Anti-bike crusader goes beyond her ‘Bike Free’ blog

Myra Walker (if that is indeed her real name) is not shy about her dislike for some people who ride bikes in Portland.

She calls them the “bikenazi” and she’s devoted a blog, Bike Free Portland, to chronicling her effort to stopping them, “cold in their tracks”.

The not-so-subtle logo found
on the Bike Free Portland blog.

Walker — who commutes by bike — launched her blog on July 22nd, right in the thick of the media maelstrom around road rage and the “bikes vs. cars” “war” (another point of proof that irresponsible “us vs. them” reporting inflames extreme attitudes). Walker started leaving comments here on BikePortland.org shortly thereafter and she’s been posting her thoughts (both here and on her blog) ever since.

She’s got some interesting perspectives on people who ride bikes in Portland (I enjoyed her descriptions of how “fellow bikers” break down into five main groups) , but unfortunately, the bellicose tone of her commentary makes it hard to take her seriously.

And I wouldn’t even be writing about her now if it wasn’t for a post she made this morning.

It seems — at least by her own admission — that Ms. Walker has taken her anti-bike jihad beyond the Internet. According to her post, First Red Lock, she has decided to begin locking up bikes of people who ride in a way that offends her:

She writes:

“…while on my bike I was almost hit by biker trying to get to PSU he ran a red light. moved from side walk to road to crosswalk what ever way was easier for him. I used my first red lock on his bike. I wonder what he will will think when he comes out and sees his bike locked up with my redlock. I need more of these, this was fun.”

In some of her posts, Walker says she’s been interviewing “my fellow bikers”. And now, with this red lock campaign, she seems to be working even harder on her “bike free” vision.

Has anyone out there come across her yet?

And by the way, Ms. Walker, I’m happy to let you comment on this site, but please make sure you have something constructive to share and remember that I do not appreciate comments that make fun of injuries or deaths in any way, shape or form. Thanks.

Check out more of Ms. Walker’s thoughts at the Bike Free Portland blog.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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bahueh
bahueh
15 years ago

wow…I wonder if this person sees the irony…

we have a sad, sad health care system when people with this sort of mental disease are let loose to roam around our streets..

I\’m guessing its a creative writing foreign student at PSU who\’s got too much free time on their hands and very few friends…

or…some middle aged balding male who can\’t find a girlfriend and is…we\’ll say…\”frustrated\”?

anyone else have any thoughts on who \”myra\” could be?

bahueh
bahueh
15 years ago

at least \”she\” got the pseudo-swastika pointing the correct direction…

better than the other 1/2 of lunatics out there transposing it out of sheer stupidity..

David Feldman
David Feldman
15 years ago

The worst part about this is that if \”Myra\” is using quality locks, the technology of lock-busting will be upgraded. Just what we need…………

Ian
Ian
15 years ago

I heard Myra was really Obama.

Ian
Ian
15 years ago

The sad part is this guy probably did deserve the red lock on his bike… now if someone would get some boots for car tires…

Chad
Chad
15 years ago

It is sometimes said that imitation (even if it is the antithesis of) is the ultimate form of flattery.

RonC
RonC
15 years ago

Ha-ha-ha! Valerie Plame told me Ian was really Karl Rove.

Doug
Doug
15 years ago

I counted 13 uses of \”idiot\” and 12 uses of the word \”stupid,\” or variations of those words, all from someone with only a rudimentary grasp of English grammar. Amusing.

KT
KT
15 years ago

I\’ve said it before and I\’ll say it again: Myra is a troll.

Myra is trying to get attention. We keep giving it to her.

I have my doubts that Myra rides, anywhere.

Myra apparently doesn\’t understand that for the vision to work, Myra\’s bike also has to go. Irony? Or is it waiting for someone to point it out?

Myra, get off your bike and back into your car. Live up to your stated goals, stop being a hypocrit.

Ian
Ian
15 years ago

Actually Karl Rove is my mom but that is a story for another day.

no one in particular
no one in particular
15 years ago

I think it\’s all lies. She\’s a troll and bike locks are expensive. She just wants to get you all riled up, but I doubt she\’s actually locking up bikes. If this was really blowing through lights and weaving through traffic, how on earth did she actually catch up to him in order to see where he parked his bike?

