No really. It's true. According to the League of American Bikes (via the Cascade Bicycle Alliance in our case), Washington is the most bicycle friendly state in the union. According to the LAB, "Washington’s model bike laws, signed and mapped statewide bike route network, dedicated funding from the state for bicycle related programs and projects, and an active statewide bicycle advisory committee" are reasons that the state earned top honors above Wisconsin, Arizona, Oregon (numbers......

Yesterday morning we were biking up to Volunteer Park on sunny 14th Avenue when we saw what seemed like the aftermath of a huge accident: three tow trucks busy with cars, a motorcycle cop, cops in new, unmarked muscle cars, cops in new, marked muscle cars. A little farther down the street, we ran across a Cascade Bicycle Club tent, and our foggy memory kicked in. Ah, Car Free Day. Each block of 14th had......

Not to belabor this story, but we think the issue of the rights of bicycle riders to the road is an important one. We ride on the city streets every day and, though some commenters on our post about changes we'd like to see made to Critical Mass in Seattle think that every driver goes out of his or her way to be respectful to us, we know it's not true. Seattle still has a......

The other day we asked if there was anything special you could do to set off the arrow for turn-only lanes if you're on a bike. And yes, there is. (See also comment #9 by eldan.) But that still leaves the question of what you do when you can't trip the signal no matter what. How do you get out of that spot legally without being run over by impatient motorists lining up behind you?......

It wasn't until a good friend of ours quit smoking and decided to get healthy that we ever heard of the Seattle to Portland ride. A grueling-sounding (though apparently not in reality) 204-mile bike ride between Seattle and Portland, the STP takes place this year Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13. (The hard-core riders apparently do it in one day; most do it in two.) Despite our until-recent ignorance of the event, apparently like......

A few years ago Mayor Nickels had an idea to make himself a hero among Seattle's driving masses: he would build us a tunnel. Then we thought about it and replied, are you out of your mind? Mayor Nickels response--You don't want my tunnel, fine, I'm gonna give bicyclists $240 million dollars. Have fun watching them zoom through red lights while you stew in traffic, ride defiantly just far enough out in the street to......

You be the judge. This Saturday, two wheel-obsessed events face off at Magnuson Park. In one corner we have the Northwest Film Forum's Bike-In, an outdoor event with music, bike-related demonstrations, beer garden, raffle, and screenings of bike-themed films on a large outdoor screen. The event is co-sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club. In the other corner, we have the ball-bearing-busting Rat City Rollergirls. Bout 5 of Season 2 features, well, do we really have......

Earth Day may be bullshit, but Group Health's Bike Commute Challenge has got some brains behind it. They've realized that asking people to do something good for themselves and/or the environment for just one measly day doesn't do much for either party involved. Participants don't get a longer-term perspective on how their activity of choice might be enjoyable and make them feel better, and one day does not a better environment make, in truth. Dear......

Perhaps you've grown tired of merely ogling the road bikers on Lake Washington Blvd, or you have pangs of guilt each time you open the shed to get the lawn mower and see that fancy mountain bike you bought and rode only once last year. Seattlest understands--we still have that combo elliptical-stepper/smoothie machine lurking under our bed. Nonetheless, if you’'re considering riding more seriously, whether on asphalt or in the dirt, you'll benefit from......