Third Bridge Will Close Chehalis Western Trail Gap

New bike and pedestrian bridge under construction

New bike and pedestrian bridge under construction

A new bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Pacific Avenue in Olympia will complete the Bridging the Gap project for Thurston County’s popular Chehalis Western Trail.

Lacey resident and Washington Bikes board member Bob Duffy reports:

After many years of planning, funding, designing and environmental & community review, the Chehalis Western Trail, a major bicycle/pedestrian trail in Thurston County, will receive a new bicycle/pedestrian bridge across Pacific Avenue in the City of Olympia.

The Pacific Avenue crossing will close the last gap in the trail and greatly benefit all trail users. Bridges have been previously constructed over the other two trail gaps – Interstate 5 and Martin Way.

This project was lead by Thurston County. Construction is currently underway on the $4.7 million project and completion is slated in fall of 2014. The new bridge will make it a breeze to spin over and past the previously confusing and potentially more dangerous surface street trail alignment. 

The 22-mile Chehalis Western Trail travels north-south through the heart of Thurston County. It connects to the Woodland Greenway Trail and the Yelm-Tenino Trail, and serves as the centerpiece of the county’s regional trail system. Check the county website to learn more about Thurston County Trails.

Posted in Accessibility, Infrastructure, Thurston County, Trails | Comments Off on Third Bridge Will Close Chehalis Western Trail Gap

Get Outdoors Expo Celebrates Washington’s Great Outdoors

Tianna made our day with her future plans to ride everywhere.

Tianna made our day with her future plans to ride everywhere.

The young girl all in blue rotated our rack of bike maps, pulling one from each slot. Kitsap-Skagit-Pierce County-Walla Walla-Yakima — round and round it went.

“I’m taking one of each because someday I’m going to ride all these places,” she announced firmly.

That’s just what we like to hear! Especially at the first Get Outdoors Day in the state capital, held Saturday, June 14, on National Get Outdoors Day. Booths lined the edges of a green space where kids played and learned (without realizing it). Bands played. People on bikes stopped by to talk about their favorite trails, where they’d like to see more, and where they hoped to ride in the future.

volunteer Mark Jessel poses for a picture with the George Washington "I cannot tell a lie" prop.

Volunteer Mark Jessel poses for a picture with the George Washington “I cannot tell a lie” prop.

While the skies threatened at times and the wind caught canopies and banners more than once, the sun shone enough to tempt people down to check out the displays. Volunteer Mark Jessel helped field questions, offer advice, and invite people to sign up for our e-news to learn what’s happening for better bicycling.

Remarks from Washington State Parks Foundation executive director John Floberg, and from Don Hoch, State Parks director, emphasized both the incredible assets Washington has in its parks and the severe threat they face due to steep cuts in state funding for this legacy for generations to come.


Washington Gov. Jay Inslee closed out the event by telling all the attendees that Washington has the most beautiful lakes, rivers, beaches, mountains, and parks in the world — and reminding us all that we need to invest if we hope to maintain their quality for generations to come. He told stories about biking to various state parks such as Palouse Falls and marveling at the diversity of scenery and recreational opportunities Washingtonians enjoy.

“Washington’s great outdoors is important for our kids, for our health, and for our economy,” he declared, noting the significant economic impact and the 227,000 Washington jobs in the outdoor economy.

Jobs in outdoor recreation number more than aerospace and IT combined, distributed across the state from outfitters and guides in rural areas to major retailers like REI to manufacturers like Outdoor Research (Outdoor Industry Association research on the outdoor economy in Washington).

 

Gov. Jay Inslee shakes hands with the young outdoor adventurers preparing for their campout at the capitol.

Gov. Jay Inslee shakes hands with the young outdoor adventurers preparing for their campout at the capitol.

Gov. Inslee shook hands with the boys and girls waiting for their Capitol Campout: 24 kids in bright green shirts, outfitted for camping thanks to donations from Coleman, preparing to sleep out on the lawn at the governor’s mansion.

When he stopped by our booth he said he loved our logo and wants one of our jerseys, so of course we had to get a picture.