Diogo
Diogo
15 years ago

What a freak!!! I think Myra Walker is Susan Nielsen!!!

sonny
sonny
15 years ago

hardly seems worth our time

Ian
Ian
15 years ago

Maybe she has super powers? possibly from some sort of nucler accident.

Ian
Ian
15 years ago

\”hardly seems worth our time\”

Speak for yourself

Maculsay
Maculsay
15 years ago

Don\’t feed it – and it will eventually go away.

Hollie
Hollie
15 years ago

ullch. why is this on the front page of bikeportland? isn\’t there something better to pay attention to than an obvious troll?

had this person a blog with well-written and thoughtful commentary on the clear problem that many Portland cyclists DO ride like dicks, i could see why it\’d be featured here. as far as i can tell, however, all this person contributes is inflammatory nonsense.

i don\’t come here for inflammatory nonsense. i come here because i\’ve come to count on it as a source for news of cycling advocacy, bike culture events and developments in bike infrastructure. can it please stay that way?

Ben
Ben
15 years ago

Myra\’s coming was foretold by Nostradamus. I\’m not sure which one of the four horsewomen she is… but I\’d guess \’Death\’, since she killed \’irony\’ dead-dead-dead with that post and the Bike-pedal Nazi flag.

T WIlliams
T WIlliams
15 years ago

Ms. Walker may do well by putting the international \’don\’t\’ circle/slash over the pedalstika. Its current design gives the impression that she supports her so-called bikenazis.

I wonder Mr. Maus if you are exposing yourself to any sort of liability by continuing to provide information about her. If someone somehow finds information on this site that leads to Ms. Walker, and causes her harm, you may be found partially responsible.

Which is why I humbly suggest you allow her to continue to operate without your continued coverage.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

\”don\’t come here for inflammatory nonsense. i come here because i\’ve come to count on it as a source for news of cycling advocacy, bike culture events and developments in bike infrastructure. can it please stay that way?\”

Hollie,

I hear you and thanks for the feedback.

I also had one of my editorial advisers call me moments ago and basically say the same thing.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

\”If someone somehow finds information on this site that leads to Ms. Walker, and causes her harm, you may be found partially responsible.\”

T Williams,

Everything in my story can be found on Ms. Walker\’s blog.

Am I missing something here?

Graham
Graham
15 years ago

Well, if you\’re going to be targeted by a web troll, you can only hope that he or she is the pure embodiment of Godwin\’s law.

BTW, locking up someone else\’s bike… Please tell me that\’s illegal.

If I see someone putting a lock on someone else\’s bike, I\’m busting out the video camera. From a safe distance – this sounds like a real nut.

Torfinn
Torfinn
15 years ago

lol

T WIlliams
T WIlliams
15 years ago

@21

I was thinking of that Andrew Ruess (I\’m butchering his last name)incident, and what could have gone down legally if it was worse than it was. Are blog owners immune from prosecution? Maybe A.O. can shed some much better light on the subject (offline, of course).

hank2125
hank2125
15 years ago

she states that she saw a bus driver help some people with thier shopping, I\’ve never in my life seen a bus driver do such a thing, Myra is full of B.S.

Ben
Ben
15 years ago

She sounds crazy, but bringing a little attention to bikers that have no regard for anyone else (biker, car, or pedestrian) may not be a bad thing.

MichaelK
15 years ago

What\’s the phrase I\’m looking for?

Oh yeah:

\”Pics or it didn\’t happen.\”

gus
gus
15 years ago

Yawn.

Snowflake Seven
Snowflake Seven
15 years ago

Frankly, if this individual is in fact taking the actions described they should reconsider. It could result in a violent confrontation with the owner of a bike or a very unpleasant experience with the police on the subject of vigilante behavior.

This article really does seem like flame bait for trolls. I would recommend being very cautious about encouraging this individual. I can understand trying to warn the community but its a fine line.

If the event did occur, perhaps the owner of the supposedly locked bike will hear about it and contact the PPD. PSU security may have also received a report of the incident.

Again vigilante behavior is an extremely un-wise and dangerous activity to engage in. Hopefully it is a false claim and nothing will come of it.

