12 Million Miles Pedaled in National Bike Challenge

The Get up & Ride National Bike Challenge ended August 31 with 30,000 riders, representing all 50 states, pedaling 12 million miles!  While the NBC fell short of the 50,000 riders they hoped would participate, they exceeded their goal of 10 million miles.

This was the first year the challenge was organized as a national event.  Washington State had 594 riders participating in the NBC and logging in over 228,000 miles.  We had bike riders in communities large and small, urban and rural.  People logged their miles in Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, Pullman, Moses Lake, Walla Walla, Ellensburg, and more!

One of the cool things that emerged out of the NBC was the online encouragement and camaraderie.  Each state had its own Challenge page and Washington riders regularly posted questions, comments, and words of encouragement to each other.  Many are already looking forward to next year’s event.  Posted one participant:

I enjoyed riding with you all during this challenge. I am already thinking about next year and hoping to see our WA participation go to 1,000 or more. I hope we all keep riding and promoting bicycling in our great state.

The Bicycle Alliance also held a random drawing of prizes for August participants and the winners are:

Corrie Rosetti (Lewiston-ID-WA) – Tifosi sunglasses

Tammy Neslin (Tri-Cities) – Tifosi sunglasses

Josh Miller (Seattle-Bellevue) – AG wallet

Tiffany Ostreim (Longview) – AG wallet

Winners need to email Louise McGrody by September 15 to claim their prizes.

National Bike Challenge Update

Thanks to Scott Chilberg for writing this post.

Riders all across the country pedaled their way into the third month of the Get Up & Ride: National Bike Challenge this July, passing the halfway mark of the nationwide competition with the same vigor and determination that characterized the kickoff of this four-month event in May. We’re proud to have signed up 576 participants in 69 different teams statewide, and to see our dedicated riders hitting the streets, trails, and pathways every day and fastidiously logging their miles online.

Our numbers as a state are outstanding. Together, we’ve racked up 143,127 miles (enough to circle the equator more than 5 times!) over the past two and a half months, and saved 131,016 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and $38,494 by riding on two wheels instead of four.  

The end of June also saw a second wave of individual prizewinners. Gene Smith from Tacoma won a wallet from Alchemy Goods, Amity Friestman from the Tri-Cities won the Frog lights, and Jennifer Gilpin from Seattle-Bellevue-Everett won a membership with the Adventure Cycling Association. As a reminder to the winners, if you haven’t done so already contact Louise McGrody at louisemc@bicyclealliance.org to claim your prizes!

Congratulations to all, winners or no, for an awesome first two months! Thank you to our local prize donors, Alchemy Goods and the Adventure Cycling Association, and to every single participant who’s logged even one mile toward the Washington State total thus far. We’ve got a month and a half left, so throw aside those car keys and keep biking!

Missing the Bike Commute

Kristi races for the finish line.

Today's post was written by Bicycle Alliance member and volunteer Kristi Moen of Burien. 

I have a confession to make to all of you who are asking me if I’ve been cycling to work lately. I haven’t. 

It’s not what you think. It’s not the rain or the colder-than-average weather. Those aren’t stopping me. Nor is it the traffic or the very occasional rude driver. Nope. It’s me. I’m stopping myself. It’s odd, especially to me because much of my identity is wrapped into cycling. I’ve not been riding to work because – here’s where it gets weird – I’ve been training for triathlons. Sound strange? It does to me, too. But the more I look into training for tris, the more I find that there’s not a lot of value in my downhill, uphill, slow sidewalk, meandering route to work. (Not to mention that I paid someone a lot of money for a tri training plan and it doesn’t have room for commuting.) Sure, there’s always something to gain, but compared to an intense interval workout on my trainer or a long non-stop ride on one of our many regional bike routes, I don’t get the same time/value ratio. And for me, who can get surprisingly competitive with myself, the idea of not taking full advantage of a tri workout kills me. 

It also kills me to not ride to work. Therein lies the dilemma. But my last logic-based motivator, minimizing impact to the environment, is gone with the acquisition of my electric car. And so for now, I drive to work and continue with my very strategic tri workouts.

This is a rambling way of saying that I can’t wait until I can start commuting on my bike again. I see you all out there in the downpours and cold and can barely stand it I’m so envious. So keep it up. Keep riding. Ride more! Enlist your friends. The more of you we drivers see, the more awareness of the need for better safety and infrastructure will come to light. That’s the most important part. More safety equals more riders. And by all means, if you have ideas of how to train while commuting, please let me know.

