Tag: trail

Issaquah section of East Lake Sammamish Trail opens Tuesday

Hmmm, baby. Just what I like to see — a freshly paved bike trail. Just got to wait a couple of days for it to open.

This is the Issaquah Trailhead for the East Lake Sammamish Trail that rolls out between Issaquah and Redmond.

The 11-mile trail opened as a gravel rail-trail in 2006, and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2013/06/09/issaquah-section-of-east-lake-sammamish-trail-opens-tuesday/

Take your bike to “Opening Day for Trails” on Saturday

Saturday is Opening Day for Trails, a good time to go out and celebrate the arrival of spring with a bicycle ride on a local trail.

I’ve never heard of Opening Day for Trails until the Rails to Trails Conservancy sent me a reminder about a free T-shirt offer for telling them about my favorite trail.

The event is obviously ceremonial — like the first pitch at a baseball game — because there is no end to the trail season. Most  are open year-round.

Here in my neck of the Pacific Northwest, the rail-trails …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2013/03/28/take-your-bike-to-opening-day-for-trails-on-saturday/

Bicycling with the return of weather and fall foliage forecasts

Gosh. I just love the sound my bicycle tires make as they zip through puddles and slosh over soggy leaves that fall on wet autumn days. That’s why it was so much fun to ride through the first decent rain of the season on Sunday.

OK. That’s a bunch of malarkey.

I never enjoyed bicycling …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/10/15/bicycling-with-the-return-of-weather-and-fall-foliage-forecasts/

Bellevue (WA) seeks to close “missing link” for bicycle riders

You hear a lot about the “missing link” on the Burke Gilman Trail, but there’s also a “missing link” in the Mountains to Sound Greenway trail as it passes through the Eastgate and Factoria sections of Bellevue.

The city of Bellevue is presenting its latest conceptual design plans to close that link with a 3.6-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail on the south side of Interstate 90 on Wednesday.

The city staff is inviting feedback on its planned route. You can see the general layout of the proposed trail, proposed cross sections and other designs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 26) at Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 2650 148th Ave. SE.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/09/21/bellevue-wa-seeks-to-close-missing-link-for-bicycle-riders/

Trail news: Middle Fork Snoqualmie gets funding

The Mountains to Sound Greenway was happy to announce last week that it received a $150,000 grant from Waste Management to make improvements in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley.

One of the big draws to that area in the rugged mountains north of the Interstate 90 corridor is the Middle Fork Trail, which is used by mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians.

The Middle Fork Trail starts about 12 miles east of North Bend on the western slopes of the Cascades. I happened to visit the trail on Thursday and was amazed that such a wild area …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/09/16/trail-news-middle-fork-snoqualmie-gets-funding/

Bicycle trail news: Grand Ridge Park near Issaquah

There’s some good news for mountain bikers seeking better access to the more than 9 miles of trails in Grand Ridge Park near Issaquah.

King County Parks is getting public comment about a new parking lot to served the 1,800 acres of wildland in the Grand Ridge Park and adjoining Mitchell Hill Forest.

Presently, parking is available at either end of the Issaquah Preston Trail — at High Point Way to the east and Sunset Way in Issaquah to the west. …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/09/15/bicycle-trail-news-grand-ridge-park-near-issaquah/

Trail closures and detours around Seattle; updated

If you think it’s hard to get around because of the road construction in the Seattle area this summer, the situation isn’t much different on the bike trails.

I can think of at least three bike trail closures around Seattle right now — Green River Trail, Cedar River Trail, and East Lake Sammamish Trail. Only …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/08/18/trail-closures-and-detours-around-seattle/

Trail news: Comments sought on Big Finn Hill in Kirkland and Olympic Peninsula’s Spruce Railroad

Public officials are looking for some input on mountain biking trails in Kirkland and the Spruce Railroad Trail over on the Olympic Peninsula.

Remember, if you don’t speak up now, you don’t really have a right to grouse later.

Big Finn Hill

At left is a bridge over Denny Creek in Big Finn Hill Park. It was funded and built by the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance in cooperation with neighbors and the King County parks department….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/06/05/trail-news-comments-sought-on-big-finn-hill-in-kirkland-and-olympic-peninsulas-spruce-railroad/

Top 10 rails-to-trails states; Michigan is No. 1

Michigan is fast becoming a major destination for bicycle touring, and one of its major draws is its wide-ranging network of rails-to-trails.

Abandoned and out-of-service railroad corridors criss-cross the state, and local governments and “friends of the trail” groups are transforming these into paved and gravel trails for bikes and other non-motorized users.

In fact, Michigan leads the nation in upgrading railroad corridors into bike trails. Its 126 rails-to-trails stretch for 2,379 miles around the state …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/05/08/top-10-rails-to-trails-states-michigan-is-no-1/

Are bike path bollards an unnecessary hazard?

Whenever I used to come across a bollard in a bike trail, I’d get the righteous feeling of ownership that this was my trail; cars cannot get in.

Now I worry that a bicyclist might hit the bollard and suffer an injury. Are bollards safe?

Not always. Experienced bicyclist Giuseppe Maino, 53, died from injuries he suffered when he struck a bollard on the Richland B&O trail in Bellville, Ohio, this week.

Maino was riding at the rear of a group of cyclists …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/04/27/are-bike-path-bollards-an-unnecessary-hazard/