Recognizing Bicycle Friendly Washington

By Robin Armstrong | Published October 29, 2014
Bicyclists on University of Washington campus. Photo: University of Washington

Bicyclists on University of Washington campus. Photo: University of Washington

As Washington continues to lead the nation as the #1 Bicycle Friendly State in the US, the League of American Bicyclists has announced that the University of Washington is being upgraded from Silver level Bicycle-Friendly University to Gold.

The Leauge examines 5 different categories to determine where communities, states, businesses, and universities stand: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation.

UW efforts to promote cycling on campus include self-service bicycle repair stations, a multitude of bike parking spaces throughout campus including bike rooms, lockers, and houses, and access to showers and clothes lockers for bicycle commuters.

In honor of this designation League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke will present the Gold award to UW Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Charles Kennedy Thursday, Oct. 30, in Architecture Hall on the UW campus at 7:00pm. The event kicks off UW’s annual November “Ride in the Rain” bike commute challenge. The event is free and open to the public.

Every year the League of American Bicyclists recognizes states, communities, businesses, and universities through its Bicycle Friendly America program

Every year the League of American Bicyclists recognizes states, communities, businesses, and universities through its Bicycle Friendly America program

A panel of speakers will discuss the role of universities as in the creation of bicycle friendly communities: Seattle Department of Transportation Director Scott Kubly, Cascade Bicycle Club Executive Director Elizabeth Kiker, and Nancy Rottle from the Green Futures Research and Design Lab.

Not only has UW been recognized by the League but four Washington Businesses are being recognized as Bicycle Friendly.

Bicycle Friendly Businesses — New in 2014

Bronze Level

Silver Level

Bicycle Friendly Universities

Gold

Honorable Mention

Congratulations to these universities and businesses for contributing to our ever-growing bicycle friendly state!

For a complete list of Bike Friendly communities, businesses, and universities around the state head to our Bicycle Friendly Washington page. Past recipients update their information on a three-year cycle; Bicycle Friendly Community and State rankings are announced each spring.

 

 

Posted in News | Comments Off on Recognizing Bicycle Friendly Washington

13 Reasons Bicycles Are Perfect for the Zombie Apocalypse

By Barb Chamberlain | Published October 25, 2014
Bicycle Girl from Walking Dead

Walking Dead character known as Bicycle Girl because Rick Grimes grabs a bike for his getaway from her.

Just in time for Halloween, your list of 13 reasons bicycles make the perfect vehicle for the zombie apocalypse.

  1. In every disaster movie ever made, everyone fleeing the city in a vehicle ends up in a huge, hopeless traffic jam, AKA zombie smorgasbord.
  2. Bikes let you dodge around not only that big traffic jam but all the other debris left by the looters.
  3. By the time you realize things are getting serious, your neighbors have taken all the gas and diesel and you can’t refill your car’s tank.
  4. Zombies are drawn to noise, and bicycles make for much quieter travel than the internal combustion engine. (Sorry, electric vehicle owners, but the grid is going to let you down about the same time people realize the petroleum fuel distribution system isn’t ever going to work again either.)

    Bicycle with extreme modifications for getaway from the zombie apocalypse

    OK, the mods are maybe a bit over the top on this one…. They’ve sacrificed mobility.

  5. Bikes will retain their value as an item of barter in the post-apocalyptic economy.
  6. You can carry more on a bike than you can if you’re walking/running.
  7. Bicycles are the most calorie-efficient form of transportation. When you’re scavenging for food and eating cold canned beans every calorie you find has to go a long way.
  8. See them coming! No constraints on your field of vision caused by the vehicle’s body.
  9. When you need to stop for the night you can climb a tree and pull the bicycle up with you or bring it into the building you’re barricading yourself into. Either way, you have a vehicle you can hide from passing zombies.

    Meanwhile, costumed bike rides let you add one more factor to consider: What if it's true that you never really forget how to ride a bike and the zombies come after you on two wheels?

