Trail supporters to meet Thursday in Kirkland

The Cascade Bicycle Club is rallying support to preserve a future abandoned rail bed as a main link for off-road bicycle travel through Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland.

In a scheme that gets more complicated as time goes on, the Port of Seattle plans to buy the 42-mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad right-of-way for future use as a commuter corridor with rail and a hike-bike trail. The devil is in the details, though, as the Port wants the rail line to have priority over the trail, while King County wants the uses "coequal."

Cascade warns that the Port's position leaves the possibility of a trail in doubt.

"However, the Port of Seattle and the King County Council’s latest plan would give the Port of Seattle veto authority over a future trail, and subordinates trail construction to any “transportation use” – which does not include bicycle commuters on a trail." ...   more »

Portland has become the first large US city to achieve the Platinum-level as a Bicycle Friendly Community, following only Davis, California, with the designation. The announcement was made Tuesday by the League of American Bicyclists.

Congratulations go to a wide group of activists, politicians, bureaucrats and even the local bike blogger who kept their eyes on the prize in recent years and helped push bicycling into the mainstream of the city's transportation and culture.

Let's hope it gives bicycling enthusiasts elsewhere the incentive to do the work to get their cities added to the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities that currently stands at 72 ...   more »

If you filed a 2007 tax return, and I hope you did, you'll be receiving an economic stimulus tax rebate one of these days soon. Consider bicycling when you're thinking about ways to spend that money.

The rebates are $600 for an individual, $1,200 for a couple and an additional $300 per child.

The economists are worried that people will use the rebates to offset the higher costs of gasoline, thus benefitting the oil companies. We know that nothing sticks it to Big Oil like riding a bicycle.

If you don't want to put that check into savings, I came up with a few ideas on spending it on your bike:

1. Take a fully loaded bicycle tour. If you have the proper gear, you can roll right down the driveway and be on your way ...   more »

The 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race certainly didn't follow any script.

It was full of surprises. Among them:

1. Fifty-one US cyclists rode in the 120-man peloton.

--Not one US cyclist won a stage. Not one US cyclist wore the yellow jersey. (Jason McCartney of CSC did win KOM.)

Interestingly, when Slipstream-Chipotle -- a team with 8 US cyclists -- won the Stage 4 Team Time Trial, it was Australian Trent Lowe who crossed the finish line first. That's how he ended up in the yellow jersey after the next stage.

2. The peloton hosted two former Tour de Georgia champions and many veteran contenders, including the winners of February's Tour of California and last fall's Tour of Missouri.

-- It was 25-year-old Kanstantin Sivtsov, right,  from Belarus who made the decisive move on Brasstown Bald on Saturday. He passed 23-year-old Trent Lowe and 10-year cycling pro Levi Leipheimer to capture the stage and eventually the Tour.

3. Team High Road dominated the Tour, with three stage wins and four yellow jerseys.

-- If you had told me that before the race, I would have expected South Carolina's George Hincapie to be wearing the yellow jersey ...   more »

That bike-sharing rental program called SmartBike DC is set to start next month in the nation's capital with 120 bicycles available at 10 spots around the city.

Operated by the Clear Channel outdoor advertising company, it's the first such project in the US and will be similar to other advertising-based bike rental programs in Paris, Lyon, Rennes and Barcelona, Spain. London is expected to get on board by 2010.

San Francisco will host a SmartBike program in the future, and Clear Channel is negotiating in Chicago and Portland ...   more »

I committed a real "Dewey Defeats Truman" blunder at Biking Bis on Saturday when I named Trent Lowe at the overall leader of the Tour de Georgia following the Brasstown Bald stage.

It was Kanstantin Sivtsov (Belarus) of Team High Road who actually captured the overall lead after powering ahead of Trent Lowe and Levi Leipheimer in the final yards on the mountain.

I had listened to and watched the video stream of the end of the final stage, rushed to file a story on the results, then logged off for the day as I undertook to catch up on my one-person parenting duties while my wife is out of town. Big mistake....   more »

Brasstown Bald looms Saturday for Tour de Georgia

In spite of what appears to be an Australian invasion controlling the Tour de Georgia after Friday's stage, the US favorites have climbed in the standings for a battle on Brasstown Bald on Saturday.

