes to the new color on the maintenance schedule. Seattle plans to paint bike lanes at four intersections green this spring as an experiment to see if that will prevent right hook collisions.

Meanwhile, Portland has begun installing green bike boxes at 14 intersections to intensify its efforts to prevent right hook collisions ...   more »

Racing past old Elliott Farm

As much fun as bicycling is for me, I feel like I'm pedalling into a rut sometimes by going over the same old bike routes.

It occurred to me that perhaps if I look more closely at the roadside scenery and delve into the history of the places I'm passing, maybe it will give me a new perspective and freshen up my rides.

Take these old farm buildings for instance. I must have passed these more than 100 times on  rides I've taken out or back the Cedar River Trail in Renton. They might look like run down, abanonded farm buildings, but they are something more ...   more »

Slipstream/Chipotle's distinctive argyle jerseys will be seen at the 2008 Tour de France as organizers announced the 20 teams that will compete July 5 to 27.

Team High Road, the former T-Mobile team that relocated to the US this year, will also compete in the three-week long race through France.

Those choices mean that Slipstream's David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde (both formerly of CSC) and High Road's George Hincapie (formerly of Discovery) will likely compete in the race this year.

Unwilling to back down in a long-simmering feud with the UCI, ASO did not invite the Astana cycling team, which means no Tour de France for last year's champion, Alberto Contador, or No. 3, US's Levi Leipheimer ...   more »

The San Jose Mercury News published a map showing the location of bicycle fatalities in Santa Clara County over the past 10 years. It's a sobering document. There are more than 40 markers pinpointing the location of cyclists' deaths.

What I found interesting from a broader perspective was that not once did the reporter, Leslie Griffy, refer to "accidents" in the story. In each and every instance, she refered to "crashes." Good job.

Using the word "accident" to refer to a car-bike collision or crash is so common in newspaper stories that it's glaring in its absence ...   more »

The South Dakota Bicycle Coalition is the newest organization in the U.S. aimed at improving the lives of the bicycling public.

About 30 cyclists from across the state met earlier this month to create a group that will focus on making bicycling safer in South Dakota, improve road conditions for bicycle riders and help people overcome obstacles to cycling.

First order of business: sending a letter to encourage the South Dakota Department of Transportation Railroad Board to save a railroad bridge over the Cheyenne River for railbanking. Eventually it could be used in a rails-to-trails project. ...   more »

The upcoming Tour de Georgia (April 21 - 27) will host a pro cycling team from China, marking the first time a Chinese cycling team has competed in the US.

Although it's the first licensed Chinese pro cycling team, the GE Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek has cyclists from 5 countries.

Fifteen teams are racing in the 600-mile Tour. The entire list:

Astana Cycling Team (Luxembourg)
Saunier Duval-Scott (Spain)
Team CSC (Denmark)
Team High Road (USA)
Team Gerolsteiner (Germany)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Slipstream/Chipotle presented by H30 (USA)
Bissell Pro Cycling (USA)
Health Net presented by Maxxis (USA)
Jelly Belly Cycling Team (USA)
Jittery Joe’s Professional Cycling Team (USA)
Symmetrics Cycling Team (Canada)
Team Type 1 (USA)
Toyota-United Professional Cycling Team (USA)
GE/Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek (China) ...   more »

Ten months ago, I wrote the headline "Floyd Landis doping case begins today."

Well, it's deja vu all over again. The Floyd Landis doping case begins again today, only it's in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it's behind closed doors.

Although it's an appeal of the 2-1 split decision in the original case heard last spring, the Court will hear the evidence as if it's a new case. Those who study this case say both sides will probably make presentations similar to last time.

The hearing will last about five days, then Landis goes back to waiting again for a decision. If it goes against him, he can't compete until his two-year suspension is lifted in January 30, 2009. If it goes in his favor, he can compete as soon as he lands a team and gets back in shape for  racing.

One of the best places to find out about the case is at the Truth But Verify blog. Landis has been Topic No. 1 there since the site was created shortly after the 2006 Tour de France. Check out the "Eve of appeal Q and A" for answers to frequently asked questions.