Of COURSE Washington has the best biking--we're the #1 Bicycle-Friendly State in the country.

Of COURSE Washington has the best biking–we’re the #1 Bicycle-Friendly State in the country.

Share your ideas about the future of parks and outdoor recreation in Washington via the online townhall being conducted as part of the Governor’s Task Force on Parks and Outdoor Recreation. Search previously posted questions to see other people’s answers and add your thoughts, and sign up to receive notice of new questions via email. The task force wraps up our work by mid-September with recommendations to the governor.

Related Reading

 

 

Posted in Adventure, Advocacy, Economic Impact, Events, News, Olympia | Comments Off on Get Outdoors Expo Celebrates Washington’s Great Outdoors

#wabikes on Instagram

A picture is worth a thousand words, and we are using images on Instagram to tell stories about bicycling in the Evergreen State. Follow us @wabikes.

We showed how signage can help bicyclists get around, educate motorists, and serve as indicators that bikes belong.

We shared a cool rainy day photo.

And we showed how beautiful biking the Columbia River Gorge can be in the spring.

Now it’s your turn. Help us tell the story of bicycling in Washington. If you’re on Instagram, follow us @wabikes and tag your photos #wabikes. Show us your favorite bike ride. Give us a glimpse of your bike commute. Introduce us to your local bike club or bike hero. Take us for a ride on a local trail. Tell us what biking is like in your Washington community.

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Car-Free Mount Rainier: Now’s the Time!

Car-free Mount Rainier

Were you envious when you read Josh Cohen’s account of his car-free ride on the North Cascades Highway? You don’t have to wait until next spring to enjoy a mountainside ciclovia. The opportunity exists now for an equally epic and beautiful cycling experience: car-free Mount Rainier National Park!

Winter is releasing its grip on this stunning mountain park land in Washington’s central Cascades and it’s possible to drive into many parts of it—with a key exception. Sunrise.

At an elevation of 6400 feet, Sunrise is the highest point attainable by vehicle in Mount Rainier. Its flowery meadows, hiking trails, and in-your-face view of the Mountain make it the second most visited location in the park. It is also one of the last areas in the park to open to vehicle traffic—typically late June to early July.

This later opening presents the opportunistic bicyclist (me!) with a chance to experience an epic road climb into Mount Rainier car-free. A quick weather check assured us that morning clouds were burning off and giving way to sunshine (I’m doing this ride for the car-free experience AND the views), so Steve and I load our bikes into the truck and head for the Mountain.

Visitors access Sunrise from Highway 410 and the White River entrance into the park. It will cost you and your companions $15 to enter Mount Rainier with a vehicle. If you choose to park your vehicle outside of the park and bike in, it’s $5 per cyclist. On this trip, we opted to use our Interagency Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass, so we entered with our vehicle and parked next to the Ranger station.

Hey, that's us!

Hey, that’s us!

The Road Status page on Mount Rainier’s website told me that Sunrise Road was still closed to vehicles but states:

For safety reasons, bicycling and hiking on the road prior to its opening to vehicles is allowed only when the road crew is not working on the road. Please check the signs on the gate before heading up the road.

When I asked the ranger at the gate about the road status, he confirmed that the road crew had just finished for the day and it was ok to ride the road. You can call ahead for this information, but park staff don’t always know when the road crew will call it a day. Past experience (this is my sixth car-free journey up to Sunrise) tells me that weekends and later in the day are your best shots.

White River Road is open to vehicles up to the campground, but we encountered very little traffic on this Sunday afternoon. I was immediately enchanted by the sight of waterfalls and lush old growth forest. As we crossed Fryingpan Creek, we glimpsed our first view of Mount Rainier. The views would only get better.

Around 4 miles into the ride, we reached the gated entrance to Sunrise Road. The sign on the gate welcomed bicyclists, hikers and skiers. Hey, that’s us! So onward we pedaled.

