8 October 2008 Archives

BTA releases results of Bike Commute Challenge

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

(Photo � J. Maus)

Tonight in southeast Portland, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) will toast another successful Bike Commute Challenge.

The event, which has been held every September since 1995, is a friendly competition between workplaces to see who bike to work more. All participants log their commutes online to compete for bragging rights and awards.

This year, the Bike Commute Challenge had its highest rates of participation ever. Records were broken for number of workplaces (1,073), number of participants (10,689 people), and number of miles ridden (1,235,219.03).

The other night I ran into Joe Staples and got another glimpse of the upcoming Oregon Manifest Handmade Bike Show.

Joe works for Wieden + Kennedy (the global ad firm with a headquarters in downtown Portland whose clients include Starbucks and Nike just to name a few) and he is one of the creative minds behind the Oregon Manifest Handmade Bike Show which opens this Friday and runs through Sunday.

With folks like Joe behind an event (he also dreamed up the Teams of Portland project), you can rest assured it will be special. When I saw him the other night, he was delivering some gorgeous posters to promote the show. He just sent me the PDF files…check them out:

Freak Bike Fall poster
Larger version here
(Illustrated by Emily O’Connor)

Freak Bike Fall is Portland’s newest bike festival. Slated for October 17-19th, the event is being put together by Emily O’Connor, a Portland transplant who moved here from Michigan about a year ago.

Since coming to Portland, Emily has been active in the community. You might remember her as part of the victorious duo of “Team Dethwish” that won last February’s Ben Hurt Chariot Wars during Zoobomb’s Mini Bike Winter. She was also on the planning team for the recent Cycle Seen photo exhibitions.

For Freak Bike Fall, Emily has planned a slew of fun events including a Freak Bike Beauty Contest (to be judged by framebuilders Neal Fegan and Jordan Hufnagel), a bike building workshop, and lots more.

Below is an email interview I did with Emily for more about the event, freak bikes, and how she got involved in the bike scene:

Roger Geller is back to leading
the charge on the Bike Master
Plan update.
(Photos � J. Maus)

Last summer, the City of Portland’s effort to update their Bicycle Master Plan was all the rage. Fresh off an attempt by Mayor Potter to cut funding for the plan (he re-instated the funds two weeks later), spirits were high.

There were open house events and a series of well-attended Bike Master Plan Rides (led by PDOT’s bike coordinator Roger Geller).

But it’s been over a year since I reported any news about the effort.

Crowded bike racks at
Roseway Heights school this morning.
(Photo: Anne Laufe)

Today is International Walk and Bike to School Day and 44 schools in Portland (and more than 150 throughout Oregon) will celebrate programs that encourage kids to get to school under their own power.

In Portland, the day’s festivities will be centered at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Rosa Parks is one of 25 schools in the Portland area that receive the comprehensive “Safer Routes to Schools” program (which is funded through City of Portland’s Community and Schools Traffic Safety Partnership (thanks to traffic fine revenues)).

BTA releases results of Bike Commute Challenge

‘Autobikeographical’ posters from the Oregon Manifest Show

Get ready for ‘Freak Bike Fall’

PDOT re-kindles Bike Master Plan update efforts

Portland schools participate in International Walk and Bike to School Day

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