National Bike Challenge off to a Good Start

Thanks to Scott Chilberg for assisting with this post.

May – Bike Month -- kicked off the 2012 Get Up and Ride National Bike Challenge, a free nationwide competition that encourages biking as a primary form of transportation and recreation. The Challenge, which runs through August, gives individuals and teams the opportunity to log their miles and compete for prizes. This is the Challenge’s debut year and the Bicycle Alliance, always seeking ways to grow bike ridership, was excited to step up as state representative.

“Not all of our communities hold Bike to Work events,” stated Bicycle Alliance ED Barbara Culp.  “This is an opportunity for all Washington bike riders to get involved with an organized event that tracks their miles and qualifies them for prizes. For bicyclists who are signed up for local Bike to Work events, this is an incentive to keep their bike momentum going throughout the summer.”

We had 480 Washington bicyclists registered for the first month of the Challenge. Bike riders from Port Angeles to Clarkston are biking to work, to the store and for fun.  Nationally, nearly 26,000 riders were signed up for the Challenge in May. 

Each month, riders’ miles will qualify them for prize drawings both nationally and locally.  Alchemy Goods of Seattle has generously donated some of their products as prizes.  Congratulations to Glen Buhlmann and Dave Braun.  They were the winners of our local prize drawing for May.

The Challenge runs through the end of August so it’s not too late to sign up.  Go to nationalbikechallenge.org to register.

Tips for Newbie Women Bike Commuters

This guest blog post was written by Wendy Wheeler of Seattle.  She is a new bike commuter and a captain of a Bike to Work team for federal agency employees.

As a new commuter-cyclist, I want to share some tips that can make your ride more enjoyable, and thus more likely.

Wendy Wheeler bikes with style.

If you’re like me, you have a list of “shoulds” as long as your arm. The trick for me was to take the idea of commuting by bike and make it as fun as possible. Now, it’s something that I really enjoy and I look forward to doing, rather than something that I’m trying to squeeze into my day.

Make it easier: Metro is your friend.

The bike racks on the Metro buses are really easy to use, once you’ve done it once. Try it first on a weekend for less pressure, just load it on at one stop and take it off a couple of stops later. With the bus, you have an infinite number of ways you can slice your commute. Any part that you don’t want to ride on a particular day, you don’t have to.

Keep it easier: Have a back-up plan for rain.

My back up plan is four-fold – I could leave my bike locked in my office’s parking garage, I could stop at any point and use Metro, my top layers are water-resistant, and almost all of my clothes are machine washable anyway. So I can choose how wet I’m willing to be. When I’m warm, it doesn’t bother me. Most days in Seattle this time of year, it’s not actually raining all day, just showers that may not coincide with the ride anyway.

Make it fun: Dress it up.

I am a big fan of visibility. I have a front light and a back light on the bike and smaller ones on helmet and my backpack. I also think having a bright-colored top layer is a good idea. But I don’t feel the need to look like I’m preparing to bike the tour de France. Spandex is not my friend these days. J So I turn the “what to wear” formula on its head and go for something nicer than my normal dark work pants.

If I’m striving to be visible, why not wear a bright top and cute skirt? Skirts are among the most comfortable riding wear there is – they move with you, they tend to be lightweight, they’re already up out of the chain area, and they don’t bunch and compress in the middle. You can get tons of inexpensive skirts to try for shape/size/flow at your neighborhood Goodwill or Value Village – get something with a pattern and then even if you get drizzled-on on the way to work it will still look great. The one in my photo was originally too long, so I chopped the ruffle and some length off the bottom, reattached it, and now it’s ready to go. For spring/fall, I wear the skirt with tights. When it’s warm (here’s hoping!), I’ll wear a pair of snug yoga shorts, or boy short style underpinnings underneath, and it’ll comfortable and modest enough for unexpected cross-winds.

Likewise, on shoes, try using that pair of work shoes that are good for walking. My faves are a pair of Naots – cork insoles, adjustable strap, low heel and a bow. They have enough support to be comfortable on the pedals, but are office perfect the minute I step off the bike.

Keep it fun, don’t worry much about your hair.

I have the gift of slightly curly hair. So my office mates know that it will never look tidy anyway. This gives me freedom with how it looks post- helmet. There are websites with tips on hair and cycling, check them out if you’re going for a specific look. My tip would be to try both the wet and dry options (as long as it’s not freezing out). You may find that starting with slightly damp hair actually gives you a more controlled look after your ride (less frizz/fuzz).

Above all, enjoy your ride.