Sunrise Road is a classic national park road: narrow, winding, steep, scenic—and congested with vehicle traffic in the summer season. Not so on this quiet Sunday afternoon, as we pedal this open road at our leisure. We pause frequently to catch our breaths and take in the views of the White River valley below us and the snow-capped peaks rising above the valley floor. A symphony of birds perform all around us: the drumming of nearby grouse and the haunting flutelike melody of the varied thrush to name a couple. We fill our lungs with fresh mountain air. Today Mount Rainier is OUR national park!

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Fourteen miles, 3000′ of climbing, and two-plus hours later (I’m a slow climber), we reach 6400′ Sunrise and the end of the road plowing. The parking lot is still buried in snow, but I can see the top of the day lodge and visitor center. We admire the Mountain, eat a quick snack, down some more water, snap a few photos, don our jackets and gloves, test our brakes, and begin the descent.

We made it!

We made it!

???????????????????????????????The ride down is swift by comparison, but we must be vigilant—not for vehicles but for hairpin turns, rock and snow slides, loose gravel, and spots of uneven pavement. We stop several times on the descent to give our hands and shoulders a rest from frequent braking, but we are soon back at the truck loading our bikes in the truck and dreaming about our next National Park ciclovia!

Tips for Your Trip:

  • You are visiting a mountain, so be prepared. Bring extra clothes for layering against the elements, food and water to keep yourself fueled and hydrated, and basic bike repair kit for an emergency repair. If the weather turns foul, consider turning around yourself. You can climb this road another day.
  • Know before you go. Consult Mount Rainier’s website for information about road status and current conditions. You can also call the park at 360.569.2211. The National Weather Service – Seattle office provides a mountains forecast page that can be helpful.
  • Parking outside the park? There’s a parking area at the base of Crystal Mountain Road, which is about 5 miles north of White River Road and will give you some extra bike miles.

Share your favorite bike ride with us!

Write Your Ride!

Try to keep the route description between 1000-1500 words. Link to websites or other interesting webpages by including the web addresses in brackets next to the word(s) they should be linked to in the post.
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Posted in Adventure, Rides, Tourism, Travel | 5 Comments

Snohomish Bikes: Nakashima Farm Ride – Pedaling Through History on the Centennial Trail

Nakashima Farm

Nakashima Farm History Quilt. Photo courtesy of Teresa Stern.

Snohomish County Bikes: an ongoing series highlighting great Snohomish County bike rides. Share your own great ride with us here!

Location: Snohomish County [Trail Map]
Distance: 15.5 miles
Best for: beginners, families
Highlights: Car free, flat, good scenery, restaurants, cafes

With 12 trailheads across its 30-mile span, the Centennial Trail can be broken into a nearly endless number of rides for beginners to experts alike. One of the most scenic is the short stretch from downtown Arlington to the northern terminus of the trail at the old Nakashima Farm site. And at just 15.5 miles roundtrip on a flat, car-free multi-use path, the ride is truly accessible for anyone, families with children included.

Centennial Trail crosses the Stillaguamish

Centennial Trail crosses the Stillaguamish. Photo courtesy of Debora Nelson

Shortly after leaving downtown Arlington, the trail crosses over the Stillaguamish River where its North and South Forks converge. The river valley affords views of the western edge of the rugged, snow-capped North Cascades. This bridge over the river is arguably the prettiest section of the entire trail. It is the sort of scenery that helps define western Washington (and inspires jealousy in friends and family who live elsewhere and must live vicariously through photos).

Immediately north of the bridge, the Centennial Trail intersects with the Whitehorse Trail, a 27-mile rail corridor owned by Snohomish County Parks. The western segment that abuts the Centennial Trail is best suited for hikers, horses, and really fat mountain bike tires (note: seven miles of the Whitehorse Trail’s eastern section is very bikeable in Darrington). In response to the SR 530 tragedy in Oso, Washington Bikes is working with partners including Snohomish County Parks and leaders in Arlington and Darrington to coordinate and acquire funding to develop the entire 27-mile corridor to spur bike travel and tourism and connect the Stillaguamish Valley to a growing trail network across the Puget Sound.

Centennial Trail and Whitehorse Trail

A large sculpture marks the intersection of the Whitehorse and Centennial trails. Photo courtesy of Debora Nelson

Continuing north, the trail passes through a mix of farmland and forest. Perhaps its because I grew up in farm-heavy central Pennsylvania and have fond memories of riding country roads with my parents, but there’s a special place in my heart for rides that pass through farmland. Wafts of manure aside, barns and pastures and horses and cows are great scenery.

The trail ends 7.8 miles from Arlington at the site of the historical Nakashima Farm. The Nakashima Family bought the dairy farm in 1937 having worked on it for nearly 30 years prior. During World War II, the Japanese-American Nakashima’s were forced into internment camps and sold off the farm in 1942. It was the first and, to-date, only dairy farm in Snohomish County owned by Asian Americans. Today, the historic red barn still stands at the trailhead park (which, for the record has bathrooms) and a “History Quilt” with photos of the land in its various uses through the years from forest to mill site to farm.

From there, it’s just a matter of turning around and heading back the way you came to Arlington.

History Un-Cut: Nakashima Farm with Henry Egashira from Centennial Trail on Vimeo.

Josh Cohen is a freelance writer, editor of The Bicycle Story and a contributing author to the newly released Cycling Sojourner: a Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Washington.

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Posted in Adventure, Arlington, Economic Impact, Family biking, Infrastructure, Issues & Advocacy, Snohomish County, Trails, Transportation, Travel | Comments Off on Snohomish Bikes: Nakashima Farm Ride – Pedaling Through History on the Centennial Trail

Finally, The Lands Council’s annual Brews Cruise is back on Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

A great way to celebrate summertime in Spokane is to join The Lands Council’s 4th annual Brews Cruise which takes place on Sunday, June 22nd, 2014. This is always a great event to get the summer started right in Spokane.

Join The Lands Council for an afternoon of bike riding and beer drinking!

Friends and volunteers for The Lands Council will be meeting and checking in at Ramblin’ Road Craft Brewery (730 N Columbus St). Then we will embark on a route to Perry Street Brewery where you will receive a dollar off your first brew. From there the group will continue to the Saranac Rooftop for their all-day Sunday Happy Hour, and afterwards return to Ramblin’ Road where there will be live music and $3 for your first beer!

*Food trucks will be at Ramblin’ Road and Perry Street Brewing.

Prices
Member: $20
Non-member: $25
Become a member AND join the Brews Cruise: $35

Price includes a Brews Cruise Bandana and discount drink tickets.

Buy your tickets at http://brewscruise2014.brownpapertickets.com/

Posted in News | Comments Off on Finally, The Lands Council’s annual Brews Cruise is back on Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

Adventure Awaits! National Get Outdoors Day June 14

Get outdoors by bike! Tacoma Five Mile Drive one of many great places and events in the #1 Bicycle Friendly State.

Get outdoors by bike! Tacoma Five Mile Drive one of many great places and events in the #1 Bicycle Friendly State.

Washington’s great outdoors offers great bicycling of all kinds — and hiking, fishing, camping, kayaking, climbing, skiing, boating . . . the list of outdoor opportunities seems endless.

Mayors and governors across the nation are recognizing the month of June as Great Outdoors Month, with several special events being held simultaneously on June 14, National Get Outdoors Day. The Get Outdoors – Adventure Awaits Expo will be held on the Capitol grounds in Olympia on Saturday, June 14.

The Washington State Parks Foundation has organized the inaugural Get Outdoors – Adventure Awaits Expo with onsite hikes, outdoor education booths, gear demos, games, food trucks, live music, and more! Governor Jay Inslee will speak on the Capitol steps at 3:30pm.

We’ll be there with a booth so stop by and say hi, pick up bike maps from around the state, buy a copy of our guide to multi-day bike tours in Washington state, and flag the places on the map you recommend we check out for future day trips, tour planning, and blog posts.

Guemes Channel Trail, Anacortes, WA. Picture by Anacortes Parks Foundation. Skagit County, WA.

Guemes Channel Trail in Anacortes: A beautiful, quiet ride by the water.

Other booths to check out: Our friends at Cascade Bicycle Club, the Governor’s Task Force on Parks and Outdoor Recreation, a long list of outdoor organizations from bike and gear shops to youth organizations, and partners such as Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Washington Wildlife Recreation Coalition.

Another Way to Celebrate the Day: Get Outdoors!

Tell us what you’ll be doing that day to enjoy Washington’s incredible scenery and fantastic bicycling. We’d love to put up a sign that says you’re with us in spirit and meanwhile you’re out riding — something along the lines of “Joe would be here but instead he’s randonneuring” or “Maria would be here but she’s taking her kids to the neighborhood park by bike” or “The Chen family would be here but they’re checking out the new section of the Spokane River Centennial Trail and looking at the falls.”

In other words, share your great excuse for missing the event.

A Starter Set of Ideas for Where to Ride — Tell Us Your Destination in the Comments

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Posted in Adventure, Events, News, Olympia, Travel | 2 Comments

Every Ride Begins with a Stroke of the Pedal

Earlier this month we celebrated the release of Cycling Sojourner Washington, our tour guidebook highlighting nine of the most gorgeous multi-day bike trips in Washington. The first such book in over a decade, it’s receiving rave reviews and being distributed internationally; royalties support our advocacy. (To get a copy if you don’t already have one, ask your local bookstore to carry it or shop online at WAbikes.org.)

Local leaders are telling us our bike travel initiative will bring new life to bicycling in all corners of the state, generating better bike paths and connections, community and business enthusiasm for bicycling, and economic development. When our towns become more bike-friendly to draw visitors, they’re more bike-friendly for the people who live and ride there every day!

Volunteer and Washington Bikes board member Marie Dymkoski understands this concept—bike travel brings prosperity and community investment in biking—very well. A long-time bicycle rider, she brings a steady hand and a fresh perspective to her job as Executive Director of the Pullman Chamber of Commerce. Marie sits on the Pullman city task force charged with increasing bike parking around town.

Marie and friends get ready for bike adventure

Marie and friends get ready for bike adventure

“As a lifetime rider, I noticed that it was more difficult to ride around the Pullman area when I first moved here 26 years ago, and my riding suffered because of it. The last couple of years, friends started riding the lovely Chipman Trail, but I wanted more. I noticed more and more people in the area were commuting and even using bicycles as their main mode of travel. I want to help educate motorists about bicycle travel and help keep our cyclists safe along with keeping their bike and belongings safe.”

For Marie, the impact of our work is essential for leading the state into greater bike-friendly territory. When WA Bikes came to Pullman in 2013 to meet with local advocates and leaders, she expressed her interest and support. Her service to the local community dovetailed with our statewide mission.

Marie and friend Heidi at STP 2013.

Marie and friend Heidi at STP 2013.

“I like to start small while always looking at the larger picture.  In my community, we start by talking and making incremental changes that in the end will lead to the broader, comprehensive vision of cyclists commuting regularly, bicycle tourism growing, and local businesses accepting and greeting people riding bikes with open arms.

“WSU and Pullman have been voted #1 in many surveys including Pullman’s ranking as best place in Washington to raise a family. I believe that it’s my opportunity to lead a group of like-minded individuals to educate the non-cyclist and help our community leaders understand the needs of the recreational and commuter bicyclists. By helping to spread the word and work to solve problems, we can continue to grow bicycling in Pullman and in Washington as a whole.”

Marie’s commitment to growing bicycle-related tourism, expanding bicycle parking, improving connections, and highlighting safe routes to pedal grows out of her lifetime love affair with the bicycle. Her volunteer engagement is her way of passing that joy of bicycling on to others and ensuring that local success contributes to the state’s biking assets. Marie is paying it forward locally with her hands-on involvement and across the state with her generous support of Washington Bikes.

For 27 years, Washington Bikes has built a reputation for leadership on a host of local and statewide initiatives. Our new work in bike travel and the support it’s drawing from unexpected corners of the state are helping us build on that track record. With your support, WA Bikes will:

  • Bring the benefits of bike travel to more communities across Washington;
  • Help towns understand how to invite and welcome people who bicycle (residents and visitors alike);
  • Create travel information by bicyclists, for bicyclists;
  • Tell business and community success stories to inspire others to become more bike-friendly;
  • Bottom line: WA Bikes will take those stories to the legislature to increase investments in better bike connections.

