I confess, I do not follow the high end racers nor do I have any opinion really other than a generalized dismay over the question of drug use in cycling. But some of you do. Perhaps you might like to sign the petition to let Levi ride.I picked this up on Road Bike Rider.com.

I’m sure it is legitmate but I’m not sure how much good signing a petition does.–Corrie

Click if you’d like to sign a petition to allow Levi Leipheimer and Team Astana to compete in the 2008 Tour de France.

With my foot on the mend, I’m beginning to think ahead to rides. I did 10 on Saturda, 16, on Sunday and 21 miles on Tuesday. I’m not ready to try much distance yet or even any heavy climbing, but Linda’s Easy Does It Ride on Saturday morning 10 am at the Clarkston Corps parking lot might be just the thing. I’ll probably ride down, do the ride, and ride home. That might give me 30 miles. Look for us between Clarkston and Asotin.

Last Sunday the club ride was packed. It’s great to see so many people out, but when they turned toward Lindsay Creek, I had to beg off. I didn’t even know if I could ride Evan’s Road. Turns out I had no problem, but I’m still glad I didn’t try to do Lindsay Creek with the Crazies–no, no the ladies, the Death Valley crew playing chase.

I’ll show up again Sunday at 1pm even though it is Easter, right? I’m not Catholic enough to know for sure but there seem to be noises to that effect. We had a great “flat” ride last year on Easter so I’m hoping some of you will show up.

–Corrie

Something more for the ladies of the safety committee. Consider Portland’s 15 green Bike Boxes. They simply encode the correct behavior for both cyclists and cars. -Corrie

There is a lot of debate as to where a bicycle commuter should position themselves in relation to the road. New bike commuters, especially, are often intimidated by riding in the road and often choose something that isn’t necessarily the safest place. Here are the top two:

Read the rest of this story at Commute by Bike 

Now here’s a jacket for night rides. Probably not effective for general visibility though. –Corrie

From the web site swissmiss comes a tech hack that rocks. Behold, the signal jacket:

Read More 

While we all are dismayed at what drug-cheating has done to cycling and other sports, vigilance can go too far. Steve sends along this note:

Corrie, here’s an overly aggressive stance on drug testing.  I would have thought that an impossible position to reach, but bureaucrats found a way!

I wish all those wanting to police others could use sound judgement and good sense. –Steve

 http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/03/18/drug-war-goes-crazy-cyclist-forced-to-provide-sample-at-sons-c/

This is Belgian cyclist Kevin van Impe. His wife gave birth prematurely this year, and their son died hours after he was born.

Last week van Impe was at a crematorium, making arrangements for his son’s funeral, when a drug tester representing cycling’s governing body showed up. Van Impe asked whether the tester would be kind enough to give him some space during his grieving process, but the tester would have none of it, telling him it was provide a urine sample immediately or be banned from the sport for two years:

“He wouldn’t even come back later in the day. It was either do it right on the spot or it would be taken as if I had refused,” van Impe said.

This is language you should be familiar with. It just means that streets and roadways should be designed for all users, not just those running on dead dinosaurs.

On March 3, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced The Complete Streets Act of 2008, which would work to promote the design of streets that are safe for all of those using the street— including motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including people with disabilities. There’s not much detail on the Senator’s webpage, but this clearly indicates that the concept of Complete Streets is becoming widely known. Keep an eye on this one…

I admit I haven’t been cleaning my chain after every ride recently. Well, I wasn’t riding that much when it was cold. But the weather has improved and as my foot improves, I’ll be out almost everyday. For a long time I did a quick clean and lube after every ride. I found it easier to clean the chain rings if I didn’t let ‘em get too black. Now I’m using ProGold lube which seems to last longer. So after a couple of rides I’ll clean the chain.

David Fiedler provides a list of useful maintenance checks.

Simple Steps Add Up - Make Maintenance Convenient and Easy

Wet. That’s what a lot of my riding seems to be lately. Winter’s last gasp (hopefully) means the tail end of melting snow and but now we’re moving into early spring rain. And that translates into lots of crapola on the bike, from salt spray to road grime to just plain old water thrown up by my tires.

 Read More

Somebody in Portland really wants to encourage cyclists. Ever afraid to take the lane at a light? Portland’s creating bike boxes and paintin’ ‘em green. –Corrie

Portland’s ambitious campaign to improve bike safety at 14 intersections has finally begun.

Today, I watched City of Portland crews put down the first bit of green paint to mark a new colored bike lane and bike box on SE Hawthorne Blvd. and SE 7th. This intersection isn’t complete yet but the crew member I spoke with said they plan to finish it (and paint in the bike box) on Monday.

I watched several light cycles along with PDOT traffic safety guy Greg Raisman (who just happened to be there). Raisman and I were both pleased to see that even without the green paint in the bike box, most cars obeyed the “WAIT HERE” markings and stopped well before the stop bar.

Read the rest of the story and see more pictures. 

Give ‘em a bike and look what you get?

The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Women’s liberation through bicycling

Posted on March 6, 2008
Filed Under columns 2008, politics, columns, bikes

Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun

For many, the nineties were a time of political advancement and financial success. The economy was doing well, failed policies from previous administrations were being turned back, manufacturing was on the increase, and progress was the buzz-word in board rooms and parlors.

This national excitement had something, more than a little, to do with the fact that the 1890s were also the height of the bicycle boom in the United States. In 1897 alone, approximately three hundred manufacturers in the US sold more two million bicycles, doubling production from the previous year.

The bicycle had been invented only thirty years earlier, and the constant stream of improvements to its design was a celebrated sign of progress. The bicycle’s adoption by women of the era made the bicycle literally and metaphorically a vehicle of social change.

