2009 archive
Just 3 miles from home on a bicycle ride along Lake Washington Saturday afternoon and I started feeling light-headed. It was going to be a tough climb to my neighborhood.
I had that “emergency” PowerBar with me, but really didn't feel like chowing down on 240 calories of chewy paste that close to dinner. Soon I realized the road was lined with blackberry bushes and ripe berries hung from the vines.
This is an instant source of tasty energy. I was ready to go after eating about a dozen, but couldn't stop until I'd had about twice that many.
There are several different types of roadside blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest. There are the native wild blackberries (Rubus ursinus) and the invasive noxious weeds — Himalayan blackberries and Evergreen blackberries. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/09/beating-the-bonk-with-roadside-blackberries/
Of the scores of tourists and commuters leaving the ferry terminal on the Seattle waterfront after crossing the Puget Sound, it was the couple with loaded bicycles who caught my attention.
I was riding my bike along bustling Alaskan Way to buy tickets at Safeco Field for an upcoming baseball game when I spotted them. They were waiting to cross the street when I pulled up and could tell they've been on the road for awhile — deeply tanned, slightly disheveled and very fit. I issued my standard greeting when I see bicycle travelers:
“Hi! Howya doin'? Need some help?”
Gos and Lea were a couple of retirees from Belgium who had just completed a bicycle tour across the United States. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/07/reliving-memories-by-helping-bike-travelers-bicycle-travel-awards/
If the cycling world seems a little subdued today, it might be due to the passing of Susan Nelson after a hard-fought battle against cancer.
Her husband is Elden Nelson, better known as the author of the immensely popular Fat Cyclist blog. Although he writes primarily about the humorous side of bicycling, he introduced us to Susan's illness and reported on her ups and downs fighting the disease.
Wednesday night he posted a short story about Susan's death, entitled “Don't say she lost.” He talked about how she inspired him in his writing and inspired more than 500 others to join Team Fatty in the LiveStrong Challenge. They raised more than $500,000 in the fight against cancer.
As I went around doing what I do today, I frequently thought about my friends and family who have died of cancer, and the huge voids left by their passing. My deepest condolences to the Nelson family.
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/07/susan-nelson-a-death-in-the-cycling-family/
With my daughter in a day camp in Seattle this week, I've had the opportunity to do some bicycle day-tripping around the area.
On Wednesday, as I headed north on the old Interurban right-of-way toward Shoreline and Edmonds, I stumbled across a series of signs posted along the bike trail like a picturesque Burma Shave advertisement.
They're not trailside billboards, however. They're FlipBooks, a bit of trailside artwork created by local artist Jennifer Dixon.
Just like a flipbook that you hold in your hand, the images change slightly as you progress along the trail so there's a sensation of movement as you pass ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/06/flipping-out-along-seattles-interurban-trail/
Cyclists pause to look for whales
from San Juan IslandI'm as much of a sucker for checking out Top 10 lists as anyone else, I guess, especially when the subject is bicycling.
So I scrolled through the Huffington Post blog a few weeks ago when it published the Top 8 Bike Trips in the US, then followed that up this week with the Top 10 US Cities for Bicycling.
There might be a western states bias at work on these lists. Seven of the eight top bicycle trips were west of the Mississippi River and seven of the 10 best bicycling cities are in the west ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/06/more-lists-for-best-bicycle-trips-and-best-bicycling-cities/
What's happening bike-wise in Seattle this weekend? Just the Dead Baby Downhill, Tour de Fat and Bike Polo Championships.
Recreational bicycle rides also are on tap in the Snoqualmie Valley to the east and in the Tenino and Yelm area to the south.
The Dead Baby Downhill race and party on Friday starts at the Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike in Seattle and heads downhill from there.
The finish line is not disclosed, but I've read that it's someplace in the Georgetown neighborhood. That's where the post-race party kicks off with live bands, sideshow rodeo, Helltrack BMX and tall bike jousting ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/05/dead-baby-downhill-tour-de-fat-and-bike-polo-this-weekend-in-seattle/
The bike race and cavorting in Seattle is Friday, Aug. 7.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/05/dead-baby-downhill-poster/
When I was a kid many years ago, we used to take family vacations to historical or cultural destinations. But what I really wanted to see were the roadside attractions advertised on garish billboards along the way.
Monkey farms, haunted houses, fireworks stands, and mummified human-remains exhibits beckoned to me from the two-lane highways, but we never stopped.
There are better choices today for those of us who are bicycle fanatics. Here are eight random roadside attractions with a bicycle theme that you can look out for as you drive with the family down the highway. Better yet, these can be pilgrimages you can make on two wheels.
Major Taylor statue — The first and maybe the newest attraction is the Major Taylor statue in Worcester, Massachusetts. The statue in his hometown memorializes the African-American who struggled against oppression to achieve the world cycling championships in 1899, among other honors …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/04/eight-roadside-attractions-bicycle-landmarks-to-visit-in-us/
National parks might seem like natural destinations for family car trips or RV excursions, but they also have many factors that make them ideal for bicycle travel.
The park scenery — be it desert sands, forests, or challenging mountains — can be enjoyed better from a bicycle saddle than from a car seat. And I've found that the National Park Service has afforded bicycle riders some advantages not enjoyed by those in cars.
Probably the biggest bonus for bicycle travelers is the existence of bike-in/hike-in campgrounds in some parks.
I discovered one of these years ago after a long slog into the Grand Canyon National Park. The Mather Campground offers shared campsites for hikers and bicycle riders
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/03/the-10-best-national-parks-for-bicycling/
A suspected drunken driver is facing murder charges in the death of a bicyclist who was competing in a triathlon in Louisville on Saturday.
The 25-year-old motorist was driving the same car in which he was arrested in June for driving under the influence. He's scheduled for an Aug. 18 hearing in that case.
Dead is John Carr, 47, of Owenton. He leaves behind his wife of 11 years and their two children, aged 7 and 5. … The widow … told a TV station:
“When I looked at him in the face, the only thing I could say to him was that 'You took the life of a man and you took the daddy of a little boy and a little girl that needed him. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/03/dui-suspect-with-record-charged-in-death-of-bicyclist-in-race/
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