From the PATH website

The driver of a brown SUV gunned it to make a quick left across two lanes of general traffic plus a bike lane on Dexter Ave last July. But PATH photographer Mike Wang was traveling in the bike lane at that moment, and the driver struck Wang, killing him. After stopping for a moments, the driver of the vehicle fled.

The case remains unsolved.

Now, the Taiwanese Association of Greater Seattle is offering a $6,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest in the case.

From SPD:

The Taiwanese Association of Greater Seattle (TAGS) is offering a $6000 reward for information resulting in an arrest in the hit and run death of husband and father Michael Wang.  After consulting with TAGS member William Wang – father of Michael Wang – the TAGS Board decided to do something to help the Seattle Police investigation to move forward.  The Board decided to offer a reward for information and moved forward with a fundraising goal of $2000.

“Our organization was saddened by Michael’s death.  We just wanted to do something to bring awareness to the case and generate leads,” said John Chou, TAGS board member.  Chou was heartened by the outpouring of support, noting that TAGS exceeded their goal threefold, raising approximately $6000.  Most TAGS members donated to the reward.  Further generosity from people of Taiwanese descent across the country bourgeoned the tally further.

“We just want this person caught and justice for Michael Wang’s family”, said Chou.

TAGS was founded in 1970 as a student/scholar group at the University of Washington and now is an organization with 500 family members. Over the years, TAGS has been consistently helping in the protection of  the well-being of the Taiwanese Americans in the Greater Seattle areas and those in Taiwan. For further information, John Chou can be reached at 206-365-8807 or johnclchou@gmail.com.

The Seattle Police Department Traffic Collision Investigation Section continues to investigate the hit and run death.  Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Bacon at 206 684-8932.

Photo from Geoff Leadbeater

As several readers have already noticed, the County is repaving a section of the Burke-Gilman Trail near Log Boom Park. Work on the 650-foot stretch of trail should be completed by Friday, according to King County Parks.

Workers are dong some root removal on the previously bumpy section of trail, then installing a root barrier and laying new asphalt. People biking will need to dismount and walk through the construction area.

Though there is no need to detour, there may be periods of 10-15 minutes or so when the trail is closed temporarily for trucks to move in and out. Flaggers will be there to control biking and walking traffic.

The bumpy section of trail is at the eastern end of the 2.2-mile section of trail painfully reconstructed last year. The work is paid from the county’s trail and maintenance fund.

From the League of American Bicyclists

Tacoma and Snohomish have earned spots on the The League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Communities list. Both communities earned Bronze level recognition, joining 214 other communities in the nation on the list.

Port Townsend moved up a spot in the list, trading in their Bronze for a Silver. The League also rechecked Vancouver, Wash. and renewed its Bronze.

Seattle remains the only community in Washington to earn a Gold rating.

Biking Bis reports that the League had more new and renewing applicants than ever before. Durango, Colo. and Missoula, Mont. both joined the Gold level.

First up, this top secret look behind the scenes reveals some Cervélo 2013 line trade secrets…

Pacific Northwest News:

• BikePortland.org » Over 28,000 turn out for first Sunday Parkways of the year – Wow.
• Seattle Subway: “We want it all, and we want it now” | The SunBreak – Let’s do it!
• BikePortland.org » Reader Story: Portland Bike Polo, ten years in the making
• Internship: Sightline Seeking “Traffic Data Geek” – Seattle Transit Blog
• 26 Ways to Store Your Bike | Sightline Daily – Featuring Seattle Bike Blog’s former HQ
• Motorcyclist hit by Ride-the-Ducks vehicle files lawsuit | The Seattle Times
• @cascadebicycle posts a photo of a smoothly paved Ravenna Blvd. It should be completed in early fall.
• Vancouver, B.C., has idyllic and easy urban biking for all ages | The Seattle Times – Travel writer loves Vancouver’s low-stress bike facilities. We can do that, too!
• Northern Tier Bicycle Route highway opens in Washington » Biking Bis
• Most pedestrian-involved crashes caused by turning vehicles: Vancouver study
• School Shout Out Series! Pt 3: Baby Steps « Cascade Bicycle Club Blog
• “Bike to School Day is our favorite holiday.” « Cascade Bicycle Club Blog – Great profile of the Loper family, a big Bike to School force in NE Seattle.
• Nobody ever played towards a goal « A Rebalanced Life – A recap of Grant Petersen’s Seattle visit.
• Kent’s Bike Blog: Lots of nice bikes came to see Grant Petersen in Seattle – A recap of the bikes outside Grant Petersen’s Seattle visit.
• BREAKING: 4.2 Miles of Copper Wire Stolen from LINK – Seattle Transit Blog
• Choose Your Way Bellevue :: Tuesday May 22 :: Bicycle Maintenance Workshop – One day left to register
• The Riding Reporter: Dozens come out for the first Seattle Critical Lass/CycloFemme ride SLIDESHOW | Ballard News-Tribune
• Menstrual Monday · Girls of Summer Alleycat 2012
• Should Montlake Kids Ride the “Hazard” Bus to Montlake School? | montlaker