Read More 

Yes, its that time. Membership run from March 31st to March 31st. Quite a number of you renewed at the Spaghetti Feed on the 13th of March. But more did not. If you’d like to see when your renewal is due, visit the membership page.

You will also find a membership form in pdf.

We have lots of exciting things going on with National Bike Month coming in May. Check the calendar and the Safety Committee pages. And don’t miss the Crazy Ladies page. They’ve added a blog and soon will have pictures posted at Picassa.

-Corrie

Top of the Day to all you Irish out there. You win a prize: Gene’s list of cross-state tours for 2008. It’s worth another look if you like multi-events. –Corrie

10 amazing logos for across-state bicycle tours

by Gene Bisbee at 06:00AM (PDT) on March 16, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Border Raiders bike tour in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri

It has taken a while for me to find them, but the Biking Bis blog is listing 94 multi-day bicycle tours in 47 states for 2008. That’s 7 more states and 13 more tours than last year. You’ll find them at “2008 Across State Bicycle Tours.”

See more logos 

Don’t know how Lewiston compares, but the Bike Nazi brings his irascible tone to Boise Valley air quality. I’m worried about your health, Steve. –Corrie

Air Trouble!

Our local air deteriorated in a meaningful way last year.

Specifically, we had 120 “yellow-alert” days, 10 “orange-alert” days, and 1 “red-alert” day. A total of 131 bad-air days (36% of the total).

That compares with 77 in 2006, 58 in 2005, and 48 in 2004. Far as I know, that “red-alert” day, which occurred in July, is the first on record.

Not only did Linda and Carol stage a coup on the board taking over in the name of women everywhere, they are taking over the pages on this site too.

Two new pages not yet in the menu system yet but you can click on the Shamrock icon at the top of the page to get to them.

The Safety committee comrpised of Linda, Carol, Debbie, Tamra, and Jen have built a couple of pages on the google group list. I’ve just made them look like they are on our site. These pages are a work in progress and members of the google list can join in the conversation.

The Crazy Ladies have been around longer than  the Twinriverscyclists. Sometimes they are members of the club and sometimes not, but they ride every Wednesday morning and have created a calendar which is now shared with ours. Visit their page and look for their events on our calendar. Largent is a past honorary Crazy Lady and I’ve ridden with them now and then so fellows, you can show up too.

–Corrie

Excuse number one for not commuting.

The ladies of the safety committe have been hard ar work gathering information on safety and ways to encourage biking to work. They are creating their own pages on the google groups site or you can find a link to their pages from the advocacy page.

Bet they don’t have this yet.–Corrie

One of the biggest problems that people tend to look at is the idea of getting sweaty an stinky after a bike ride. I think this has to be one of the turn-offs that people have with bike commuting.

Read Tips on handling this smelly problem.

 Why’s everyone trying to make me look bad just ’cause I can’t ride?

Beware the ides of March, Caesar was warned. I say, beware the tourists. They’ll hur’ cha. Two stories for the tourists today.

I love Gene Bisbee’s blog. Not only is it in the Northwest (Seattle) but he seems to have sources around the world. I highly recommend reading him every morning, not just when I point something out.–Corrie

Bicycling to climb every mountain

by Gene Bisbee at 05:00AM (PDT) on March 14, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

David Sylvester is setting off this week on a quest to bicycle to the trailhead of the highest peak in each of the 48 contiguous states and climb to the top of each and every one. He’ll be accompanied by his faithful companion Chiva, a 2-year-old shepherd/husky mix.

If successful, they’ll be the first dog-human team to accomplish the feat. And you thought all the Earth’s frontiers had been conquered. Not with a dog, they haven’t.

Read More 

For the tourist junkies out there. You know who you are. Here’s a challenge. Bike from England to China and back. ’s’only 15,000 miles.

This is just one blog entry and picture. Read this and more at http://www.2wheels.org.uk/blog/–Corrie

Braked down the hillside from the world’s most booooootiful campspot to the main road and went down down down an extraordinary green valley (how long it has been since things have been green and lush) full of Kazakhs chasing livestock around on horseback (the Kazakhs, not the livestock), and selling honey and honey-flavoured kvas, back into the hotlands, the flatlands, the really rather drablands of the Xinjiang semi-desert.

No one’s immune to squirrel vs. bike collisions by Gene Bisbee at 11:01AM (PST) on February 5, 2008 | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Riding the Green Belt Trail is positively scary with suicidal squirrels.–Corrie

When I rode my bicycle out in the Central Valley of California, I always had to keep my eyes open for ground squirrels.

Those big, fat suckers would hang out in the shade of a haystack at a roadside dairyfarm, then kick up a small cloud of dust as they scampered across the road. It was always the squirrel’s agility, not my bike handling skills, that averted disaster.

A 61-year-old wasn’t so lucky. In spite of four transAmerica bike trips, Anthony Ricupero lost his first squirrel vs. bike tangle last weekend on a club ride near Greenwich, Conn.

Read more

Now here’s a challenge: cycle around the world. You tourists types will enjoy reading about the trip made to benefit five charities and set a new Guiness World Record.

On Friday 15th February at 1530, Mark Beaumont completed his 18,000 miles circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. Mark arrived back at the Arc de Triomphe 194 days and 17 hours after leaving there on 5th August 2007. Total distance cycled was 18,297 miles through 20 countries. Guinness World Records have verified all the data and confirmed Mark is the new Guinness World Record holder!

Bicycle, Smicycle. We love to eat!

You might forgive a guy who’s on a diet and off the bike for leading with the food, but I’m really looking forward to dinner tonigiht.

Oh, yeah, there’s that Annual Club Membership Meeting with fun awards and a slide show of 2007 rides, but its the food.

Don’t forget: A-M Salad, N-Z Dessert, please.

-Corrie