Today’s edition of Roll Call, a newspaper that has covered Capitol Hill for over half a century, makes it official; bikes are now on the radar of our nation’s lawmakers like never before.
In the “Heard on the Hill” column, the paper writes that,
Month: July 2008
Trees of Reed College Ride
ECT Slow & Easy “Trees of Reed College” Ride
Sponsored by the Community Exchange Cycle Touring Club. We leave no
riders behind.
The beautiful campus of Reed College, with Reed Lake it it’s center,
is home to over 1000 trees and features over 100 different species
from around the world. Every single tree has been carefully mapped,
out making it easy to find examples of any particular specie of tree.
Ideal for young riders and their parents, children being towed in
trailers, or anybody else looking for a ride set at a more relaxed
pace, this ride will be routed using streets with bike lanes and/or
minimal automotive traffic. The short but steep climb up Steele St to
the Reed College campus may be too difficult for some beginning riders
so those few blocks may be walked. We leave nobody behind!
When: Saturday, Aug 2, 2008
Time: Assemble 11:00 am, Depart 11:10 am
Start & End Point: Madison Plaza (underneat east side of Hawthorne Bridge)
Distance: 10 miles
Pace: Easy – pace set at speed of slowest rider
Expected Duration: 2-3 hours
Forecast: 76 degrees, clouds giving way to sun
Route: will be posted soon if I can figure out how to use Bikely.com
For those wanting a longer ride, the ECT Bike to Berry Ride out to
Sauvie Island will be leaving from the same starting point at 10:00
am. With the Berry Ride on Saturday and the Hottest Day of the Year
Ride scheduled on Sunday, I expect our turnout to be low so we will
have lots of time and flexibility for exploring the trees of Reed
College.
Ride Leader and contact information: Severt Lawyer,
wsevert(at)gmail(dot)com, 503-234-7778
ECT is a non-profit organization promoting peace and cultural exchange
through bicycle touring and bike school operation. We are registered
with the State of Oregon and we are applying for our 501(c)3 status
with IRS. Upon receipt of our non-profit status, your donations will
be tax deductible with a retroactive effectivity date of 3/29/2007 –
our incorporation date.
Your participation, volunteering, and donations are much appreciated.
Our website: www.ExchangeCycleTours.org
Also on YahooGroups: ExchangeCycleTours
Hawthorne Bridge sidewalk will be closed on Saturday
A special event will close the south sidewalk/bikeway of the Hawthorne Bridge from 6am to 7pm this Saturday (8/2). See full details in press release from Multnomah County below:
Red Bull event to close Hawthorne Bridge sidewalk and traffic lane on Saturday
The south sidewalk of the Hawthorne Bridge and an eastbound traffic lane will be closed from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm this Saturday, August 2 to accommodate the Red Bull Flugtag event. The event takes place from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on the west side of the Willamette River between the Hawthorne Bridge and RiverPlace.
The bridge sidewalk closure will allow a viewing area to be created for the event, in which teams launch non-powered flying machines from a barge in the Willamette River on the south side of the bridge. One traffic lane will remain open in both directions, as well as the north sidewalk, during the event. The closure will not impact river traffic.
Multnomah County maintains the Hawthorne Bridge and more than 300 miles of roads and bridges.
Portland Platinum Party
Platinum Award Party
Portland City Hall, 1221 SW 4th Ave
Thursday, August 7, 2008
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Free and open to the public
Senate Committee, McCain(?), will vote on National Bike Bill this week
The National Bike Bill is headed to a vote in the Senate Committee on Commerce Science, and Transportation this Thursday (7/31) and the League of American Bicyclists is asking its members to take action.
The bill (House Congressional Resolution 305) was introduced by Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) back in February and passed a House vote in May.
City to hold Platinum award party; will name first winner of ‘Bicycle Friendly Community Award’
The City of Portland has just announced their plans to celebrate the recent designation of Portland as a Platinum-level bicycle friendly community.
The event will be held at City Hall this next Thursday (8/7).
Popularity of ‘Short Track’ race series skyrockets
Short Track series organizer
Kris Schamp.
(Photos © J. Maus)
Kris Schamp.
(Photos © J. Maus)
The Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Race Series, which wrapped up its six-race series at Portland International Raceway (PIR) last night, has tallied a record number of participants.
Event founder and organizer Kris Schamp reports that for the first time ever, there were over 400 entries into last night’s event and that he tallied a 65% increase in the amount of unique racers (some folks race more than once per event) from last year.
Portland’s bike-friendly rep garners plenty of attention too
Suli Yu, a reporter for Voice of
America, working in SE Portland
this morning.
(Photo © J. Maus)
America, working in SE Portland
this morning.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Even though recent local and national headlines have portrayed an image of uneasiness and tension between bikes and cars on Portland’s roadways, our bike scene is also getting plenty of positive attention.
I just spent a few hours with Suli Yu, a video journalist with the Chinese bureau Voice of America. Founded in 1942, the VOA is a U.S. taxpayer-funded news service that broadcasts to a worldwide audience of 134 million people.
Mr. Yu was in Portland to produce a feature on our bike culture for Cultural Odyssey, a weekly news magazine program. Yu said the show will be translated into 44 languages and shown via satellite in cities around the world (in addition to being piped into every major hotel in China).
Neighborhood, city, move toward a carfree Last Thursday
“The city is allowing us to discourage cars from using Alberta with signs and posters asking them not to drive on the street during Last Thursday.”
–Magnus Johannesson, Alberta Street neighborhood activist and business owner.
The City of Portland, TriMet, and a neighborhood activist are moving forward on an effort to discourage cars from driving on NE Alberta Street during the monthly Last Thursday event.
Last month, Alberta Street neighborhood activist and business owner Magnus Johannesson drove two junker cars onto the street and created a temporary carfree zone before tow trucks and the Police Bureau showed up.
Photo of the Day: SPD cleats in cowboy boots
The BTA’s Angela Koch showed up at the Mountain Bike Short Track races at Portland International Raceway last night wearing these beauties…
The road rage heard ’round the world
Screenshot from Newsweek.com.
It’s been almost three weeks since an Oregonian story about a alcohol-related traffic altercation was blown up into a “bikes vs. cars” war and now Newsweek has taken the bait.
A story published yesterday in their National Affairs section is ominously titled, Road Rage in Portland: Bikes Cars Clash and Pedal vs. Metal: A surge in bike ridership spurs a new kind of road rage.