2011 archive

Dom and Ernie

Dominic Gill takes Ernie Greenwald on his tandem bicycle. Ernie was just one of his companions on a 104-day cross country bicycle trip that's being aired in a 10-part series on Universal Sports. Photo from the Take a Seat: Sharing a Ride Across America website.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/04/dom-and-ernie/

Off the beaten bike path of the Cedar River Trail; March tale of the tape

William Least Heat Moon admonished motorists to get off the interstate highways to explore the nation's back roads in his book “Blue Highways.”

He said that we get so locked into getting to a destination, we miss the surrounding countryside.

The same can be said of bicycling along a rail-to-trail, like the Cedar River Trail that runs between Renton and Maple Valley southeast of Seattle. I've used this trail as a thoroughfare to the rural bicycle routes in the area, but I rarely explore the trail surroundings.

This past month I rolled down there on my Rockhopper and followed some of the dirt paths that veer off the paved 17-mile trail. I stumbled across a wetland natural area that's a winter home for waterfowl and debris left over from an old brick plant …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/03/off-the-beaten-bike-path-of-the-cedar-river-trail-march-tale-of-the-tape/

WSJ needs to learn to share the road with bicyclists

Another columnist at the Wall Street Journal has opened up his box of crayons and scribbled a piece that subtracts from the sum of human knowledge. This time it's about bicycles.

The author is P.J. O'Rourke, a branded conservative humorist. I've never thought his writing was all that funny, but I'm generally not a fan of writing with that political bent.

In this piece — “Dear Urban Cyclists; Go Play in Traffic” — he spews about bicycles and how they don't belong on the roads. At issue is the increased installation of bicycle lanes around New York City. They take up room that should be reserved for automobiles, you know.

At one point, I thought he must be using his skills of satire to mock the arguments put forward by reactionaries who write those ill-informed letters to the editor about bicycle use in urban areas. ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/02/wsj-needs-to-learn-to-share-the-road-with-bicyclists/

WSJ article

Dear Urban Cyclists: Go play in the traffic.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/02/wsj-article/

Washington bicycling news: Vulnerable user bill progresses;
Cascade announces election results

Two news items from the Cascade Bicycle Club on Friday.

David Hiller, the advocacy director for the 13,000-member bike club, reported from the State Capitol in Olympia that the Senate's version of the Vulnerable Users bill (SB 5326) passed the House by a vote of 61-32.

That means legislators still need to hash out any differences that might have cropped up between the versions passed by the Senate and House before it's voted on one last time. Then it goes to Gov. Gregoire …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/01/washington-bicycling-news-vulnerable-user-bill-progresses-cascade-announces-election-results/

Simple bicycling scenes from the English countryside

Usually the bicycling scenes that blow me away are the photos of a tiny speck of a touring bicyclist dwarfed against an awesome landscape.

But these simple pen and ink drawings created by Englishman Frank Patterson tell a truer story for most cyclists and maybe get more to the simple pleasures of bicycling.

They just show a person with a bicycle enjoying the time and place.

As you can probably tell from the outfits worn by the bicyclists, these drawings of bicycling and the English countryside date from the period before World War II. They've been assembled by Molly Sanders into a YouTube slideshow …..

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/01/simple-bicycling-scenes-from-the-english-countryside/

Bicyclist struck and killed by motorist in Bike Florida event

An Arizona man riding in the Bike Florida event was struck and killed by a motorist on Wednesday, the fifth day of the week-long bicycle tour around central Florida.

Police identified the man as Robert Paul King, 65, of Prescott, Arizona. The collision occurred as some 1,000 bicyclists were finishing the day's ride from High Springs to Newberry.

King was bicycling eastbound on the shoulder of Newberry Road. According to a Florida Highway Patrol ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/31/bicyclist-struck-and-killed-by-motorist-in-bike-florida-event/

Cyclist died in Newberry, Florida

Participant in Bike Florida event

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/31/cyclist-died-in-newberry-florida/

3-foot passing roundup: City in Oklahoma ratifies it; OK, KS bills still alive

By law, bicyclists in the 81,000-population town of Edmond, Oklahoma, will get a little breathing room from passing cars beginning next month.

The City Council approved a change in the local bicycle ordinance that requires motorists to give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing. Failure to do so, can bring a $500 fine.

While 16 states currently have a 3-foot-passing rule for motorists overtaking bicyclists, it's rare for a city to enact such a law. Boise, Idaho, is the only other city I've heard of that has enacted such a law. …..

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/30/3-foot-passing-roundup-city-in-oklahoma-ratifies-it-ok-ks-bills-still-alive/

History of flight remembered in new Renton bike trail

Crews are dodging the recent rainy weather to complete the second phase of the Lake Washington Trail – South Lake Connector, also known as the Sam Chastain Trail, in Renton.

The trail runs for less than a mile just west of Logan Avenue North and will complete a connection between a bike lane that runs along road to Coulon Park on the north and the Cedar River Trail in the south (see map below).

As they near completion, workers are installing castings in the bike path that will call attention to the proximity of the local airfield and Boeing's history in the area, as well as the connection between flight and bicycling.

At left, you can make out the message embedded across the trail …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/29/history-of-flight-remembered-in-new-renton-bike-trail/