    Meanwhile, costumed bike rides let you add one more factor to consider: What if it’s true that you never really forget how to ride a bike and the zombies come after you on two wheels?

  10. You’re not limited to roads for your travel — you have a wider range of escape routes from which to choose.
  11. Mechanically a bike is pretty straightforward and you can learn to repair it yourself and keep it running.
  12. If your plan is to hunker down and shelter in place for a while and you own lots of bikes, bike frames make good bars for the windows.
  13. In a really tight spot, you can keep the bicycle between yourself and the zombie as a barricade. Use it to push your attacker away and buy time while you draw your sword.

With all this in mind, maybe your next bike purchase should be one with the attributes you’ll need for a quick getaway:

  • mobility
  • durability
  • hauling capacity
  • sturdy tires
  • quiet mechanics — ditch those spoke cards and buzzing freewheels
  • standard tire size so you can find parts
  • heads-up posture so you can see the zombies coming and fire your crossbow

In case you think we’re the only ones who think about this, there’s this Zombie Apocalyplse Getaway Pinterest board and this exhaustive comparison of all types of vehicles and their plusses/minuses for use in the zombie apocalypse.
[Tweet “Reason #1 bikes great for zombie apocalypse escape: Fast escape from traffic jam.”]
[Tweet “Reason #5 bikes good for zombie apocalypse: barter value.”]
[Tweet “13 reasons bikes great for zombie apocalypse. Most apply right now too.”]

And check out our Halloween Bikes playlist on YouTube:

PS: Did you happen to notice how many of these are advantages for everyday life even before the zombies get here?

 

Posted in Adventure, Bike Culture, Gear/Maintenance, News | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

#Coffeeneuring: It’s on a Roll in Washington State

By Barb Chamberlain | Published October 20, 2014

The perfect bike challenge for Washington state? Coffeeneuring, of course!

Simple concept: Ride your bike to 7 stops over 7 weekends, documenting the trips. If you’re not a coffee drinker, go for tea, hot chocolate, cider — anything in keeping with the spirit of taking a bike ride to a local venue and hanging out a while.

We kicked it off a couple of weeks ago and it’s rolling right along. Participants bike, sip, and tweet/blog/tell the world they’re doing it with the #coffeeneuring hashtag.

Read on for your chance to win, a list of the blog posts to date, and the Twitter action in the #1 Bicycle Friendly State in America.

Share Your Posts and Pictures and Be Entered to Win!

Writing your rides? Send your blog post our way to Louise-at-WAbikes.org. Don’t wait until the end to send it to us. We’ll share posts along the way to inspire others. We’d love to have a map, too, if you’ve put together a nice route someone else might enjoy.

Everyone who submits a blog post or Instagram picture to us will be entered into our prize drawing to win one of several oh-so-appropriate WA Bikes coffee mugs. Tag your photos with #coffeeneuring #WAbikes.

Please select a valid form

Blog Posts

Twitter Round-up


 

 

Posted in Bike Culture, Encouragement, Events, News | 2 Comments

Submit Proposals for the 2015 Youth Bike Summit in Seattle, WA

By Seth Schromen-Wawrin | Published October 15, 2014

The 2015 Youth Bike Summit is being held in Seattle and organizers are now accepting proposals for workshops and presentation.  This is an opportunity to showcase all the amazing work happening in Washington, and to demonstrate why Washington truly is the #1 Bike Friendly State.

The Youth Bike Summit is a three-day conference geared toward youth, bikes, educations, advocacy, and leadership.  It will be hosted for the first time ever on the west coast from February 13-15 at Bike Works in Southeast Seattle .  The mission of Youth Bike is to transform local communities and strengthen the national movement by empowering bicycle leaders.

Do you have something to present or know someone who should present? “Innovation” is this year’s theme for the Summit, and we know there is lots of that here. It could be a workshop on how to start a mountain biking club, students telling about how they got involved with local planning, a showcase of fashion for youth who like to ride, an epic tale of some Girl Scout’s week long bicycle tour, youth helping youth start their school’s first bike to school day, or anything. You can see last year’s program here.

