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

Day: December 1, 2009

Newswire: North Portland Storefront Provides An Outlet For Locally Made Bike Products

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Contact Info: Todd Roll
503.916.9704
todd@pedalbiketours.com
pedalbiketours.com

Pedal Bike Tours Debuts Handmade Local Bike Crafts
North Portland Storefront Provides An Outlet For Locally Made Bike Products

Portland, OR (December 1, 2009) – Just in time for the holidays, Pedal Bike Tours announces the addition of bike products, made in Oregon by local artists and craftspeople, to their shop in North Portland. As a hub for bike curious visitors, Pedal aims to provide a showcase for the ever-growing number of bike oriented products that Oregonians are creating, such as jewelry, clothing and art.

“Because of our bike sightseeing tours and rentals we get lots of visitors to Portland in our shop. Instead of a t-shirt from the airport we want people to be able to take home a bike themed souvenir made by one of our talented locals,” explains Todd Roll, owner of Pedal Bike Tours.

The rapidly expanding list of artisans and products priced as low as $3 includes:

Agent Ladybug’s Decycled Designs – Bike tube bracelets and more
Ciclismo Design – Sterling silver pendants- reproductions of bike racing medals
Gigi’s Handywork – Helmuffs- wooly ear covers that fit over your helmet straps made from recycled sweaters
Labelle Maverique – Armbands and chokers made from recycled bike inner tubes featuring hand cut designs
MMM Werk – Knickers reworked by hand made from recycled trousers
Povera Jewelry – Made from recycled bike parts
Queen Bee – Handmade panniers and hip holsters
Recycled Designs – Photo frames, clocks, key chains and more made from recycled bike parts
Red Bat Press – Fun and clever greeting cards made locally on an antique press

Roll came up with the idea watching visitors from around the world roam the shop looking for souvenirs to take home. “We wanted to make these exceptionally creative and well made products available to locals and visitors alike year round.”

Pedal Bike Tours offers guided bike tours and van tours of Portland, the Columbia Gorge and Wine Country as well as bike rentals.

Located at 2249 N Williams Ave., Portland, O.R. 97227, Pedal shares a space with Metropolis Cycles, a full service bike shop and repair business owned by Roll’s brother. The shop is open daily at 11AM until 7PM Mon-Thurs, 6PM Friday and 5PM Sat and Sun. For more information on Pedal Bike Tours, including rates and tour information, visit www.pedalbiketours.com, or call (503) 916-9704.

CRC project headed for a showdown this Friday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Anti 12-lane CRC Ride-37

A meeting Friday could have major
implications for how we
cross I-5 in the future.
(Photos © J. Maus)

This Friday, the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project will be put to a crucial test. At a meeting of the Project Sponsor’s Council, CRC staff will present the council members — which include Department of Transportation directors and mayors from both Vancouver and Portland — with a new proposed bridge design that reflects “refinements” that have taken $650 million off the project’s estimated cost.

Read more

BikeCrafter Profile: Unique wood and steel bike parts by Paul Conte

The double-spiral
bamboo bottle holder.
(Photos © Adams Carroll)

After Paul Conte graduated from Syracuse University’s industrial design program, he took an office job — but realized before long that he wasn’t living the life he wanted to lead. So he quit, trained to be a carpenter, and moved to Portland in search of a workshop and a good place to live.

Now he’s living his dream, making stunning products and creations that you can see for yourself at BikeCraft V this Saturday.

Read more

Tis the season to light up your bike (and then show it off)

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Filmed by Bike 2009-47

Time to light up your bike!
(Photo © J. Maus)

It’s way too dark too early in Portland these days, and it happens to be the holiday season, so what better time to light up your bike and then spread the cheer by riding around to light displays throughout the city?

If you’re looking to festive-ize your bike, Aaron Tarfman recently shared a few sources via the Shift email list. Tarfman says he’s already gotten “a lot of compliments’ for the lights on his frame and now plans to wrap his wheels in them too. He recommends the LED variety which you can order online here, here or here for about $7 to $15. I’ve also found them at Sunlan Lighting on North Mississippi Ave.

Read more

Broadway/Williams update: Why the project will wait for streetcar

NE Broadway and Williams-4.jpg

The project will move the bike traffic
lane curbside (among other things).
(Photo © J. Maus)

New details about pending safety improvements for the notorious NE Broadway/N Williams intersection have emerged since we published an update last Monday. In our story, we reported that the bike safety improvements (which include a new bike-only signal and traffic lane reconfigurations) had been put on hold because of the impending streetcar project which is slated to run up Broadway. Engineers working on the bike project, they told us, were concerned that any changes they made would be torn out once streetcar construction started.

Our story also reprinted a statement made by PBOT Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield in October 2008, that “funding [for the Broadway/Williams fix] is available and construction could start once a design is decided on.”

Read more

KOIN TV covers new police/tech bike theft partnership

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

As we mentioned in a story last week, we’re working with the Portland Police Bureau and the guy behind StolenBicycleRegistry.com (Bryan Hance, who happens to live in Portland) to catch more bike thieves.

If all goes according to plan (which it should), local police officers will have live, up-to-the-minute access to all stolen bikes listed both here on BikePortland and on StolenBicycleRegistry.com right in the front seat of their patrol cars.

Watch the video coverage that ran tonight on KOIN-TV (Portland CBS affiliate):

Latest Headlines

Dispatch from hiatus and update on the future

Reminder: No riding through River View Cemetery during Memorial Day Weekend

Guest Article: Demand a pause on PBOT’s SW Alder decision

Guest Opinion: The bike beat lives on in all of us

From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland