The irony, of course, is that bike bloggers — like all our ilk — typically work in the basement of our parents’ homes, in our pajamas, between bouts with the Playstation. OK, I’m exaggerating. Sometimes we get dressed.

In any case, Bike to Work Day poses a bit of a quandary, since to participate in literal fashion would mean something like riding around the block. While that might fit in with our general lifestyle, it hardly qualifies us as bona fide Bike to Workers.

So on this one day out of the year, we pretend to be like real employees with real jobs and real commutes. And in the sense that chasing after Seattle’s peripatetic mayor and wringing quotes from people like David Hiller of the Cascade Bicycle Club and Mike O’Brien of the Seattle City Council and taking photos and videos and helping Pete Verbrugge of Cascade tear down the canopies after the City Hall rally … to the extent that all this is real work, then hey, we earned our spoke cards!

Josh Cohen, Publicola.net's Bike Nerd, was covering the downtown rally.

• Josh Cohen, Publicola’s Bike Nerd, rode in with the Mayor and covered the big downtown rally.
• Car Free Days was at the Fremont Bridge to meet the mayor, having dramatically captured the Bike Fairy.
• Totcycle promised to be out in full glory with its Kidical Mass (“fun, safe, and courteous”) ride from Ballard at 5:45 p.m., convening during the After-Party from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Bell Tower.
• Seattle Likes Bikes posted bunches of photos.
• Earlier we took a look at F5 Networks, the corporate title sponsor of Bike to Work Day.
• Kent “Mountain Turtle” Peterson does full disclosure on his car-free life.
• The Examiner’s Millie Magner reported that registered riders topped 10,000, beating last year’s mark.
• Byron and the Bike Hugger crew weighed in from Portland AND Seattle.
• Biking Bis logged the turnout at the Bellevue Commuter Station.
• BikeJuju contributed a roundup as well, taking a moment away from its excellent series on Mozambique and cycling.

Bike to Work Day is Friday! Last year more than 20,000 riders turned out, and this year Cascade Bicycle Club organizers have good reason to believe we may be seeing a new record. Already this year records have been set for the Seattle Bike Swap, the Chilly Hilly and early sell-out of Seattle-to-Portland.

The weather outlook ain’t great, but we all know how quickly that can change.

Last year’s Bike to Work Day was a real hoot!

Is bike commuting for you?

It is for Mayor Mike, who will ride from his home district in Greenwood to downtown for the big Bike to Work Day rally on the 4th Avenue plaza of City Hall. A bunch of us will be joining Hizzoner, please feel free to hop on board around 7 a.m. at the Bike to Work Day station right at the Fremont Bridge.

A full rundown of Bike to Work Day stations and events.

San Francisco’s Bike to Work Day was last week, and really rocked!

So did Marin County’s!

By some unfathomable coincidence, it’s also Seattle Beer Week this week. At GoMeansGo, that translates to DrinkMeansDrink … and the Seattle Brew Cruise on Tuesday.

Apparently bicycles aren’t the only vehicles gaining electric motors in the wheels.

Do women represent the fastest-growing demographic in cycling?

Fox Racing Shox is the latest company to post recovery-type revenue spikes in the first quarter of 2010.

The Pacific Northwest missed out on $50,000 in Bikes Belong grants, but Alaska scored.

Interesting mashup from Ecology Action on bicycle collisions in Santa Cruz County in 2008, but I wouldn’t trust police reports to assign blame in a cycling-automobile accident any further than I could fold them up into paper airplanes and fly them.

Also out on Bike to Work Day: The unsinkable Ellen Fletcher. When I lived in Palo Alto in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ellen was fighting the good fight on every cycling front. Marked bike lanes. Locking, fully enclosed bike lockers at commuter train stations. Helmet safety. Many fond memories of this Elizabeth Cady Stanton of cycling; glad to see she’s still on the case! Hat tip to Cyclelicious.

Final Bike to Work Day link: Bike Hugger’s “Huggacast” of riding to Microsoft.

Final aside: Isn’t it great to see all the new media on Bike to Work Day?

Congrats to Steve Peat, who broke the record once thought unbreakable this past weekend, surpassing Nicholas Vuilloz’s 16 career World Cup wins. With so many great young cyclists from all over the world entering the sport, we may never see anything approaching this again. (But then, they said that about Nico too…)

Warning from the desert: Mountain biker gets separated from friends in 100-degree temps in Utah, later found dead.