Go here to submit a proposal. They are accepting workshops and presentations until Friday, October 31.  The formats can consist of:

  • Hands-on workshops
  • Panel presentation
  • Small group discussion
  • Project showcase/exhibition
  • Academic paper/case study
  • Multimedia screening

This is a great opportunity to inspire the next generation of riders and recognize the impressive work your local community is doing. Spread the word and submit your proposals!

Posted in Education, Encouragement, Events, News, Seattle | Comments Off on Submit Proposals for the 2015 Youth Bike Summit in Seattle, WA

Signs of Bike Tourism in Eastern Washington

By Guest Blogger | Published October 10, 2014

Today’s post is written by our friends at Path Less Pedaled. Since 2009, Russ Roca and Laura Crawford have explored bike travel through an advocacy lens, learning about and championing the many ways in which cycling can positively impact small communities.  Currently based in Portland, Oregon, Russ and Laura are working with tourism organizations across the US to market and promote bike tourism initiatives. Learn more at: www.pathlesspedaled.com.

Sharing beers with bike advocates in Wenatchee.

As part of our recent Bike Tourism Road Trip, we crossed the border from Oregon into Washington, to see what bike tourism looks like in our neighbor to the North.

We spotted bike corrals in Leavenworth, shared beers with bike advocates in Wenatchee, and rode a stretch of the John Wayne Trail near Ellensburg.  We popped into Allegro Cycling in Walla Walla as a couple from Seattle picked up rental bikes, and we counted dozens of day riders along the Yakima River Valley.  Everywhere we went, we counted cars with bikes strapped on the back – including a few who stayed at the same motels as us.

In short, all throughout our time in Eastern Washington, we saw signs of bike.  If you’re like us, and you’re on the hunt for evidence that people on bikes are welcome, you’d see a lot of proof that Eastern Washington is a great bike tourism destination.  The trick is that, as a visitor, you have to be willing to hunt.

Everyone we talked to in Eastern Washington told us about great local rides – and then admitted that you had to know the area to know that they existed.  Which highlighted a large (albeit easily remedied) gulf between the people who want to ride their bikes and the routes waiting to be ridden.

Which isn’t to say that we didn’t find good local rides.  When we stopped in the ReCycle Shop in Ellensburg and asked for a ride suggestion, an employee pulled out a file of cue sheets and picked one that fit the length we wanted, telling us a little about what we would see along the way, where we should be extra careful, and how we could modify the route.  Win!

As we traveled, we asked folks what “bike tourism” means to them and their community – and the predominant response was that it created a reason for people to visit and stay a little longer. When bikey people see signs of bike in the places they visit (or read route suggestions online when they’re planning a trip), it’s a visual handshake that tells them that they (and their bikes) are welcome (and are welcome to stay and play).

In Wenatchee, when we checked into our motel, I asked the owner what we should do in town.  She replied that she noticed the bikes on our car, and did we know that there’s a great bike path along the river?  She even pointed it out on a map.  Win!  Imagine if she also knew the best way to wear out your climbing legs on Badger Mountain, or how to connect the back roads on a long spin through the Valley?  When front line staff understand the role bikes play in their local tourism economy, and encourage and support it through simple actions like offering tips about where to ride, they make it more likely that people with bikes will have a good experience, return for another trip, and tell their friends.

Exploring the John Wayne Trail near Ellensburg.

Exploring the John Wayne Trail near Ellensburg.

Each community that we visited offered distinct rides that fit with their identity – wine country loops in Walla Walla, the John Wayne Trail in Ellensburg, the Fruit Loop in Wenatchee.  These are the backbones of bike tourism.  All it takes to make that leap from small-town-with-great-hidden-rides to successful-bike-tourism-destination is to bring together all the local players and start trumpeting out the availability of these rides.

Want More News About Bike Travel in Washington State? Sign up for our e-news!

