(Photo © J. Maus)

Because I know many of you would love to pedal before you eat, here’s a quick notice about two rides happening in Portland tomorrow (Thanksgiving) morning.

9:00am: Thanksgiving Morning Fixed-Gear Food ‘n Ride

This ride is being led by local racing legend David Auker. You can find meet-up and location details via this post to the OBRA email list. In a nutshell, the ride will start with a breakfast and than a 1-2 hour jaunt with a “chatty pace” (which as we all know is entirely dependent on who you’re chatting with) into Portland’s West Hills. Auker says the ride is “strictly” for fixed gears, “no coasters!” and he recommends a gearing in the low to mid 60-inch range.

Or, for something completely different…

10:30am: Appetite Enhancement Ride

Meet at Pasture Ted’s house, 60 NE Tillamook at 10:30 for drinks and refreshments. Roll out at 11am for a freewheeling ride through car-free downtown Portland. Don’t miss this rare occasion (ride now in its second year) to take all the lanes, do donuts, and enjoy the city streets without fear or foes.

That’s it for us until Monday. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Brian Campbell is selling this trailer home.
(A weather-proof siding is yet to be added).
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

The Thanksgiving holiday is all about home for many people. For Brian Campbell, home has been a bicycle for over thirty years.

Brian is the man known far and wide for his amazing RV bike. He’s traveled with it throughout the country, over mountain passes and at speeds of up to 70 mph (thanks to an ingenious flywheel apparatus he has invented). We first reported about Brian landing in Portland three years ago.

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A “Rider of Yule” at your service.
(Photo: TreesByBike.com)

Portlander Max Kirchoff plans to spread holiday cheer around the city in a novel way this year. He’s launched TreesByBike.com, a new service that will deliver locally grown Christmas trees by bike.

Max, a.k.a. the “Yule Dispatcher”, says the idea came to him last year as he pedaled home from the lot with a tree stuffed into his messenger bag. “I rode it home, and rather than the occasional rude honk or swerving or bad mojo I get from drivers, people were honking and cheering me.”

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A scene from the Tweed Run in London.
(Photo: M.J.S. on Flickr/ Some rights reserved)

Grab your tweed and your steed because the Tweed Ride is coming to Portland. The date has been set for January 30th.

Portlander Jocelyn Gaudi is organizing the ride. She says it will include tea time and a civilized lunch. The ride won’t cost you anything and wearing tweed isn’t mandatory, “but dressing dapper is highly encouraged” says Gaudi.

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Paul Steely White in a still from video.
-Watch it below-

Since many of us in Portland’s bike advocacy sphere are wondering who will take the reins of our state’s largest bike advocacy organization, I thought I’d share a short video (which I found via Intersection 911) featuring the leader of New York’s Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White.

The video was created as part of TA’s excellent Biking Rules PSA competition. In the simple video, White makes a clear, concise and compelling case for bicycling in cities. His tone and framing of the issues are what we need more of in this country. Here are a few examples…

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Scaled-back CRC plans have not
stopped grassroots opposition.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Last week, Columbia River Crossing project staff and state DOT officials from Oregon and Washington pitched a kinder, gentler version of the controversial project to legislators in Salem. Responding to widespread criticisms that the project is too big and too expensive, CRC backers have trimmed $650 million from the cost of the project and reduced the number of lanes from 12 to 10.

But, while the revamped plans have won support among some lawmakers lured by the potential of thousands of jobs, the move has emboldened grassroots opposition. The Coalition to Stop the Columbia River Crossing sent out an email one day after the new plans surfaced claiming a “Big victory on the CRC!” and used the opportunity to rally the troops for a protest action.

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A snipped cable lock spotted a few
weeks ago near SE Belmont and 34th.
(Photo © Elly Blue)

For some reason there seems to be a rash of bike thefts happening in Portland right now. I just noticed that we’ve had nine bicycles listed as stolen in Portland in the past 12 hours alone. I can’t confirm it without a bit more research, but I think it’s safe to say this is a record number of listings for a 12-hour period.

What’s going on? Are thieves trying to make a few quick bucks before Black Friday? Has a bike theft ring set up shop in Portland? Are thieves in need of transportation to visit their families for Thanksgiving? It’s hard to tell.

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Tired of waiting for innovation.
(Photo © J. Maus)

An exciting new coalition of America’s largest cities has joined together to push for more innovative bikeway design guidelines. Cities for Cycling, which will formally launch in Washington D.C. on December 8th, will look to break the shackles of rigid federal roadway design guidelines that have long had a stifling impact on bikeway innovation in the United States.

The new coalition was the brainchild of two Portlanders — former city bike coordinator and now planning consultant Mia Birk and current City of Portland Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield. The impetus comes from a realization that current federal design guidelines for bikeway development are outdated and incomplete.

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Back in May, we reported from the first meeting of a group of local bike-based business owners who came together to discuss the formation of a new organization. The idea was to join forces so they could more effectively advocate for their interests and help ensure their business success.

