It’s billed as the largest consumer bike show in the country, a place where fanatical bicyclists mix with others still using training wheels, legends in the sport, top mountain bike professionals, authors, biking coaches, touring companies, a unicycle team and physical therapists making sure your bike fits your body.
The annual Seattle Bicycle Expo runs today and Sunday. If you haven’t been to a bike-related expo in years, head south. You can donate your old bike tubes to Green Guru in exchange for a change pouch made from inner tubes and created on a bicycle-powered sewing machine.
Those 10 or older can try a mountain bike challenge course (there’s one for the adults too).
Bike-racing pioneer and two-time Olympian Ron Hayman, captain of the internationally famous Team 7-Eleven, will join the author of “Team 7-Eleven” and former editor of Bicycling Magazine Geoff Drake to talk about the team’s origins, which started with a pair of Olympic speed skaters.
They are scheduled for 12:20 p.m. today and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Learn everything you need to know about the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic or watch the BMX stunt team. Go to a class about bike maintenance, learn about pedaling toward a healthier planet, how to ride faster or catch a cooking demonstration.
Go behind the scenes of professional cycling; listen to Kevin Sayles, master frame builder; attend a workshop on reflective vest and patch-making; or browse 250 booths.
The Expo runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal, 2001 W. Garfield St., Seattle. Tickets at the door (cash only) are $10 for one day, $12 for two days. Ages 15 and younger are admitted free.
The Seattle Bicycle Expo is sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club. For more information about the the Expo and other CBC events, go to www.cascade.org.
More biking: Bicycling coach Craig Undem and nutritionist Michelle Babb share information about riding skills, training plans and nutrition at 7 p.m. Tuesday at REI Seattle, 222 Yale Ave. N. Undem is CEO of Cycle University and winner of a World Cup medal in mountain bike racing. Information: www.cascade.org.
Join the party: If you’ve enjoyed 113-year-old Mount Rainier National Park, here’s a chance to help the park. Mount Rainier National Park Associates is planning several volunteer work parties.
Volunteers will do trail maintenance or plant-related jobs on April 28, May 19, June 16, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8 and Sept. 29.
Information: www.mrnpa.org/workprojects.php or contact the volunteer coordinator at volunteer@mrnpa.org.
It’s free: Washington State Parks offers a few days for free at any park location. The state’s parks will be 99 years old March 19, and the parks are free (no Discover Pass required) March 18 and 19.
Other free days are June 9 (National Get Outdoors Day), Sept. 29 (National Public Lands Day) and Nov. 12 to 14 (Veterans Day Weekend).
For more information about the Discover Pass, go to www.discoverpass.wa.gov. For more on events at state parks, go to www.parks.wa.gov/events.
On the boardwalk: The seven-mile Grand Ridge Park trail, a Washington Trails Association project, was recently completed with a 600-foot boardwalk.
The trails association started working on the King County multiuse trail system in 2000. The Grand Ridge Park trail will be shared by hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders.
The 1,200-acre park includes groves of Western red cedar, some more than 5 feet in diameter.
The trailhead is 18 miles east of Seattle on I-90. Take exit 20, turn left, go underneath the interstate and park in the gravel lot to the west. Hike or bike west about a half-mile on the Issaquah-Highland Point trail to the backcountry trailhead.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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