First
Last

Posted in Advocacy, Guest Blogger, Rural, Tourism, Travel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Bainbridge Island Shoulder Improvements Benefit Bicyclists

By Guest Blogger | Published October 9, 2014

Don Willott is a member and past president of City of Bainbridge Island’s Non-motorized Transportation Advisory Committee. He is also vice president of the North Kitsap Trails Association and chair of its Sound to Olympics Trail Committee. He provides us with this post.

IMG_6688 - Version 2 SR 305 Shoulder Improvement- Don WillottIf you ride a bike on Bainbridge Island, you are undoubtedly familiar with the pinch point in the first mile of SR 305 north of the Washington State Ferries terminal. This transportation project is improving the location along the highway north of Vineyard Lane with the addition of a full shoulder, and improves the “pork chop” island at the entrance to Vineyard Lane to allow full shoulder. Paving was done on Thursday, October 2nd, shown in these photos. A section of guard rail and construction of the pork chop island are being installed next.

The project was fully funded by City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) City Council as part of the City’s Capitol Improvement Plan. Removing this hazard area has been a high priority for a number of community groups, including the COBI Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Committee, Squeaky Wheels, Go Bainbridge, and the North Kitsap Trails Association.

The project complements the Sound to Olympics Trail/ SR 305 Corridor Improvement Project Phase II, which is in design now for the section between Winslow Way and High School Road. A portion of STO between Winslow Way and Vineyard Lane will be constructed in 2015. The “Phase II” grant for the STO is funded by a Transportation Alternatives Program competitive grant awarded to COBI by Puget Sound Regional Council, with match by the City.

Posted in Advocacy, Guest Blogger, Infrastructure, Kitsap County | Tagged | 3 Comments

Help Spokane be healthy: Volunteer Opportunities Available: Oct. 20th – Nov. 20th

By Kate Johnston | Published October 8, 2014

Are you recently retired or just love to walk in the neighborhood in the morning? Do you live in/ around Spokane? We’d love to have you join the fun with the Walking School Bus. The Walking School Bus is up and running and we’re looking for volunteers who like taking walks /bike rides in the morning.

We are currently looking for volunteers to walk 5-10 students less than one mile on the weekday mornings between October 20th – November 21st, 2014  weather permitting. Volunteers often commit to just one day per week. We’ll work with your schedule.

Please contact Kate if you can help us make this community healthier by walking to school with enthusiastic students in Spokane!

Kate@wabikes.org

509.280.5762

Posted in News | Comments Off on Help Spokane be healthy: Volunteer Opportunities Available: Oct. 20th – Nov. 20th

League Cycling Instructor Training in Spokane

By Seth Schromen-Wawrin | Published October 7, 2014
Practicing land positioning at the LCI seminar in Spokane

Finding a good distance from the door zone.

One weekend in the late summer, a group of people gathered in Spokane to talk about how to ride a bike. For some groups, that could be quick chat or an hour of practice. For this group, it was three long summer days. They wanted to know the nuances of how you really ride a bike, how you interact on a road with other vehicles, how you practice handling skills, and how you keep yourself safe. They were not learning for themselves, they were learning to be able to to teach bike riding skills to others. This was a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) training, a class to prepare bike educators in how to teach bicycle safety skills to all ages.

Washington Bikes worked with the League of American Bicyclists to organize the seminar, training 9 community members. We felt there was a lack of LCIs in the Spokane area and wanted to build local capacity to support bicycle advocacy. Prior to this seminar, there were only 4 active LCIs east of the Cascades. Participants came from Spokane, Colville, Richland, Seattle, and Montana. Now there are 10 who will be able to support their local communities.

The focus of the course was to learn how to teach bike safety skills – to understand the ins and outs of traffic rules, the mechanics behind balance, the misconceptions, the common fears, and ways to communicate this material clearly and concisely. How do you demonstrate skills clearly? How do you manage a class on the open road? What is effective language to communicate physical actions? The prospective LCIs had to polish their own skills as well as practice how to communicate, demonstrate, and teach handling skills to others.

People getting decked out with lights and reflective clothing to look at visibility at night.

Getting dressed to look at visibility at night. 

