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Photo by Vicki&Chuck RogersThe Bicycle Alliance of Washington is launching a letter-writing campaign to prevent the Olympic National Park from banning bicycles on Hurricane Ridge Road for the next two years.
You can see from this photo why bicycle riders like to challenge themselves on the 17-mile ride from nearly sea level to the 5,420-foot elevation at the Hurricane Ridge parking lot.
Interim park superintendent Sue McGill has unilaterally decided to ban bicycles from using that road for two years while road repairs are being made to a section of the road. That ban even extends to weekends when road crews will not be working …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/18/olympic-national-park-to-ban-bicycles-from-hurricane-ridge/
The first thing I learned to fix on my bicycle when I was growing up was the kickstand. The friggin' thing seemed like it was always coming loose and my crank arm struck it on each pedal stroke.
Ten years later, my Fuji Dynamic 10 came without a kickstand, which I thought at the time was an amazing innovation (omitting a part an innovation?). The heavy kickstand seems to be pretty much a thing of the past, although I secretly yearned for one when touring or on mass rides where I couldn't find any lean-room.
Tom Nostrant from Aberdeen, Washington, must have been thinking the same thing. I met him at the Seattle International Bike Expo recently where he was showing off his Click-Stand, a simple, lightweight, folding bike stand.
Depending on length, the thing weighs about 75 grams — 2.6 ounces. It's made from aluminum, folds to 7 to 10 inches, and opens with a flick of the wrist…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/17/click-stand-alternative-to-bicycle-kickstand/
One of those reports that makes me stop and go — huh? — has been issued by Global Industry Analysts.
In reporting continued worldwide growth of the bicycle market, it notes that bicycling is one of the top leisure sports activities in the US “with over 451 million users active cyclists in the country.”
That's an amazing statistic, considering the current US population is 301 million. Maybe the report means 451 million bicycles; I wouldn't be surprised if there were more bikes than people…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/17/global-report-forecasts-growth-in-bike-market/
Border Raiders bike tour in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri
The Biking Bis blog is listing 95 multi-day bike tours in 47 states in 2008. That's 7 more states and 13 more tours than last year. You'll find them at “2008 Across State Bicycle Tours.”
While I was digging around to update the annual rides and fill in some blanks, I was struck by the amazing artwork that some tours use to publicize their events. I'm particularly impressed by ones that keep the bicycle motif, but also lend a flavor from the state they represent.
Border Raiders, above, is probably the most unforgettable. John Brown is hoisting a wheel and a tire pump, looking a lot like an angry dude who has suffered his 5th blowout of the day. I also like the Legacy Annual Great Bike Ride Across Utah (right) because the red-rock arch completes the wheel.
I went back through the links and picked out my favorites. I hope you'll enjoy these too. But first, a few words about this list of state bike tours …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/16/10-amazing-logos-from-across-state-bicycle-tours/
Photo by SWoo
Some 1,000 bicycle riders joined the long procession on Saturday through Los Altos and Cupertino to the site where cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough were killed last Sunday.
Many are seen here at the memorial site on Stevens Canyon Road near where a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy swerved over the double-yellow line and struck Peterson and Gough head-on.
Although there's usually lots of joking and joshing when this many cyclists get together, news media reported a somber mood when the cyclists gathered at Foothill College for the 9-mile ride up to the memorial.
Photos of Gough and Peterson celebrating on podiums at recent bike races were placed at the memorial, and many cyclists left flowers, spare tubes and other mementos. Kristy's mother, Karen Sue Clarkson, rode one of her daughter's bicycles to the site …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/16/1000-in-memorial-ride-for-kristy-gough-and-matt-peterson/
A couple of years ago, the New York Times announced in its Style section that “bicycling is the new golf.”
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As if to prove it, CBS golf analyst David Feherty went out for a bike ride recently near his Dallas home. Unfortunately, a truck forced him into the curb and the side mirror hit him, breaking three ribs and puncturing a lung.
CBS reports that Feherty is doing as good as can be expected, and he should be back in the booth in time for the Masters tournament.
I'm glad his injury isn't more serious. I suppose all those golfers turned bicyclists are going to learn that the hazards out on the road are more dangerous than those sandtraps on the fairways…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/14/proof-that-bicycling-is-the-new-golf/
Joining an apparent stampede for the exit, Computer Sciences Corporation says it will end its sponsorship of cycling at the end of this season. It joins T-Mobile and the Discovery Channel among companies choosing to drop or not renew contracts with very successful teams in the past two years.
Team CSC is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, who immediately said he'll begin searching for a new sponsor for Riis Cycling A/S.
A company press release says the decision reflects “a shift in priorities as the company makes new investments to implement a strategic long-term growth plan.”
Given the current doping suspicions in pro cycling and the tiff between UCI and the owner of the Tour de France over what teams can participate in that race this year, is it any wonder that sponsors are beginning to back away from the sport? …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/14/team-csc-sponsor-backing-out-after-2008/
David Sylvester is setting off this week on a quest to bicycle to the trailhead of the highest peak in each of the 48 contiguous states and climb to the top of each and every one. He'll be accompanied by his faithful companion Chiva, a 2-year-old shepherd/husky mix.
If successful, they'll be the first dog-human team to accomplish the feat. And you thought all the Earth's frontiers had been conquered. Not with a dog, they haven't.
Sylvester, a 26-year-old from the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, expects the trek to take 18 months and cover some 10,000 miles. Introducing the tour at his blog, Sylvester says:
“I strongly believe that jumping on my bicycle and riding into the wind with Chiva is the best way to combine and enjoy all my interests in life right now …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/14/bicycling-to-climb-every-mountain/
The public can see an awesome monument to one of America's best-ever cyclists this spring when Worcester, Massachusetts, unveils its statue of hometown hero Major Taylor.
Known as the “Worcester Whirlwind,” Marshall W. Taylor set a slew of world cycling records at the turn of the last century and became the first African-American athlete to achieve worldwide celebrity.
The larger than life-size statue of this larger-than-life athlete will be unveiled in front of the Worcester Public Library on May 21. Speaking will be Taylor's successor on the world cycling stage — Greg Lemond — and three time-Olympic medal winner Edwin Moses …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/13/major-taylor-statue-unveiling-in-spring/
Go to most bicycling events where there are more than a couple of dozen bikes and you'll find Treks, Lemonds, Gary Fishers, and Kleins.
The bikes can range in price from about $400 to more than $7,000. What they all have in common is that they're all made by Trek Bicycle, the world's largest bike company.
The man who started it all in a red barn in Waterloo, Wisconsin, 32 years ago was Richard Burke. He died Monday from complications of heart surgery at age 73 …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/03/12/trek-bicycle-founder-richard-burke-dies/
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