🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Day: December 12, 2008

Holiday Bike Drive will make wishes come true this weekend

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
CCC's Holiday Bike Drive

From the Holiday Bike Drive
in 2006.
– Slideshow below –
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Northeast Portland-based Community Cycling Center and their army of bike elves are all set to continue their 13-year Holiday Bike Drive tradition this weekend.

The event will provide refurbished bikes, new helmets, and basic safety education (delivered with fun) to well over 500 kids from low-income families in the region.

The bikes — which will be lined up for kids to choose on their own — have been donated throughout the year from more than 15 collection events. How long does it take to get all those bikes ready? The CCC says it took 1,000 volunteers over 3,000 hours to clean and repair them all.

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‘Macaframa’, alleycat will put focus on fixed-gear riding

Event poster
– Trailer below –

Macaframa, a movie about the culture around urban fixed-gear/track bike riding, will premiere in Portland on Sunday.

Prior to the event, organizers will host an alleycat race that begins in Southeast Portland at Colonel Summers Park (20th and Belmont) and ends with the screening at Backspace (115 NW 5th).

I have to admit, I don’t know much about Macaframa, but a few friends say the film is very well-made and the riding is amazing.

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Design options weighed for new transit/ped/bike bridge

TriMet’s 7.3 mile Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project includes a new bridge that will cross the Willamette River. The bridge is poised to be the nation’s first-ever transit/bike/ped only crossing and TriMet, along with bridge designers and other project stakeholders have narrowed down the design to two — a cable-stay, or a “wave” design.

The adopted alignment leave the South Waterfront (south of the Marquam Bridge) and will land on the east side just south of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

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Whining bikers and an update on the leaf pile issue from Eugene

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

“It appears the bike riders have gotten a little soft over the years…Just be careful, folks. It’s not Afghanistan.”
— Eugene resident Marty Casado in a letter in the Eugene Register-Guard about concerns over leaf piles in the bike lane

We’ve been following the issue of leaf piles as a danger to bike traffic both in Portland and, most recently, down in Eugene.

Bike advocates in Eugene are pressing the city to clean up the problem. Shane Rhodes is a Eugene-based bike advocate and has been active on the leaf issue. He’s also on the City of Eugene’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and sent us an update from their meeting last night. He also sent along the text of an entertaining letter to the editor from today’s Register-Guard newspaper and his response.

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An homage to Bettie Page

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

1950s pinup model Bettie Page passed away yesterday at the beautiful age of 85.

That news inspired BikePortland reader Erin Greeson to send in the photo below:

Bettie Page mudflaps.

Would you take the lane on I-5 to cross the Columbia?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Tour of Tomorrow

Pretty tight, but it’s better than riding
on the highway — isn’t it?
(Photo © J. Maus)

Anyone who has attempted to ride across the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington knows that it’s not for the faint of heart.

The bikeway/sidewalk is barely wider than a cargo trailer and there’s an incline and descent to deal with while big rigs rumble past on one side and the river looms large on the other.

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Sneak preview of new crafters for BikeCraft V

Now that BikeCraft’s over, we’re already thinking about next year — more space, more time, more days, and more amazing bike-related crafts are in the works.

My one big regret from this year is that we had to draw the line at 35 (!) crafters, for fear of not having space for any actual shoppers and revelers.

Here is a sampling of a few of the crafters and artists who got in touch after we hit that line. I’m hoping they’ll all be at BikeCraft V in 2009…in the meantime, enjoy this quick look:

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Snow on the way: A slideshow to keep you riding

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
A snowy commute-2.jpg

Bring it on!
– Slideshow below –
(Photos © J. Maus)

There’s snow in the forecast around Portland this weekend; but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to leave the bike at home.

The last snow day I can recall was back in March, and from people I’ve talked to, they remember that day with fondness. Now, I realize snow is a big headache for some folks and that it causes PDOT all sorts of maintenance issues, etc…, but for those Portlanders who go by bike, it also brings something to be cherished — quiet streets with very few (and slow-moving) cars.

A snowy bike commute definitely presents some challenges, but with the type of minor snowfall we tend to get, it’s no reason to leave the wheels at home. On that note, I’ve put together a little slideshow of past snowstorms to keep you inspired…

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