Aussie Richard England, right, riding for the Bissell cycling team, challenged and beat countryman Rory Sutherland (HealthNet) in a sprint to the Stage 5 finish line in Dahlonega on Friday.

Meanwhile, Slipstream's Trent Lowe, also from Australia, donned the yellow jersey although he's in a tie with two teammates. Lowe finished first in Slipstream's winning team time trial on Thursday, so he gets the honor of wearing the yellow ...   more »

Here's another way Bolivia's Highway of Death gets its name:

On Thursday, a Toyota Land Cruiser packed with 12 passengers plus a driver plowed into a group of bicyclists on a Downhill Madness bike tour who had just set out on their journey down the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway.

Twenty-two-year-old cyclist Tom Austin of the UK was killed in the collision. The SUV then rolled 300 feet down an embankment, killing eight more people inside. Two bicyclists and five people in the SUV were injured ....   more »

This is a hit-and-run driver story with a happy ending; at least the bicyclist victim is alive to talk about it.

I wrote about this case back in February, shortly after a motorist hit the Fircrest, Washington, bicyclist, dragged her and her bicycle to the side of the road, then drove off and disappeared into the morning twilight.

Tacoma News Tribune reporters have tracked down and interviewed the victim, Sandy Johnston, 67, who sounds like she's keeping amazingly upbeat about her situation. They've also reported on statements in the court documents, which defy belief ...   more »

The Slipstream-Chipotle team used its horsepower to win the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta on Thursday, Stage 4 of the 2008 Tour de Georgia.

Greg Henderson held onto the yellow jersey, however, in spite of his Team High Road's 3rd place finish, less than 4 seconds behind. Astana finished in 2nd place, about 2 seconds behind. Team CSC finished 4th.

The win by Slipstream helps to set up former Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson in a good position ...   more »

"Outside" magazine sent out a newsletter recently naming 15 century bike rides (listed below) around the US this spring and summer for enthusiasts to train for and ride.

Interestingly, it didn't label them "The Best," the "Most Difficult," the "Most Scenic," or the "Best Provisioned." It just directed us to choose one of these rides and start training. OK. Will do.

Three of the rides are on the Pacific Coast. If you're interested in bike rides in the Pacific Time Zone, I've listed 97 rides for California, 69 in Washington and 30 in Oregon on the BikingBis monthly bike calendar pages ...   more »

Performance is recalling three models of resistance bicycle trainers because springs can become unattached and fly through the air. There are 3 reports of malfunctions, but no injuries.

All three are folding stands that can be attached to the rear wheel of a bicycle. The models are: Travel Trac Inertial (catalog 40-3834), Travel Trac Force I-Wireless (40-3833) and Travel Trac Millennium ...   more »

In just one race stage, the 2008 Tour de Georgia is all about Greg Henderson of the High Road team.

The 31-year-old sprint and track specialist from New Zealand won the broken field sprint in Gainesville on Wednesday afternoon to take Stage 3. With yellow jersey holder Ivan Dominguez finishing far back, Henderson also took the over race lead.

And with intermediate and finish line sprint points building up for the past three stages, Henderson also took the lead in the points classification...   more »

Recommendations for every wallet

Seven Vacanza
Most expensive

In spite of logging thousands of bicycle touring miles in my life, I've never owned a strictly production touring bicycle. I've taken whatever bike I had at the time and modified it for carrying gear over the long haul -- sometimes more successfully than others.

That's why the article about choosing a touring bicycle in Adventure Cyclist's April  issue was so interesting for me. Technical editor John Schubert gives an excellent primer on what to look for in a touring bike, then reviews some of the top contenders in several price ranges.

Adventure Cycling Association, the magazine's publisher, has posted the story -- "Buying a touring bike in 2008"-- online so you can check it out....   more »

You could probably guess that if Argentine sprinter J.J. Haedo was signed up for the Tour de Georgia, he wouldn't be quiet for long.

