Washington State Summer Tour

The Bicycle Alliance has it's headquarters in the Seattle Bike Station, so naturally we do a lot of work in the Puget Sound area. But the Bicycle Alliance is a statewide organization and one of our goals is to serve communities across the state. One day in April, as I was bike commuting in to the office, I was thinking about how I could get more familiar with the bicycling resources, concerns and conditions in other parts of the state. I was also thinking that it would be nice to take a bike tour this summer. By the time I reached the office, I had a plan which I pitched to Barb and she approved.

From July 14th through July 28th, I'll be cycling around Washington. Since I have two ears and only one mouth, I'm planning on doing at least twice as much listening as talking. I will be giving some seminars on commuting and safe riding techniques but much of the trip will be a look and learn trip for me. I'll be connecting up with Bicycle Alliance members in various locations, so I may have some civilized places to stay, but I'm also planning on doing some bicycle camping as well. I'll be blogging from the road and compiling lists of cycling related contacts, shops, and resources for the various places I'll be visiting.

Here's the basic schedule. Washington is a big state, but I've got a good background in long distance riding. I couldn't fit everything in to one loop, but I tried to come close. It looks like I'll have to do another trip at some point to cover the center of the state. On this trip I'll also go into Portland Oregon for a bit to see how they are doing things down there.

• Sat. 7/14/2007 -- Port Townsend/Port Angeles
• Sun. 7/15/2007 -- Bellingham
• Mon. 7/16/2007 -- Hwy 20
• Tue. 7/17/2007 -- Winthrop
• Wed. 7/18/2007 -- Spokane
• Thu. 7/19/2007 -- Spokane / Cheney
• Fri. 7/20/2007 -- Walla Walla
• Sat. 7/21/2007 -- Richland/Pasco/Kennewick
• Sun. 7/22/2007 -- Yakima
• Mon. 7/23/2007 -- Mt. St. Helens
• Tue. 7/24/2007 -- Vancouver/Portland
• Wed. 7/25/2007 -- Vancouver/Portland
• Thu. 7/26/2007 -- Olympia
• Fri. 7/27/2007 -- Tacoma
• Sat. 7/28/2007 -- Seattle/Issaquah

So keep an eye out for me on the roads of Washington this July. I'd love to meet as many Bicycle Alliance members as possible and maybe ride some miles with you. Most importantly, let me know what the Bicycle Alliance can do to improve bicycling in your community.

Kent Peterson
kentp@bicyclealliance.org