Wow. We all know the bike biz is hurting but an 8-year low in imports? No wonder there’s so little new stuff coming out. I asked a local shop if they were going to be doing any demo days and the wrench said, “Not much to demo — nobody’s coming out with anything new.” Guess it’s still hunker-down time.

SeattleLikesBikes wonders where bikes will get routed during construction of the Alaskan Way viaduct south end replacement project.

For the simple reason that you have a lot farther to fall, you stand a much bigger chance of getting injured riding a bike.

The Northwest Trail Alliance and Oregon State Parks are teaming up to put in new mountain biking singletrack west of Portland. Three point five miles ain’t much, but it’s a start.

Twisted Spoke assesses Lance’s Radio Shack commercial.

Good lord, they’re already back to racing again in Port Angeles — this weekend, bro!

What a senseless waste of human endeavor. Man throws bicycle though big-screen TV. There are so many other ways to destroy a TV that do not include risking misalignment of a perfectly good bike frame, to say nothing of scratching the finish.

More photos, these from a security cam, of the missing Brit mountain biker in Virginia.

Some observations: No helmet, let alone a full-face job, and clothing not indicative of being off on a big ride. Also, it’s tough to tell from the lo-res but although he’s ID’d as an experienced mountain biker, it’s unclear whether this particular bike is the one he takes on the trails. (If so, it doesn’t appear to be an aggro trail bike that would suggest rad or dangerous riding.)

It might help for a local bike blogger to look into this a bit; describing the kid’s bike as having a red stripe down the middle of the seat ain’t a lot to go on.

All indications from this evidence suggest that whatever caused him to disappear was not bike-related. Nonetheless a real shame, and mystery, that we hope gets resolved soon.

The strange — and getting stranger every day — case of the missing mountain biker.

For once, a photo of a hill that isn’t steeper than it looks. 33 percent is a nasty grade. One foot up for every three feet forward. Think of the steepest hill you’ve ever ridden. Go look up its grade. It’s probably in the high teens, maybe low 20s. Typically you only find 33 percent on short bits, like a steep switchback or brief riser.

The bicycle man in Afghanistan: “I started fixing bicycles to feed my family.”

The marvelous Alan Durning has started a series on e-bikes called “Juice Hawgs.” It’s running on Sightline’s Web site.

Praise for Portland’s mountain-biking Sandy Ridge.

Seattle’s budget woes may put the knife to much-needed bicycle and pedestrian improvements.