2010 archive

B-cycle system in Denver

Launches on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. More at B-cycle Denver

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/22/b-cycle-system-in-denver/

Mark Twain learns to ride a bicycle

“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live.”

— Mark Twain, “Taming the Bicycle” 1917

This is one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes and most apt for this blog. I mention it now because today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Samuel Clemens.

I've been reading the entertaining biography “Mark Twain: A Life” by Ron Powers. He tells about Clemens learning to ride a high-wheeled bicycle as he waited for his book “Huckleberry Finn” to be published in 1884.

In letters, Powers found that Clemens' riding instructor wrote that his pupil had discovered more ways to fall off a bicycle than the man who invented it. Clemens himself claimed that he had invented all the bicycle profanity that had since come into common use.

The famous quote about bicycling comes …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/21/mark-twain-learns-to-ride-a-bicycle/

Sir Galahad takes a header

Dan Beard illustration in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.”

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/21/sir-galahad-takes-a-header/

Tour of the Gila 2010

Lance Armstrong and defending champ Levi Leipheimer are among cyclists returning to Tour of the Gila.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/21/tour-of-the-gila-2010/

Lance Armstrong returns to Tour of the Gila next week

Lance Armstrong helped shine an international spotlight on the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico last year when he showed up to compete in the five-day race with two compadres from the Astana team.

He's returning to the bike race again this year from April 28 through May 2 with defending champ Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney from the RadioShack pro cycling team. They'll be joined among the elite cyclists with three from Garmin-Transitions — David Zabriskie, Danny Pate and Tom Danielson.

The arrival of the pros will definitely spark more interest in the race located in southwestern New Mexico near the Gila National Forest …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/21/lance-armstrong-returns-to-tour-of-the-gila-next-week/

Proposed bicycling restrictions rejected by Mercer Island officials

A draft law that essentially would have put a “Not Welcome” mat out for bicyclists at the bridges to Mercer Island has been struck down by the City Council.

The proposed ordinance addressed bicyclists riding in groups of two or more on the populous island in Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue. It was aimed at the scenic, winding, 15-mile training loop around the island that occasionally becomes a flashpoint between motorists and bicyclists.

The law would have required those groups to ride single file as far to the right as possible, and to actually pull off the road to allow a car to pass along stretches of road that are too tight for safe passing.

In other words, it would have made bicyclists second-class road users by law…

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/20/proposed-bicycling-restrictions-rejected-by-mercer-island-officials/

Mercer Island, WA

Bicyclists and motorists sharing East Mercer Way and West Mercer Way can sometimes cause a flare-up. City Council has struck down a proposal to ban groups of bicyclists from the loop.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/20/mercer-island-wa/

Overnight mass bike tours are going strong

RAGBRAI. BRAN. RAW. GABRAKY. BAK. GOBA. XOBA.

This isn't a command that Klatuu gives his robot in the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” or the agency listings in an acronym-crazy state government phone book.

Dyed in the wool bicyclists will recognize these as just a few of the shortened names among the dozens of mass participation, across-state bicycle tours that are held every summer in the US.

The recession economy doesn't seem to be hurting the popularity of these outings. In fact, David Harrenstein, head of the National Bicycle Tour Directors Association, says:..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/20/overnight-mass-bike-tours-are-going-strong/

Elderly walker dies after stepping in front of bicyclist

An elderly woman has died after she was struck this past weekend by a passing bicyclist on the Cedar River Trail in Renton.

News sources report that the 83-year-old woman was walking on the path about 4:45 p.m. Sunday about a 1/4-mile from the Interstate 405 overpass when she stepped out in front of the bicyclist, 57, who was passing her on the left.

Both were knocked to the ground and lost consciousness. The cyclist came to and was treated for minor injuries by EMTs; the woman was rushed to the hospital where she died Monday morning …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/20/elderly-walker-dies-after-stepping-in-front-of-bicyclist/

Cedar River Trail scene

Grab shot from a video shot along the Cedar River Trail. Kids on bikes.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/04/20/cedar-river-trail-scene/