Bike Intelligencer » seattle bicycle master plan

News Cycle: Pedaling faster all the time

BikeIntelligencer staff — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:25:44 +0000

If you ask the Forest Service, or most any public agency, why they cannot build more mountain biking trails, they will say it is a budgetary matter. Yet time and again, agencies are willing to spend taxpayer money to destroy trails. Not only that — in this case, they went so far as to cut down healthy trees to block an unauthorized trail. This kind of mentality is counter-productive on so many fronts, as we’ve discussed.

Washington Post discovers the joys of Seattle’s Colonnade Mountain Bike Skills Park, where they built trails under a freeway.

Colonnade run / Photo courtesy the MudBlog

Publicola tackles the logistical challenges of Sound Transit’s bike accommodations.

We’ve said it before and, regrettably, will say it again: If you have to go, mountain biking is the best exit you can pick.

Former president Bush ran the country into the ground and for all his considerable authority did nothing for the sport of mountain biking, but we cannot quarrel with anyone being out on the trails.

A while back we interviewed the legendary Joe Breeze. EcoVelo talked to Joe as well, with a very different and enjoyable take.

Many thanks to Mark Davidson and the great folks at Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz for the new trail head sign at Wilder Ranch State Park, one of Santa Cruz’s prime singletrack retreats.

We were on the road and missed the Tour de Fat rolling through Seattle. Fortunately, BikeJuju was on the case.

Cascade Bicycle Club has issued its endorsements for Seattle’s Aug. 17 primary. It hardly seems possible, thinking back a year ago, that Cascade failed to endorse bike commuter and club supporter Mike McGinn — but hey, it all worked out.

Belated congratulations to Jonathan Maus and BikePortland.org on its fifth anniversary. Note comments queue.

Lance Armstrong is bringing stage racing back to Colorado (remember the Red Zinger Classic? The Coors Classic?) next year with the Quiznos Pro Challenge. Cycling Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, he of broken ribs fame, is 100 percent behind the idea.

Fresh off the best Tour de France showing by a Canadian in more than two decades, Ryder Hesjedal is a rock star in Canada! Everyone’s saying so.

Thoughtful piece from Michael Snyder at SeattleLikesBikes on Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan. The city already is moving past the plan in many ways, and to the extent that it provides a blueprint for progress, it needs updating.

Video: Seattle’s First Buffered Bike Lanes

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:01:49 +0000

In accordance with Seattle’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans as well as the Bridging the Gap levy, the city’s first buffered bike lanes have been installed east and west along N. 130th Street between Linden and Greenwood (the Bitter Lake area). The concept is a “complete street” where walkers and cyclists feel as equally welcome as drivers. The striped buffers provide enough separation, especially on hills where cars go measurably faster than bikes, to enable all parties to focus on the traffic ahead rather than alongside them. And on 130th, as you’ll see, the lanes also allow for dodging car doors potentially being opened by parked drivers on the right.

We took the bike lanes for a video test ride.

News Cycle: All that’s fit to bike

BikeIntelligencer staff — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:01:10 +0000

Seattle cycling’s diversity explored.

Cyclelicious intriguingly analyzes “The Invisible Gorilla” vis-a-vis cycling on city streets … or as we’ve referred to it, trying to “become uninvisible.”

Pursuant to the large terrestrial beast theme, a bicycle that unless ridden safely can kill an elephant!

“Road dieting” does pay off, according to new Seattle Department of Transportation study.

But bike facilities “need to be more than lines on a map,” notes SeattleLikesBikes.

New York Times article on helmets has sparked a return of the Frequently Argued Waste of My Precious Time thread on Ecovelo.

News Cycle: Justice for cyclist killed by texting driver, Helmets and youth, Bike light prompts evacuation & more

Paul Andrews, BI editor — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:26:40 +0000

Justice Rising: Guy gets 5-year sentence for killing a cyclist while texting.

Does requiring helmets reduce cycling among youth?

Bicycle light leads to evacuation of downtown homes and businesses in Arcata. What were they smoking???

Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan is lagging.

Let’s see now. 19.7 percent of city’s population rides bikes. Cars banned from driving 1 day a week. Yet in Beijing, officials want to do more to encourage cycling.

Same goes for San Francisco, where a long-standing court injunction against the S.F. Bicycle Plan is easing even as ridership jumped 8.5 percent last year and 53 percent since 2006. SF.Streetsblog has the full rundown.

Buzz continues to grow for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show starting Feb. 26.

iPhone apps keep getting better all the time. Here’s Cyclemeter 2.0. (Hat tip to Eric Stobin.)

BikeHugger: Providing peace of mind on the bike commute home thru Google Latitude.