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SRTC Transportation Blog: A Smorgasbord Of Bike Happenings

SRTC Transportation Blog: A Smorgasbord Of Bike Happenings: "A Smorgasbord Of Bike Happenings"

posting from the cli

This was posted from the command line of a Ubuntu Linux Virtual Machine that has been saved to a portable hard drive that can fit in my pocket. Awesome.

Google Bike Maps!

This is terrific news! Google has introduced bicycling as a choice when selecting your means of transportation when looking up directions on Google Maps. The map will then show bike lanes, trails, and suggests routes that are not as steep or generally more bike friendly. The video from Google explains that, when selecting the bicycling view, "Dark green lines represent bike trails with no motor vehicles, light green lines show streets with bike lanes, and dashed green lines show other streets recommended for cyclists."

Lucky, there is the option of providing feedback to Google if you find that the suggested routes are incorrect. For example, when looking up directions from my house near Northtown Mall to The Elk Public House in Brown's Addition, Google Maps suggested that I take Division (no thank you) but did also give me the choice of taking Post. Personally, I wouldn't recommend either over my Perry to Mission Park/Centennial Trail route but I suppose it will take some of Spokanes' many riders to fine tune the routes in this area. It's still a great start!



For more information, check out:

http://maps.google.com/biking
http://googlemapsbikethere.org/

Snow and "not Spring" for the next few months.

People say it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

If any of you were here in Spokane last winter (and the winter before that) you will easily remember how ridiculous and deep the snow got. I had twenty-five inches in my back yard over a twenty-four hour period. That's two feet. One inch. I'm really not looking forward to anything like that again. [An apology goes out to my snow boarder friends.]

The long and short of it is that the biking season may be over for me unless the fog lifts before it get too late today. I came across a web page, via the Fat Tire Trail Riders Club site, called Five Mile Bluff that has pictures and maps of a trail system just north of Francis Ave., off Indian Trail Rd. I'd like to go check it out before I'm forced to wait until next year. If not, this has been one of the best seasons as far as number of rides and all out enjoyment on my part. I'm looking forward to Spring. Winter is pretty and all, but refer above to previous paragraphs.

In my next post, I'll go over my best ride of the year and explain how Beacon Hill is remarkable in that there are seeming endless trails to explore and how, in a way, one of them is responsible for what may be my first broken finger.

Places to ride in Spokane

A simple, short list of places to ride a [non-motorized] bike in Spokane, Washington.

One's I've been on, anyway.

Beacon Hill / Camp Sekani

• video from users at vholdr.com
• users at metacafe.com
• users at youtube.com
  

The Centennial Trail

• video from users at youtube.com

Spokane streets

I'm riding SpokeFest!

Nope, changed my mind.

I had every intent in riding the twenty-one mile course here in Spokane today, but over the last few days, I've talked myself out of it. I wanted to be downtown early -- I heard there would be food and coffee -- and spend the ride taking my time and taking pictures and such.

[Looky there, 9:37am. SpokeFest started seven minutes ago.]

side note: Now that it's past the start time, I'm totally bummed I didn't go. :(

I'll get over it though. I instead made plans with a friend to tackle (I'm not sure if I need to use that word) the trails over at Dishman Hills Natural Area (are bikes allowed there?) which is just south-east of my all-time favorite place to ride. To get to Dishman Hills, I found that you take the Sprague exit and head east on Appleway. Turn right onto Sarget Road and into the parking lot.




As I write this now, that's all I really know about the place. A buddy took me hiking there when I first moved to town some six-ish years ago and I've only been back once, briefly, since. I'm hoping to find out if its trails (allow) treat mountain bikers as well as the other places I've been riding around here.

I'll let you know. Maybe with pictures. [Update: This is one of the few places that bike are not allowed. It is a great place to hike and I would recommend it for that. Please leave your bikes at home.]