KJ
KJ
15 years ago

Reminds me of reading this article the other day, floks like this exisit in all manners of being, not just online: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=troll&st=cse&oref=slogin

It\’s so sad some people are so misanthropic and egotistical. Yeah, let\’s not feed trolls. =) Unless it\’s rainbows and lollipops and hugs. They seem to really need those. =)

Cameron
Cameron
15 years ago

Although I agree that Myra seems very trollish, I also think that posting such a story without independent verification of the redlocks incident is just asking for a comments section filled with personal attacks.

Usually this blog and its comments are filled with well reasoned and argued positions, I don\’t see much of that here.

It is the height of irony that this story comes so soon after Jonathan\’s wonderful rebuttal of the Oregonian anti-anti-bike helmet articles.

I\’m a little disappointed in the whole thing.

Sky
Sky
15 years ago

Locking up the bikes of people she has issue with. Who is the real Nazi?

Snowflake Seven
Snowflake Seven
15 years ago

For those that aren\’t aware of Godwin\’s Law

Godwin\’s Law is often cited in online discussions as a caution against the use of inflammatory rhetoric or exaggerated comparisons, and is often conflated with fallacious arguments of the reductio ad Hitlerum form.

\”As a [online] discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.\”

Loree
Loree
15 years ago

A bit of internet trivia: the term \”troll\” comes from fishing. To troll is to trail a baited line behind a moving boat. On the internet, it used to be called \”trolling for suckers,\” until it got shortened to just plain trolling.

This person is trolling for suckers, and she\’s going home with a whole boat-full, unless we stop taking the bait.

Don\’t give her any attention (and attention includes hits on her website), and she will go away.

Gabriel McGovern
15 years ago

Yes, this person is a grade A, bona-fide troll. Yet the lack of understanding concerning the term \”nazi\” made me laugh:

Bikenazis ignore their fellows who don\’t even want helmets to be required (Cost Lives)

Bikeanarchist? Sure.

Bikenihilist? Why not.

Bikenazi? I think not.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

\”It is the height of irony that this story comes so soon after Jonathan\’s wonderful rebuttal of the Oregonian anti-anti-bike helmet articles.

I\’m a little disappointed in the whole thing.\”

sorry to disappoint Cameron… but i felt like the time had come to make mention of this woman and her blog.

I did the story simply to inform folks of Walker\’s continued efforts and philosophies.

like I\’ve said several times today, sometimes I feel the time is right for a story even though part of me doesn\’t really want to publish it… that\’s one of the risks i take as a publisher.

from the comments (both here and in emails and phone calls) from readers, it seems many folks disagree with me.

that\’s ok. I\’ll take all these comments and learn from them the same way I\’ve done for years now.

as for the irony of timing with my Oregonian story, I don\’t see the relation there.

thanks again for your feedback.

brodie
brodie
15 years ago

I don\’t see the problem with publishing this piece, even if it sadly only gives her more visibility.

I might change the tone of the piece, however. Until it is known that she is a real person who has actually locked up ikes, why not treat her as a troll? Her blog, after all, is almost certainly going to be read my many more cyclists than non-cyclists. Very few commuters (in my estimation) have the same animosity towards cyclists that she purports to.

If it walks like a troll and talks like a troll, call it a troll.

Other than that, no, I see no need to avoid \”harshing the mellow\” of your readers by ignoring stories like this.

matt picio
15 years ago

My personal thought is that this story belongs on Page Two.

Other than that, Jonathan, I think it\’s fine.

As for everyone else – really, Myra\’s content speaks for itself, you really don\’t need to help it along.

Oh, and Godwin\’s Law doesn\’t really apply here, Since the original discussion already had \”nazi\” in the article. \”Godwin\’s\” is meant to remark that in any debate of sufficient length, the odds of someone joining the debate who feels strongly enough about the subject to compare their opposition to Hitler or Nazis approaches 1:1. When the subject starts there, the odds become self-evident.

Blurt
Blurt
15 years ago

\”don\’t come here for inflammatory nonsense. i come here because i\’ve come to count on it as a source for news of cycling advocacy, bike culture events and developments in bike infrastructure. can it please stay that way?\”

More like coming here for inflammatory nonsense that supports your point of view.

It\’s not like the some of the comments on this blog don\’t lean far past inflammatory with regards to drivers. The term murderer has been used numerous times. The blanket statements pointed towards the PPB are in the same vein. And lets not forget the personal attacks on Latasha Williams this last week.

