Category: Northwest Cycling
With Tuesday's news from Paris that the Tour de France would pay homage to the Alps in 2011, it occurred to me that I should pay a visit to our very own second cousin to that famous European mountain chain.
As soon as the fog lifted, I saddled up and headed out for a bike ride up Tiger Mountain, the centerpiece of the Issaquah Alps.
These “Alps” are a chain of foothills west of the Cascades that overlook the sprawling suburbs on the eastside of Seattle. From West to East, they're comprised of Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain, the various summits of Tiger Mountain and Rattlesnake Ridge. You can also throw in ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/20/a-bicycle-ride-to-honor-the-issaquah-alps/
A week after the Cascade Bicycle Club board of directors fired executive director Chuck Ayers, left, the board is bringing him back as interim director.
Two members at the Cascade message forum said that board member Don Volta made the announcement to a meeting of ride leaders on Sunday. That was confirmed this morning in an interview with a ride leader who attended that meeting. A Cascade staff member also confirmed Ayers is returning on an interim basis.
The Cascade Bicycle Club confirmed the rehiring in an announcement late Tuesday afternoon:
“Following many discussions over the last week between the Cascade Bicycle Club Board of Directors and Chuck Ayers, a new agreement has been reached that includes Chuck returning to the organization as interim Executive Director. Chuck will serve for a period of at least six months ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/12/ousted-cascade-director-chuck-ayers-is-back-on-interim-basis/
It's in the fall when the weeds dry up and leaves fall from the trees that the true nature of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in western Washington reveals itself as an old railroad route.
The trail runs some 100 miles from near North Bend to the Columbia River. It slices through the deep evergreen woods of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, but grasses, weeds, shrubs and deciduous trees grow along the abandoned right-of-way.
When those leaves fall and the weeds die off, remnants of the old railroad days are easier to see ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/08/fall-bike-ride-on-the-john-wayne-pioneer-trail/
This weekend brings the Bicycle Film Festival to Seattle, one of nearly 40 presentations in cities around the world for the 10th anniversary of the event.
Film showings are scheduled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Western Bridge, 3412 4th Avenue, South in the South of Downtown area.
The first two nights of programs are followed by BFF After Parties at The Orient Express, 2963 4th Ave. South, on Friday and The Siren Tavern, 3403 4th Ave. South, on Saturday.
These films are all about all forms of bicycling. They are long and short, documentary and feature.
The festival opens Friday with the “Birth of Big Air,” the amazing story of how Mat Hoffman lives to soar through the air on his bicycle. It's preceded by the equally scary …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/05/bicycle-film-festival-comes-to-seattle-this-weekend-see-trailers/
After 13 years at the helm of the Cascade Bicycle Club, executive director Chuck Ayers is leaving his position as head of the Seattle-based bicycle club.
The club's board of directors asked for Ayers's resignation as head of the 14,000-member bicycle club, considered the largest in the nation. He declined, and the board fired him.
Chris Weiss, chair of the board, was quoted at the Cascade blog:
“While we are grateful for these and other accomplishments during his tenure, the Board has made the decision that Chuck is no longer the right person to lead Cascade into its next phase of growth and opportunity.”…..
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/05/change-at-the-top-of-cascade-bicycle-club-chuck-ayers-is-out/
In my 10 years of bicycling in the Pacific Northwest, I've never witnessed dreary, overcast skies turn into a sparkling blue so fast.
Fortunately I was perched atop a little hill called Holden Knob between Hobart and Issaquah at the time with the western drainage area of the Cascade laid out at my feet and snow-covered Mount Rainier shining in the south.
The knob is one of the features at Taylor Mountain Park, a county park shared by equestrians, hikers and the occasional mountain biker. Although I had driven out there to ride before, I thought it was be better to pedal my mountain bike the 15 miles to the park on Thursday.
If history is any guide, there aren't too many more days of cycling in Western Washington this year that won't require fenders and raingear….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/01/bike-ride-up-to-the-knob-september-tale-of-the-tape/
Don't you think your kids would enjoy riding their bikes through the woods this weekend? It just so happens that Saturday is International Take Your Kid Mountain Biking Day.
In the Seattle area, the Trips for Kids program by Cascade Bicycle Club and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance are hosting a free guided ride and jump jam at Duthie Hill Park near Issaquah and Sammamish.
Jill Kintner, (above right) the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in BMX and former Kirkland resident, will be among those on hand to ride with the kids ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/29/take-your-kid-mountain-biking-at-duthie-hill-on-saturday/
Can you count and are you free Oct. 5, 6, or 7th?
Then you can volunteer to participate in the 2010 Washington Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project.
The state wants to count bicyclists and pedestrians at specific locations year after year to estimate demand, measure the success of investments and design future projects.
Cities seeking volunteers comprise Bellevue, Bellingham, Bothell, Bremerton, …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/15/washington-state-seeks-volunteers-for-bicycle-count/
One of the best things about using the Washington State Ferries System to cross the Puget Sound — beyond the awesome 360-degree views — is that bicyclists are first on and first off.
That's a nice little plum for a cyclist like myself who only makes the trip a few times a year for a recreational ride.
But it's an essential time-saver for the many cyclists who commute to and from work in downtown from the islands or the Olympic Peninsula.
I've taken the ferry by car, too, and it can take 10 minutes or more to unload the vehicles. Unless the ferry is loaded for the Chilly Hilly, like in this picture, is takes maybe a minute to let the bikes off and scoot on up the road.
Just today, Cascade Bicycle Club is reporting on their blog that a report by a team of nationwide experts suggests reversing the load/unload order so that bicyclists are the last ones on, and the last ones off, the ferry ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/14/report-recommends-sending-bicyclists-to-the-back-of-the-ferry/
Approximate location of crash; click map A truck driver who struck and killed a bicyclist early Sunday morning in a rural area southeast of Seattle pulled over and shot himself with a handgun after realizing he had just killed a friend.
People in the Enumclaw area who knew the two young men are trying to come to terms with the tragic events. They created a small memorial with flowers and a candle at the scene.
Dead are Steven D. Relford, 20, the cyclist and Geoffrey M. Godley, 24, of Buckley, the driver of the pickup truck, according to the Seattle Times. Godley's cousin, 27, was a passenger in the pickup, which he owned.
Acquaintances told the Times that Relford and Godley hung out together ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/13/man-commits-suicide-after-running-down-his-bicycling-friend-victims-identified/
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