We heard from the Team CSC speedster at the close of Stage 2 on Tuesday, when he missed a crash on the final turn in Augusta and passed an isolated Ivan Dominguez to capture his sixth win of the season.

Monday's winner Dominguez (Toyota-United) hung on to finish in third place, after Team High Road's Greg Henderson, and retain the yellow jersey for another day as overall race leader ...   more »

Earth Day is a good time to write about what some people are doing to save the planet.

Consider David Kroodsma. Last fall he finished a three-year, 21,000-mile bicycle tour throughout Latin America and across the US to spread the word about global warming and possible solutions to the crisis.

Now he working with this September's Climate Ride 2008, billed as the first multi-day bike ride to raise money and awareness for climate change and renewable energy legislation.

Participants in the bike tour will ride 320 miles from New York City to Washington DC over five days -- Sept. 20-25. Experts will talk with cyclists and community residents along the way about the science, policies and solutions for global warming ...   more »

A 56-year-old U.S. tourist is the latest person to die on the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway -- judged the world's most dangerous highway -- in the mountains near La Paz, Bolivia.

Kenneth Mitchell was on one-day excursion with outfitter Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking when he tumbled off his rented mountain bike and fell to his death down a 200-foot cliff.

That outfitter is one of more than a dozen companies that carry customers to the high Andean plains of the La Cumbre at 15,400 feet and guide them along the winding 30-mile dirt road into the jungle 11,800 feet below...   more »

As cyclists strapped on their cleats to tackle Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, a former winner of that race was lacing up his running shoes to participate in the 2008 Boston Marathon.

Lance Armstrong, running in his third marathon, finished the fabled race in an unofficial time of 2:50:58. The 7-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor was running to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya won the race ...    more »

Cuban cyclist Ivan Dominguez won Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia in a bunch sprint on Monday.

While Rock Racing, High Road and Gerolsteiner battled for position at the front of the peloton, the "Cuban Missile" slipped past their sprinters and rocketed across the finish line.

Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson and Gerolsteiner's Robert Forster finished second and third on the 70-mile stage from Tybee Island to Savannah...   more »

Updated April 22, 2008

Tragedy struck the Sea Otter Classic when an experienced mountain biker and component designer crashed and died during a downhill run on Saturday.

The man was identified by authorities as Mark Reynolds, 48, of San Jose. He was owner and product developer for Wicked Racin, a company that makes bike components for downhill, black diamond and free ride specialists.

According to reports, Reynolds failed to negotiate a narrow wooden bridge and struck a dirt embankment shortly after noon on Saturday. It was reported that he suffered head and neck injuries and was airlifted to Natividad Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death this week. ...   more »

Bicycling through history

At least once a month, I test my conditioning by pedaling up to the top of Cougar Mountain. It's a 5-mile ride from my home, and my goal one day is to reach it in 25 minutes.

About three-quarters of the way up, across the entrance to the Cougar Mountain Regional Park, I pass an open field where there's an old, mossy concrete wall that has a tree growing out of it.

I was surprised to learn a few months ago that this is the ruins of a hotel built about 100 years ago in an area once heavily populated by workers in the coal mine industry...   more »

Automatically parks & retrieves bikes

Here's a video report from Japan about an automated bicycle parking garage in Tokyo that can hold 9,400 bicycles.

The facility is located at the Kasai metro station and aims to solve the problem of finding a location to park a lot of bicycles in a small area.

The video isn't translated, but it appears that after you swipe a card, your bicycle is automatically whisked away and stored. When you return, swipe your card again, and the robot retrieves your bike and delivers it in 22 seconds ...   more »

There are 54 mountain peaks surpassing 14,000 feet elevation in Colorado, and Andy Henrichs plans to bike to each and every one of them this summer then trudge to the summit.

The athletic trainer for Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale is setting out on the quest to raise money for World Bicycle Relief's Project Zambia. He hopes to raise enough money to supply two bikes to the project each peak he climbs.

At Henrichs' website, where he's accepting donations for World Bicycle Relief, Henrichs estimates the journey will involve bicycling some 1,400 miles on his Xtracycle-equipped mountain bike and hiking over 350 miles. He expects the trek to take 52 days; that's like 1 summit a day ...   more »

Coming right on the heels of the sad news about Trail Angel Gillian Hoggard, who lost her home to a fire this week, is a plea for help for Cookie Lady June Curry.

