Bicycle commuters and others interested in non-motorized public transportation got a chance on Tuesday to kick the tires and go for test rides on three bike share systems that may one day be a common sight on Seattle streets.
King County is sponsoring the presentation, which will be repeated in Redmond on Wednesday, to get some feedback about what people like and don't like about the bike share programs and how they could be employed here.
Participating in the all-day display on Westlake Avenue were Bcycle, Bixi and The Bike Share Group (above), which is based in Ballard ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/12/taking-a-look-at-three-bike-share-systems-in-seattle/
The bike-sharing road show rolls into Seattle on Tuesday and Redmond on Wednesday this week for anyone who wants an up-close look at these systems aimed at putting bicycles in more people's hands.
The Bike Share Expo features bicycles and kiosks from Bixi, B-Cycle and The Bike Share Group that will be available to the public for testing and riding.
King County is taking a look at a possible bike-sharing program, although there are no firm plans. The Cascade Bicycle Club, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Group Health are all interested in such a program, which would probably be run by a third-party with oversight by county government …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/11/see-and-ride-bike-share-systems-in-seattle-tuesday-redmond-on-wednesday/
One thing that Boston, Kansas City, Midland, Michigan, Salisbury, North Carolina and Oahu all have in common — they want to be considered bicycle-friendly communities.
Putting a label on communities' efforts to achieve accessibility for bicyclists gives them a goal of making it to the League of American Bicyclists honored list. If successful, it also means fewer cars on the road and cleaner air.
The New York Times reported over the weekend on Boston's efforts (“Boston tries to shed longtime reputation as cyclists' minefield”).
Remember the city appearing on a “worst cities to bike” list in Bicycling magazine a few years ago? The city is trying to improve that image, and hired Nicole Freedman, a former Olympic cyclist, as the city’s “bike czar” in 2007 to accomplish that. ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/10/bicycle-friendly-wanna-bes-rolling-toward-that-target/
Popular Hub on Wheels recreational bicycle ride in Boston. The city is trying to become more bicycle friendly.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/10/hub-on-wheels/
Lance Armstrong's career has taken a sharp turn from the road-bike to mountain-bike podium finishes in the past two weeks. He won the Blast the Mass championship at Snowmass on Saturday, just two weeks after finishing 3rd in the Tour de France.
His next big mountain bike challenge comes next Saturday for the Leadville 100. He'll be seeking to unseat six-time champion David Wiens, who beat him last year.
The 23-mile course that Armstrong raced on Saturday had nearly 4,700 feet of climbing. Here's how his closest challenger, Mountain States Cup points leader Jay Henry, explained the race to the Aspen Times: …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/09/armstrong-wins-blast-the-mass-in-colorado-leadville-100-is-next/
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. …
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. …
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.
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 ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/06/flipping-out-along-seattles-interurban-trail/
I'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 ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/06/more-lists-for-best-bicycle-trips-and-best-bicycling-cities/
Adventure Cycling Association Trail biking Rails to Trails Conservancy League of American Bicyclists
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