Personally, as I'm often willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt, this case has had more ups and downs than 200 miles of stage racing through the Pyrenees.

Here are some highlights of the case so far paired with my ever-shifting personal opinion at the time ...   more »

This was not a comeback from retirement of Michael Jordan proportions.

With just one tour under his belt, Mario Cipollini and Rock Racing pro cycling has called it quits. Cipo says that he wants his return to cycling paired with management and development of a team.

As for riding in the upcoming Milan-San Remo, for instance, Cipollini said it "made sense if it was linked to a wider project of building and managing a new team and my return to racing was part of the project to create a dream team...   more »

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington is launching a letter-writing campaign to prevent the Olympic National Park from banning bicycles on Hurricane Ridge Road for the next two years.

You can see from this photo why bicycle riders like to challenge themselves on the 17-mile ride from nearly sea level to the 5,420-foot elevation at the Hurricane Ridge parking lot.

Interim park superintendent Sue McGill has unilaterally decided to ban bicycles from using that road for two years while road repairs are being made to a section of the road. That ban even extends to weekends when road crews will not be working ...   more »

The first thing I learned to fix on my bicycle when I was growing up was the kickstand. The friggin' thing seemed like it was always coming loose and my crank arm struck it on each pedal stroke.

Ten years later, my Fuji Dynamic 10 came without a kickstand, which I thought at the time was an amazing innovation (omitting a part an innovation?). The heavy kickstand seems to be pretty much a thing of the past, although I secretly yearned for one when touring or on mass rides where I couldn't find any lean-room.

Tom Nostrant from Aberdeen, Washington, must have been thinking the same thing. I met him at the Seattle International Bike Expo recently where he was showing off his Click-Stand, a simple, lightweight, folding bike stand.

Depending on length, the thing weighs about 75 grams -- 2.6 ounces. It's made from aluminum, folds to 7 to 10 inches, and opens with a flick of the wrist...   more »

One of those reports that makes me stop and go -- huh? -- has been issued by Global Industry Analysts.

In reporting continued worldwide growth of the bicycle market, it notes that bicycling is one of the top leisure sports activities in the US "with over 451 million users active cyclists in the country."

That's an amazing statistic, considering the current US population is 301 million. Maybe the report means 451 million bicycles; I wouldn't be surprised if there were more bikes than people...   more »

Border Raiders bike tour in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri

The Biking Bis blog is listing 95 multi-day bike tours in 47 states in 2008. That's 7 more states and 13 more tours than last year. You'll find them at "2008 Across State Bicycle Tours."

While I was digging around to update the annual rides and fill in some blanks, I was struck by the amazing artwork that some tours use to publicize their events. I'm particularly impressed by ones that keep the bicycle motif, but also lend a flavor from the state they represent.

Border Raiders, above, is probably the most unforgettable. John Brown is hoisting a wheel and a tire pump, looking a lot like an angry dude who has suffered his 5th blowout of the day. I also like the Legacy Annual Great Bike Ride Across Utah (right) because the red-rock arch completes the wheel.

I went back through the links and picked out my favorites. I hope you'll enjoy these too. But first, a few words about this list of state bike tours ...   more »

Photo by SWoo

Some 1,000 bicycle riders joined the long procession on Saturday through Los Altos and Cupertino to the site where cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough were killed last Sunday.

Many are seen here at the memorial site on Stevens Canyon Road near where a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy swerved over the double-yellow line and struck Peterson and Gough head-on.

Although there's usually lots of joking and joshing when this many cyclists get together, news media reported a somber mood when the cyclists gathered at Foothill College for the 9-mile ride up to the memorial.

Photos of Gough and Peterson celebrating on podiums at recent bike races were placed at the memorial, and many cyclists left flowers, spare tubes and other mementos. Kristy's mother, Karen Sue Clarkson, rode one of her daughter's bicycles to the site ...   more »

A couple of years ago, the New York Times announced in its Style section that "bicycling is the new golf."

As if to prove it, CBS golf analyst David Feherty went out for a bike ride recently near his Dallas home. Unfortunately, a truck forced him into the curb and the side mirror hit him, breaking three ribs and puncturing a lung.