Neil Gunton, host of the Crazy Guy on a Bike website, writes that mounting medical and other bills for June has forced her to sell her house in Afton, Virginia.

He's setting up a special Cookie Lady PayPal donation site on CrazyGuy so the thousands of us who enjoyed her kindness over the years can contribute to her well-being now.

I don't know about you, but reading about the Cookie Lady always brings back a flood of memories from a hot afternoon on Afton hill. The photo above was taken the day we passed through in 1984.

If you didn't receive it, here's the newsletter Neil sent via email:

June Curry (The Cookie Lady of Afton, Virginia) Needs Our Help!

This is an unusual newsletter, but I decided to send it because June is a rather unusual lady. She's been running the Cookie House in Afton, Virginia since the inception of the TransAmerica Trail in 1976, giving touring cyclists a roof over their head, food and water through the decades. Now she has fallen on harder times in her later years, suffering a stroke, and has even had to sell her house to stay afloat. She isn't getting enough help to pay for the assistance she needs. So I decided to try something: ...   more »

There appears to be several opportunities to follow the action from the Tour de Georgia from your home or office when the bike race rolls out this coming Monday through Sunday.

Live video streaming to your computer is being offered for free through World Championship Sports Network WCSN.com. Go to the broadcast schedule page at WCSN and follow the link to "Watch Now" (you might have to register). Also check the "Live Video" page at Tour de Georgia.

Also, it looks like the Adobe Tour Tracker will be back to offer live GPS streaming of riders in the peloton, as well as a course profile, play-by-play from VeloNews and a chatroom ...   more »

This is an interesting line-up for the sixth annual Tour de Georgia, which gets underway Monday on Tybee Island.

We have international stars, home-grown favorites, accused dopers, and two former winners, although last year's champion Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia) is not on the roster for Astana.

I'm sure all that talent will be more alert in the early stages this year. If you remember, all the favorites were out of contention by the end of Stage 3 when a breakaway of 13 young riders attacked and beat the peloton by nearly 30 minutes ...   more »

A fire that swept across the grasslands near Ordway, Colorado, earlier this week burned down the home of Gillian Hoggard, who received the Trail Angel award in 2006 from the Adventure Cycling Association.

She was honored for opening up the house at the end of the gravel driveway as a refuge for countless touring bicyclists on the TransAmerica Bicycle Route in recent years.

News reports say the fire swept through the area on Tuesday, destroying eight homes on the outskirts of Ordway, which was evacuated because of the smoke. Two volunteer firefighters died when a truck they rode in plunged into a ravine from a collapsed bridge. ...   more »

Savannah plans to roll with the crowd when the 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race starts in nearby Tybee Island on Monday.

The historic old city is the site of bicycling events that aim to get Savannah residents out on two wheels this weekend. 

Two bike rides -- the Savannah Wheelie on Saturday and the Ride for Research on Sunday -- are suited for recreational riders. The Saturday ride is free, and the next 100 to register for the Sunday ride also will get to ride free...   more »

Organizers of an online auction to help pay for the recovery of Seattle bicyclist Jeff A. Totten are still accepting quality items for the catalog.

Bidding will begin at 8 a.m. EST on May 12 for the Jeff A. Totten Special Needs Trust. Check the website for details.

Proceeds from the auction will go toward paying the therapy bills for Totten's recovery. The project manager for an energy consulting firm suffered a traumatic brain injury on a ride in September 2006. Coasting down Novelty Hill Road in Redmond, the front wheel of Totten's bike hit a utility hole in the bike lane that sent him flying...   more »

If you're planning a bicycle touring trip to Ontario or Quebec this season, a good first stop might be the Cycling in the Ottawa-Gatineau area website.

Ottawa bicyclist Michael McGoldrick has assembled maps, pictures and descriptions of his many bike rides in and around the capital city at the recently launched website.

