News
Bikes Brought Joy and Progress to WA in a Dark Year Nationally
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- Cascade and Washington state’s bike movement made great progress in 2025–even as our federal government turned hostile.
- We taught a record number of schoolchildren bike skills, celebrated the expansion of Seattle's Bike Network, sold out STP, and created new rides.
- Read about our proudest moments and favorite people in our 2025 Year in Review.
Paul Tolmé
It was a year of stark contrasts for those of us who see bicycles as powerful tools to improve lives and advance societal progress.
Here in Washington state, we taught bike skills to record numbers of school children, celebrated the completion of big bike infrastructure projects in Seattle, won voter approval for regional trail funding, and worked hard to advance our vision of a future where bicycles unite people, eliminate inequity, and create thriving communities.
Nationally, by contrast, it was a dark year for bike advocacy as our federal government de-funded bike infrastructure and became hostile to our values and the vulnerable community members we seek to uplift.
Bike advocacy, trail building, and mobility justice require unwavering commitment and sustained effort to achieve progress. That's why we pedal forward together, around obstacles and into political headwinds, because societies that center biking are healthier, happier, safer, and more sustainable. We work to create bikeable communities because everyone deserves to experience the freedom and joy of bicycling.
Please read on to learn more about the wins and achievements that made us proud in 2025.
Teaching Kids the Joys of Bicycling
Many of us have fond memories of learning to bike as a child. Sadly, many kids today don’t have access to bikes at home. That’s why Washington’s Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program is so impactful and important for our future.
Funded by Washington state’s Climate Commitment Act and administered by the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT), which selected Cascade to design and implement statewide bike education, the program provides in-class bike instruction for elementary and middle schoolers and after-school bike clubs for teens and high schoolers. Cascade works in collaboration with WSDOT, community organizations, educators, school districts, and educational service districts to teach bike safety and active mobility skills.
In 2025, the program taught bike skills to nearly 40,000 students in 336 schools statewide. Through the end of the school year that ends next June, the program is projected to serve almost 63,000 schoolchildren.
If you’re unfamiliar with this initiative, we encourage you to watch the video created by our partners at Evergreen Public Schools.
In future years, the program will expand to cover 90% of public school students. The goal is to enable our kids to become lifelong advocates for biking and active mobility–while advancing climate and public health goals. The statewide bike education program is one of the reasons Washington is recognized as the most bike-friendly state in the nation.
The Sights and Sounds of STP
The 2025 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic presented by Alaska Airlines and Zenni Optical entered the history books as the largest STP since 2019.
Relive the sights, sounds, and jubilation of the Pacific Northwest's most colorful big group bike ride in our STP Photo Album. And watch our mini-documentary below to meet the folks who got STP tattoos!
Starting on Jan. 8, members and STP 5-pack purchasers can sign up for STP 2026 to experience two cities, one ride, and countless stories.
Let’s Go Seattle and Edmonds
The Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program was inspired by Cascade’s local Let’s Go bike education initiatives in Seattle and Edmonds. Cascade has taught Let’s Go in these two cities for more than a decade to bring bike education into PE classes.
In 2025, Let’s Go brought bike and active transportation skills to more than 31,000 students across 115 middle and elementary schools in Seattle and Edmonds.
Learn more about our Let’s Go local and Statewide initiatives.
And watch our video, “If you Teach a Kid to Bike,” to learn about the heartwarming impact of our bike education initiatives.
Winning in Seattle
With more than 21 miles of new bike lanes added in the past few years, biking in Seattle today is exponentially better than it was a decade ago.
Learn about some of our big wins for SODO, Georgetown, and South Park in our post, “Go Ride South Seattle’s Growing Bike Network.” And see where we began the year by joining us on a photo journey of new bike infrastructure in Eastlake, Montlake, Beacon Hill, SODO, Downtown, and the Waterfront.
Bicycling influencer The Shifter summed it up best in his video about how “Seattle is winning.”
Unfortunately, the bike infrastructure wins are not equitably shared. Many neighborhoods in South Seattle still lack safe bike routes. Learn about our advocacy priorities for the new year in "Cascade’s 2026 Seattle Bike Network Priorities.”
Major Taylor Project
Named for the greatest bike racer of all time, our Major Taylor Project teaches bike and life skills to youth in underserved communities in Seattle, Tacoma, and King and Pierce counties. In 2025, MTP worked with more than 250 middle school and high school students. Thanks to funding from the Climate Commitment Act and WSDOT, 168 MTP youth earned a new bike and accessories to take home.
As part of the program's efforts to teach leadership and job readiness skills, we also founded a NEW MTP Internship program funded by Foundry10. Four youth enrolled in the internship in 2025, supporting staff by maintaining and repairing bike fleets, leading rides and assisting with route planning, and meeting community members who work in the cycling industry.
While MTP teaches teens how to bike for transportation, it also introduces them to biking for fun and fitness. Seventeen youth rode in one or more cycling events including STP. Learn how MTP Tacoma had some dirty good fun at one of the largest cyclocross races in the nation.
Leafline Trails
Cascade is a key partner in the Leafline Trails Coalition, an initiative to connect 900 miles of trails across King, Pierce, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties.
Sometimes, connecting trails means filling small but critical infrastructure gaps–like the initiative to Bridge the Gap on Shoreline’s Interurban Trail.
Other times it means advancing bold and visionary trail connections such as the Sound to Olympics Trail, which would enable people to bike onto a ferry in Seattle, disembark on Bainbridge Island, and pedal all the way to the Olympic Peninsula–then push onward to the Pacific coast.
Closing trail gaps and building the Leafline are why Cascade successfully advocated for passage of the King County Parks Levy, which includes $182 million to complete the Lake to Sound Trail and finish projects on the Eastrail, Soos Creek, Green River, and other trails.