Halftime show! Did you know some crazy people are digging tunnels under Capitol Hill right now? (pretty awesome video)

National and Global News:

• Ask Transportation Bill Conferees to Save Sidewalks and Bikeways – America Bikes
• Why There’s No War Between Drivers and Cyclists in the Netherlands – Commute – The Atlantic Cities
• The Bike Effect: How ‘Copenhagenization’ Saves Time, Money, and Lives – The Atlantic
• Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don’t Know Where They’re Going – Commute – The Atlantic Cities
• House Votes To Cut Census Survey Done Since Thomas Jefferson – The House sucks.
• Which commute is the healthiest? | Fox News – Even Fox News says: “Of course, the best way to get to work is to walk or ride a bike”
• Training wheels don’t work: Balance bikes teach children how to ride. – Slate Magazine
• Chalktrail miles of creative colorful fun! – I want one.
• When Flash Mobs Go Right: A Symphony Surprises Copenhagen Subway Riders | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce – Awesome.
• Are more cyclists getting hit from behind than ever before? | Bike Delaware
• Here’s an excellent infograghic from America Bikes about why walking and biking investment is both popular and smart:

The annual Madrona Mayfair kicked off with a decorated bike and trike parade. Hundreds of families showed up for the sunny parade down 34th Ave. Some kids rode on their own, while many other younger ones were accompanied by parents.

I would say that the highlight of the parade for me was the father teaching his daughter to ride during the parade (see photo above).

Later that day, I volunteered at Bike Works’ 16th Annual Kids Bike Swap in Columbia City. Basically, the Kids Bike Swap is this incredible opportunity for families to affordably trade outgrown bikes for ones that fit. Keeping a growing kid on a safe and comfortable bike can be quite a financial burden, so the Kids Bike Swap is vital to keeping kids of all economic levels rolling safely.

My job was to watch over the test ride area, which was a lot of fun. There were definitely a few crashes (kids are really good at aiming for bushes or grassy areas when they wreck), but no injuries! A couple kids crashed because they took off riding before realizing that they didn’t know how to use their new bike’s brakes. But by the time they took a couple spins, they forgot all about the heartache of trading in their old bikes as they cruised on their new, cooler bike.

I didn’t take a whole lot of photos for some reason (if you took some, feel free to post links in the comments or email them to tom@seattlebikeblog.com), but here’s the volunteer and staff mechanics working frantically to get traded bikes in shape to restock the bike corrals:

After the swap, I rode with Morgna Scherer and her Family Bike Expo back to their Rainier Beach home. They have this incredible electric-assist recumbent cargo trike that was hauling six (!) other bikes (two of which were Xtracycles) and a passenger. I followed on a tandem hauling a multi-gear recumbent trail-a-bike.

It was a blast. Watching a pedal-powered machine haul more bikes than most cars can is incredible and empowering.

There are so many different cargo and family bike options out there, and the Family Bike Expo offers an incredible opportunity for interested people to try different things out until they find the one that best fits their lives, styles and needs. They bring the Expo out to six or so events every year, so definitely stop and try their awesome bikes if you happen upon them at a fair of some kind later this year (and, of course, I’ll try to keep y’all updated on where they’ll be).

Screenshot from KC Metro video (posted below)

Here are the details, from Metro:

As part of Bike Month, King County Metro and Sound Transit are encouraging people to try bike-and-bus trips. During the week of May 14-18, any cyclist loading a bike on a Metro bus or ST Express bus operated by Metro will ride free. ST Express routes included are: 540, 542, 545, 550, 554, 555, 556 and 560.