Warning from the tow-o-sphere: Driver will serve more than 3 years in jail after towing drunken cycling friend at 25 miles an hour. Friend hit drain cover and was killed. Witnesses observed “whooping and shouts of excitement.” Judge cites “highly culpable stupidity.” Helmet not mentioned. See comments…

Back to Utah: These two luckily survived. Ride safe out there!

Sunshine is predicted!

One more time now:

Bike to Work Day rally, 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. at City Hall.

Bike to Work Day after-party, 4 to 7 p.m., Ballard.

Cascade Bicycle Club’s full event schedule.

Now get out and RIDE!

And Whistler opens on Saturday! Yikes, can they really have all the snow cleared? This has been one ugly freezin’ pain in the butt Spring so far… PinkBike has details on Opening Day festivities.

Bike Rumor: How to get that non-cyclist in your life onto a bike.

Bicycle Retailer: Bike industry gets 2-year extension on lead limits. I have mixed feelings on this one. As an environmentally healthy and healthful activity, cycling should be aggressively setting the pace on eco- and “green” standards. I know it’s tough financially to turn an entire industry around, but let’s hope this extension is it and the Powers That Be move forward asap on reducing lead exposure.

Biking Bis: Washington State is No. 1 in League of American Bicyclists ranking of bicycle friendly states — for second year in row!

Velo News: Lance “philosophical” about Giro chances after being dropped yesterday.

Vesely is no friend to cyclists. He opposed bike trail funding in Bellevue and, more infamously, championed an annual fee on cyclists in King County — just for riding a bike. And he took these anti-bike views with gusto, calling the Bellevue measure a “boondoggle” and stating that the fee “would also make cyclists true members of the world of transportation, rather than free riders on the tax rolls.”

I don’t know of any cyclist who does not pay a host of taxes. The vast majority own cars and houses and buy stuff in the city. You can’t do that be a “free rider” on the tax rolls. It should also be noted that taxes are a way to shape progress — tax smoking, for example, and give tax credits for things like green construction. If anything, cyclists should get a tax credit for reducing pollution, being healthier and putting less stress than cars and trucks on streets and highways.

But all of those points and many more were made eloquently in the firestorm of outrage that followed Vesely’s harebrained columns.

People said nice things about Vesely in the Times announcement, and it should be noted that personally Jim is a great guy. But with all the issues and challenges facing Seattle Times readers, why beat up on cyclists? Especially in a time when newspapers are financially under duress and seeking public dollars to continue publishing, it makes no sense to needlessly provoke a growing constituency of the Seattle-King County population and by extension, newspaper readership.

In our nation’s post-Obama evolution, the transportation equation is changing. So perhaps it’s fitting that Jim make his exit on the biggest day of celebration for cyclists. Have a great retirement, Jim, and hope to run into you (while riding my bike) enjoying your leisurely years on a bicycle!

Houston Chronicle on Texas “3-feet-please” bill banning “right hook,” the maneuver by motorists to speed up ahead and make a right turn in front of a cyclist. “Motorists could be charged with a misdemeanor offense if they don’t give cyclists at least three feet passing clearance in most circumstances….”

Seattle Times: Cycling clubs for disadvantaged get rolling. Great story exploring Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club efforts to involve kids in cycling.

Bicycle Net: Is Tom Boonen gone from cycling after his second positive cocaine test? My impression btw is that coke is not a performance enhancing drug (it just makes you think you’re better), but none of the articles I’ve read clarify this point. Here’s a pretty good discussion noting that if anything cocaine may actually impair performance.

Cyclelicious: Huge Dahon folding bike recall, with REI in the middle. Dahon make popular folding bikes — if you own one, be sure to have the recall done. Handlebar hinges are at potential fault and you don’t want to mess with steerage, especially on a foldie. (Handlebars are by design on the short and narrow end, and steerage is quicker than a typical bike.)

It’s still early in the Giro d’Italia, but Lance’s moment of truth has already arrived in today’s tough stage. Full results not yet posted, but he’s out of the Top 10 in general classification. Which is all OK. As we’ve been saying, the Giro and the Tour this year are kind of a big publicity tour for both Lance and the races, aimed at regenerating interest in the sport that waned after countless drug scandals. And so far, Lance is doing great at PR, with daily coverage in The New York Times and even network TV interest. Follow the Giro on Cycling News, which so far is beating the venerable Velo News at Giro coverage.