Memorable moments of 2005
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on December 30th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Here’s my list of news and events I remember most from 2005:
- We broke the 10,000 barrier in average number of bike trips across the four main Willamette River bridges.
- Too many cyclists lost their lives or suffered serious injuries on Portland streets.
- At one point at the Multnomah County Bike Fair someone counted 500 bikes parked in Colonel Summers Park.
- The Zoobomb crew got their 15 minutes of fame when the PBS show Globe Trekker came to town.
- Pedalpalooza (Shift’s “17 days of pure bike fun”) established itself as the undisputed king of multi-day bike festivals.
- ODOT made the worst decision ever when they chose to add no bike facilities to the renovated St. Johns Bridge.
- Mayor Potter joined us for Critical Mass on his recumbent.
- Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams showed his cycling allegience by showing up to everything from Kids Pedal to the memorial ride for Gareth Parker and by going crazy for Platinum.
- Bridge Pedal was nearly too much of a good thing. When 20,000 people showed up the route got clogged and it turned into the Bridge Walk for most people…but it was still a fantastic event.
- Portland Police Bureau traffic division commander Bill Sinnott opened his doors to cycling.
- 20 artists and hundreds of bike lovers filled Urban Grind Coffee to partake in the first-annual BikeCraft. If you missed it this time, you’ll get another chance this summer.
- Alpenrose Dairy hosted 646 cyclocross racers in the largest single-day cyclocross race in U.S. history.
And that’s just off the top of my head. What do you remember most?
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December 31st, 2005 01:51
the naked bike ride!
December 31st, 2005 11:39
Yes, I was also on said " Naked Bike ride "
At one point we had the block around Capt. Ankeny's completly block by naked cyclists, 5 deep
January 1st, 2006 12:05
Bikes won big at the Oregon Legislature! Two new bike laws were passed in Oregon (allowing you, as of today, to ride on the right and leave a bike lane legally, and also helping guide the development of effective Safe Routes to School plans around the state).
The federal transportation reauthorization bill (SAFETEA-LU, but who's ever going to say that?) also passed with more money than ever before for bikes. And Oregon's earmarks included many worthy trail projects all over the state.
January 1st, 2006 16:06
Of course! How could I forget the Naked Ride! My favorite thing was the look on all the tourists faces downtown, the smile and shaking head from the cop, and all the guys who were getting slapped by their girlfriends for watching a little too closely!
January 3rd, 2006 15:37
Jonathan,
congrats on a great site!
Alas, as I rode in to work on this first work day of the new year, I was disappointed to see the first evidence of the city's bike sign program...more wimpy directional signs that you have to look hard to see. The pavement markers are a slap in the face as far as I am concerned, and the directional signs are not much better.
Come on, Roger, a city that seeks to go Platinum has got to have clearly marked bike routes at the very least.
January 3rd, 2006 15:59
Lenny, I think the new signs look good and the directional signs do the trick for me. What do you propose as a better way to "clearly mark bike routes"?
By the way, here's very recent photo of the new bikeway signs.
And thanks for the kind words about my site!