CBS reports that Feherty is doing as good as can be expected, and he should be back in the booth in time for the Masters tournament.

I'm glad his injury isn't more serious. I suppose all those golfers turned bicyclists are going to learn that the hazards out on the road are more dangerous than those sandtraps on the fairways...   more »

Joining an apparent stampede for the exit, Computer Sciences Corporation says it will end its sponsorship of cycling at the end of this season. It joins T-Mobile and the Discovery Channel among companies choosing to drop or not renew contracts with very successful teams in the past two years.

Team CSC is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, who immediately said he'll begin searching for a new sponsor for Riis Cycling A/S.

A company press release says the decision reflects "a shift in priorities as the company makes new investments to implement a strategic long-term growth plan."

Given the current doping suspicions in pro cycling and the tiff between UCI and the owner of the Tour de France over what teams can participate in that race this year, is it any wonder that sponsors are beginning to back away from the sport? ...   more »

David Sylvester is setting off this week on a quest to bicycle to the trailhead of the highest peak in each of the 48 contiguous states and climb to the top of each and every one. He'll be accompanied by his faithful companion Chiva, a 2-year-old shepherd/husky mix.

If successful, they'll be the first dog-human team to accomplish the feat. And you thought all the Earth's frontiers had been conquered. Not with a dog, they haven't.

Sylvester, a 26-year-old from the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, expects the trek to take 18 months and cover some 10,000 miles. Introducing the tour at his blog, Sylvester says:

"I strongly believe that jumping on my bicycle and riding into the wind with Chiva is the best way to combine and enjoy all my interests in life right now ...   more »

The public can see an awesome monument to one of America's best-ever cyclists this spring when Worcester, Massachusetts, unveils its statue of hometown hero Major Taylor.

Known as the "Worcester Whirlwind," Marshall W. Taylor set a slew of world cycling records at the turn of the last century and became the first African-American athlete to achieve worldwide celebrity.

The larger than life-size statue of this larger-than-life athlete will be unveiled in front of the Worcester Public Library on May 21. Speaking will be Taylor's successor on the world cycling stage -- Greg Lemond -- and three time-Olympic medal winner Edwin Moses ...   more »

Go to most bicycling events where there are more than a couple of dozen bikes and you'll  find Treks, Lemonds, Gary Fishers, and Kleins.

The bikes can range in price from about $400 to more than $7,000. What they all have in common is that they're all made by Trek Bicycle, the world's largest bike company.

The man who started it all in a red barn in Waterloo, Wisconsin, 32 years ago was Richard Burke. He died Monday from complications of heart surgery at age 73 ...   more »

Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson will be remembered by friends, family and fellow cyclists during a memorial bike ride through Stevens Creek Canyon in Cupertino on Saturday.

The bike ride has been organized jointly by their two teams, Team Roaring Mouse Cycles (Peterson) and Third Pillar Racing Team (Gough). Riders will meet at Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos, at 2:30 for a 3 p.m. departure. They'll visit the crash site to share memories about the two before returning.

Meanwhile, a memorial service is scheduled for Matt Peterson at 7 p.m. at the Sports Basement, 1590 Bryant Street, San Francisco. As with the bike ride, everyone is invited.

You can check more updates and leave comments at two websites; Remembering Matt and Kristy Gough at Third Pillar Racing.

   more »

Some pretty famous sports figures have been celebrated as bobblehead dolls. I don't know of any cyclists who have been honored this way except for Italy's Fausto Coppi.

Now there's another.

The Wheeling Nailers hockey team is honoring "Moon Dog," a local character who's known for riding his flag-festooned bicycle around town and appearing in local parades.

The first 2,500 fans who go to see the "AA" Wheeling, West Virginia, affiliate of the Flyers and Penguins play on March 22 will get their very own Moon Dog Mini-Bobblehead. ...   more »

Update: Deputy had a driving record

Friends and teammates of fallen cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough are planning services and bicycle rides in their memories. A ride for Kristy is being put together for the Napa Valley and a memorial service is in the planning stages for Matt later this week in the San Francisco Bay area.

You can visit a new website, Remembering Matt, to find details on the service and leave a comment about him.

