A massive lobbying effort spearheaded by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler has resulted in passage of a $25 billion package of low-cost loans to help them re-tool for the "next generation of fuel-efficient motor vehicles".
Automakers originally wanted $50 billion (twice what they got last go-round), and even then the plan was supported by both Barack [...]

The League of American Bicyclists announced the first-ever winners of its new Bicycle Friendly Business designation at the Interbike trade show this morning.
Among the 13 companies recognized, two were from the Portland Area.
Alta Planning + Design was given the "Gold" rating and EasyStreet Online Services (from Beaverton) was given "Bronze".
Check out more on this story [...]

The Hunger Squad logo.

Hunger Squad is a new company (official launch is Friday) that will deliver food, drinks and other goods (condoms, cigs, etc...) to downtown Portland exclusively by bicycle.
The company is a family operation spearheaded by 29-year-old Dustin Taylor and staffed by his wife and two brothers.
The idea is simple. Go online to [...]

Cover of Rubber to the Road, Volume 1.

Rubber To The Road is a two-volume set of guide books (first published in 1998 by David Guettler and compiled by Peter Marsh) that detail some of the Portland area's very best road rides. It was one of the first books on biking I picked up when [...]

Robert Pickett(Photos � J. Maus)

Robert Pickett is a member of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee, an Alice Award nominee, a regular commenter and contributor to the Forums here on BikePortland.org, and he's also a police officer in Portland's Southeast Precinct.
When he's not working in our community, he likes to ride tall bikes.
In the article below, [...]

The former general manager of Wisconsin-based accessory company Planet Bike has moved to Portland and plans to offer a new line of products under the Portland Design Works banner.
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The Economist published an interesting blurb and graphic on Monday.
They took a look at bicycle and car production since 1950 and found that,
"...Bicycle and car production grew pretty much in tandem in the two decades beginning in 1950. But since 1970 bike production has nearly quadrupled while car production has roughly doubled."
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Just got a heads up about what looks like an interesting event coming to Reading Frenzy (921 SW Oak St.) on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00pm.
A former Portlander, now living in Amsterdam, is working on a book about Dutch bicycle culture.
Here's the event description:
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BikeRackers in action.(Photos � J. Maus)

If you think it's hard to find a bike parking spot around town, try finding one at an event (especially if it's bike-related). Last March, a local entrepreneur set out to solve that problem and so far his business has been "amazing".
Jeff Castro, a former product designer (with stints [...]

[View update at end of story.]

(Photo from OregonLive.com)

Portland's new on-street bike parking corrals are the subject of an editorial in the Hillsboro Argus today (Hillsboro is about 17 miles west of Portland).
In OK Bike Corral, Argus publisher Clark Gallagher shares concerns from delivery truck drivers about the new parking. Mr. Gallagher overheard one such [...]

(Photo � J. Maus)

The Multnomah County branch of the Barack Obama campaign has a bike event planned following this Friday's presidential debate.
First, they'll host a viewing party of the debate at the Laurelhurst Theater in Northeast Portland.
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A man who ended up in the emergency room after a serious crash while riding on the Eastbank Esplanade last Friday (9/19) is looking for witnesses to help him piece together what happened.
Richard B. (he didn't want to share his last name) says it was about 3:45 pm and he was riding south on the [...]

The "Portland" cap and jacket.(Photos � Jonathan Maus)

I may not be at Interbike (the big bike industry trade show going on right now in Las Vegas), but I'm still looking to share as much as I can from local companies who are at the show (read my story from last week for what other local [...]

Request one of these stickers here.

As I mentioned last week, Portland General Electric (PGE) has created a new sticker to promote bike/truck safety.
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Hi folks. Welcome back from the weekend.
I've got a lot of great stuff to share this week, but unfortunately things have gotten off to a bumpy start. If you tried to visit earlier today, you might have noticed some weird things going on with the design and/or server.
It wasn't you. It was [...]

Joe "Metal Cowboy" Kurmaskie, shown here before his all-family trans-Canadian adventure, will share tales and tips this weekend.(Photo © J. Maus)

Even though the kids are back in school and its feeling like fall, the weekend is still full of bike events.
Once again, there's something for everyone; families, racers, easy-riders, you name it.
What [...]

"On-street bicycle parking can provide many advantages... These advantages, which accrue to businesses and citizens, also support several city policies and objectives."-- from a PDOT press release

Since some folks seem determined to find something negative about the new on-street bike parking facilities, I thought I would share the PDOT perspective.
Yesterday afternoon they issued a press [...]

I don't usually post rumors, especially when they have nothing to do with Portland. But hey, this is Page Two so here goes...
Check out this story just posted by Joe Lindsey of Bicycling Magazine (whose work I really respect). He writes:
"As if Lance Armstrong's return to racing weren't already shocking, now comes a [...]

Robert Stapleton and his tall-bike.(Photos © J. Maus)

Yesterday morning on the way to my office, I made a slight detour to check out an amazing bike parked on SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Turns out it belongs to a man named Robert Stapleton (he had stopped to do some window shopping). Robert told me this fully custom, [...]

ECT Slow & Easy "Asa Lovejoy" Ride
Sponsored by the Community Exchange Cycle Touring Club. We leave no riders behind.
Asa Lovejoy was the "loser" of the infamous coin toss of 1845 that decided that our city was to be named Portland rather than Boston.
Come along on this slow and easy ride that will visit Lovejoy [...]