Category: Northwest Cycling

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. …

Continue reading

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

So many naked bike rides — a scheduling headache in Seattle


jennhx at flickr.com

It's sometimes a challenge to schedule bicycling tours that don't conflict with other recreational events.

But I was surprised to discover the niche of naked bicycling was so crowded on the Seattle calendar that the organizers of the World Naked Bike Ride here are struggling to find an open date.

I was reading over at the Gadling bicycle touring blog that World Naked Bike Rides — protesting oil dependency and the car culture — were held in Australia and South America on March 10, and that similar rides are scheduled in the northern half of the planet on June 9 and 30. I thought it would be cool to post the local date on the my bicycling calendar. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/30/so-many-naked-bike-rides-a-scheduling-headache-in-seattle/

Bellevue (Washington) bicycling survey; fill it out


Bellevue commuter

If you bicycle or walk around Bellevue, you only have about two weeks to have your voice heard in the Walk & Roll 2007 Pedestrian-Bike Plan.

An online survey is available at the city of Bellevue website through April 10. I filled it out recently and it only takes a few minutes.

It's basically a multiple choice survey — “always,” “sometimes,” “never” — to determine what bicycle facilities you use or would use if available. It also has space for respondents to fill in their major concerns or specific needs for bicycing in the city; this can be more time-consuming but it's necessary to put the officials on notice. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/29/bellevue-washington-bicycling-survey-fill-it-out/

What a show at the 2007 Seattle bike expo

So what's all this yelling going on over at one corner of the cavernous seaplane hangar that houses the 2007 Seattle International Bicycle Expo?

Two guys are competing in a virtual track sprint (Goldsprints) and an emcee is urging a small crowd to cheer them on.

Elsewhere, a former pro cyclist is talking about the Tour de France to a standing-room-only gathering. In between more than 150 exhibitors are displaying and talking up whatever bicycle related stuff they're offering and bargain-hunters are searching clothing racks and boxes for shorts, jerseys, socks, helmets, you name it. Man, it's noisy in here …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/11/what-a-show-at-the-2007-seattle-bike-expo/

Frankie Andreu says he's unsure about Landis case at Seattle bike expo

The place to learn some inside scoop about the Tour de France on Saturday was inside the noisy former seaplane hangar that hosted the 2007 Group Health Seattle International Bicycle Expo.

Cycling commentator and former pro Frankie Andreu (left) — himself a veteran on nine Tour pelotons — said the 2006 Tour de France was one of the “most amazing” he'd ever seen, because he never knew what was going to happen next.

That uncertainty continues to this day, as Andreu says he can't guess what the future holds for Tour winner Floyd Landis, who prepares to answer doping charges at an administrative hearing in May.

Andreu noted that Landis and his defense team have pointed to “a lot of inaccuracies” at the French lab that analyzed the urine samples that led to the doping accusations. But, “we've only heard from one side,” he said. He wants to wait to hear from the other side — the anti-doping agency and its witnesses — before he decides about the case. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/11/frankie-andreu-says-hes-unsure-about-landis-case-at-seattle-bike-expo/

2007 Seattle Bike Expo is this weekend

The Group Health Seattle International Bicycle Expo returns to Magnuson Park this Saturday and Sunday with some 150 exhibitors and more good speakers than I can remember in recent years.

Rain is in the forecast this weekend, so heading on over to the old Magnuson Park showsite won't be a bad idea. You can even ride your bike over there, as there's plenty of bike parking right outside. The show runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Who's showing up this year? Speakers at the main stage this year incude former pro cyclist and OLN commentator Frankie Andreu, bicycle touring authors Willie Weir and Joe (Metal Cowboy) Kurmaskie, and the Bob Mionske, the lawyer who writes Legally Speaking at VeloNews. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/08/2007-seattle-bike-expo-is-this-weekend/

Handmade bicycle show comes to Portland in 2008

Here's good news for us in the Pacific Northwest. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is heading to Portland in 2008.

The show, which just wrapped up its three-day stand San Jose on Sunday, is a celebration of the best frame designers and builders in the world. Most of the 70 handmade frame makers came from the US and Canada this year.

The 2008 show, scheduled for March 7-10 at the Oregon Convention Center, will be another relocation for the annual event, conceived by Don Walker, a framebuilder himself. It was held in Houston in 2005, then moved to the Bay Area for the past two years …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/05/handmade-bicycle-show-comes-to-portland-in-2008/

Progress on two future bike trails in Washington state

Two possible rail-to-trail projects are on the drawing boards in Washington state — one in scenic northeastern Washington and another in the traffic-choked Seattle suburbs.

One could be a nationwide draw to bicycle tourists who could pick up the trail near Republic and follow the Kettle River 28 miles north to the Canadian border. The other could serve as a north-south bike commuter path from Renton to the Snohomish county line, 33 miles away.

Kettle Falls railroad

The proposed rail-trail in eastern Washington's Ferry County would be the first in the West to connect to Canada's rail-to-trail network …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/02/27/progress-on-two-future-bike-trails-in-washington-state/

2007 Chilly Hilly photos from Seattle

See more Chilly Hilly 2007 pictures here


The Chilly Hilly bike ride lived up to its name again this year, providing the same old hills and the same old chilly, wet weather.

How hilly? The Cascade Bicycle Club organizers say there's 2,675 feet of climbing. How chilly? 40 degrees when I left the house this morning (you can calculate the wind chill with the drizzle, wind, and fast downhills).

That didn't deter me or thousands of other recreational cyclists from the Pacific Northwest, however, who took the early morning ferries across Puget Sound to the 33-mile ride around Bainbridge Island …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/02/26/2007-chilly-hilly-photos-from-seattle/

Northwest Crank bicycling camp

Here's a great way to jumpstart your spring bicycling to get that mileage base up for those long summer bike tours and rides.

The Seattle International Randonneurs is hosting a five-day spring training camp at Wenatchee, Washington, from April 26-30. The festival is designed for cyclists of all abilities who want to put in some good miles out of the rain.

The camp features two fully supported bike rides each day with options for short, medium and long mileage. Cue sheets are also available for unsupported rides. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/02/19/northwest-crank-bicycling-camp/