The Beaverton Police Department’s Public Information Officer Sgt. Paul Wandell says a statement about bike safety printed in a city newsletter has been “blown out of proportion.”
The advice — that bicyclists should, “walk your bike across busy intersections and streets” — was printed as a bike safety tip and it has touched a nerve among many Beaverton residents after a story on BikePortland brought it to their attention.
You’ve got some important choices to make in this election, so why not wait a few days before making up your mind?
Tomorrow is the big City Club debate featuring the six candidates vying for City Commissioner Seat #1 (that’s the race with Fritz, Smith, Bissonnette, Branam, Fahey, and Lewis — all solid candidates), and I’ve got thoughts and notes I’d like to share about them as well.
Also, in a few minutes I’m sitting down with mayoral hopeful Sho Dozono. I’ll ask him to share his thoughts on how he’ll work to make Portland equal to Amsterdam — a claim he made in a televised debate last month.
Meet: Madison Plaza, 1 SE Madison St
9:45am – 2:45pm, We should arrive at the Kennedy School by 2 PM
Need to get those booties into shape for Pedalpalooza? This is an intermediate hill-training ride climbing three of Portland’s cinder cones: Powell Butte, Mt. Tabor, and Rocky Butte. Ride departs from Madison Plaza, heads out the Springwater Corridor to Powell Butte, then on to Mt. Tabor, then Rocky Butte, ending at the Kennedy School for a rewarding soak for our sore buttes (i know…i’ll stop now). No rider left behind (hee hee…’behind’…get it?)
Heather Williams, ptownpeach at gmail daht comm, Community Exchange Cycle Tours
Meet:
Salmon Street Springs Fountain, SW Naito Pkwy and Salmon St
We’ll be riding to the contradance at Fulton Park Community Center in SW Portland. Bring $9 ($6 student) for admission! The contradance community is very friendly and open to beginners – lessons start a half-hour before the event, and dance steps are usually walked through before each piece. See some contradance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElxvcOTDv18
The musicians for this week’s contradance will be The Portland Connection: Clyde Curley (the organizer’s high school English teacher!), Susan Songer, and George Penk, with Sue Baker calling.
Come try it! It’s fun!
Heather Andrews, haha at teleport daht comm, PCDC Event Details, 503-775-4994
Meet:
HI-Portland, Hawthorne District, 3031 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Are you a regular bicycle rider but have never taken a bicycle tour? Join us to learn more about Self-Supported Bicycle Touring. We’ll be discussing equipment, planning, and cost as well as day-to-day life on the road. We’ll also have a few loaded touring bikes to check out. Bring the bicycle you think you would like to tour with, we’ll check it out and give you some helpful pointers.
Shawn Granton, shawn at portlandhostel daht oh are gee, portlandhostel.org, 503-236-3380
THE MOTHER OF ALL RIDES
Meet at 8247 N. Lombard Take Trimet
10:00am
Meet in Weirs Cyclery back lot for The Mother of All Rides at 10 a.m. Weirs is located at 8247 N. Lombard, at the corner of Charleston and Lombard.
We will start the ride early enough to give us time to we can loop around the parade set-up, figure out our spot in the parade, go for an easy spin and then back to the parade start and into the St. Johns Parade.
Two pedicabs will be in the parade with my mother, Aimee, being a guest in one of them. Who will be in the other? Come and see!
Plenty of post parade partying , along with the Bizarre, a community celebration and ohh..a Carnival!
Joe Adamski, jgadamski at excite daht comm
Meet at Rocky Point Rd. off Hwy. 30
6:00pm, Every Friday
Join the PUMPp Friday night ride on tight single track in Scappoose. Intermediate to Gonzo technical trails. Bring Lights if you have them. 6:00 p.m. Take Highway 30 West from Portland. When nearing Scappoose, make a left on Rocky Point Road, just past the truck scales. Follow Rocky Point Road 1.1 miles & meet at the first blue gate on the right. Contact John Joy [at] 503.708.5752
John Joy, newsletter at pumpclub daht oh are gee, www.pumpclub.org, 503-708-5752
Meet at
Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave, Portland
(I usually bring a bike helmet with a 3 leafed clover on it to help newcomers find the right table)
12:15pm – 1:15pm, Every Friday
Make friends with bikey people on your lunch break. 12:15PM Friday’s
If it’s cold, or raining at Backspace coffee shop (they sell a mostly vegan menu, and Stumptown coffee).
If it’s warm, and dry at the battleship Oregon on the waterfront (between pine, and oak).
Daniel Patrick Johnson (teknotus), teknotus at gmail daht comm, 503-409-1735
Meet at The Portland Building, 2nd floor, Room C, 1120 SW 5th Ave
A workshop focusing on the nuances of bike commuting for women: wardrobe, safety, biking with kids, and more. Lunch provided, all levels welcome. RSVP required by Tuesday, May 6. Call Bethany at 503-823-7878. Part of the Bike to Work Month Events.
As many of you who already know, all sorts of interesting things can be seen while riding around a city.
I’ve been trying to snap photos of random sights on the bikeways around Portland more often. Here are three things that caught my eye in the past few days…
“Public Safety” is the theme of a special edition of the City of Beaverton’s Your City newsletter (Beaverton is about 7 miles southwest of Portland).
When BikePortland reader Alan Bennett read through it he was shocked to see that under the heading of, Riding Safe: Bicycle Tips, it was recommended that when biking, you should, “Stop at all intersections and be sure to walk your bike across busy intersections and streets.”
In a letter sent out this morning to subscribers of his email newsletter, City Commissioner Sam Adams summed up PDOT’s budget woes and made some final statements on the defunct Sauvie Island Bridge re-use plan (I think the statement will also be published as an Op-Ed in the Oregonian but haven’t confirmed that yet).
In the letter, Adams writes that the combination of high fuel prices, the increasing cost of materials and declining Gas Tax revenue (because Oregonians are driving less) has created a “massive new transportation challenge facing our City.”