He's also added maps and descriptions of some longer rides elsewhere in Canada, such as the 120-mile P'tit Train du Nord trail in the Laurentians north of Montreal.

Michael has spent 20 years living in the Ottawa area and has been doing a lot of bicycling there in the past five or six years. He's learned a lot about cycling around town with his daily commute, and he and his wife spend one or two weeks every summer on longer bike tours around Canada ...   more »

(Updated: Rock Racing is in the 2008 Tour de Georgia.)

Saunier Duval-Scott's loss is Rock Racing's gain.

A series of early-season injuries has prompted Spain's Saunier Duval-Scott pro cycling team to opt out of the 2008 Tour de Georgia that rolls from Monday through April 21.

The decision meant Tour de Georgia organizer Medalist Sport reconsidered Rock Racing for that final spot, even as the two were in Georgia Superior Court where the Continental cycling team has filed an injunction to get into the race ...   more »

You gotta like Andy Hampsten. Here's what the only American to win the Giro d'Italia (1988) says about riding his bicycle:

"... And I ride my bike a lot. I love riding my bike. I raced for 20-some years and it was great. It was, by far, the most fun I've had. The best job I've ever had. I would almost have done it for free because I could ride my bike. I loved being outside. I loved seeing new things. I loved the adventure of riding. I loved the camaraderie. You just meet strangers on a bike and have some fun. It is just fun every time I go out on my bike."

This quote comes at the end of a Q&A with Hampsten in May's Bicycling magazine by Bruce Hildenbrand. Hampsten, 46, talked about that amazing climb up the Gavia into a snowstorm that secured the pink jersey at the '88 Giro ...   more »

What started in 1991 as a gathering of about 350 mountain bikers to race in the hills near Monterey has grown into an annual event that's expected to draw 10,000 athletes and 50,000 cycling fans.

The 18th annual Sea Otter Classic runs Thursday through Sunday at the Laguna Seca Recreational Area (directions) with road, BMX and mountain bike racing and demos.

Fans also can visit a trade show featuring nearly 250 exhibitors that's open throughout the festival. Also, cyclists can participate in either a 15- or 100-mile bike tour on Sunday that passes through Carmel and Monterey ...   more »

Cue the Italian operetta soundtrack --

The Cutters became the first back-to-back men's winners at the 58th annual Little 500 bike race at Indiana University's Armstrong Stadium this past weekend.

The independent cycling team inspired by the 1979 movie "Breaking Away" won the 200-lap relay bike race on the cinder track at the Bloomington campus on Saturday. It was the ninth championship for the team.

In Breaking Away, the Cutters team was made up of townies who beat all the snooty fraternity teams. While many of the teams racing this weekend are in the Greek system, all the racers have to be college students ...   more »

Alas, 2008 wasn't the year for High Road's George Hincapie to win the Paris-Roubaix bike race, although the American scored another Top 10 win.

Belgium's Tom Boonen, left, finished in much the same way he beat Hincapie in 2005, by hanging on to the breakaway and sprinting for a win with less than a lap to go in the Roubaix velodrome.

Boonen's (Quick Step) victims in this 106th edition of the 161-mile race -- more than 30 miles over cobblestones -- were Fabio Cancellera (Team CSC) and Allesandro Ballan (Lampre). ...   more »

Although our neighborhood is surrounded by suburban sprawl in every direction, I'm fortunate that there's still a low-traffic farm road that's great for bicycling not four miles away.

If I ride east for about 8 miles, then south for another 8, I'm presented with this panorama of the Green River valley just 20 miles from home. It comes at the top of a climb, and it's not hard to imagine that it's a rewarding scenic overlook 1,000 miles into a bike tour.

It's also not hard to imagine I'm a hobbit looking out over Fangorn Forest in Middle Earth. If you look closely, you can even see spots where the orks have been busy clear-cutting the timber. ...   more »

You know that Paris-Roubaix is the one spring classic that George Hincapie would like to win. He's often considered among the favorites, but bad luck always seems to ruin his day.