The content was not limited to how to handle a bicycle. At one point, late in the evening, the group donned all the lights and reflective material they had to test the visibility of the gear. The group rode out blinking in every color from all over, looking like a scene from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Other bike riders and cars slowed and stared. Is that some UFO or people having a weirdly good time?

LCIs are valuable community assets, nationally recognized as experts in bicycle safety. Their primary role is to provide classes and education to an area in bicycle safety skills. If someone is interested in starting to ride a bike for the first time in years or an experienced bike riders, taking part in a safety course is educational. Courses help you improve your bike handling skills,  teach ways to make yourself more visible and safer while riding, and practices ways to avoid an emergency.

Additionally, LCIs may take on activities like advocating to transportation and city officials for safer bike infrastructure, advising programs in developing education or encouragement campaigns, or helping community groups organize a bike event. They are people dedicated to bikes as transportation and working to improve biking for everyone.

You can see all the LCIs in Washington here. Look up if there is an LCI in your community and connect with them. Together we can grow bicycling in Washington.

Group photo of the LCI Seminar in Spokane

Group photo of the LCI Seminar in Spokane

Posted in Education, Events, News, Safety, Spokane County | Comments Off on League Cycling Instructor Training in Spokane

Coffeeneuring: A Bike Challenge Everyone Can Love

By Barb Chamberlain | Published October 1, 2014

Latte art: bicycleBike challenges abound for a reason: There’s something about matching yourself against other riders or the clock or the calendar that gets people rolling. If you’ve been logging your miles in the National Bike Challenge that just wrapped up yesterday and are already missing that extra inspiration, have no fear — coffeeneuring is here just in time!

The brain child of Joe Platzner (@thatsrando on Twitter), a former board member of both Washington Bikes and Cascade Bicycle Club and a Seattle International Randonneurs member, coffeeneuring provides a caffeinated excuse for leisurely bike rides. Seven coffee shops in seven weekends — nothing to it, right? That’s why this is the challenge for everyone.

A randonneuring bike blogger from the other Washington, Mary Gersemalina at Chasing Mailboxes, put together the rules and launched the Coffeeneuring Challenge in 2011. Now in its fourth year, it seems tailormade for the bike-riding coffee lovers (coffee-drinking bike lovers?) of our Washington.

We’ll give you something to get started: Sign up for our e-news below and we’ll send you 7 “I arrived by bike” business cards you can leave at those coffee shops or anywhere else. (Supply limited so sign up now.)

[Tweet “I’m going #coffeeneuring & you should too.”]

BikesMeanBusiness_backlogo7

The other side of the card features a short message about the economic benefits of biking customers. For example, “10 bicycling customers can fit into 1 car parking spot.”

The cards, developed by Cascade Bicycle Club and sporting our logo and theirs, provide a brief message illustrating why bikes mean business and help inspire business owners to be bike-friendly. If you don’t want to wait for the mail and you’re in the Seattle area, stop by our Pioneer Square bike gift shop/offices at 314 1st Ave. South, sign up for our e-news, and we’ll give them to you on the spot.

Mary’s offering a coffeeneuring patch at her cost ($4) to those who successfully complete the challenge; request those directly from her following the instructions below (also on her 2014 Coffeeneuring Challenge post).

Coffeeneuring Rules

The rules, repeated here from Chasing Mailboxes for your convenience and with a couple of notes for our Washington twist:

