SeattleLikesBikes discusses how to fight the good fight on road diets.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coaliton asks, How much is doubling the number of bike lane miles worth to you?

Velotopia reports first-person from the RSVP.

Congrats to Rick Vosper, one of our favorite bloggers at Bike 2.0, who has taken over as director at Airborne Bicycles. We expect to be hearing more — a lot more — from Airborne, whom we lost track of as an affordable ti hardtail builder back in what, the ’90s? Best news is, Rick will continue with his blog.

As we suggested before Sound Transit light rail got going last year, bicycle use would far outstrip predictions. Now ST has decided to add 173 bike lockers and 25 racks over the next two years to accommodate demand.

At the recent Bike to Work Day rally in front of City Hall, Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen was a featured speaker on the joys of cycling in Seattle.

Rasmussen, who serves on the Council’s bicycle caucus, is a bike commuter and known as a cycling supporter. Who better to rally the troops on the biggest bike day of the year than the chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee?

So why, then, did Rasmussen subsequently show up in a Seattle Times article complaining of “indigestion” over a proposed “road diet” for Nickerson? Why did he suggest he might support waiting till 2016, which seems like a long way off for a modest and affordable project?

Why oppose a road diet at all, when a just-released SeattleStoneWayTrafficComparison indicates that a similar project on Stone Way N., another crucial bike-commuter route, showed fewer accidents, more bike trips, and traffic volumes comparable to pre-diet levels? (Translation: no discernible negative impacts on commerce.)

Why, in short, was a cycling proponent taking such an anti-cycling position?

Interpreting Rasmussen’s position requires a bit of decoding. What he told Publicola is that he has heard from both Democratic and Republican 36th district representatives on the Nickerson proposal. Ordinarily that might mean a broad-based bipartisan position, but in this case it simply refers to business interests which still harbor 20th Century misconceptions that bike and pedestrian improvements get in the way of commerce.

The constituency Rasmussen did not mention having heard from was the bike community. In Nickerson, cyclists have a golden opportunity to make their case for improved cycling access and safety — something they talk about all the time. But they had yet to make an impression on Rasmussen.

Tom Rasmussen (far right) at Bike to Work Day rally: Does the City Council have McGinn envy?

Most notable in this regard is Richard Conlin, who came from a strong sustainability background, was the city’s biggest bike-boosting official before McGinn, and still promotes green, progressive policies like making Seattle the nation’s first Gross National Happiness city. As his Seattle.gov Web site puts it, “My goal as a Councilmember is to work with you and for you to strengthen neighborhoods, foster economic recovery from the current crisis, and make Seattle a leader in sustainability by envisioning, creating, and implementing new and innovative solutions.”

After playing a prominent role in last year’s Bike to Work Day, Conlin was noticeably missing this year — vacationing in Greece. Given his quarreling with the mayor over the Deep Bore Tunnel, though, it’s probably just as well he was out of town.

Longtime supporters of Conlin and Seattle’s sustainability community are scratching their heads at the standoff between the Council president and the mayor. One problem is that Conlin has not chosen — yet, anyway — to reconcile apparent inconsistencies between his long-held philosophies — “making Seattle a more sustainable city, reducing waste, strengthening neighborhoods, improving pedestrian mobility and transportation infrastructure, and making government more transparent,” as his Web page puts it — and his recently adopted positions.

Rasmussen as well traced his concerns to the viaduct. As he told Publicola, he’s concerned that vehicular traffic will face a hard time of it during the viaduct replacement if Nickerson has to “diet.”

For cyclists, the complex nature of City Hall politicking presents both challenges and opportunities.

With thousands of cyclists commuting on its streets every day, and a No. 4 ranking among the most bike-friendly cities in the nation, Seattle is a recognized cycling hotbed. Besides McGinn, Rasmussen and Conlin, numerous other elected officials support bike agendas. Perhaps the cycling community, then, can be forgiven for assuming its leaders will automatically embrace bike initiatives. In this light, Rasmussen’s stance can be viewed as testing the mettle of the cycling lobby.

