Speaking up for bikes at a bike boulevard open house

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Transportation Safety Summit-21

Speak up.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As a follow-up to my post about the importance of showing up to your local bike boulevard open house, I thought I’d share the perspective of Brighton West. Brighton is a reader who attended the open house last night for the SE 101st Avenue project where he encountered “a number of vocal bicycling opponents.”

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black Trek Hybrid 1994

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 1994
Brand: Trek
Model: Hybrid
Color:black
Serial: gq4s2688
Stolen in portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2010-03-30
Stolen From: garage in alley behind 1700 se. ladd ave
Neighborhood: Ladd’s Addition/off 12th & Hawthorne
OwnerEmail: g47q@aol.com
Reward: Yes/$100.00
Description: green dinosaur on handlebars,new distintive kev-lar/no flat tires,down mirror.
Police record with: Temporary case # T10001779
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

candy blue Specialized Enduro fsr 2002

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2002
Brand: Specialized
Model: Enduro fsr
Color:candy blue
Size:mid
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2010-03-05
Stolen From: NW 10th and MarshalLovejoy Station Apartments
Neighborhood: Pearl
Owner: charles edward barbosa
OwnerEmail: barbosac@pdx.edu
Reward: good karma, coffee, unemployed
Description: it is a stock Enduro FSR

torn seat
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEquipPopup.jsp?equipimage=/OA_MEDIA/2002/bikes/enduro_l.jpg&equipmodel=02%20Enduro%20FSR

Police record with: Ofc. Patrick Johnson
Police reference#: 10-20688
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Cheers and jeers for new Morrison Bridge bikeway

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Morrison Bridge pathway opening -1-2

Multnomah County Commissioner/Chair
Jeff Cogen.
(Photos © J. Maus)

After more than 12 years of planning and advocacy a new non-motorized pathway opened on the Morrison Bridge today. The 15-foot wide, $1.9 million facility on the south side of the bridge is expected to become a popular route for bike traffic and take pressure off the overcrowded and nearby Hawthorne Bridge.

At the dedication ceremony today, soon-to-be Chair of Multnomah County (they own and manage the bridge), Jeff Cogen, said the 7,000 bike trips per day on the Hawthorne Bridge “Shows how much Portlanders love bicycles,” and that it also shows, “we need to increase that access, because frankly, it’s too crowded over there.”

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Silver Airborne Zeppelin 200?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 200?
Brand: Airborne
Model: Zeppelin
Color:Silver
Stolen in Portland, OR 97227
Stolen:2010-03-28
Stolen From: Michigan and Beech
Neighborhood: Mississippi
Owner: Clint Combes
OwnerEmail: clintcombes@gmail.com
Description: carbon fiber forks, Black grip tape, random order coffee house sticker(ostrich) on the front
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Q & A with Eben Weiss, a.k.a. the Bike Snob

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Eben “Bike Snob” Weiss in the Wall Street Journal.

It was big news on the bikey interwebs yesterday when the man behind the most popular bike blog in the world BikesnobNYC revealed his identity. Eben Weiss is the Bike Snob and his coming out day was a pretty big deal.

In addition to his uber-popular blog, Weiss is a regular contributor to Bicycling Magazine and now he’s got a new book to promote (hence the big reveal). He’ll be in Portland this June to promote it (details below) so I thought it’d be fun to ask him a few questions. Read the Q & A below for his feelings on bike advocacy, the Portland bike scene, and how he is (or isn’t) selling out bike culture to make a buck.

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Neal Fegan’s amazing new ‘sculptural velocipede’

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Art Bike Parade at Cirque du Cycling-10

Neal Fegan, builder of
sculptural velocipedes.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Custom bike artist and fabricator Neal Fegan of St. Johns-based Montana Transit Authority has done it again.

Back in 2008 we shared his amazing and functional, sculptural art bikes, last summer he wowed onlookers with his interpretation of a pedicab, and now he’s got a new creation.

I’m not sure how to describe it, but I’ll try. The rider, standing upright, pedals with a traditional drivetrain that powers the front wheel. Two skateboard wheels trail behind the cranks and the rider steers by leaning into the turn.

Check it out in these photos and watch a video of it in action below:

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Springwater Trail to close for up to four months next summer

Bikes at Earth Day

A very popular section of the trail
would be effected by the closure.
(Photo © J. Maus)

A project to enhance and improve the 170-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge could close a popular section of the Springwater Corridor Trail for up to four months next summer. This closure is separate from the re-paving project that will come with intermittent closures through this summer starting next month.

Portland Parks & Recreation and the Bureau of Environmental Services say their Oaks Bottom Habitat Enhancement Project is 60% designed. Among the plan of the project are to enhance fish passage in and out of the river by replacing an existing culvert, remove invasive vegetation and add educational signage about the wetlands along the Springwater Trail.

Anne Nelson with BES says the trail closure is necessary because equipment to do the work must be transported on it. Here’s more from Nelson:

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Ask BikePortland: Will my bike get stolen from bus bike racks?

TriMet bus with rack

Easy pickings for thieves?
(Photo © J. Maus)

This week’s question comes from reader Carl Blanchard. He wants to know if the bike racks on the front of TriMet buses are secure. Here’s the question:

“Are you aware of any incidents of bikes being stolen from the racks on the front of TriMet buses? I’m always leery of leaving my bike up there and having to take a seat further back in the bus. And even if I am close to the front, would I have time to stop the thief?”

Carl, I haven’t personally heard of anyone getting a bike stolen from one of those racks, but it does happen. What I have heard of are people simply forgetting their bikes and hopping off the bus without it.

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