Bike Happy: Summer is here

| Posted

June 21, 2018

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

TOP THINGS TO KNOW & DO

Summer is here and so are summer’s major event rides. This Saturday you can join the following organized rides (or could have if they weren’t already at capacity): RCC’s Mazama Ride, Tour de Blast near Mount St. Helens, the Spoked to Ride to Remlinger Farms, Ride the Willapa in Chehalis, Swift’s Tolt MacDonald Campout, Pedals & Pints in Cle Elum, and an all-night ride in Port Townsend. Plus, the Randonneurs start their insane Cascade 1200ride/race.
Voting opened for Seattle’s Your Voice, Your Choice program, which funds community-generated ideas for $90,000 improvements to parks and streets.
The Lower West Seattle Bridge closed for emergency repairs. For the next week, bike commuters are now being rerouted to Georgetown and up 1st Ave S. Yeah, I did that once when the bridge was out of commission. Sorry West Seattleites. However, SDOT will also be providing a shuttle van for bicyclists during peak commute hours, which is pretty cool.

In Memoriam & Crashes

A 72yo man of Kitsap County died while riding with friends on the John Scott Trail near Port Townsend. Cause of death was likely a heart attack. Kitsap Penn Daily News, PT Leader.
A driver of an SUV struck a 17yo girl near the intersection of SE Newport Way and 129th Place SE in Factoria. The teen was taken to Harborview with life-threatening injuries. Bellevue Patch.

SOCIAL, LIFESTYLE, & ADVENTURE

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Thursday, June 21
- 7pm, Point 83 Ride
Friday, June 22
- 4-11pm, Beers for Bike Works at Peddler Brewing
Saturday, June 23
- RCC’s Mazama Ride start
- 7am, Sunride Summer Solstice Hillclimb
- 7am-5pm, Tour de Blast (Toutle)
- 8:30am-3pm, Spoked to Ride
- 9am, Ride the Willapa starts (Chehalis)
- 11am, Swift’s Tolt MacDonald Campout starts
- Noon-4pm, Pedals & Pints (Cle Elum)
- 9:15pm, Broken Spoke’s Shortest Night of Trails start (Port Townsend)
Sunday, June 24
- 9am-5pm, Shifting Gears’ Womxn’s Road Ride: Boundary Bay to Lummi Island
- 9am-5pm, 14th Annual Body Pride Ride (Seattle Pride Parade)
- 10am-6pm, Bicycle Sunday
Thursday, June 28
- 7pm, Point 83 Ride
Friday, June 29
- 6:30pm, Critical Mass Seattle
- 9pm-1am, Cascade’s Seattle Night Ride
Saturday, June 30
- 7:30am-3pm, Meals to Wheels (Puyallup)

ARTICLES & POSTS

“Thinking about donating a bike?” Cascade.
“Cascade’s summer camps keep kids engaged in learning,” Cascade.
“A knobby faster than a road tire?” Jan Heine’s Blog.
“Compass Swift Campout Photo Contest,” Jan Heine’s Blog.
“The n + 1: Bialetti Moka Express,” NW in Motion.
“Welp…” Serena Larkin blogs about her upcoming summer PNW bike tours. Serena Larkin.
“Braking nudes! Seattle’s naked Solstice cyclists use Spin, Ofo and LimeBike in new bike-baring tradition,” GeekWire, + KIRO.

POLICY & INFRASTRUCTURE

ACTION

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, June 23
- 10am-Noon, BHSS’s Improve Beacon Hill’s Gateway
Monday, June 25
- SLU Greenways meetup
Tuesday, June 26
- 6:30-7:30pm, QAG’s Building Civilization: Interview with Dongho Chang
Wednesday, June 27
- Arena Redevelopment Construction Mitigation Open House
Thursday, June 28
- 6-7:45pm, Beacon Hill Safe Streets meeting

NEWS

Seattle
- Citywide & Bikeshare
  - “How did Seattle’s bikshare pilot go?” Curbed.
  - Fresh with its new Uber ownership, JUMP plans to launch its bikeshare e-bikes in Seattle. Seattle Times, GeekWire, Business Standard.
  - Neighbors can now vote for projects as part of the City’s Your Voice, Your Choice program through July 16. DON.
  - City Council is considering reforming the city’s transportation benefit district legislation to redirect funding that’s been dedicated for transit service but unused due to a lack of bus drivers to infrastructure improvements for bus rapid transit corridors. Conceivably, this could help move along key corridor bikeway projects, too. Urbanist, STB.
  - Councilmember Mike O’Brien, SBAB Chair Casey Gifford, One Center City Advisory Group member Brie Gyncild, and Seattle Subway leader Executive Director Keith Kyle discuss the reset of the Move Seattle Levy. Seattle Channel.
  - Take a look at what it takes to build a curb ramp. SDOT.
  - “Bike Plans: Aspirations & Actuality,” Fancy Beans.
  - “There’s a Cloud Over Seattle: Times are difficult in our fair city, says Knute Berger. Will balance and livability ever return?” Seattle Mag.
- City Center
  - Mayor Durkan agrees to build protected bike lanes on Pike and Pine Streets in 2019. SNG.
  - The wooden Fairview Avenue Bridge that connects the Eastlake and SLU neighborhoods will be replaced beginning in 2019. The new bridge will have a two-way protected bike lane across it, but illustrations show no plans to extend the two-way protected bike lane along Fairview Ave to Valley Street. Urbanist.
- South & West Seattle
  - The Lower West Seattle Bridge (Spokane Street) is closed for a week for surprise immediate repair. Sorry West Seattle bike commuters, you have to bike to Georgetown then north on 1st Avenue South. Good Lord, I’m sorry. SDOT, WSB, Seattle Times, SBB.
  - Highland Park neighbors seek a safer intersection at Highland Park Way & Holdan Ave SW. KOMO.
  - “Using Community Engagement to Advance Bicycling in White Center,” Cascade.
Rest of King County
- Bellevue is installing bike lanes all across the city. Bellevue Patch.
- Eastside nonprofit “Wheel Lab” helps kids build bikes. KOMO.
Snohomish County
- The City of Snohomish is considering walking and biking improvements to their Second Avenue. Snohomish Tribune.
- The state DNR is planning Reiter Foothills Forest for up to 25 miles of non-motorized trails. Everett Herald.
Statewide
- “Cascade’s call for Complete Streets Award nominations is now open,” Cascade.
- In last four years, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths have doubled statewide. Seattle PI, Urbanist.