What happens to former Race Across America bike riders? Sometimes they're kind of like old soldiers, “they just ride away.”
Two-time RAAM champion Danny Chew is riding away on his bicycle with a goal of tallying 1 million miles.
Riding indoors or on a trainer doesn't count. Chew logs all his miles outside, which is why it's not surprising that he recently turned up crossing the Alaska border on his bicycle with his nephew, Steven Perezluha.
Perezluha, 18, enlisted his uncle to accompany him on a bicycle tour from his home in Longwood, Florida, to Alaska and back. Since Chew lives in Pittsburgh, his nephew bicycled the first 1,200 miles alone and then with his father …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/17/raam-champion-and-teen-ager-travel-to-alaska-by-bike/
There's a workshop housed in a church on the west side of Toledo where people inject new life into used, over-used and mis-used bicycles.
It's not just bicycles that are improved here. The children and adults who bring in their bicycles learn new skills, everything from fixing a tire to building a bicycle from the frame up.
Mark Hannon, co-founder of the Toledo City Bicycle Co-op, told the Toledo Blade that bikes arrive in all kinds of conditions:
“Some come in really bad shape. It really is truly amazing that, with relatively simple tools, you take something that was going to end up in somebody's trash and turn it into a working machine.” …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/16/bike-co-ops-teach-recycling-instead-of-buying-new/
Lance Armstrong won the Leadville 100 mountain bike race Saturday with some added drama — a flat tire and crowds that blocked the finish line.
In spite of those setbacks, he set a new record over the grueling course.
The 7-time Tour de France winner finished the race in 6:28:50, that's 16:55 faster than the course record set last year when Leadville legend David Wiens beat Armstrong by about two minutes.
While Armstrong had an 18-minute lead on the defending champion near the end of the race, he lost time after his tire blew about 5 or 6 miles out. Then in Leadville, police had to push back the crowds that were blocking Armstrong from the finish.
The course record of 6:45:45 was set by Wiens in 2008. The entire 100-mile bike race takes place above the 9,000-foot elevation mark ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/15/armstrong-battles-hills-a-flat-tire-and-crowds-at-leadville-100/
If these kids are lacking in Vitamin D, it isn't from spending too many summer days sitting in front of a TV or computer.
This was part of a youth group I passed chugging uphill on the John Wayne Pioneeer Trail in Iron Horse State Park this week as I was riding near the Twin Falls trail crossing.
I was happy to see this many kids out for a summer camp bike ride. They certainly knew the rules of the road as they all moved over single file when they saw me heading down the trail. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/15/no-kids-left-inside-theyre-riding-their-bicycles/
The weatherman said there was a 90 percent chance of rain, but I wanted to take this overnight bike trip up John Wayne Pioneer Trail this week anyway.
When I first heard the forecast, I was ready to bail out. I had planned this trip two weeks ago when the weather was hot and sunny. I visualized riding up there in my shirtsleeves and enjoying a cool mountain night laying out on a picnic table, looking at stars.
A bike trip under gloomy skies with a high probability of rain wasn't what I had in mind. I soon realized this might be my last chance to take a long ride up into the Cascades this summer. Anyway, how often do things go the way we visualize them? ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/13/overnight-bike-trip-when-rain-is-certain/
Bicycle commuters and others interested in non-motorized public transportation got a chance on Tuesday to kick the tires and go for test rides on three bike share systems that may one day be a common sight on Seattle streets.
King County is sponsoring the presentation, which will be repeated in Redmond on Wednesday, to get some feedback about what people like and don't like about the bike share programs and how they could be employed here.
Participating in the all-day display on Westlake Avenue were Bcycle, Bixi and The Bike Share Group (above), which is based in Ballard ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/12/taking-a-look-at-three-bike-share-systems-in-seattle/
Photo by Richard StirbaThe bike-sharing road show rolls into Seattle on Tuesday and Redmond on Wednesday this week for anyone who wants an up-close look at these systems aimed at putting bicycles in more people's hands.
The Bike Share Expo features bicycles and kiosks from Bixi, B-Cycle and The Bike Share Group that will be available to the public for testing and riding.
King County is taking a look at a possible bike-sharing program, although there are no firm plans. The Cascade Bicycle Club, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Group Health are all interested in such a program, which would probably be run by a third-party with oversight by county government …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/11/see-and-ride-bike-share-systems-in-seattle-tuesday-redmond-on-wednesday/
Hub on Wheels bike rideOne thing that Boston, Kansas City, Midland, Michigan, Salisbury, North Carolina and Oahu all have in common — they want to be considered bicycle-friendly communities.
Putting a label on communities' efforts to achieve accessibility for bicyclists gives them a goal of making it to the League of American Bicyclists honored list. If successful, it also means fewer cars on the road and cleaner air.
The New York Times reported over the weekend on Boston's efforts (“Boston tries to shed longtime reputation as cyclists' minefield”).
Remember the city appearing on a “worst cities to bike” list in Bicycling magazine a few years ago? The city is trying to improve that image, and hired Nicole Freedman, a former Olympic cyclist, as the city’s “bike czar” in 2007 to accomplish that. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/10/bicycle-friendly-wanna-bes-rolling-toward-that-target/
Just 3 miles from home on a bicycle ride along Lake Washington Saturday afternoon and I started feeling light-headed. It was going to be a tough climb to my neighborhood.
I had that “emergency” PowerBar with me, but really didn't feel like chowing down on 240 calories of chewy paste that close to dinner. Soon I realized the road was lined with blackberry bushes and ripe berries hung from the vines.
This is an instant source of tasty energy. I was ready to go after eating about a dozen, but couldn't stop until I'd had about twice that many.
There are several different types of roadside blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest. There are the native wild blackberries (Rubus ursinus) and the invasive noxious weeds — Himalayan blackberries and Evergreen blackberries. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/09/beating-the-bonk-with-roadside-blackberries/
Of the scores of tourists and commuters leaving the ferry terminal on the Seattle waterfront after crossing the Puget Sound, it was the couple with loaded bicycles who caught my attention.
I was riding my bike along bustling Alaskan Way to buy tickets at Safeco Field for an upcoming baseball game when I spotted them. They were waiting to cross the street when I pulled up and could tell they've been on the road for awhile — deeply tanned, slightly disheveled and very fit. I issued my standard greeting when I see bicycle travelers:
“Hi! Howya doin'? Need some help?”
Gos and Lea were a couple of retirees from Belgium who had just completed a bicycle tour across the United States. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/07/reliving-memories-by-helping-bike-travelers-bicycle-travel-awards/
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