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Cascade club peddles a bike-friendly image in Northwest
By GREG JOHNSTON 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
For 29 years the Cascade Bicycle Club has been riding out in front of the pack, promoting bicycling as an exceedingly healthy form of recreation and a non-polluting mode of moving about.
The club and its members not only passionately pedal, they also passionately peddle pedaling.
They literally spin their wheels almost daily with year-round club rides open to all, and they mount some of the nation's most popular bicycling events.
As much as any single entity, the Seattle-based club is responsible for one of the most thriving cycling scenes in America. For the ninth straight year, Seattle has been named one of the nation's top 10 cycling cities by Bicycling magazine, this year ranking fourth.
The club's 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic each summer remains one of the largest and most popular recreational rides in the country -- "epic" the magazine called it. The annual Bicycle Expo, this year running tomorrow through Sunday at Seattle Center, is considered one of the five biggest indoor bicycling events in the United States.
And you can thank the club and its government affairs committee for the bicycle lane that was likely added the last time the thoroughfare in your community was repaved. And for the popular Burke-Gilman Trail and its recent extensions. And the Sammamish River Trail. And the Alki Trail, the I-90 Trail, the Elliott Bay Trail ...
"If the Cascade Bicycle Club wasn't there, I don't think we would have the facilities we have and we wouldn't have much of a bicycle program," says Pete Lagerwey, the city of Seattle's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.
"Because of their sustained efforts over many years, decision makers know you cannot move forward with a major project and expect to get away with not accommodating cyclists."
The club's paid staff of five and 5,000-some members are the Northwest's spokesmen and spokeswomen of spokes.
"The mission of the club is to create a better community through cycling," says Cascade managing director Chuck Ayers. "The No. 1 goal is getting people out cycling, whether it's recreational riding, racing or mountain biking, and getting people to do it safely."
Although the politics are important, riding is the club's raison d'etre, and for most members the most tangible aspect of membership.
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The cool thing about these rides, open to anyone with a bike and a helmet, is that they provide the encouragement of camaraderie.
"I started doing the social rides, and it was really a lot of fun," says Laura Bohaty of Seattle, who now leads rides for the club. "The people you meet are so interesting. They're from all over and from all age groups. They're people I have a lot in common with.
"A lot of them have traveled all over the world riding. A lot of them tour ... and my intention is to get into touring."
The rides are also excellent opportunities for newcomers to the area.
"I discover new places to ride that other people have worked out," says David Robinson, the club's events director. "When I first moved to the area and joined the club 13 years ago, it was a great way to meet people and find out about Seattle and where to go."
While Cascade embraces all forms of cycling, the club is oriented toward road-riding. The daily rides, at least those in the easy to moderate paces, usually follow roads with bicycle lanes and/or bicycle-pedestrian trails such as the Burke-Gilman.
Safety is stressed, the leaders allowing the group to naturally space out during the ride so as not to impede vehicle traffic, and regrouping every four or five miles. Social ride leaders often plan their route strategically around a favorite bakery or deli, stopping about two-thirds of the way for lunch or refreshments.
"I really enjoy riding a lot and I feel like it's a way to travel and see everything a lot closer up than in a car," Bohaty says. "If there are viewpoints along the way, such as beaches, we'll stop for a few minutes and look. We're not in a hurry. It's very enjoyable."
More well-known are the club's annual rides. "STP," of course, is the oldest and grandest, ridden in one day by those capable, and two by most of the 9,000 to 10,00 riders who participate. "Chilly Hilly" in February unofficially kicks off the cycling season and the Kitsap Color Classic in October wraps up the annual rides.
The group is also active in safety education efforts, sponsoring "bicycle rodeos" each spring and summer to teach kids safe-riding skills, and an annual "Bike to Work Day" (May 21). The group's government affairs committee also lobbies for things like helmet laws, and the group is active in fighting for new bicycle/pedestrian trails, such as the currently contentious East Lake Sammamish Trail.
A new initiative is to diversify the club's membership, encouraging more women, younger people, older people and families to join.
"We're interested in getting people riding," says Ayers. "We see cycling as a major health benefit. The more people who ride, the better physical shape we're in. And the more people who ride, the less traffic congestion we'll have."
The club began on July 23, 1970, as a touring and cycling advocacy group, started by members of a local racing team, the Wheelsport Cycling Team. Jerry Baker, one of the club founders who, incidentally, was the first winner of STP, credits the idea to his then-roommate Mike Quam.
"There was a real need, a real demand for this kind of club," Baker says. "Racing clubs have a very narrow focus. Cascade has a bigger view of the world, an all-inclusive view. The astounding thing to me is that over the years the club has evolved right along the original vision.
"To this day it still has the same basic service goals. It's a very rider-oriented club."
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Cascade Bicycle Club Phone: 206-522-2453 Web site: www.cascade.org Dues: $25, which includes monthly newsletter, discounts on rides charging a fee and some local cycling businesses. |
- Chilly Hilly: Feb. 28
- Flying Wheels Summer Century: June 27
- "STP": July 10-11
- "RSVP": Aug. 13-14
- Ride Across Washington: Aug. 22-28
- Kitsap Color Classic: Oct. 3
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