After reading and writing about the senseless tragedy that took Matt and Kristy, I headed out on a ride to remind myself that cycling is supposed to be fun. I had just oiled up the bike and rode harder than I usually do. The exertion helped blow off the anger and frustration that I felt about the situation for cyclists using our roads ...   more »

Two cyclists were struck and killed by a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy whose vehicle crossed a double-yellow line on Sunday.

Dead are Kristy Gough, 31, of Oakland, and Matt Peterson, 30, of San Francisco. The highly ranked amateur cyclists (Gough was a pro triathlete as well) were in a group of at least four that were riding on Stevens Pass Road, a popular road for cyclists.

Peterson died at the scene and Gough died after being airlifted to Stanford University Hospital. According to news reports, dozens of cyclists gathered there ...   more »

One of the longest-running week-long bicycle tours is seeking a new operator to breathe new life into the Cycle Across Maryland.

The statewide bicycle advocacy group One Less Car has been running CAM Tour for most of this decade, but has concluded that the event -- which celebrates its 20th year in 2008 -- is taking too much time away from its advocacy role.

After hearing that this was going to be the final year One Less Car would organize the event, I called executive director Richard Chambers to find out if another group was stepping in. Not yet.

"We don't want it to die," he said. "We want someone to take it on. It needs a couple of people who can put a lot of time and effort into it to make it a real success." ...   more »

Bicycling and fitness coach Chris Carmichael answered the question that was on a lot of minds when he spoke Saturday at the Seattle International Bike Expo.

Could Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France again?

"He's an amazing athlete. I think he could. ... It would take a lot of effort, but I think he could win it again."

Carmichael said Armstrong, at age 36, is running in the Boston Marathon (April 21) and is looking to break 2:45; he wants to run in his third New York City Marathon (Nov. 2) and do it in 2:30; and he plans to ride at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race (Aug. 9)...   more »

Here are some photos from the first day of the Seattle International Bike Expo, presented by the Cascade Bicycle Club.

More than 150 exhibitors fill Cruise Terminal 30, a new location for the event this year. Spread out in five different rooms, it's quieter and less jammed than in previous years.

Unfortunately, this may be a one-time only event at this location as the terminal is slated for demolition, according to a couple of exhibitors.

There are two areas for speakers and an indoor mountain bike course where Ryan Leech demonstrates his moves. Coach Chris Carmichael and author Joe Kurmaskie were among the speakers on Saturday; Joe returns Sunday as does coach Sally Edwards.

There are lots of bikes and 'bents on display and loads of clothing and gear is for sale. If you have questions about bike rides in Washington or Oregon, you can ask at dozens of booths set up for the separate events.

There are also fitness and nutrition exhibitors where some of the latest products in these fields are on display and for sale.

Also remember to bring in your used innertubes and drop them off at Alchemy Goods; each one earns you a chance to win one of their messenger bags. In fact, lots of exhibitors are running contests.

The Expo concludes Sunday, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

You wouldn't think you'd have to explain the bike lane parking law to people attending the 2008 Seattle International Bike Expo on Saturday, but here it is:

"Do not park in a bicycle lane." -- page 78, Washington Driver Guide.

Apparently the lure of "free" (illegal) parking close to the site of this year's expo at Terminal 30 on East Marginal Way was too good to pass up. Scores of cars were parked illegally in the bike lane.

There was plenty of free parking within a short walking distance of the event, the Cascade Bicycle Club arranged for shuttle buses...   more »

Sometimes the good guys -- that would be bicyclists -- prevail.

After advocates mounted a bike protest ride and conducted a traffic count, the Seattle transportation department is agreeing to replace sharrows on Stone Way North with bike lanes.

Merchants along the road that heads north from the Burke Gilman Trail insisted last summer that four lanes were needed on Stone Way because of truck traffic. The city installed sharrows on the uphill portion instead of bike lanes, an action which bike advocates said created a dangerous situation ...   more »

Bicycles. Cars. Hit-and-runs. Probated sentences. The beat goes on.

A Texas woman convicted of striking a bicyclist and not stopping to help was sentenced to five years probation and a six-month probated jail sentence. The cyclist died five months later.