In just a few months, this group has moved from energetic ideas to a formal structure and a new name, the Bicycle Business League. On Friday, Nov. 18, its members approved by-laws and elected a five-person board to help achieve ambitious goals.

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The Broadway/Williams intersection is in
dire need of improvements.

[Adams Carroll contributed reporting to this story.]

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has known for years that the intersection of NE Broadway and Williams is one of the most dangerous in the city for bike traffic. Significant plans to improve the intersection were drawn up over a year ago, but PBOT has yet to implement them.

After two Portlanders died while riding in bike lanes in October 2007, PBOT put the intersection on its list of 14 to get a green-painted bike box. When a fix turned out to be more complicated than a standard bike box, PBOT went back to the drawing board. In March 2008 they unveiled several possible design solutions including separate traffic signal phases for bicycles, lane reconfigurations, and new pavement markings.

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Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:

- Over one third of US young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are unfit for military service — primarily due to obesity and poor health.

- The Netherlands may soon become the first European country to charge a kilometer tax (with higher fees for peak hours and more polluting vehicles) rather than a road tax.

- A must-read analysis by Chris Smith on what bicycle advocates need to do to go after the serious funding levels needed to bring Portland to the next level.

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[This story was co-written by Elly Blue and Jonathan Maus]

Scott Bricker
(Photos © J. Maus)

Last week the Board of Directors of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) — Oregon’s largest bicycle advocacy organization — fired Scott Bricker after he served just two years as the organization’s executive director.

“What’s going on down there?” we were asked by David Hiller, advocacy director of the Cascade Bicycle Club, the BTA’s Washington State counterpart. “The whole national advocacy community is all atwitter about this and there aren’t any answers.”

Hiller’s sentiments were echoed here in the BTA’s own backyard, where many seemed to be caught off guard by the decision, which was effective immediately.

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North Portland resident Joe Hagedorn rides a cargo bike from Joe Bike with his son and friends aboard.
-Slideshow below/Gallery
(Photos © J. Maus)

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This week’s job opportunity puts the candidate deep into the push for developing active transportation options. Are you detail oriented? Do you geek out over maps and transit schedules? Check out the BikePortland Job Listings for details on this and other gigs.

• Public transportation information consulting data engineer — Trillium Solutions

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Gordon Price addresses the crowd
during his presentation yesterday.
(Photos: Adams Carroll/BikePortland)

About 60 people gathered in the Portland Building last night to hear professor and former Vancouver B.C. city councilor Gordon Price share his insights on transportation, land use, and urban planning. Price’s presentation, which was part of the traffic and transportation course at Portland State University, detailed the problems of auto-centric planning in North America and offered some practical solutions from Vancouver.

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An issue that has been simmering since April 2006 has finally reached some resolution. The River View Cemetery Association Board of Trustees has met several times in the last few weeks to address the issue of bicycle traffic going through their property. The issue reached a boiling point in September when the cemetery installed a series of speed bumps that many felt were draconian and unduly severe (they caused several injuries).

After forming a committee to look into the issue further and inviting a representative from the BTA from PBOT out to look at the roads, the non-profit’s Executive Director David Noble has announced, “for the time being, no restriction on bicycling has been enacted.”

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Vancouver gives plenty of space and
separation for people walking and biking
along their waterfront. We should do the same.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Tonight, Portland is set to get schooled once again by the highly engaging and sharp Gordon Price from Vancouver B.C. Price is the director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and he’s a noted thought leader on urban planning and transportation.

Vancouver’s transportation network and urban form is something to admire. They’ve done a lot that we should pay attention to.

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Riding along the river on what
should be a fully connected and
developed trail.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The North Portland Greenway Trail is on the cover of the “InPortland” section of The Oregonian today. The exposure for the project is an important boost to the project — whose backers need more political support to make it a reality.

The story lays out how the trail has made some small steps of progress, but that its actual construction is still far off (the advocacy effort behind the trail is already four years old):

“Even its lead advocate, however, sets 10 years as an optimistic timetable for the Greenway to receive funding and be fully constructed.”

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It’s time to gear up and hunker down — this weekend, take a ride to a nice, warm, indoor location. Build up your repair and riding skills, learn to make informed investments in winter gear, or have a warm drink while enthusiastically debating the big picture.

Or take the opportunities below to just head out there and ride for miles and miles in cheerful company.

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Should cyclists pay a road tax?
A majority of respondents said no.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Back in July a local web marketing company Webtrends wrapped a MAX train with the question, “Should cyclists pay a road tax?” I wasn’t too thrilled with it and made my concerns clear in an editorial about the campaign.

The campaign stirred quite a bit of debate and news coverage about the issue. Now Webtrends has released a follow-up report and analysis about their findings from the campaign. The company’s original plan was to create a follow-up MAX ad sharing the results of their findings (the ad in the photo above is still running).

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