Each bus has three spaces on its bike rack, which are available on a first come/first served basis. If the bus bike rack is full, cyclists should be prepared to wait for the next bus or consider leaving their bike parked in a bike rack at a transit facility. Bike lockers are also available at many Metro and Sound Transit facilities.

This offer is good only on the buses mentioned above. It does not apply to Link light rail, Sounder, the South Lake Union Streetcar, or the King County Water Taxi.

For new cyclists who want to try loading their bike in a pressure-free environment, Metro has display bike racks at five locations around the county. They are available at North Seattle Community College, the University of Washington, Bellevue College, Alki Bike and Board in West Seattle, and at the offices of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington in Pioneer Square. Detailed information on hours and locations can be found online.

Are you intimidated by putting your bike on a bus? I know I was the first time I tried it. Here’s a video that demonstrates how to do it (h/t Biking Bis):

Since today was the first day of free rides for folks with bikes, how do you all think it went?

Screenshot from Bike Score

Bike Score has landed. Developed in Seattle by the makers of Walk Score, Bike Score analyzes several factors to determine how bikeable an area is.

Parts of the city that have a good balance of bicycle facilities, relatively flat terrain, destinations and existing bicycle commuters score well.

Averaging all areas of the city together, Seattle gets a 64 out of 100. This places it 7th in the nation. Minneapolis edged out Portland for the top seat on the list (BikePortland reports that this is because dedicated bike paths are weighted twice as much as bike lanes and neighborhood greenways). Seattle also places behind San Francisco, Boston, Madison and D.C.

Some interesting things about the map:

• Popular waterfront biking areas score terribly. For example, West Seattle does not do well as a whole, including along the Alki Trail. Lake Washington neighborhoods also do poorly, even though they are along popular bicycling routes.
• The map understands that not all hills are deterrents to cycling. For example, the number of destinations, bike facilities and current bike commuters on Capitol Hill and the Central District far outweigh the steep and endless climbing required to get there. Same with Wallingford and the University District.
• The Missing Link destroys Ballard’s bikeability. Once completed, huge new swaths of the neighborhood’s densest areas will instantly turn green:
• In order to weigh the current bike commuter levels, the Bike Score folks used Census data to map where bike commuters live. So much to discuss here: 
• The Bike Score results bear a lot of similarities to a bikeability study by Seattle Transit Blog’s Adam Parast.

What are your thoughts? I’d say the Bike Score team did a fantastic job weighing all the elements that go into making communities bikeable. It gives some good hints about where we should be prioritizing new bicycle connections. For example, there is some excellent potential in Magnolia if we can get more residents to the Elliott Bay Trail. Cycle track on Gilman Ave? Are there neighborhood greenway options?

And for the love of god, can we get a safe cycling facility through Rainier Valley?

The Tour de Pints starts promptly at 11 a.m. at Pike Brewing Company in Pike Place Market. From there it will hit Hillard’s Beer, Naked City Brewery, Ravenna Alehouse, Fremont Brewing, Hales Ales and the Wurst Place. See the official route here.

Roller racing at Hale’s to support the Marymoor Velodrome

After the Tour, you can stick around at Hales for the Marymoor Velodrome Association’s roller racing rally.

Details:

Saturday May 12, 7-10pm Hale’s Ales Palladium in Seattle (Fremont/Ballard)

• All ages
• Track-specific bike swap (bring your stuff to trade and sell!)
• Food and beverages available
• See your long lost track friends! The season’s almost here!

First heats on the roller bikes (fixed fork) scheduled for 7:30. Spin to win!

There’s typically no police report if there were no other vehicles involved in an incident (like, for example, a solo crash caused by trolley tracks), so creating a record of such incidents is important. Once enough people use the service, it becomes clear where spot improvements are needed.

The service also allows people to report stolen bicycles and known hazards (from wheel-grabbing sewer grates to overgrown vegetation).

The site is a partnership between Cascade Bicycle Club and software developer Phil Mitchell. Now, some UW students are looking to help improve the service, and they need your help. Take their survey to help them get an idea of how people would like to use the service.

Seattle’s 8th Ride of Silence will meet at Gas Works Park May 16. Here’s the schedule:

• 6:30pm Arrive at Gas Works Park
• 6:45pm Dedications + Spoken Word
• 7:00pm Ride of Silence begins
• 7:30pm Stop/regroup at City Hall
• 8:30pm-9:30pm post-ride social