Maybe Myra understands that satire is a legitimate form of criticism.

It seems to be doing what she wants. She actually is getting attention. And creating an interesting number of inflammatory statements on this blog which is not all that unusual.

Diogo
Diogo
15 years ago

While I can see the cons of publicizing this crazy person, I think it\’s still worth it, inasmuch as it is illustrative of the anti-bike reaction that is currently taking place. It seems to me that the creation of such blog is completely connected to the Oregonian\’s and other media\’s effort to paint the increase of biking as a problem or public nuisance. So instead of hurting bike advocacy efforts, I think it will probably help weaken the reaction by exposing its hysterical nature and perhaps even make the O and others to be more cautious with their attacks with fear of being likened to the likes of Myra Walker or perhaps even work as a unpleasant mirror for those individuals who have similar, albeit less strident views.

GLV
GLV
15 years ago

This problem will likely take care of itself. Stop commenting. Stop linking to her. Stop visiting the site.

Does anyone know what the average lifespan is of \”issue blogs\” like this? I put the over-under at one month.

Cøyøte
Cøyøte
15 years ago

\”Trip-trap trip-trap\”

\”Who is that trip-trapping on my bridge?\”

\”It is me, Billygoat M____?\”

Is it Myra or is it Maus?

Perhaps Myra is Jonathon\’s evil twin that was horribly misguided by having to ride a \”girls bike\” that was ridden by Lars Larson in the \”nucular\” holocaust….. Or perhaps I should say \”nuclear rebirth\”?

Whoooha ha ha ha ha!
\”Release the flying monkeys.\”

If only she could use her powers for good. Jonathon, at the risk of offering unsolicited advice; keep your eye on the prize. A livable community, and a business reporting on what interests you. Don\’t let gremlins eat after midnight, and please do not feed the trolls. Ban her and be done with it. She is not evil, just messed up and craving attention. If and when, she has something relevant to say, I would be happy to read it.

PS: Myra, if you happen to read this, if I catch you locking up my bike, we will tango! Make sure you have to karma reserves to back the debt you are accruing.

SkidMark
SkidMark
15 years ago

You [i] trawl [/i] for fish.

Matthew Denton
Matthew Denton
15 years ago

Article about crazy person\’s website: Not news. Not even page 2 worthy, just not news.

Article about crazy person that might be putting locks decorated in swastikas on your bicycle: News.

Zaphod
15 years ago

KJ #30,
That NYT article is really interesting on the subject of trolling. I feel like people sometimes slip into a strange \”internet mode\” where they let things bother them that would never cause any issue if brought up in live conversation. Anyway, worth a [long] read if you have the time.

bahueh
bahueh
15 years ago

Could the FBI talk to this woman about her potential hate crime?

I\’m sure the swastika would raise some interest at our otherwise board FBI office..I\’ll go make a phone call.

Donna
Donna
15 years ago

First of all, I am sure PoPo and his colleagues are reading this article and have visited her blog. I can\’t imagine that hasn\’t happened.

Secondly, I am just as appreciative that Jonathan has reported this as I was when he has reported about others who might have tried to harm me because I am riding a bike in the city. If this Myra is in fact tampering with the personal property of complete strangers because they offend her in some way, we really don\’t know what she might be capable of. Remember, most if not all of use reading this blog do not know her.

Finally, if friends and/or loved ones of Myra are reading this blog and are concerned for her, I would encourage them to either call the PPB nonemergency number or the Multnomah County Crisis Line – whichever seems appropriate.

Mike Thompson
Mike Thompson
15 years ago

Way to go Myra. Cyclist does not equal ruler of the streets. Some cyclists think they are super green, carbon neutral, uber alternative lifestyle monkies. Follow the damn rules of the road. You are not entitled to ride down the center of the street, blocking traffic, all the while posing like you are gods gift. Get Real!! By the way, I am a cyclist and follow the rules. I also eat fixed gear peeps for lunch

Garin
Garin
15 years ago

I want my five minutes back that I spent at his or her blog. Yawn , nothing to see folks , someone just stirring the pot or attempting to. Ridiculous actually that I even felt compelled to add this comment , I think it is just what he or she wants. Bleah.

A.P.
A.P.
15 years ago

Relevant reading?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?ref=magazine

Just cause someone is writing it on the internet, doesn\’t make it true.