Category: Main Page

Is it time to leave the patch kit at home for your bike rides?

Some bicycle riders may have patched their last inner tube.

Michelin has put a bike inner tube, called ProTek Max, on the market that seals itself in the event of a puncture. It's aimed at those who ride on wider road or mountain bike tires.

I have not tested this product, nor have I seen, felt, sniffed or hefted it first hand. I might be willing to give it a try, although with all the “puncture-resistant” tires on the market, it may be a little redundant.

If you're planning to ride in Western states where goathead plants (aka puncture vine, caltrop, ground burr-nut, and Texas sandburr) make their home, however, some redundancy might not be a bad idea. Ditto if you ride through urban road debris ….

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/06/is-it-time-to-leave-the-patch-kit-at-home-for-your-bike-rides/

Phil Liggett comes to Seattle for a bike ride and a talk

If you hear a little voice in your head saying, “He's dancing on the pedals!”, when you're tackling one of the hills around Seattle, then maybe you'd like to meet the guy who coined that phrase in person.

Versus cycling commentator Phil Liggett will be visiting Seattle next month to give a talk for the Cascade Bicycle Club. A bike ride for 45 cyclists who want to dance on the pedals with Liggett the following morning is already booked.

Liggett has been commentating the Tour de France and other cycling races since the early 1970s. His voice and “Liggettisms” are a major part of the sport for fans not only in the US, but in English speaking countries around the world ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/06/phil-liggett-comes-to-seattle-for-a-bike-ride-and-a-talk/

USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado announces TV coverage

This summer's pro-level bicycle race across Colorado has undergone an identity and logo makeover before the inaugural event has even left the starting line.

The Quizno's Pro Challenge is now the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, as announced in Denver on Tuesday. The sandwich-maker is still the main sponsor, but from here on, the Aug. 22-28 bicycle race shall be known by its new name.

Organizers also revealed that the new tie-up of NBC Sports and Versus will have broadcast rights to the bike race with more than 25 hours of live coverage over the 7-day period ….

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/05/usa-pro-cycling-challenge-in-colorado-announces-tv-coverage/

Dominic Gill's “Take a Seat” bicycle tour on cable TV Monday night

Finally. A documentary about a cross-country bicycle tour has made it to prime time TV.

“Take a Seat: Sharing a Ride Across America” is a 10-part series about cyclist Dominic Gill's TransAmerica travels on a tandem bicycle with 10 different companions, all of whom go through life with different physical disabilities.

The show premiers at 8 and 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) Monday with back-to-back episodes on the Universal Sports cable network. The adventure series is a first for the sports network, which also broadcasts cycling events, including the Tour of the Basque Country on Monday through Friday this week…..

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/04/dominic-gills-take-a-seat-bicycle-tour-on-cable-tv-monday-night/

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 …..

Continue reading

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. ….

Continue reading

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

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 …..

Continue reading

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/

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/