My son and I were watching the race on TV six years ago when Big George literally disappeared from sight when he slipped off the road and into a ditch.
In 2005 he was passed by Tom Boonen with a half-lap remaining in the velodrome.
In 2006, the steering tube on his Trek 5200 crumbled just 28 miles from the finish, leaving Hincapie sidelined with a seriously injured shoulder.

The American cyclist for the High Road team will get another chance this Sunday when the 161-mile race rolls through northern France and Belgium. The 106th anniversary of the race dubbed Hell of the North features more than 32 miles of cobblestones; if it's wet, that's 32 miles of mud as well...   more »

Chicago added, two dropped from 2007

The wild and wooly New Belgium Brewing Co. bike festival and freak show known as Tour de Fat is back on the calendar in 11 cities this summer.

Chicago was added to the list, but Flagstaff and Missoula were dropped.

The makers of Fat Tire beer will be visiting Chicago, San Francisco, Truckee, Seattle, Portland, Boise, Fort Collins, Denver, Durango, Tempe and Austin (dates below).

This is the eighth year that the cycling circus is touring the western US. Festival goers often dress in costume and decorate their most fun bikes in an opening parade. There's musical and acrobatic entertainment. There's also plenty of beer...   more »

Trek Bicycle has filed a lawsuit to get out of its contract to produce bicycles for LeMond Cycling.

Trek president John Burke cites a "troubling pattern of inconsistent business dealings" with Greg LeMond, the three-time Tour de France winner.

That "troubling pattern" includes LeMond's habit of speaking his mind about doping in the sport of cycling. It also probably includes the lawsuit against Trek that LeMond filed on March 20. According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, the lawsuit charges Trek with:

"...failing to adequately market the LeMond-branded bikes and accuses the company of favoring products with the Lance Armstrong brand, at the expense of LeMond's products." ...   more »

Ten novice bicycle commuters will earn up to $200 a month in reimbursements and incentives this summer simply by riding their bikes to work.

In addition, the 10 bike riders get $100 for a helmet, a lock and a tune-up at their local bike shop, and a free two-day League of American Bicyclist Road 1 training session.

In return, all the cyclists have to do is agree to ride their bikes from, through or to eastern or central Contra Costa County at least twice a week to get to their jobs from June through September.

This brilliant project to demonstrate the benefits of bicycle commuting is the work of 511 Contra Costa...   more »

Here's another bicycle book, entitled Bicycle, reviewed recently at Bookslut.com.

Most of the books I own about bicycles tell about their history, how to fix them when they're broken, or where and how to travel with one on an extended tour.

In other words, very nuts and bolts. Bicycle by Paul Fattaruso sounds more metaphysical ...   more »

A cold spring delayed the main tulip bloom for the 27th annual Tulip Pedal up in Skagit County on Saturday.

Even so, bicyclists found it convenient to pedal in bunches as a strong wind raked the course all day long.

Cyclists on the 40- and 20-mile routes reported seeing plenty of white and yellow daffodils in roadside fields, but blooming tulips were few and far between.

Now, if it's daffodils you like, check out the Daffodil Classic next Sunday in Orting. Sponsored by the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club, it features loops of 40, 60 and 100 miles ...   more »

Bruce Friedland at bpfphotography

Three dates marked the march toward spring this year along the 150-mile long Great Allegheny Passage:

Feb. 2 -- Punxsutawney Phil poked his head out of his groundhog hole to proclaim more winter.
March 20 -- The sun passed over the sun's equator, marking the vernal equinox; commonly known as the first day of spring.
April 3 -- Crews pried open the doors to the 3,294-foot-long Big Savage Tunnel, which had been closed for the winter.

The final act marks the annual opening day for a continuous 318-mile bicycle path comprising the C&O Canal towpath and Great Allegheny Passage all the way from Washington DC to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Tradition holds that the Tunnel Troll accompanies the first cyclist to pass through, bringing blue skies and smooth paths ...   more »

From the looks of Daniel Lang's Project VELAIA website, this is an ideal season to be bicycle touring in New Zealand. Not too hot. Not too cold.

Lang is a 22-year-old, self-described "velosopher, environmentalist, and often minimalistic outdoor adventurer" who is nearly 16,000 miles into an around the world bike tour.