  1. Ride your bike to 7 different local coffee shops from Saturday October 4 through Sunday, November 16. Any place that sells coffee qualifies as a coffee shop.
  2. You may also coffeeneur to a Coffee Shop Without Walls. A Coffee Shop Without Walls is a place you ride to where you then proceed to make and/or drink coffee. The Coffee Shop Without Walls is geared toward the bike overnight or bike camping participant. It also captures farmers’ markets, festivals, and the like.
  3. Only Saturday and Sunday rides qualify. Weekday rides are ineligible, unless one of the following applies to you:  a. You have a job that does not have a Monday through Friday tour of duty. In that case, your days off are considered your weekend; or b. You are retired, in which case you may choose any two days to complete your coffeeneuring outings. No other exceptions, unless you can make a convincing case for one to Mary.
  4. Only 1 coffee shop per day counts and a maximum of two rides per weekend. If you visit 7 coffee shops in one day, you may choose only one as a qualifying ride.
  5. Jot down a summary of your experience that includes: 1. where you went (address and website, if possible), 2. the date you went there, 3.  what you drank 4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, including your assessment of the “bike friendliness” of the locale; and 5. total mileage. Also, if you find any “must visit” coffee shops or tea places please share that as well.
  6. Take a photo during your outing, and submit it as verification.
    • WA Bikes note: Don’t wait until the end to share pictures with us — tag with #WAbikes #coffeeneuring on Instagram.
  7. Hot chocolate qualifies, as do tea beverages. Apple cider is also a coffeeneuring-approved beverage. Note: Drinks do not have to be hot! They just have to be coffeeneuring-ish type drinks.
  8. You may not combine your coffeeneuring ride with any other ride such as an organized century, populaire, or brevet. You may, however, combine your coffeeneuring ride with a grocery run, ride to the gym, an informal ride with your friends, or other transportation/utility-oriented ride. (If you do an organized ride, you may do another, separate coffeeneuring ride on the same day, e.g., a pre- or post-event ride to get a latte either before or after your organized ride.)
  9. Your ride must be at least two miles total, but there is no maximum so yes, you could ride 100 miles (or more!) for a cup of coffee.
    • WA Bikes note: Setting off on a fall bike tour inspired by Cycling Sojourner Washington? Remember to check out the Coupon Companion for coffee shop deals, including stops like Cinnamon Twisp Bakery or Caffe La Boheme on Lopez Island.
  10. There are no geographic limitations to the Coffeeneuring Challenge, except that your coffeeneuring must occur on planet Earth.
  11. You have to go to 7 different locales, although you may ride to multiple locations of a chain, if necessary. For the Coffee Shop Without Walls, you must prepare and/or drink your coffee in different places. That means seven different campsites/locales.
  12. Deadline for submitting Coffeeneuring Challenge entries is whenever the clock strikes midnight in your area on November 24, 2014.
  13. Send submissions to Mary: gersemalina-at-gmail.com. They may be in the form of links to blog writeups, screenshots of or links to your coffeeneuring Tweets, on-line photo galleries with accompanying narrative, Word documents with attached or embedded photos, or e-mail writeups and submissions with photos attached.
  14. Provide all qualifying rides at the same time. That is, send all 7 together, NOT ride 1, ride 2, etc.
    • WA Bikes note: Send it our way to Louise-at-WAbikes.org. Don’t wait until the end to send it to us. Write a post on your first weekend or your halfway point or some other memorable point and we’ll share some posts along the way to inspire others. We’d love to have a map, too, if you’ve put together a nice route someone else might enjoy.
  15. Prizes! You are eligible for a small prize from Chasing Mailboxes for finishing the challenge. Because of the increased interest in coffeeneuring, the premium will cost $4, which covers Mary’s costs. To purchase your prize, you may PayPal her at the gmail address above, or send your money by snail mail like Grandma used to do. Email Mary for her address.
    • WA Bikes note: Everyone who submits a blog post or Instagram picture to us will be entered into our prize drawing to win one of several oh-so-appropriate WA Bikes coffee mugs.
  16. Tara Rule: During Columbus Day weekend (October 11-13), you have three days to accomplish two qualifying coffeeneuring rides. (This is the Tara Rule.) Update! Residents of Canada may use Canadian Thanksgiving in place of Columbus Day.
  17. Vacation Rule: This rule has been updated! If you are on vacation during the coffeeneuring challenge, you may coffeeneur any two days of the week for the weeks you are on vacation.
  18. Veterans Day Rule: You may coffeeneur on November 11, Veterans Day, INSTEAD of the previous Saturday or Sunday (November 8 and 9). Veterans are permitted to coffeeneur on November 11 in ADDITION to November 8 and 9, in recognition of their service.
  19. Buying Beans Rule: You may use ONE of your seven coffeeneuring trips to purchase beans (or tea) from your local roaster or tea emporium for future consumption.
Cards with statistics about the value of biking customers that you can leave at businesses you patronize by bike are available from Cascade Bicycle Club or WA Bikes. Spread the word: Bikes mean business!

