Worthwhile new website to check out...

Bike To Work website

Vulnerable User bill passes State Senate

See the Cascade Bicycle Club's article here

Interesting video...

Moving Beyond the Automobile video series

Youth taking bike culture to the streets of Africa

Check out Wafalme's "Me and My Bike" video on You Tube.

Friday Morning Commuter-Count

It was a chilly but beautiful ride in today- the mountain was blazing out from under the clouds, and I saw three snowflakes float by just as I was passing Ralph's Thriftway. The bike-commuter count was a little low this morning- I only saw five other bikers, and one mallard duck waddling beside the road near a rainwater pond. Happy Friday!

Bike of the Week

This is actually a rather historical bicycle- it is one of the bikes that helped popularize the 10-speed "racing" style bike in the US, fueling the bike boom of the late 1960's and early1970's. Schwinn introduced several features aimed at making this style of bike more appealing to the masses, including stem-mounted shifters and so-called "safety levers", the brake lever extensions that allowed braking from the top of the handlebar. This is a Super Sport model that was made from Chrome Moly tubes and came with alloy rims, stem and handlebars. A lightweight, at about 32 lbs.! This specimen seemed remarkably well-preserved for being over 40 years old- I hope the owner appreciates the historical importance of her/his bike!

New Washington State Bike Commute Guide is Online

Thanks to Larry Leveen of OlyBikes, a host of other bike commuting luminaries and the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, the new Washington State Bicycle Commuting Guide is now available online in PDF form. There are both large and small versions to accomodate your needs and computer and connectivity cababilities. You can see them here:

Small Version (PDF)

Large, Print-Ready Version (35mb PDF)

Lots of other great info and links are on the DOT's bike pages as well, start here:

WSDOT Bicycling Home Page

2011 BCC Rider Profile #1: Scott Pearson

Bicycle Commuter Profile Scott Pearson:

• What is your age?  50
• What is your occupation?  Research Scientist at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
• How many years have you been commuting by bike?   Daily for the past five years.  Before that, I walked and biked.
• How many times have you participated in the Bicycle Commuter Contest?  Around 3 times
• How did you hear about the BCC?  From fellow employees at WDFW.
  

Friday Morning Commuter-Count: 12!

My commute is about 5 miles through a cross section of Olympia from West to East, going right through downtown. This morning was cloudy and just above freezing. During my half-hour commute at around 8am, I saw 12 other people using their bikes for transportation. That's even more than last week- keep it up Olympia!

Welcome Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care as BCC's newest sponsor!

Alaffia Fair Trade and Sustainable Skin Care will be offering a discount coupon for their online store to all of this year's BCC participants who return their mileage logs. Check out the Alaffia Website to find out more about their products and philosophy. Welcome aboard Alaffia!

Bills of Interest to Cyclists

Here are some links to information about cycling-related bills working their way through the process in the Washington State Legislature...

HB 1339 ("Vulnerable User" bill)
HB1071 (relating to roadway design)
HB 1129 (relating to driver education)
HB 1018 (driver-bicyclist mutual responsibilities)

HB 1129 passes in House of Representatives

See the link below for details on what this bill does:
http://www.bicyclealliance.org/programs/legislation.html

Bike of the Week

Just keeping my eyes open on the way to work this morning,
I counted nine other bike commuters as I pedaled through town
on a chilly February morning. I like it!

Seen From The Saddle- Feb 2, 2011

• Took the sceninc route home last night and was rewarded with this nice view. I do actually pull over and stop to take these...
• Last night's Capital Bicycling Club meeting was fun, seeing a video about the English frame builder Jack Taylor, and some very classy old bikes. Aslo confirmed CBC's sponsorship of the Bicycle Commuter Contest for 2011- thanks!
• Coming: 2 new Commuter Profiles in the works and later, a how-to video on loading your bike on the bus.

CBC's Classic Bike Show tonight



...at the Capitol Museum coach house, 7:30pm- see post below or click on title of this post for details...



A cool video about taking your bike on the bus...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoFFg0W9UME

A Typical Parisian Utility Bike, c.1970 (Bike of the Week- Jan. 28)

    So simple and elegant- how much more does one really need?
    Have a good weekend!

Fun upcoming events to brighten your cycling winter

• Capital Bicycling Club's Classic Bike Show: Wed. Feb. 2, 7:30 pm Capital Museum Coach House 211 21st Avenue Southwest, Olympia See the CBC web site for details about this event and all the other great stuff your local bicycling club is up to: http://capitalbicycleclub.org/
• Seattle Bike Swap: Sun. Feb 13, 9am-2pm Seattle Center Exhibition Hall 225 Mercer St. Seattle- see the Cascade Bike Club's website for details: http://shop.cascade.org/content/events/seattle-bike-swap
• Seattle Bicycle Expo: Saturday, March 12, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.and Sunday, March 13, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Smith Cove Cruise Terminal 91, near the Magnolia Bridge in Seattle. Info: http://cascade.org/EandR/expo/index.cfm

Have fun- maybe I'll see you there!

A Visible Biker on a Foggy Morning Commute...

Actually a pretty pleasant ride in today- the fog seems to muffle sound a bit like snow, so it seemed quiet, at least until we got closer into town and joined the flow of car commuters. It was definitely a day for yellow jackets and bright, fully charged blinky lights though- visibility was down to about 50 yards in some places.

Welcome To Our Fresh, New Look!

Our new blog layout is designed to be easier to read and navigate. Hope you like it! I'll be updating some of the other features on the blog in the next few days as well- stay tuned and happy cycling- the weather looks good the next few days- just watch out for ice if you ride in the early morning.