Seattle Bike Blog

Cascade’s new Bicycling Center has grand opening Saturday + Will move office by bike Nov 30

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 13, 2014

Cascade Bicycle Club is moving their office across Magnuson Park to a renovated lakefront building.

But they’re hoping the new headquarters will be more than just an office. With space for members to gather and some event and programming space, the Cascade Bicycling Center could become a hub of bike culture in Seattle. Or at least that’s the hope of Cascade leaders.

Cascade will celebrate the grand opening Saturday at 10 a.m., and they’re inviting folks to come hang out with them and learn more (RSVP here). Here’s how Executive Director Elizabeth Kiker described the center in a recent blog post:

This space, which will be created in two phases, is designed to be a destination for people on a long ride; to be a think tank for people to envision new and better bicycling infrastructure; and to be a welcome spot for anyone to stop by and ask questions, find a riding friend or volunteer to make the Puget Sound Region better for all people on bikes.

Early concept image from Cascade

On one hand, the 8,000-foot center in Magnuson Park’s Building 11 is an expansion of the club’s office space, which was sorely needed. Cascade has grown a lot since they moved in to Magnuson. But it is also a doubling down on being a presence in an area that continues to change. Just this week, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded the city $9.7 million to build 128 units of affordable housing in Magnuson, mostly geared toward families. Seems like a Bicycling Center with planned amenities and classes for kids and adults would be a great fit for the area.

Here are some of the planned features of the new center: (more…)

tags: cascade bicycle club, cascade bicycling center, elizabeth kiker, kelli refer, magnuson park, move by bike

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Raised crosswalk, bike leaning rail, better signal timing coming to Burke-Gilman near U Village

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 12, 2014

This crossing will become a raised crosswalk soon, further signaling to people driving they have to yield. Image from Google Street View

The city will complete a series of bike/walk improvements to the Burke-Gilman Trail near U Village in the next couple months, including retiming the signals at 25th Ave NE and a new raised crosswalk at 30th Ave NE next to Counterbalance Bicycles.

The trail upgrades were identified in a 2008 transportation study of the area and will be paid for using mitigation funds from the University Village and the University Village QFC, as well as some funds from the city’s Pedestrian Master Plan budget. (more…)

tags: 25th ave ne, 30th ave ne, burke-gilman trail, sdot, u village

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Rainier Ave safety project kicks off, two meetings this week

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 12, 2014
Photo from Seattle Fire

Rainier Ave has been the scene of far more than its share of death and injury, serving both as the main commercial drag through Rainier Valley and one of the city’s most dangerous streets. There were 1,243 collisions, 630 injuries and two fatalities between January 2011 and September 2014.

But the city is no longer ignoring the problem, and SDOT Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang announced a Road Safety Corridor Project in early October. The first public meetings are this week, including one today:
- Wednesday, November 12
  6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, The Columbia School – Cafeteria/Commons, 3528 S. Ferdinand St (use the Edmunds St entrance)
- Tuesday, November 18
  4:30 PM to 6:30 PM, The Ethiopian Community Center, 8323 Rainier Ave S
In recent months, Rainier Ave has been the scene of some particularly terrifying collisions. In late August, a person driving down Rainier in Columbia City lost control and ran up on the sidewalk and sped through Carol Cobb Salon, then through the interior wall into a restaurant next door. Seven people were injured.

On Halloween night, a person driving a truck lock control and sped down Rainier Ave in Rainier Beach, and for three blocks he smashed into nine cars, sending ten people to the hospital. I guess you can add at least ten to the injury count mentioned above. Here’s how one family described the experience: (more…)
tags: columbia city, dongho chang, rainier ave, rainier beach, rainier valley, sdot

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Seattle’s 5th Cranksgiving is November 22

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 11, 2014

Poster design by the wonderful Maggie Walker. Thanks, Maggie! Download a PDF version to print and help spread the word.

Last year’s Cranksgiving was by far Seattle’s biggest yet with 126 riders donating 1,443 pounds of food to Rainier Valley Food Bank. Well, the ride is back for a fifth year in a row, and you’re cordially invited to join.

Cranksgiving is a food drive scavenger hunt by bike exploring some of Seattle’s most unique food vendors and grocery stores to gather food for Rainier Valley Food Bank.

Seattle will celebrate its Fifth Cranksgiving November 22, organized by Seattle Bike Blog and sponsored by Verity Credit Union.

Meet at Gas Works Park at 10:30 a.m. to register. The ride starts at 11. It ends in Columbia City at 2 p.m. to drop off the donations and head to an after party at the Royal Room (all ages, there will be a bar and limited food menu).

It is free to enter, but riders will need to purchase donations along the way. Expect to spend at least $20 on food donations (of course more is always welcome).

You can RSVP via Facebook. Invite your friends! If your business would like to donate prizes or help sponsor the event, contact [email protected].

For more details or to post comments or questions, see the event page or click “Cranksgiving 2014” in the site’s navigation bar.

tags: cranksgiving, cranksgiving 2014, events

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Crowdfunding: Seattle-based bike lights pass $100K, Redmond-based commuter bike passes $30K

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 10, 2014

Promo image from Orfos. I’m a sucker for awesome Seattle bike footage.
Seattle area bike product Kickstarters are seriously kicking ass this month.

The Seattle-based Orfos Flares bike lights demolished their $20,000 goal, passing $100,000 recently with seven days still to go (ends November 18).

The lights are a novel take on designing bike lights in a couple ways. For one, they are completely waterproof (their video shows someone scuba diving with the light attached to the tank). They also attach using a strong magnet, avoiding the stupid plastic clip problem (though hopefully they can stay attached after nailing one of Seattle’s many wicked potholes).

But the biggest design departure is the way they diffuse light in all directions. Instead of focusing a beam forward, they glow on all sides. The idea was to make lights clearly visible from all angles.

They cost $119 each or $229 for a set through the Kickstarter. Clearly, fulfilling all the Kickstarter orders is going to take up a lot of the Orfos focus at first, but after that they’ll be looking to stock interested Seattle shops, according to Peter Clyde: (more…)

tags: crowdfunding, david lupafya, kickstarter, orfos, orfos flares, peter clyde, redmond, rogue bicycles

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Scenes from #ILookGoodOnAPronto

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 10, 2014

The forecast was ominous, but as soon as #ILookGoodOnAPronto kicked off, the sun came out.

17 people then set out for a scavenger hunt using only bike share bikes and public transit. It may have been Seattle’s first alleycat race where people were not allowed to use their own bikes.

Thanks everyone who joined us, and thanks to Verity Credit Union for sponsoring the event. Thanks also to Pronto Cycle Share for donating prizes and, of course, for providing the bikes.

Riders had to post photos from each stop to get credit, and below are some of my favorite photos from the event. (more…)

tags: events, ILookGoodOnAPronto, pronto emerald city cycle share

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