Cards with statistics about the value of biking customers that you can leave at businesses you patronize by bike are available from Cascade Bicycle Club or WA Bikes. Spread the word: Bikes mean business!

[Tweet “#Coffeeneuring=great excuse for a bike ride. Join us.”]

Coffeeneuring on Social Media

  • Twitter hashtag: #coffeeneuring
  • Flickr Coffeeneuring group
  • Coffeeneurs group on Facebook
  • Blogging: Mary will do periodic roundups of blog posts about coffeeneuring at Chasing Mailboxes. We’ll do that for Washington bike blogs here so send us your link via email, Twitter, or a comment here.
  • Instagram: Tag your photos #WAbikes #coffeeneuring and they’ll show up on our Instagram page
  • YouTube: If you really get into this and make a video of your expeditions, let us know and we’ll favorite it on our YouTube channel

Coffee Shops, Get Involved!

If you own a great destination for the coffeeneuring crowd and want to invite biking customers to your front door, sign up on the form below and tell us why you’re a great bike destination, along with any special offer you want us to highlight. We’ll include you in our social media and e-mails to people who sign up for the challenge so they can go hunt down your two-wheel deal.

Related Reading

Sign Up to Get Awesome “Bikes Mean Business” Cards

Please select a valid form

 

 

Posted in Bike Culture, Encouragement, Events, News | 4 Comments

Biking at Mount Rainier

By Louise McGrody | Published September 26, 2014
Hey, that's us!

Hey, that’s us!

Cycling the roads in Mount Rainier National Park has grown in popularity, but riding these roads in the summer during the height of tourist season is not always pleasant.  I prefer to tackle the park’s Sunrise Road early in the season, catching a narrow window of opportunity when the road has been cleared of snow but not yet open to motor vehicle traffic.

Fall is also a good time to bicycle in the park. Visitor attendance has dropped and drive-in campgrounds close by early October. The park recommends the following roads for bike riding:

White River and Sunrise Roads: I saw many cyclists riding this route last weekend when I was up there for a hike. It’s 16 miles one-way, twisting and climbing 3000 feet to Sunrise and an in-your-face view of the mountain. There is again a narrow window of opportunity to experience this route car-free when the Park Service closes it to motorized vehicles in mid to late October prior to the winter snows. Keep in mind that road maintenance may require the closure to bikes and walkers as well, so check ahead. You can read my spring ride description for more info.

Westside Road: Near the Nisqually entrance to the park, this 13-mile (one way) gravel route is open to motor vehicles for the first three miles, then becomes a hiking and mountain biking route to Klapatche Point. This road is sometimes closed due to rockfalls and washouts. Visit Rainier provides a ride description of Westside Road.

Carbon River Road: Due to recurring washouts, this gravel road is open to bikers and hikers only beyond the park entrance. The route is approximately 5 miles long and ends at Ipsut Creek campsite, making it a nice choice for a short bikepacking trip, or a bike-and-hike adventure. Visit Rainier has a Carbon River bike-and-hike post.

Remember, bikes are not allowed on any trails in Mount Rainier National Park. Check ahead before you go to make sure your planned destination is open, and be prepared for changing mountain weather conditions.

Resources:
Mount Rainier National Park
Visit Rainier

Related Reading:

Car-Free in the North Cascades: Washington’s Mountainside Ciclovia
Bike It: USBR 10
Gravel Grinding the Stillaguamish Valley
Bikepacking the John Wayne Trail

Want More News About Bike Travel in Washington State? Sign up for our e-news!

First
Last

 

 

Posted in Adventure, Rides, Tourism, Travel | Tagged | 2 Comments