Cycling

It’s best to enter winter with a plan, lest the wet weather dampen your enthusiasm for biking. My winter plan is to set a goal, to be prepared, and to be opportunistic. My perennial goal is to ride the annual Chilly Hilly on Bainbridge Island. First held in 1972, the Chilly Hilly is an aptly named 33-mile circumnavigation of Bainbridge …

You’ve probably been car camping, but have you ever tried bike camping—commonly called bikepacking? It’s a great way to enjoy a short autumn getaway while pedaling right from home to the nearest campground—no automobile required. The abundance of ferries in the Northwest and in Seattle, where I live, makes it easy to roll onto a ferry or water taxi with our …

Let’s start with an obvious fact: most people don’t love bicycling on cold, dark, and rainy days. Shocking, right? Sure, I ride through the winter, wrapped in sweaty waterproof clothing and rain booties–but it’s an act of determination, not joy. Summertime is when everyone becomes a cyclist. Long sunny days eliminate excuses and beckon us outside to explore and enjoy …

Those of us who ride bikes are a big and diverse community. Some of us ride for fun, fitness, and adventure. Others bike for transportation—commuting across cities and towns to reach their jobs, schools, or friends.  Bicycles are magical machines. They propel us overland more efficiently than any other mechanism of human transport. They extend our horizons, allowing us to …

Fat Biking is perhaps the fastest growing winter sport in North America. The Methow Valley, with a growing network of groomed fat bike trails, has quickly become a regional destination for folks who want to expand their recreation options to include winter fun on two wheels. When it comes to fat biking, the Methow has it all: ideal two-wheel terrain, …

As more people become conscious about their health and want to live healthy lifestyles, an increasing number of people are into cycling these days. And recently, the electric bike, or e-bike, is an innovative two-wheel vehicle gaining momentum figuratively. Riding e-bikes (and cycling, in general) has many benefits, such as boosting your immune system, improving your heart, toning your muscles, …

As the ravages of the pandemic dragged on throughout the months—with seemingly no end in sight—many folks resigned themselves to life indoors; A life shut away from the world. What else was there to do besides wallow and wait? Turns out, much more. When Connor Froyen Harron, the Study Tour Director for Bellingham, WA-based Experience International (EI), realized that the …

Bike tours have always been popular in many countries. Many biking enthusiasts join biking tours for the benefits. Besides its health advantages, such as better cardio fitness and improved mobility, biking tours revive old connections among friends and colleagues. In addition, bikers can forget their busy city lives for a while and enjoy wonderful moments on their pedals. However, bikers …

The Pacific Northwest has long been famous for its incredible mountain biking. Riders who have experienced the loamy singletrack of the PNW speak about it with reverence. It’s the real deal, and every serious mountain biker should aspire to take a riding trip to the PNW at some point in their life. With so many options, it can be challenging …

Twenty-some years ago, a small cohort of crazed cyclists skidded their way down the white silt cliffs outside Kamloops, in the Thompson-Okanogan region of south-central British Columbia. Mountain biking had just entered the Olympics; racing was ascendant. But this was something altogether different. Not since Marin County hippies bombed cruiser bikes down dirt roads some twenty years earlier had the …