I think you’ll find that you feel better after the fresh air and workout. Enjoy that you’ve made this time to treat yourself.

The Bicycle Alliance's Go By Bike brochure also offers some good tips for getting started with biking for errands and commuting.

National Bike Challenge Kicks Off!

This post was prepared by intern Scott Chilberg.

The 2012 Get Up and Ride National Bike Challenge kicked off on May 1 and 324 Washington bicyclists logged in nearly 4800 miles last week!  It’s not too late to sign up! You can set up an account at any point in the Challenge, so just because it’s already started doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance to join in! See our previous posts here and here for a reminder of the rules and the procedure for setting up an account.

Many of you are already participating in local bike challenges in honor of May being National Bike Month, and there’s no reason why you can’t count those miles toward the National Bike Challenge as well. There are all kinds of ways to participate, whether you decide to bike every day as your primary means of transportation or  ride recreationally a few times a month. In fact, we’d love to hear your personal story! Send an email to Louise McGrody and describe your Bike Challenge experiences – how you’ve chosen to participate, what motivates you to bike, or even just a personal anecdote related to biking – and we might post your story on our blog.

So, if you haven’t already, register for the Bike Challenge, download the smartphone app, and start cycling!

Friday Fun: Max - Bike Pump

Another fun video for Friday.  Enjoy!

Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101 Class in Spokane

Develop the confidence to bike safely and legally for Bike to Work month, the National Bike Challenge, and beyond!

The Spokane Bicycle Club is offering a Smart Cycling class that will teach bicyclists how to ride safely in traffic, avoid motorist errors and more.  The course includes a mix of class and actual time on the bike, and is geared for individuals ages 15 and older.  The class begins on April 25 and there are some scholarships, thanks to the City of Spokane, that reduce the registration fee to $10.  Reserve your spot now!

May is National Bike Month!

May is National Bike Month and communities around Washington are planning Bike to Work events--big and small.  We're aware of the following events:

Bellingham/Whatcom County is celebrating Bike to Work and School Day with 30 public and 35 school based celebration stations. Last year over 10,700 participants were counted!

Intercity Transit is organizing the Thurston County Bicycle Commuter Contest--now in its 25th year!

Cascade Bicycle Club hosts a month long Commute Challenge and they organize a huge Bike to Work Day with dozens of commute stations set up around Seattle and King County. 

Community Transit is partnering with Cascade to bring the Commute Challenge and Bike to Work Day to Snohomish County bicyclists.

Tacoma-Pierce County has a Bike Month Commuter Challenge as well as numerous other bike month festivities.  Check their Bike Month calendar for details.

If you live in Spokane, Spokane Bikes has you covered with a month-long Commute Challenge and Bike to Work Week festivities running May 20-26. 

Wenatchee Valley Transportation Council will host bicycle commuter stations in Wenatchee on May 18. 

Whidbey Island Bicycle Club is planning Bike to Work and School Month, which will include a Carfree Commuters Breakfast on May 9.

Cowlitz County is celebrating Bike to Work Week May 14-18 with a variety of activities.

The folks in Vancouver delay their Bike to Work Week until the fairer month of June.  They have designated June 18-22 as Bike to Work Week with June 20 as Bike to Work Day.  The City of Vancouver will post details.

The Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco are organizing a Bike to Work Week.  More details will follow. 

We're not aware of any Bike to Work events in Walla Walla or Clarkston, but the Twin Rivers Cyclists of Lewiston-Clarkston and the Walla Walla Wheatland Wheelers have organized teams for the National Bike Challenge.

No Bike to Work event scheduled in your town?  Sign up for the National Bike Challenge!  The Challenge runs from May 1 through August 31 and allows riders to track their miles and qualify for prizes.  You can sign up as a team or ride solo.  The National Bike Challenge is a great way to keep the biking momentum throughout the summer.

Sign up for the National Bike Challenge

Thanks to intern Scott Chilberg for preparing this blog post.

Here at the Bicycle Alliance, we are enthusiastic supporters of new and exciting ways to expand bike ridership and awareness, both locally and nationally. So when the 2012 Get Up & Ride National BikeChallenge was announced this year, we were happy to jump on board as the state representative.

The National Bike Challenge – a free nationwide competition meant to encourage biking for transportation and recreation - starts May 1 and runs through August 31, 2012, and gives individuals and teams the opportunity to log their miles and compete for prizes and award plaques on the local and national levels. The Challenge has already registered riders from all 50 states and DC.  This event is organized by the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and Endomondo.

