EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks again to Brock Howell of Bike Happy for putting together this comprehensive weekly newsletter.

TOP THINGS TO KNOW & DO

1. Your Voice, Your Choice Program: Submit your idea for a $90,000 improvement to a street or park in your neighborhood.
2. Bainbridge City Council nixed a key bridge for the Sound-to-Olympics Trail.
3. Bellevue residents overwhelmingly want dockless bikeshare.

SOCIAL, LIFESTYLE, & ADVENTURE

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

• Thursday, Jan. 4
  • 7pm, Point 83 Ride
  • 7:15-9:30pm, Progression Cycle’s Shop Night Ride
• Friday, Jan. 5
  • 6-8pm, Tacoma iDEA’s Ladies’ Night
• Saturday, Jan. 6
  • 10am-2pm, Maintenance Party for Vashon Island’s Dockton Forest Mountain Bike Trails
• Sunday, Jan. 7
  • 12-5pm, 2018 LimeRide

ARTICLES & POSTS

• Beyond just coffee, Seattle has a booming scene of espresso machine makers. Making coffee machines is becoming a core part of CycleFab LLC’s portfolio, and all the great machines are a big boon for bike-oriented businesses like Conduit Coffee and Convoy Coffee (The Stranger).
• Dr. Art Grossman, who suffered from ALS and recently passed away, was a “indomitable and incredibly fit husband [who] planned to keep doing what he loved — bicycling and teaching exercise classes — for as long as he could.” (Everett Herald)
• Craig Fowler of Seattle became the first person to accomplish the “Double Triple Crown” of hiking the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail, and bikecamping the Tour Divide, Colorado Race Trail, and Arizona Trail Race — a total of 7,574 miles on foot and over 4,000 miles on a bike. (Adventure Journal)
• “Around the Coastline of Britain – Interview with Andrew Mathias,” (Jan Heine’s Blog).
• “René Herse: The Beauty of Function,” (Jan Heine’s Blog).
• “Past Year with Bicycle Quarterly,” (Jan Heine’s Blog).

POLICY & INFRASTRUCTURE

ACTION

• Submit an idea for a $90,000 street or park improvement in your neighborhood.
• Tell the King County Public Health Board to repeal the bicycle helmet law.
• Shape bike parking plans for First Hill, Columbia City, and Georgetown.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Saturday, Jan. 6
  • 12:30-1:30pm, Kickoff Walk for U-District Let’s Go! effort
• Monday, Jan. 8
  • 6-8pm, Central Seattle Greenways meeting
• Tuesday, Jan. 9
  • 5:30-7:30pm, Urbanist meetup
  • 6:30-8pm, West Seattle Bike Connections meeting
  • 7:30-8:30pm, Greenwood-Phinney & Licton-Haller Greenways meeting

NEWS

• Vision Zero
  • To reach the city’s target of zero traffic fatalities by 2030, SDOT will need to increase and improve its roadway design efforts (Urbanist).
  • Family of Desiree McCloud, who died as a result of a crash on the First Hill Streetcar tracks in Yesler Street, filed a lawsuit against the city (Seattle Bike Blog, Stranger, Seattle Times, CH Times, CHS Blog).
  • SDOT started significant intersection and crosswalk improvements near Rainier View Elementary on Beacon Hill, with construction to be finished in April (SDOT).
• Center City
  • SDOT will construct protected bike lanes on 7th Avenue from Union Street to Westlake Avenue, with completion expected in April (SDOT, Seattle Bike Blog, KIRO).
  • SDOT started construction on the Center City Connector Streetcar (KIRO).
• Parking Policy Update
  • This week, Seattle City Council takes up legislation to updating the city’s vehicular and bicycle parking requirements for new development (CHS Blog, KING5).
• Your Voice, Your Choice
  • Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is accepting ideas for physical improvements to streets and parks that will cost less than $90,000 each; deadline is Feb. 2 (DON).
• 520 Bridge
  • The new SR 520 bridge’s bike path brings our region closer together (Seattle Bike Blog, Stanwood Camano News).
  • King County Metro and Sound Transit buses that are “deadheaded” will still pick-up bicyclists wishing to catch a ride across the 520 bridge (Metro)
• Kubly Exit Interview
  • Tom Fucoloro sat down over pizza with Scott Kubly, who recently resigned as SDOT director, and wrote about what SDOT accomplished under Kubly’s watch (Seattle Bike Blog).
• Bikeshare
  • There are now more than 10,000 bikeshare bikes on Seattle’s streets, with the possibility of new companies entering and some current companies exiting the highly competitive market (GeekWire).
  • The results are in from the City of Bellevue’s public survey about the potential for bikeshare on the Eastside, and it shows overwhelming support for implementing a dockless bike share system and installing a protected bike lane network (KIRO).
  • LimeBike is exploring the creation of “virtual parking spots” (MyNorthwest, KIRO).
• Bainbridge
  • The Bainbridge Island City Council nixed a new bike bridge for the Sound-to-Olympics Trail over SR305 (Kitsap Sun), just days after new designs were unveiled (BI Review).

SPORT

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Saturday, Jan. 6
  • 9am-Noon, Rocket Ride (Metier)
• Sunday, Jan. 7
  • 12-4pm, Tapeworm Time Trial Series (Renton)
• Wednesday, Jan. 10
  • 6-8pm, Beginners’ Bike Polo Night (Cal Anderson)

ARTICLES

• “Zwift, a virtual exercise game, invades indoor cycling,” (Everett Herald).

SAVE THE DATES

• Outdoors For All’s Stinky Spoke, Jan. 20
• Cascade’s Chilly Hilly, Feb. 25
• 2018 Gorge Gravel Grinder, Apr. 8
• Washington Bike Summit, Apr. 29–30
• Bicycle Sundays: Twelve Sundays, May 20 – Sept. 16
• Bike Happy Month, Aug. 24 — Sept. 23
• Pedaler’s Fair, Sept. 23

RECENTLY STOLEN BIKES

In the last week, 10 bikes were reported as stolen to the Seattle Police Department. Also, Pioneer Square had the most bike thefts of any Seattle neighborhood over the last couple years (Seattle TImes).

In case your bike is ever stolen, make sure you’ve registered your bike on Bike Index. Bike Index has helped recover more than 4,300 bikes, and had a tremendous year in 2017 — check out their 2017 recap.

Bicycle Security Advisors provides more information about how to keep your bike safe.

BIKE INDUSTRY JOBS

• Bike Retail
  •  Professional Bike Mechanic, Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
  •  Mechanic-in-Training, Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
• Nonprofit
  •  Community Organizer, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
  •  Program Coordinator, Bike Works
  •  Bike Month Program Lead, Cascade
  •  Finance Director, Cascade
  •  Major Taylor Ride Leader/Instructor, Cascade
  •  Outreach Coordinator, Commute Seattle
• Government
  •  Senior Transportation Planner, SDOT
  •  Assistant Civil Engineer Specialist I, SDOT
  •  Senior Multi-Modal Design Engineer, SDOT
  •  Associate Multi-Modal Design Engineer, SDOT
  •  Public Space Management Inspector, SDOT
  •  Traffic Records & Data Supervisor, SDOT
  •  Supervising Project Manager, SDOT
  •  Associate Planner – Active Transportation Long Range Planning, Vancouver WA

WEEKLY TIP

Wide tires are not, in fact, inherently slower. Plus, they absorb more of the bumps.  Read all about it on Jan Heine’s Blog.