Annual Holiday Bike Drive is about much more than free bikes

CCC's Holiday Bike Drive

A scenes from last year’s event.
(Photos © Jonathan Maus)

On Sunday, December 9th, 519 Portland kids will receive a shiny recycled bicycle, lovingly prepped and polished by an army of volunteers.

But despite the heart-warming smiles of anxious kids ready to pedal their new rigs, handing off the bike is just one part of this very special event.

To pull off their annual Holiday Bike Drive event, the Community Cycling Center (CCC) spends nearly all year organizing with over 65 individual caseworkers (all the kids are referred into the program), schools, and community organizations.

And then there are the volunteers. With one week to go before the event, they’ve already donated 1,538 hours of work.

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UPDATE: Portland will pick bike-sharing vendor next week

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[Update: 12/6, 9:47pm (see below)]

Commissioner Sam Adams’ office has put together a panel to review the proposals of the three companies who responded to their request to implement a bike-sharing system in Portland.

The request called for a company that could manage the “delivery and operation of a bicycle fleet [numbering 500 bikes] for rent to the general public and stationed in the public right of way to further promote the City’s use of a multi-modal public transportation system with a focus on the City’s core area.”

According to the official document from the the City’s Bureau of Purchases, the three companies are:

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Finalists chosen for Zoobomb Pyle rack project

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The Pyle, at its current
location on SW 9th.
(Photos © Jonathan Maus)

Even though it’s been over a year since Zoobombers first met with PDOT about it, the process to integrate the iconic mound of mini-bikes known as the Zoobomb Pyle into a piece of official public art is now moving along quickly.

After the announcement of the project in October, the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) received 14 applications from local artists hoping to build a new rack for the beloved cluster of mini-bikes.

The bikes are maintained by a group of Portlanders who like to take them on the MAX train to Washington Park and then “Zoobomb” down the steep and windy streets of the West Hills every Sunday night.

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Going deep in a quest for The Grail

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Steven Hunter dove deep in the
Willamette to uncover his piece
of The Grail.
(Photos courtesy Brian Ellin)

So much of what makes the Cross Crusade a success has little to do with racing bikes. Take for example the Quest for The Grail.

The Quest is a contest dreamed up by Crusade director Brad Ross, and event founder Rick Potestio. The stakes? Prizes, bragging rights, and one lucky winner will get a round-trip ticket to the Cyclocross World Championships in Treviso, Italy.

The rules are simple: follow the trail on the map (below), when you see the orange “X” you begin searching nearby for “a fragment of an ancient bike or even The Grail itself.” Each participant can only collect one fragment and then they must bring it to the Cross Crusade Awards Party (this Sunday) to find out if their fragment is in fact The Grail.

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Lake Oswego Holiday Bike Drive

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Official Event Website

Community Cycling Center & Exchange Cycle Tours Holiday Bike Drive

DATE: Dec. 1st, 2007
Time: 11 AM – 4 PM (12:30 PM – 4PM at Athey Creek)

Locations:
Lake Grove Albertson’s Grocery Store
16199 Boones Ferry Rd, Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Athey Creek Middle School (at the Girl Scouts’ Trefoil Bazaar Event)
2900 SW Borland Rd, West Linn, OR 97068

Development Charges approved; bike improvements get funding boost

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Three months ago, I reported that PDOT had finalized their list of projects to be funded through the Transportation System Development Charges (TSDC) program.

This program assesses one-time fees to new development and redevelopment to help pay for transportation improvements.

Now that the list has been approved by City Council, the following projects will receive about one quarter of their funding from TSDCs.

(These are only the projects that have a bike infrastructure component, for more details and the full list of 43 projects click here.)

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Tonight at 11: KGW presents ‘bike/car challenge’

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My day in Salem

See how a cyclist feels in the
driver’s seat tonight on KGW.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

Tonight at 11 o’clock, KGW-TV (channel 8) will feature a special segment on bikes and cars.

The piece will attempt to show how it feels to navigate Portland streets from a different perspective. They took a regular bicyclist (who just so happens to be BikePortland.org columnist Elly Blue) and had her drive a car from her home in Southeast to Powells in the heart of downtown Portland.

They then took someone who regularly commutes by car and had them ride a bike home from work (Emanuel Hospital) in Northeast Portland.

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