Participation is easy and free of charge.  Just sign up online for the Challenge and create either a workplace team or your own team, join an existing team, or ride solo!  Here's a rundown on how to create an account:

Join the Challenge at:  www.endomondo.com/campaign/national
Process for individuals to join the Challenge:

·         Step 1. Click on the link above

·         Step 2. Click on the join button and register.

·         Step 3. Participants will have the option to continue to ride solo or join a team by:

o    a. Creating a new Team and becoming the Captain

o    b. Joining an existing Team

This challenge is free to join and is meant to be a fun and competitive way to increase bicycling across the U.S.  So, whether you participate on as an individual or on a team, we hope you’ll join – and pass this along to your friends!

Watch this how to video for more information about the Challenge, and click here for a complete list of prizes.

Thank you, and happy riding!

Go By Bike Program Gets Geared Up for 2012

The Go By Bike program is picking up speed and gathering momentum in 2012. We have acquired bicycles, helmets and tools for the program and are gearing up to teach bicycle safety and encourage bicycling. With grant support from WSDOT, the Bicycle Alliance is able to supply loaner bikes to participants in the Go By Bike program. The bikes are 2012 KHS Urban Xcape in both diamond and step through frame configurations. While we expect some students to have their own bikes, we did not want prospective students to be turned away for lack of a bike.

The program also supplies helmets and tools. As I wrote in an earlier post, the tools for the program were donated by Quality Bicycle Products. 

We are working with two elementary schools and four colleges to conduct safe bicycling courses in the spring, summer and fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. The elementary program engages parents of elementary students and the college program works with health and PE programs to offer a one-credit course to college students and community members.

As the Go By Bike Program Manager, I am excited and eager to get the program up to full speed. I have been working with college instructors and administrators to get the program institutionalized and to train the instructors. Participating colleges include Pierce, Olympic and Bellevue. The program for parents of elementary students is offered at Pioneer Elementary in Auburn and Suquamish Elementary in North Kitsap.

Please direct any inquiries regarding Go By Bike to joshm@bicyclealliance.org.

Biking and walking are part of the transportation mix in rural America

I’ve lived the majority of my life in an urban environment—but not all of it.  For about ten years, I lived in Athens, Ohio—a college town with roughly 22,000 residents in the rural southeast corner of the state.

As a college student, I lived on or close to campus and walked or biked to classes.  The university campus is located adjacent to the uptown business district so I also walked or biked to my part-time job, shops and entertainment. 

After graduation, I moved to a north end residential neighborhood and went to work for a local non-profit agency.  My job required traveling a three-county region so I seldom biked to work, but I frequently saw my neighbors walking and biking to their jobs at the university or uptown.

Athens residents bike and walk to work in large numbers.  The city’s 2010 non-motorized transportation plan revealed that nearly 3% biked to work and 42% walked.  That’s astounding!

But guess what?  Walking and biking is not unusual in small town America.  While few communities—large or small—have a non-motorized mode split like Athens, a new report reveals that biking and walking count as a significant means of transportation in rural areas.

ActiveTransportation Beyond Urban Centers: Walking and Bicycling in Small Towns and Rural America, produced by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, dispels the commonly held belief that only city folk bike and walk.  From the report:

Due in large measure to lack of heavy traffic, smaller towns offer viable choices for people of all ages to travel without climbing into a car.  Parents are more likely to let younger kids bike to school or baseball practice, while seniors feel more comfortable strolling to the library or local café.  Many small towns and cities developed prior to World War II were originally designed with pedestrians in mind, so taking a walk downtown or riding a bike for exercise feels safe.

Modest investments to improve biking and walking safety, such as building a sidewalk or sidepath, can be beyond the budget for small towns with declining populations and limited economic opportunities.  The very programs under attack by Congress right now, Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School, can be critical funding resources for rural communities.  Download the report to learn more about biking and walking in rural America.

A Tale of Two Cycles: lust and lasting love

Have you ever gotten bike lust for a bike that you have been riding for years? I have an undisclosed number of bikes, but i ride two of them the most and they are my oldest steeds. I've been riding them both for over a decade and they are decidedly familiar. This year i've had my most prolific mountain bike season in nearly a decade which has helped me to fall in love with my mountain bike again.

This 1996 Ibis Mojo is a classic steel hardtail built in Sebastapol, CA from custom drawn Tange Prestige tubing. In 2001 i had a disc brake tab and bracing tube silver soldered onto the frame by Martin Tweedy who was then the Ti Cycles steel frame builder.

