Welcome New Sponsor and Supporter!

Please welcome our newest Valued Sponsor: Olympia Power & Light bi-weekly local newspaper. Find them at many area businesses, or subscribe at: http://www.olympiapowerandlight.com/
OP&L will be helping us spread the word about the BCC!

Also please welcome our newest Supporter: Warehouse Rock Gym http://www.warehouserockgym.com/
They are giving us Monthly Passes to award as prizes!

BCC Registration Opens in One Week!

Mark your calendar, Registration for Bicycle Commuter Contest 2011 begins on Friday, April 1!

Starting April 1, you can register in person at the Olympia Transit Center (OTC), 222 N. State Ave, or:

• download a printable PDF of the registration form, fill it out and mail it in with your payment or drop it off at OTC.
• find a registration form in the back of the BCC Guide, available at bike shops, coops, Thriftway stores and many local businesses. Fill it out and mail it in with your payment or drop it off at OTC.

Registration is $5.00 for adults, free for ages up to 18. The Bicycle Commuter contest is open to all who live or work in Thurston County, and is for anyone who rides their bicycle for transportation- to work, school, on errands or just to get around. Sorry recreational and training miles don't count. We have exciting new sponsors this year, and more and better prizes, including several bicycles that will be awarded in random drawings among participants. There will also be random drawings for prizes throughout May, so everyone has a chance to win!

Bike of The Week- March 11

It's been a challenging couple of weeks for the brave bicycle commuters and practical cyclists of Thurston County, with snow, ice, torrential rain and wind ushering in March like a roaring lion!

 I've seen quite a few bikers on the road through all of it though, and there have been a few breaks in the weather as a reward. Spring is coming soon- the equinox is less than two weeks away, and registration for the Bicycle Commuter Contest begins in less than a month! Ride on!

Welcome New Sponsor and New Supporter

We extend a warm welcome to Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. as the newest Sponsor of the Bicycle Commuter Contest! They will be supporting us at the Wrencher's Ball with coffee for the volunteers, and offering a coupon to all participants in the BCC! Welcome aboard Olympia Coffee Roasting!

Also please welcome Sustainable South Sound as our newest Supporter- they will be donating four of their poular and highly valuable coupon books for us to give away as prizes to BCC participants.

Seattle Bike Expo, March 12 &13

Check it out here! There will be so much to see and do; if you're in Seattle, swing by!

Food for thought

Seen from the saddle, all pictures taken within 1/2 hour and 1/2 mile of each other.

Intrepid Winter Commuter

Rain nor sleet nor snow nor ice...

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!