The Lubbock jurors deliberated two hours before coming up with this ridiculous sentence. It means the hit-and-run driver won't serve any jail time as long as she abides by the terms of her probation for five years.

In his closing arguments, the prosecutor asked for the five-year maximum sentence:

"Why would you consider probation for someone that didn't even give Brett the consideration some people would give a dog."more »

This Sierra Club poll may not be new, but I've just stumbled across links to it in the past couple of days.

It's sort of a good-natured way to educate bicyclists that they may not be as "green" as they think, depending on some bicycling choices they make.

Take the poll at "How Green is My Bike Ride?" No cheating.

In the efforts of full disclosure, I scored a 91 out of 100. I got knicked for ...   more »

Rain is forecast for this weekend, so it might be a good time to head down to the Group Health Seattle International Bike Expo at Cruise Terminal 30.

Or you can ride your bike down there to see 150 exhibits on bikes, gear, travel, health and fitness or hear special guests biking coach Chris Carmichael, Sally Edwards, stunt rider Ryan Leech, or bike tourer Joe Kurmaskie.

Be aware. The Cascade Bicycle Club has moved the expo to a new location. It is at Cruise Terminal 30, that's on the Puget Sound side of downtown just south of Safeco Field. There's plenty of parking within a 20 to 30-minute walk, and secure bicycle parking is offered for $2 at the site ...   more »

Not to belabor the issue of laws that require motorists to give bicycle riders 3 feet when passing, but there's always the question of enforcement once the law is passed.

Here's a story passed along to me from Utah about a cyclist who took matters into his own hands after a passenger in a close-passing pickup swiped him with his hand.

Startled, Jason Bultman still had the presence of mind to copy down the license plate. Police followed up and the Salt Lake City prosecutor's office filed charges in February, making the first prosecution of the 3-foot passing law enacted two years earlier.

If successful, it might empower many other harassed bicyclists to file reports with police. ...   more »

Laws that require motorists to give bicycle riders 3 feet of space when passing always sound like a good idea to me. It allows manuevering room for cyclists and reduces the air turbulence caused by passing vehicles.

As bicycle advocates work to get these laws passed state by state, I've noticed there's some confusion about which states already have these laws on the books. So I did a little research.

I found that 10 state legislatures have passed 3-foot laws. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. Two others -- Kentucky and Washington -- recommend 3 feet in driver's manuals.

Meanwhile, six states have 3-foot laws in state legislatures this year. They are Hawaii, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington. Here's the breakdown with links ...   more »

You be the judge

Alley cat bike races are unsanctioned urban street races where cyclists zip around their city to be the first to find a series of destinations. Shortest distance in the quickest time wins the day.

The New York Times on Sunday reported on the "sheer anarchic fun of the race" in an interesting interview with Mike Dee, a 33-year-old bike messenger who organizes the races.

The Chicago Tribune reported on another side of the alley cats last week, after 29-year-old catering entrepreneur Matthew Manger-Lynch, 29, was hit and killed by an SUV when he ran a red light during the Tour da Chicago.

Packing list for long-distance touring bicyclist James Schauer: 300 pounds of stuff.

As you can see at left, this 60-year-old semi-retired computer programmer is pretty easy to identify as he hauls his rig across the rolling countryside of rural Maryland. He pedals a mountain bike loaded with stuff and tows a 14-foot canoe that shelters more stuff underneath.

He left the St. Louis area last September and has been tooling around the East Coast by bicycle and canoe ever since. With no house and no car, Schauer says he has no particular destination in mind except to visit relatives on his travels. ...   more »

Bicycling fatalities accounted for 773 deaths in 2006, a number that's too high despite being 01.6% lower than the previous year.

Accidents leading to bicycling deaths occurred more often in urban areas, at non-intersection locations, between 5 and 9 p.m. during the summer months. Nearly one-fourth of the bike riders had blood-alcohol content of .08%, which would qualify them for DUI if they were behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

These are just some of the findings in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report for bicycle deaths and injuries for the year 2006, the latest data available.

Bike riders killed on the road are remembered by the annual Ride of Silence, (May 21, 2008), and by the white Ghost Cycles located at the scene of the tragedy. ...   more »