His website is worth a look for the wonderful pictures, like the one above, as well as the stories the German traveler is spinning from the road...   more »

The Redlands Bicycle Classic, which runs today through Sunday in southern California, is featuring live video from the start house for the 5K men's and women's time trial.

Among those racing are Tom Danielson (above, Slipstream), Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing), Rory Sutherland (Health Net) and Chris Baldwin (Toyota). Among the women, High Road, Webcor, Value Act Capital, Aaron's and Cheerwine are supplying strong teams.

The four-day event isn't just for watching pro cyclists. If you're in the area and would rather ride than watch, you can jump onto the Redlands Bicycle Classic Rotary Ride. It offers 6- to 60-mile bike tour options throughout the countryside. Also, public races for ages 3 and up are offered on Saturday morning. ...   more »

As many predicted, the 2008 Tour of America tentatively scheduled for this fall has been cancelled. Organizers of the prospective cross-country bicycle stage race are now looking ahead to the fall of 2009.

Frank Arokiasamy, a management consultant, had unveiled plans for the bike race at last year's Interbike Expo in Las Vegas. The bike racing press immediately considered it an extreme long shot.

Meanwhile, the 2008 Tour of Virginia has been cancelled and the Tour de 'toona has been knocked back to just one day ...   more »

A University of North Carolina - Greensboro professor and bicycle advocate faces at least six weeks off the bike after he was struck by a text-messaging motorist.

Mark Schulz is lucky. He could be dead. The motorist struck him at about 35 mph, knocking him to the ground. He suffered a concussion, shattered kneecap, crushed vertebrae, broken ribs and a broken sternum.

Police said Schulz was doing everything right when he was hit at 10 p.m. on March 26; he wore a reflective vest, helmet, and front and rear lights. That doesn't help if the driver isn't looking ...   more »

Yes, that post on Tuesday about GM buying Specialized was an April fool's joke. One of a number that were posted across the web and blogosphere yesterday.

This is no joke: I checked my stat counter and discovered that Biking Bis has scored more than 1 million hits since I started keeping stats in March 2005. Exactly 1,019,684 as of right now...   more »

Attila Horvath gets his inspiration while pedaling down the road. But unlike the moments of creativity that some of us mistakenly believe we achieve on the bicycle, Horvath's are worth hearing.

Horvath is a bike rocker, maybe the only one around. Here's a link to two bicycling songs -- "Ride On" and "Flyin Free" -- on his Attila Horvath MySpace page.

The musician who makes his home in Athens, Ohio, wrote an article about his work in the March issue of Adventure Cyclist, the monthly magazine of Adventure Cycling Association ...   more »

My decision to renew interest in some of my old bicycle routes by peeling back the history of my small slice of western Washington has led to some startling discoveries, at least to me.

Just the other day I decided to explore some side roads off a hill climb I often make up to Cougar Mountain. I stumbled across this old cabin, which turns out to be one of the oldest buildings still standing in King County.

It's called the Baima Cabin. It's an old coal company town house dating from about the 1880s. That's only about 30 years after the first white settlers showed up over in Seattle; ancient history in these parts...   more »

Eugene A. Sloane gained a passion for bicycling in middle age when he picked up a 3-speed to get back into shape in the 1960s.

He loved it so much that he jumped at the chance to write a book on the subject for Simon & Schuster. The result was "The Complete Book of Bicycling," probably the first modern end-all beat-all book for bicyclists. It was published in 1970 and found a waiting audience.

Sloan died Saturday at age 91 from the complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Wilmette, Illinois ...   more »

Could General Motors be going green?

BikeBiz.com reports early Tuesday morning UK-time that the world's biggest carmaker is buying California-based Specialized Bicycles.

Maybe GM sees the writing on the wall; one day there won't be any more oil to put in its cars. GM's Flora Lopi, VP for environment, energy and safety policy attributes it to GM being in the forefront of developing new transportation choices with limited impact on the environment.

See the San Jose Business Journal for the full story. Be sure to check out the "Related News" on the SJBJ website for the latest developments to this story of interest to all bicyclists; and definitely check out Quickrelease.tv<