At that time i also updated the parts kit to include Shimano XT drivetrain, Marzocchi Atom 80 coil sprung fork and Hayes disc brakes. As you see in the photo above i am currently running Avid BB7 cable-actuated disc brakes. Of course now it is due in for some new drive train parts, speaking of which...


My daily driver is the other bike to which i have a renewed attachement; it is a 1999 Surly Cross Check. All it took was replacement drivetrain parts, cables, brake pads, handlebar tape and rebuilding the wheels and voile... rebirth. Aside from the years that we've spent together, both of these bikes have special personalities.

The Ibis and the Surly are quite a pair. They've been my two main squeezes for the aughties. While other bikes may come and go, i am quite sure that i will be riding both of these bikes into middle age. The Ibis is one of a kind, even though it began life as a production bike. It was built in 1996, when cantilever brakes were still the norm for mountain bikes, so it has the classic Ibis cantilever brake cable stop as seen below.

In 1997 linear pull brakes (AKA V style brakes) set a new standard for the industry. With the frame modification the Mojo was assimilated into Northwest mountain biking and happily become a disc brake bike that is a modern classic. Another special feature of the Mojo is that it is equipped with a thumb shifter allowing trimming of the front derailleur that is much better than what you can do with a contemporary trigger shifter (the rear derailleur is cabled up to a trigger shifter).

The surly is far from unique, but it is mighty special. The surly isn't just special because of our fifty thousand miles together, but i also don't see any others like it around town. While the Surly Cross Check is a rightfully very popular bike, the first generation bikes are extra cool. The tubing used to build the first generation frames is nicer than that used in later models (sporting Reynolds 631 rather than Surly housebrand 4130 steel tubing) and the steerer is one inch threaded as opposed to the later one and an eighth threadless version (which added half of a pound to the frame and fork). Dark blue paint also hasn't been used on the Cross Check since the first generation with the exception of the Traveler's Check. The Surly has a solid mix of Shimano goods including Ultegra, XT and XTR and some other nicer parts like a Ti Cycles titanium seat post.

The Misfits icon on the headtube keeps things Surly. In all seriousness though, these bikes are great but the experiences that they've enabled me to have are the truly compelling thing about the bikes. These bikes have taken me from everyday commuting and utility rides to world class mountain bike rides like Devil's Gulch, Suntop and Noble Nob. As much as we might love our bikes let's remember that the ride is what matters. Any trusty steed, no matter how humble or fancy, deserves reverence, recognition and replacement parts. Enough of this, i'm going riding!

Commuting: The Best Part of the Day

Commuting is the best part of the day?  Many folks will disagree with me but, since I am a bicycle commuter, it often feels like the best part of my day.  After spending a long day tethered to my desk, it’s invigorating, stress relieving, and sometimes an adventure to hop on my bike and pedal home.

A recent study by Swedish researchers bears this out.  They found that people who commuted to work by car, bus or train reported more adverse health conditions than those of us who bike or walk to work.  You can read more about that study here.



It's easy to check out Harbor Island when you're on a bike.

Besides reaping the health benefits, I find that biking to work is more interesting and spontaneous than using transit.  It’s easy to alter my route or stop on my bike to check out something attention-grabbing.

My bike commute is from West Seattle to Pioneer Square.  One evening this summer, I detoured over to Harbor Island to watch workers unload freight containers with forklifts.  Not only was the activity interesting to observe, but I glimpsed some unusual views of the city.

More recently, my commute provided me with an up close vantage point of the viaduct tear down.  While car and transit commuters had some pretty horrific commutes to and from West Seattle, my bike commute time didn’t change.  Reporter Eli Sanders filed a Slog post about the West Seattle bike commute during the viaduct demolition.

Enough about the cool sights and experiences I have thanks to my bike commute.  What interesting things have you seen or experienced on your bike commute?

Seattle Road Safety Summit on October 24th, 2011

Monday, October 24th, the Mayor and City Council will be convening the first in a series of three road safety summits. The meeting will be held in the Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall (on the ground level when entering from 5th Ave--600 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98104). The Mayor's office released a 'save the date' announcement, although the time of the event has not yet been announced.

The Mayor recently wrote this in a blog post:
"A transportation system with no traffic fatalities or serious injuries, where all users share responsibility for their safety and that of others they encounter in their travels. Can we do it? As a community we must try," http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/street-safety-summit-coming-in-october/

We encourage participation in this event and are hopeful that there are some substantial and postitive developments that emerge from the summit.