To its credit, Cascade Bicycle Club, the nation’s largest, is rolling into action. In response to Rasmussen’s equivocation, club advocacy director David Hiller posted a piece on the Cascade site’s blog that skillfully deconstructs erroneous claims opposing the road diet. Cascade has suggested cyclists send “Tums to Tom” to settle his stomach.

The blog SeattleLikesBikes and supporters have launched Google and Facebook groups as well as a Twitter feed in support of the Nickerson plan.

To fully persuade Rasmussen, though, cyclists will need to get their voices heard in less receptive quarters, including the constituencies that Rasmussen said were making him ill.

Seattle is facing a wrenching transition from expensive, conventional car-dominated agendas to new, localized, sustainable, “green” and forward-looking policies. It’s a battle between Fading Seattle and Emerging Seattle — Old Seattle vs. New Seattle.

The former jumps into action any time a cycling initiative threatens to impact truck and commercial traffic — Ballard’s “Missing Link,” Stone Way’s bike lanes, the Nickerson road diet. It doesn’t matter that bike and pedestrian improvements (they typically go hand in glove) consistently improve commerce in communities where they’re adopted by putting more people and patrons on the streets. Nor does it seem to make a difference that small businesses, especially the growing numbers of eco-friendly ones, actually support biking and walking and understand the need for people-first policies. Any time street uses other than cars and trucks are on the agenda, the old guard is going to oppose them.

Representing New Seattle are groups like SCALLOPS — Sustainable Communities All Over Puget Sound — Feet First, Cascade (the nation’s largest bike club), People for Puget Sound, Seattle Transition, the People’s Waterfront Coalition and the newly formed Streets for All Seattle, which signed up more than 50 supporters to help back the mayor’s Walk Bike Ride campaign (BikeIntelligencer is one).

The results of last November’s election, which swept into office streets-friendly candidates from Obama on down to Seattle municipal races, were a clear sign of Seattle’s changing politics — and New Seattle’s growing influence. But Old Seattle, which still has financial clout and the Old Boys Network on its side, is not going to roll over and die.

Cyclists are a key part of New Seattle. To follow through on the agenda they used to get candidates elected, they will have to work the community councils, precinct monthlies and civic and business groups like Chambers of Commerce and Rotaries.

Cascade’s recently formed Bike Business Forum is a step in this direction; the club also is helping generate turnout for a review of the project at Rasmussen’s committee on June 8.

It will take time and elbow grease — and maybe a few bouts of indigestion — to move Seattle from old to new.

But to make their tummies feel better, cyclists only have to use their heads and feet.

More links:

Seattle Times: Road diet gives Rasmussen indigestion.

Seattle Transit Blog: Stone Way Road Diet Improved Safety, City says.

Publicola: Cascade says send Tums to Tom.

Cascade Bicycle Club’s David Hiller: Here we go again.

SeattleLikesBikes: Support the Road Diet!

Paris bike plan moving forward.

San Francisco bike plan may move forward.

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.

Meanwhile, EcoVelo mulls the iPad’s use as a mobile blogging device.

Cyclists win one for a change!

And lose some as per usual.

And here’s a new wrinkle on Rider Down. Say you’re just riding along and a car comes at you but somehow fails to hit you. You might think, hey, it’s my lucky day! But wait … there’s always the passenger-leaning-out-the-window-to-push-you-over maneuver to worry about.

Yet another update on mountain biking in Marin, this time focusing on the Novato mtboomlet…see comments for the predictable NorCal perspective.

Gratifying news on the mountain biking in national parks front. IMBA re-ups amid good vibes.

The Bike Library is back up and rolling!

On designing “bicycle cities” …

BikingBis: Bicycle Sundays return May 2 to Seattle’s Lake Washington Boulevard.

SF Streetsblog continues to document the SFPD’s brutal and insensitive treatment of cyclists.

SeattleLikesBikes: C’mon out to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board meeting on Wednesday.

Of all the varied and clever April Fool’s Day cycling spoofs, Cascade Bicycle Club’s “Drive to Work Day” was our favorite.

The state of mountain biking in north central Washington. More on this later, but a good overview for starters.

IMBA’s cheap accident insurance to members seems like a good deal, but YMMV depending on what your plan comprises already. Check it out via Adventure Advocates.

