Tonight is the big Last Thursday celebration on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland. If you head out there, here are two special happenings you don’t want to miss.

First, those kooky clowns at the famous Clownhouse on NE 25th and Alberta Streets are holding their first ever talent show. Dubbed “Shmanarchist Idol,” [...]

[Freightliner employees kick off the Bike Commute Challenge.]

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) kicks off their annual Bike Commute Challenge tomorrow and organizers say an estimated 700 companies (view list) from Oregon and Washington will participate.
The event promotes bike commuting by encouraging companies to compete against each other to see who can get more employees riding [...]

[Update: According to a rep from Friends of Forest Park—who were instrumental in making this trail happen—some minor work remains to complete this trail.]
Last Saturday was the second of two trail work parties to complete a new mountain bike trail in Forest Park. The trail, which extends off an existing firelane, is the [...]

[Jeff Bernards, founder of Get Lit]

For the last three years, Jeff Bernards and his Get Lit program have distributed over 1500 free bike lights and 500 helmets to Portland cyclists.
His program—which was initially funded by an ODOT grant—has become such a success that it has garnered national media attention, earned him an Alice [...]

[Editor's note: I got this all wrong! This event is not being organized by messengers and while the format is modeled after messenger races, most of the participants are not messengers and the event is open to all ladies and transgendered riders. According to one of the organizers, "This is a fun race [...]

Have you noticed these cool little bike stencils popping up on popular bikeways throughout the city? I’ve seen them around the Hawthorne Bridge, on the Springwater Corridor Trail, and several other places.
I have no idea what they’re all about but I’m curious. BikePortland.org reader Matt Picio is curious too so he snapped [...]

I just noticed this post in the Forums. It’s about a pre-meditated bike crash scam on the waterfront.
“A co-worker of mine got mugged while bicycling home!! He was riding along the waterfront and was boxed in by another rider and forced into an accident. They crashed pretty hard and he tore up [...]

The Transportation Options division within PDOT has put out a call to marketing and focus group experts to help create and evaluate effective messages that will resonate with the non-cycling public.
This effort is a key part of their nine-point strategy to reach Platinum status with the League of Amercian Bicyclists and increase bicycle use by [...]

[A Brompton builtfor two.]

Since neither of my girls can ride a bike on their own (yet), we’re always looking for ways to carry them. So far Juli and I have used a trailer, baby seats, backpacks, my arms and even my shoulders (just for fun).
Last week I came across two new methods that were [...]

It’s been just over a year since I posted, “Wanted: your close calls.” Since then, 226 of you have reported the details of your harrowing experiences.
I read all of them and every once in a while one will catch my eye. Like this one,

Matt Cartwright is a North Portland-based artist who specializes in metal fabrication. He is responsible for many local bike sculptures including the people on the roof of River City Bicycles and many others.

[Danica and I clowning around at camp.]

I just got back from a weekend of camping. My family and some friends stayed in a yurt in Nehalem Bay State Park, about a half-hour south of Seaside.
I know there was a ton of bike stuff going on—from the Zoobomb Birthday to a bike move—and [...]

[John Carothers has beencharged with a felony.]

A press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department credits “leads provided by citizens” in helping them locate the truck and boat trailer of Newberg resident John Carothers (right).
Carothers—the man behind a hit and run on Highway 219 last Saturday—has been charged with a felony for fleeing the scene [...]

The Vancouver Police Department has found the vehicle and is questioning its 15 year-old driver in yesterday’s hit and run assault of a seven year-old boy.
Here’s the official word:

Over on IShareTheRoad.com I’ve just posted a story about Arvin Bradley. If you ride across the Hawthorne Bridge, chances are you know who I’m talking about.

[Ever seen a flagger this friendly?]

Read “Flagger brings happiness to the Hawthorne” on IShareTheRoad.com.

