The other day I stopped into Cyclepath and noticed a unique-looking Surly Pugsley leaning against the wall.
Shop co-owner Bill Larson noticed my drooling and before I could form a sentence he was wheeling out another one just like it.
Turns out that these beauties belong to none other than Nike design legend (he did several “Air Jordans”) and current VP Tinker Hatfield.
One of the more interesting and dramatic cases in yesterday’s “Bike Day at Court” was the case involving Jeff Smith.
Smith is a PDOT employee who, ironically, has worked in the city’s bike program for many years.
Smith was issued a citation for failure to use a bike lane while riding his bicycle westbound on SW Main Street between the Hawthorne Bridge and 1st Avenue.
Interestingly, instead of just the cop defending his ticket (which is the usual practice), according to one observer there were “four or five” District Attorneys present for this case,
“the DAs were constantly huddling together, talking amongst themselves, and advising other officers in the room.”
The following notes on yesterday’s court proceedings are from local transportation activist and regular Shift volunteer, Carl Larson (photo).
“These trials really drove the larger point of all of this home to me. These officers hide behind the shield of “safety,” but in many cases, their real goal is to protect the interests of motor vehicle operators. They clearly see bikes as a threat to the flow of traffic and deal with them accordingly.”
-Carl Larson
The case of Nerf (nickname of a Portland cyclist):
Nerf was going north on the sidewalk in front of the Marriot Hotel on SW Broadway. He pled no contest to the sidewalk charge, but Barnum milked the fact that he was on the sidewalk as best as he could. If I heard correctly, though, he actually pursued Nerf by riding his motorcycle on the sidewalk! Insane.
According to Barnum’s testimony, he asks Nerf where his brake is, and Nerf produces his stick (slung under his bag). The judge asks for exact dimensions of the stick (1″ x 12″). Ginsberg actually let Nerf seriously defend the stick as a means of stopping, even going so far as to point, on a diagram of a bike, to where he would jam it against his wheel.