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Imagine that you're 70 years old and you have completed an organized bicycle century ride in all 50 states between 2002 and 2009. What's next?
If you're Al Emma of Exton, Pennsylvania, you keep rolling down the road on your bicycle.
Just about the time he was wrapping up his 50 100-milers in July 2009, Emma had started on his next endeavor — riding a 100-mile century in each of the 10 Canadian provinces.
He started with the Southern Ontario Century Ride in Alliston on May 23, 2009 and completed the cycle with The Fredericton Freewheelers Century Ride in New Brunswick just a couple of weeks ago on Aug. 22 …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/30/cyclist-70-keeps-the-centuries-rolling-north-of-the-border/
If you're bicycling anywhere on the eastern half of the TransAmerica Bicycle Route over the next six weeks, keep an eye open for a cyclist wearing a yellow T-shirt that says “Tour de Frank: 1976 – 2010.”
Wave, give him a thumbs up, or even stop for a chat. That's Frank van Dijk, a fragment of bicycle touring history.
The 58-year-old Dutchman is finishing his Bikecentennial tour that he started 34 years ago.
Frank was one of thousands who took to the road in 1976 to cross the United States by bicycle to celebrate the nation's 200th anniversary. Frank set out with a group of 179 cyclists called “The Dutch Apples” who left the Pacific Coast to ride east to Yorktown, Virginia.
Unfortunately for Frank, an elderly motorist ran into him with her Buick ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/29/dutch-cyclist-returns-to-us-to-finish-1976-transamerica-bike-tour/
Here's some good news for the bicycling weekend road warriors of King County.
The new bridge on S.E. May Valley Road is finished and the road is open at least three days ahead of schedule.
The creek crossing on the lightly-traveled rural road between Newcastle and Issaquah has been closed since June 21 for a bridge replacement project. I just passed there Friday afternoon (Aug. 27) and the bridge was open ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/27/may-valley-road-open-again-after-2-month-bridge-replacement/
Leave it to the Centers for Disease Control to boil down the human toll of highway carnage into cold, hard cash.
A report issued by the agency this month finds that the costs of medical care and lost productivity related to deaths and injuries in crashes surpasses $99 billion a year. Bicyclists' share of that is about $5.4 billion annually.
The study, entitled “Traffic Injury Prevention,” reports that the U.S. is falling behind the traffic safety gains many other developed nations are making.
It concludes that there are some strategies that could save lives and prevent injuries. One of those is mandatory bicycle helmet use. That's definitely a hot-button issue among bicyclists, although the CDC authors focus their discussion on bicycle helmet use among children ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/26/bicycle-injuries-and-fatalities-cost-more-than-5-billion-a-year/
After I noticed this past weekend that Renton had lowered speed limits on the Cedar River Trail to 10 mph and imposed a $101 fine [see Monday's article], I contacted the Cascade Bicycle Club to see if they had an opinion about the city's action.
Here's the response from David Hiller, advocacy director for the Seattle-based bike club:
“We find Renton’s response to be unsound and grossly disproportionate. Though we promptly reached out to staff at the city following the tragic circumstances that led a pedestrian to die from a collision, none of our guidance was taken and, with the exception of one phone call from an apologetic staffer, the promised coordination never materialized.
“We continue to discuss mounting a full scale campaign to get Renton to reverse the course it has taken ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/25/cascade-bicycle-club-responds-to-10-mph-speed-limit-on-rentons-cedar-river-rail-trail/
Update: Aug. 29, 2010 — “Hundreds bike to honor Ohio woman…”, Dayton Daily News. More than 300 cyclists pedaled to Michelle Kazlausky's funeral on Saturday.
Aug. 25, 2010 — “Prosecutor reviewing death of Pelotonia rider,” Columbus Dispatch. Coroner labels death a “homicide,” but explains he doesn't have arrest powers and his ruling isn't a legal action.
Donations in memory of Michelle Kazlausky are pouring in to the Pelotonia fund-raising website after the woman was killed while participating in the Ohio-based charity bike ride on Saturday.
She was just one of some 4,200 cyclists who participated this past weekend in the Pelotonia, a two-day bike ride between Columbus and Athens that raises funds for cancer research.
Donors had pledged $7,500 in her memory as of 5:30 a.m. Monday. That amount had more than doubled to $16,500 by late Monday night. Many of the donations of $10 or $25 were given by fellow riders.
The public outpouring prompted her son, Jeff McMahon, to pledge to ride in the 2011 Pelotonia …..
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/24/cyclist-killed-on-pelotonia-cancer-ride-donations-made-in-her-memory/
The City of Renton has lowered the speed limit for bicycles to 10 mph on most of the Cedar River Trail. Bicyclists must dismount on the remaining sections. [See maps below]
Violation of the speed limit carries a $101 fine, according to signs posted on the path.
The Cedar River Trail is a rail-trail that runs from the mouth of Lake Washington to Landsburg, a distance of about 17 miles. The restrictions of bicycle riders target only the western 4.5 miles of the trail in Renton.
The measures are a reaction to the death of an 83-year-old woman this spring after she stepped in front of a moving bicycle about a quarter-mile from where the trail passes under I-405.
Both the woman and the 57-year-old bicyclist fell to the ground and were knocked unconcious, according to news reports. The cyclist recovered at the scene, but the woman later died of her injuries at the hospital.
No charges were ever filed in that case. Renton's mayor and city council set about limiting or restricting bicycle use on the multi-use trail at its next meeting
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/23/rentons-new-10-mph-bicycle-speed-limit-on-cedar-river-trail-carries-101-fine/
Levi Leipheimer notched his second championship for the month of August by hanging on to win the 6-stage Tour of Utah on Sunday.
The victory in the national-level road-race event follows his Aug. 14 victory and course record at the Leadville 100, a mountain bike race.
He won each bicycle race riding without the benefit of teammates. He represented RadioShack at Leadville and wore the Mellow Johnnys kit at the Tour of Utah.
Following the end of the Tour of Utah on Sunday …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/23/two-bicycle-race-championships-in-9-days-for-leipheimer/
My quest to ride by bicycle down all of King County's historic roads led me to a scenic stretch of pavement last week that I've pedaled along more than once.
What I hadn't realized is that West Snoqualmie River Road dates back to among the earliest byways in the hills and valleys between Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains and hasn't changed that much over the years.
The “Dan Henrys” painted on the pavement for the Tour de Peaks and other rides attest to this lightly traveled roads' popularity among bicyclists. It's flat, winding, and passes organic vegetable farms, horse farms as well as dazzling fields of flowers grown for market ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/22/bicycling-the-historic-west-snoqualmie-river-road/
People in Andover, Massachusetts, aren't surprised anymore when they see Garth Lockhart riding around on his bicycle with the front wheel in the air.
The 30-year-old native of the West Indies is in training to pop a wheelie and ride it down the road and right into the Guinness Book of World Records.
He'll attempt the feat on Sept. 12 by riding his mountain bike along Route 28 from his home in Andover to a bike shop in Salem …..
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/08/21/wheelie-man-plans-to-pop-into-record-book/
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