Breaking news in last Saturday’s hit-and-run out on Highway 219.
Washington County Sheriff’s Department has arrested 37 year-old John Carothers. According to reports, Carothers willingly turned himself in.
Carothers sent cyclist, surgeon and mother of triplets Cindy Sharp to the hospital with serious arm injuries after running her off the road last week a [...]

black Nishiki with silver campagnolo pedals, large cruising or road bike

[via the Portland Mercury Blog]

[Notice of appeal]

Portland lawyer Mark Ginsberg has filed an appeal in the Ayla Holland fixed-gear case.
Ginsberg waited to make his decision until after he and his staff could closely scrutinize the transcript from the initial trial.
Ayla Holland told me in a recent phone conversation that she feels strongly about [...]

Jeff Smith is an avid cyclist and employee with the Transportation Options division at the City of Portland. His enthusiasm for touring and knowledge of great routes around the city has helped thousands of Portlanders find their way around (check out his great collection of Portland-to-coast rides).
At last April’s Bike Tourism Summit, Smith was [...]

[Recovered from the scene]Photo: Vancouver PD

Our friends to the North need our help in finding a vehicle that was involved with a hit-and-run yesterday. The victim is a seven year-old boy and the accident happened in the 3700 block of NE 132nd Ave in Vancouver, just east of I-205.
According to official reports there were [...]

silver Peugeot single-speed with that fancy Peugeot checkerboard decal on the vintage (80’s?) Reynolds 531 steel frame (not lugged); black chainring, alloy wheels, flat metal pedals, black
Blackburn rack that was broken and electrical-taped together again.
The bike’s serial number is on two lines: 2171948 on the first line,
PH1O 50 on the second line. Someone also carved [...]

The Portland Mercury Blog is reporting that Multnomah County Judge Dale Koch has denied lawyer Mark Ginsberg’s request to have his stack of fixed-gear tickets heard in a real courtroom, instead of in lowly traffic court.
Since the Ayla Holland case, Ginsberg has collected seven more cases of bicyclists being ticketed for not having a [...]

Rising Tide North America is an activist group that raises awareness for the “root causes of climate change.” Tonight, the group is using our monthly Critical Mass ride—and 28 others around the U.S. and Canada—to raise awareness for their cause and to draw attention to the anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
According to the [...]

The final chapter in the long-running saga of Mountain Cycle has now been written.
Mountain Cycle was once a beloved local brand with a factory in North Portland, a presence on the local cyclocross scene and even a ‘cross bike named the Stumptown.
According to a press release I just received, the [...]

[Ready, set, Zoobomb]

This weekend Zoobombers celebrate their fourth anniversary with two days of mini-bike madness known as the BIFFday Summer Olympics.
On Saturday they’ll assemble at Colonel Summers Park (SE 20th and Belmont) at 2:00 for events like mini-bike polo, chicken races (where mini-bikers duel with someone riding on their shoulders), and the ominous-sounding [...]

[Intersection of SW 5th and Washington]Photo: Susan Otcenas

Citizen activists mobilzed by the death of cyclist Mike Wilberding on August 1st have channeled their emotions into a traffic safety awareness action. The event will be held on September 1st from 4-6pm at SW 5th and Washington Streets in Beaverton (the intersection where the crash occured).
The [...]

Remember this photo of City Commissioner Sam Adams riding a Zoobomb bike in front of City Hall?
Well, he’s not Portland’s only pedal-friendly politician. Check out the photo below of Mayor Potter posing with CHUNK 666 in Southeast Portland.

From: “SCOTT S HURD”
To:
Subject: Fw: stolen bike report
Date: Thursday, August 24, 2006 7:39 AM
Stolen 8-23-06 between 300pm-630pm
from Portland Adventist Hospital 10123 SE Market St Portland, OR. Was locked with a cable and Master padlock to sign next to full bike rack at front entrance of hospital. Lock shackle was cut. [...]

I locked it and my helmet with a fairly heavy cable to an
8-ft tall signpost in front of Pazzo’s Restaurant, 627 SW
Washington St at 1:30PM yesterday. They were gone an hour
later.
it’s a blue Tom Richie fillet-brazed “Outback” model with cool u-brake in the rear,
a rear Blackburn rack and fenders with white mudflaps. [...]

Stolen last night 8/22/06 MBK bicycle next to the train station in NW Portland.
photo here