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New blogger at Biking Bis

In the next couple of days, I'll be joined here by my old friend and cross-country cycling companion Bruce Friedland. You might remember him from the TransAmerica Bike Tour — 1984 series or the recent article about the Cookie House Registry.

Bruce has remained an active cyclist back in Maryland all these years and is riding and filing from …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/11/new-blogger-at-biking-bis/

Brake shoe replacement time

I probably should have checked my brake pads before I nearly ran into the side of a moving car at the corner shopping center the other day.

When the snow and freezing temperatures hit the Pacific Northwest this winter, the street and highway departments answered the challenge by dumping tons of sand on the pavement.

No one has come along to sweep away that accumulated sand, except for me and my bike rims. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/10/brake-shoe-replacement-time/

SRAM recalls bicycle brake calipers

SRAM is recalling about 5,400 Force Road Brake Caliper sets as the brakes can snap off from the bicycle's fork or frame.

Although no incidents or injuries have been reported, SRAM and the Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging customers to stop using bikes outfitted with these brake calipers and immediately contact their bicycle retailer for a free replacement.

The Chicago-based company said the units were made in Taiwan, according to the CPSC press release. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/10/sram-recalls-bicycle-brake-calipers-2/

Two vets make separate bike tours to support wounded comrades

Two veterans — one from Vietnam and the other from Desert Storm — are making their way cross-country on bicycle tours to raise funds and awareness of wounded and disabled veterans.

The Bicycle America for Wounded Vets tour begins in San Francisco on June 2, and the Fallen Heroes' Ride Across America left from Florida on March 23 and is already in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, a two-day bike ride fund-raiser — the Face of America Bike Ride — in Pennsylvania and Maryland to assist disabled military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is set to start on April 28. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/09/two-vets-make-separate-bike-tours-to-support-wounded-comrades/

Canadian wins snowy US Cycling Open

Canadian cyclist Svein Tuft won the inaugural US Open Cycling Championships on a snowy day in Virginia on Saturday.

The rider for the Symmetrics team bridged a gap to solo breakaway cyclist Jonathan Patrick McCarty (US) of the Slipstream team, and attacked on the last of eight 5.5-mile circuits around Richmond.

Tuft crossed the finish first, followed by McCarty then Argentinian Alejandro Borrajo of the Rite Aid team. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/07/canadian-wins-snowy-us-cycling-open/

Suggestions for bicycling the Great Allegheny Passage

This will be the first full year that bicycle tourists can ride the full-length of the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage between Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh.

Connecting with the 186-mile long C&O Canal Towpath between Washington DC and Cumberland, the entire route 336-mile route promises to be a popular destination for bicycling tours this summer, if the Rails-to-Trails' Greenway Sojourn 2007 along the the corridor is any indication.

A group of 12 cyclists from Atlanta recently completed the trip and posted some observations at GAP Yahoo group. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/07/suggestions-for-bicycling-the-great-allegheny-passage/

Bike to Work Day is just around the corner

Civic and business leaders in Silicon Valley jumped on their bikes Friday to rally the troops for a big turnout for National Bike to Work Day during the week of  May 14-18.

Hundreds of bicycle clubs and business groups across the nation are making plans for Bike to Work Day, sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists. Workers are being encouraged to leave their cars parked at home and commute by bicycle that day in hopes that they'll realize that bike commuting is possible… maybe even fun.

In the Silicon Valley, business leaders are promoting the CEO/Celebrity Cycle to Work Day Challenge to encourage participation the event. Area CEOs and government leaders are being challenged to ride their own bikes to work on May 17, encourage employees to do the same, and host welcome stations for cyclists at their offices. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/06/bike-to-work-day-is-just-around-the-corner/

Double dose of pro cycling on TV this weekend

If you're working on your income taxes this weekend instead of bicycling, you might want to flip on the TV for the inaugural US Open Cycling Championships on NBC on Saturday or the Tour of Flanders on Sunday on the Versus (OLN in Canada) cable network.

NBC is televising the road race championships from Virginia from 2:30 to 5 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT) on Saturday. Coverage of the Belgium's Tour of Flanders spring classic runs from 7 to 8 pm. Sunday (ET) as part of Versus' Cyclysm Sunday series.

It is quite a coup for the US Open to get same-day coverage on network television. Cable sports stations rule the roost for cycling in the US and abroad; the last time network TV offered same-day domestic cycling coverage was 1996, an organizer told VeloNews. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/06/double-dose-of-pro-cycling-on-tv-this-weekend/

“The Flying Scotsman” bike movie opens in select cities in May

The film adaptation of two-time bicycling one-hour world record holder Graeme Obree's life is scheduled for release May 4 in Seattle, Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC.

The year's first US screening, however, will be Friday night at the 16th Philadelphia Film Festival.  Here's a two-and-a-half minute trailer for the film:

Obree's accomplishments are amazing, considering that he broke the world record as an amateur racing on a bicycle that he designed. He also battled bicycling federation bureaucrats who disapproved of his riding style, and his own inner demons, as he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/05/the-flying-scotsman-bike-movie-opens-in-select-cities-in-may/

Seattle Bicycle Master Plan is online

The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan seeks to double the miles of bicycle lanes and marked bike routes in the city within the next two years and begin work on the “final mile” of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard.

The document was posted online at the city's transportation department website in conjunction with Mayor Greg Nickel's press conference Wednesday morning.

The document calls for adding 136 miles of bicycle lanes and marked bike routes to the city's existing 67-mile network in the next two years. Most of this work will be accomplished as part of street upgrades funded by last fall's transportation levy.

Within the next 10 years, Seattle plans to add 452 miles of marked or separated bicycle routes criss-crossing the city. These too will be added while other street upgrades are underway. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/04/seattle-bicycle-master-plan-is-online/