Pedaling Relief Project
Cascade’s Pedaling Relief Project is a national model for how communities can use bikes to reduce food waste, support food banks and their customers, and cut climate pollution by using bicycles and cargo bikes for last-mile delivery.
The City of Seattle awarded $92,000 to support the project, whose innovative use of wired neighborhood micropantries won a National Science Foundation award in conjunction with the University of Washington.
Watch the King 5 TV story about Pedaling Relief, which reporter Chris Cashman calls “community service on two wheels, combining Cascade’s passion for biking with a mission to serve neighbors in need.”
Expanding our Rides
Cascade created two new rides in 2025–Iron Horse Gravel and Revel Revolution–in response to member requests for more gravel events and with a goal of increasing inclusivity for women and nonbinary individuals. Both will return in 2026 as Cascade strives to expand opportunities for people to bike together in a fully supported environment that enables more folks to enjoy Washington state’s natural beauty.
Learn about Iron Horse Gravel, Washington state’s best new gravel ride, and check out our images of the spectacular scenery and epic bike bridges along the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail.
Cascade Wins National Recognition
The League of American Bicyclists named Executive Director Lee Lambert “Bike Advocate of the Year” during the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.
Read about the honor, and how it coincided with a directive by the presidential administration to kill federal funding for bike lanes, in our story: “Cascade Visits DC to Speak Up for Bike Funding.”
Fabulous Rides
Looking for beta on new trails to ride? We’ve got you covered in our story, “10 Fall Trail Rides for Fabulous WA Foliage.” Because these rides are great all year round. Some of our favorites include the recently completed East Lake Sammamish Trail, the Foothills Trail in Pierce County, and the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail across the state into Idaho.
Expanding Inclusivity
Cascade continues to stand firm in our efforts to prioritize underserved communities despite national efforts to kill diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Read about our partnerships with Ampersand Bikes, Asha for Education, the Foundation for Philippine Progress, Iron Riders, Outspoken, Warpaint, and Gruppetto Cycling to boost diversity on our biggest rides.
Cascade Tours
First dibs on signing up for our Tours is one of the great perks of Membership. Limited to 200 riders, and set in some of Washington’s most scenic destinations, Cascade Tours are your passport to exploring our beautiful state.
Check out our photo album, “Walla Walla Sweets” to see the smiling faces of our Walla Walla Tour.
Are you a gravel glutton? You’ll love our Winthrop Gravel Tour.
Voting for Trails
Rallying support for ballot measures that increase access to bicycling is one of Cascade’s keys to success. One of our big wins was the passage of the King County Parks Levy.
Learn about the expansion of the Lake to Sound Trail and other trail projects in King County that will benefit from this successful ballot measure.
STP Ambassadors
STP Ambassador Makesi Duncan preaches body positivity and Dad Bod pride. Ambassador Lisa Charlebois is a long-distance randonneur who inspires others to bike “further and funner.”
Read about the 36 biking ambassadors and social media influencers selected to serve as our STP 2025 Ambassadors in our post, “The Dad Bods, Randonneurs, and Biking Ambassadors of STP 2025.”
Are you passionate about storytelling and riding STP? Apply to become a 2026 Ambassador.
Celebrating Heroes of the Bike Community
Bicycling is a healthy, happy, and affordable all-ages activity. Nobody illustrates this point more than longtime Cascade Member Art Burrill. Now 80, he has ridden 34 STPs and has a goal of 100,000 miles by 2027.
Read about Art’s quest in “100,000 Miles and 35 STPs.”
Along with Art Burrill, blind cyclist Clark Roberts shows that STP is for everyone, regardless of age, race, body type, or physical ability. Learn how the Cascade community stepped up when Roberts needed a cycling partner to captain his tandem.
Celebrating our Members and Volunteers
We love our Members because they help power Cascade’s mission. In 2025 we created a new series, “This is What Membership Looks Like,” to tell the diverse stories of our Members both new and old.
Read about Jen and Adam’s journey from social rides to STP.
Learn how Doug uses bicycling and Cascade rides to reduce stress, and how Josie participates in Cascade rides to take in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest from her saddle.
Member and Free Group Rides leader Wenmei Hill loves how there's "no one way" to be a cyclist in the Cascade community.
Whether fixing bikes as an Outrider, rescuing and delivering food for the Pedaling Relief Project, or teaching kids the joy of biking, our Volunteers power Cascade’s mission. Meet our 2025 Volunteers of the Year.
Electric Bikes Change Lives
We love e-bikes because they flatten hills, make busy intersections a breeze, and enable more people to bike more often. When the Washington State Department of Ecology asked Cascade to help distribute electric bikes to income-eligible Shoreline residents, we jumped at the opportunity.
Learn more about this effort and how Climate Commitment Act funds are being used to spur low-carbon transportation in this story from Cascade PBS.
Gear and Bikes to Improve Your Ride
Are you looking for holiday gift ideas? Our gear reviews are a great resource for finding bike-related presents.
Read our picks for bikes, bibs, fanny packs, and eyewear, as well as Cascade’s tips for gravel and cargo bikes, LED vests, fenders, TPU tubes, and more.
New Year, New Rides
As 2025 comes to a close, we turn our attention to 2026 and the new rides, important dates, and big events we are cooking up. From a new Lake Union Family Ride to a new San Juan Island Tour to the addition of 5-packs for saving on RSVP, Cascade has a lot in store for riders in the new year.
Learn more and Save the Dates for STP, RSVP, Chilly Hilly, Tours, and the likely return of our beloved Emerald City Ride.
May your 2026 be safe, joyous, and full of bike rides with friends and loved ones. Happy New Year.
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