Our work is good for the health and happiness of people who bike, good for business, good for your hometown. That’s a winning message we can carry to the Legislature to work toward our policy goals.

With your help we can keep connecting with local leaders and advocates like Marie Dymkoski. Working with WA Bikes as her link to statewide bike advocacy, Marie and others can continue to build better bicycling at the local level while inspiring their counterparts across the state. And all of us will have the chance to ride safely across town and across our beautiful state.

Posted in Advocacy, Attitudes, Economic Impact, Funding/Policy, News, People, Safety, Tourism, Volunteer, Whitman County | Comments Off on Every Ride Begins with a Stroke of the Pedal

Results WSDOT: WSDOT’s New Strategic Plan

Recently, the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) new Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development, Amy Scarton, asked Washington Bikes to send out the following update on WSDOT’s strategic plan. Titled Results WSDOT, the new plan contains encouraging reforms and a new direction that is explicitly multimodal. We’re excited to partner with WSDOT on next steps to ensure that biking grows and is integrated across the many lines of business of our state’s department of transportation. -bt

Dear Washington Bikes:

WSDOT Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development, Amy Scarton

WSDOT Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development, Amy Scarton

I am pleased to share with you our new strategic plan: Results WSDOT – “Setting WSDOT’s Direction.” It is our strategy for moving Washington forward. Results WSDOT calls on the agency’s employees to continue to be innovative, efficient, effective, and trustworthy in serving the needs of our customers.

One of the first things you will notice about our new strategic plan is that we took a different approach to building our roadmap. What you won’t find are pages and pages of detail, bound up in a book that sits on a shelf and gathers dust. What you will find is the first step in creating an active plan that guides WSDOT on its journey forward.

Our six goals represent what WSDOT is striving to achieve, and the outcomes that will lead us to success: Strategic Investments, Modal Integration, Environmental Stewardship, Organizational Strength, Community Engagement and Smart Technology. WSDOT’s goals support our aspiration to continue to be the best at providing a sustainable and integrated multimodal transportation system for Washingtonians. These goals align with Governor Inslee’s priorities for the state and support WSDOT’s Reforms. Our next steps will include developing implementation plans. For example, as part of Strategic Investments, WSDOT will begin work to identify strategic corridors. We will define corridor criteria based on internal and external input.

Results WSDOT represents a shift in the way we do business. It pushes us to leverage our limited resources and to engage with communities and partners. These actions will help ensure Washington has the most efficient and integrated multimodal transportation system possible, and one that utilizes all of the available system capacities. This plan will evolve as we begin to implement our strategies, measure our performance and report on our actions and achievements. Progress toward reaching our goals will be reported in the agency’s quarterly performance report, the Gray Notebook.

I will continue to share information with you as we travel along this journey.

Sincerely,

Amy

Amy Scarton
Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development
Washington State Department of Transportation

Posted in Advocacy, Funding/Policy, Issues & Advocacy, News, Transportation, WSDOT | 1 Comment

League Certified Instructor Training in Spokane: Aug. 22-24, 2014

Last week teachers in Deer Park, WA take the pre-requisite to the League Certified Training being offered in Spokane on August, 22nd - 24th, 2014.

Last week teachers in Deer Park, WA take the pre-requisite to the League Certified Instructor Training Course being offered in Spokane on August 22 – 24, 2014.

The Spokane office of Washington Bikes invites qualified people in Eastern Washington to earn a National League Cycling Instructor Certification through the League of American Bicyclists. This training will be offered in downtown Spokane from August 22-August 24, 2014.

This training is specifically geared toward people who promote public safety and who are most likely to train others in bike/ped safety.

Find more information and register through the League. This “Train-the-trainer” instruction has a cost of $300/ person.

Posted in Education, News | Comments Off on League Certified Instructor Training in Spokane: Aug. 22-24, 2014