Among all the many helpful responses in this Yahoo! forum regarding what to do about a cat peeing on your mountain biking shoes, not one of the many helpful respondents suggested the obvious: Trade in the cat for a dog.

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.

Rider Down: We don’t know Wes Castro but this shouldn’t have to happen to anyone.

Sanyo’s new “Loop Charge” e-bikes are on the way.

Kim Baenisch, executive director of Marin County Bicycle Coalition, is interviewed by the Marin Independent Journal. “It is endlessly rewarding to know that my work is positively impacting the lives of Marin’s residents and visitors through the creation or improvement of bicycle and pedestrian facilities like the Cal Park Hill Tunnel, bike lanes on local streets, bike parking in downtown areas and the 70-mile multiuse path that will accompany the SMART train.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUhrfbaNYBI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

BikeHugger is covering the Spring Olympics by bike and may, just may, be the culprit behind balmy weather suited more to wheels than blades and boards.

E-bike sales: Growing but still tiny, tiny when compared with regular bikes, or e-bike sales in other countries: 300k expected in 2010, double 2009. But total in U.S. is just 500k.

Idaho’s mountain biking license plate moves forward.

Brian Lopes is selling his pimped out Sportsmobile for a mere $67,000…the good news being you can claim it as a second home mortgage deduction. Assuming you have another home. And it’s worth more than $67,000.

Despite all the rain, things are cookin‘ in Aptos!

SeattleLikesBikes: Issues with counting bike commuters.

Good LA Times story on bike thievery. It’s every bit as ugly as we assume.

Psst. Hey. You and I could sell our homes and buy an entire town up by Whistler in B.C. Mountain biking all summer long. Skiing all winter long. You don’t get to see another soul, but hey. You’re getting away from it all!

3-feet-please? How about FIVE. More on Iowa’s Bicycle Bill of Rights.

And while you’re at it, the Ghost Bikes Film Project is a worthwhile cause as well.

BikeJuju photo contest winners. Amazing, amazing shots.

BikePure: Trying to reboot a soiled sport.

SeattleLikesBikes: Making cyclists 2nd class citizens.

EcoVelo: A cafe in Oakland that thinks bike riders are sexier.

If you’ve ridden a mountain bike, chances are you’ve been shot…with a camera or camcorder. Not shot this way, and hopefully never this way.

Mercury News: A kid named Blake Sessions is doing custom chainrings for fixies. That’s right, his name is Sessions … really. Gotta get him on a mountain bike!

Once again, they’re talking about a mountain bike park at Stevens Pass in the coming year. Let’s hope it’s for real in 2010!

Six Six One is looking for a blowout year in 2010 and they’ve got the reviews to prove it. On MTBR.com, Brian Mullin (Pastajet) deconstructs the x4 series of “soft” armor (we call ‘em pads). And I Hate Bikes (but LOVE body armor) takes a look at Six Six One body suit and upper body armor.

Now the eagle-eyed among you faithful readers will undoubtedly ask, “Why does Bike Intelligencer insist on Six Six One when the other reviewers call the company 661?” Good question. The reason is that the company refers to itself as Six Six One. Its Website is SixSixOne.com. It never uses the numbers. There are undoubtedly a host of reasons why, but for accuracy’s sake it’s Six Six One, dudes and dudettes.

As bold as Pastajet looks in body armor, I wish this mountain biker had modeled for his post.

More holiday warm & mushies: Bixby, OK church gives 160 bikes to kids. And in Worcester MA 500 bikes are given away in below freezing weather.

IMBA posts 10 Things IMBA did for Mountain Biking in 2009. Only 10? I can think of triple that off the top of my head. But the biggies are covered here.

The SacBee updates the age-old saga of trail conflicts. I wrote this story for The Seattle Times’ Sunday magazine Pacific a decade and a half ago. And so it goes…

Charges finally filed in the Lonesome Death of Bicycle Bob. RIP and Merry Christmas Bob wherever you are.

Over at SeattleLikesBikes, Michael Snyder has posted a nice synopsis on what we can do to help McGinn build on his final surge. Here’s the pitch — please give it some thought and do what you can!

To our Fellow Bikers,

Together, we can change this city and make Seattle the best place to bike in America.