🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Oregon placed fourth in a new ranking of Bike Friendly States that was released tonight by the League of American Bicyclists.
Washington took top honors, followed by Wisconsin and then Arizona. At the bottom of the list were Alabama and Georgia, with West Virginia coming in last.
Yesterday, I sat down with the League’s executive director Andy Clarke and Bike Friendly State program manager Jeff Peel to learn more about the rankings.
During a morning poster session (where bike and ped professionals offer up their latest research in science-fair style) here at Pro Walk/Pro Bike, I ran into Ginny Sullivan, the new routes coordinator for the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA).
Sullivan stood in front of an attractively designed new poster for an exciting project, the establishment of the United States Bicycle Route System. Once completed, the system will be a complete network of officially recognized, interstate bike routes.
What: “Tabor to the River” Bike Ride
Location: Mt. Tabor down through SE Portland to the Willamette at Clay Street
Meet at: Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, SE 55th Ave. and Belmont St.
Date: Saturday, September 6 – 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Description: The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and the Portland Department of Transportation will lead a bike-based tour of some of Portland’s most sustainable approaches to stormwater management and bicycle transportation. Participants will convene at 55th & Belmont and bike west seeing rain gardens, bioswales and ecoroofs as well as bicycle boulevards and related art projects. Learn about how these will be put to use in the City’s new Tabor to the River: Brooklyn Creek Basin Program and new bicycle transportation programs to make our neighborhoods and watersheds healthier.
For more information about the ride, including a route map, visit the ride website.
“We couldn’t support the mental state required for a criminal prosecution.”
— Gresham DA Ben O’Glasser on his decision to not seek a Reckless Driving charge against Lance Waddy
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office has elected not to proceed with a Reckless Driving charge against Lance Waddy, the man who let his car veer into Steven Volz while Volz rode his bicycle on SE Stark Street in Gresham.
The collision happened on July 31st on SE Stark Street (just outside Portland city limits). According to reports, Waddy grabbed something from the floor of his car prior to the impact, which threw Volz nearly 140 feet into the air.
Waddy was initially cited at the scene with a host of charges. The most serious of those charges was Reckless Driving, a Class A Misdemeanor crime (which can carry a maximum sentence of one year). (Waddy was cited and then released at the scene after his car was towed. For more information on that, see my follow-up story about enforcement policies).
A few days ago, I shared a story about the new “Share the Road” billboard campaign in Portland.
As I suspected in that story, the billboards are the work of the Portland-based office of Clear Channel Outdoor. The manager of that office is Brad Parsons. I spoke with Brad the other day to learn more about the origin and plans of Clear Channel’s Share the Road campaign.
Race Schedule (Sunday 9/7)
11:00am – Beginners, Juniors, Women B, Master Wmn (40 min)
11:45am – Kiddie Race (Beginner 2 min, Expert 5 min)
12:00pm – Men B, Men C (45 min)
1:00pm – Mstr Men B, Mstr Men C, Mstr Men 50+ (45 min)
2:00pm – Men A, Mstr Men A, Women A, Singlespeed (55 min)
***More info here***
Kermesse ~ 1. annual, local celebration, typical for the Low Lands and northern France, accompanied by feasting, dancing and sports of all kinds.
2. (a.k.a. kermiskoers) Belgian style summer bike race, staged during local kermesse festivities. Good times, on and off the course!
On Sundays August 24, September 7 and 14, Portland Racing brings you the Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Crit Series, a fun and novel bike race series held at Kruger’s Farm, located in the beautiful countryside of Sauvie Island (only 20′ from downtown Portland). This series will be the perfect segway into the upcoming cyclocross season and make for a great training opportunity for novice and seasoned cross racers alike. And a fun one to boot…
