Elly Blue, publisher.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

These are boom times in the bike book publishing world. From big coffee-table books detailing the beauty of bike design, to guidebooks on where and how to ride and everything in between — the cycling renaissance in North America is being mirrored by an equally robust uptick in the amount of new books that document it.

Major publishing houses have noticed and they're certainly getting a piece of the action; but here in Portland, a growing number of authors are turning to small press and independent publishers.

And who's at the forefront of this fledgling revolution? None other than activist, businesswoman, writer, journalist and southeast Portland resident Elly Blue. Under her Taking the Lane Media banner, Elly is publishing, consulting on, distributing, marketing, and even writing bike books at a breakneck pace. After cutting her teeth on writing and bike journalism here on BikePortland back in the day, Elly found big success as a columnist for Grist.org. Since that gig ended, Elly has spent the last two years learning everything she can about the publishing business (and she's also become something of an expert on how to win a Kickstarter campaign). (more...)

What: Bikestravaganza: Off the Chainring in Portland—Grand Finale!
When:Sept. 10th 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Madison's Grill: 1109 SE Madison Portland, OR
Event Details: Please join us for the final, hometown event of our grand tour of the upper western region of the U.S. On our tour, we're using movies and pictures to tell the story of transportation activism in Portland, and hearing from locals what their bicycle scene is like and what they're doing about it.

For our Portland event we'll share some of what we've seen and learned—the best and the worst, the most harrowing and most inspiring, from Spokane to Reno, Cheyenne to Provo, Seattle to San Francisco.

Jonathan Maus will emcee the event and moderate a discussion about what Portland might be able to learn from the rest of the country when it comes to bicycling.

Boneshaker Almanac editors Evan Schneider and Melissa Reeser will join us as well for a spirited reading from their popular publication.

The Microcosm Publishing zine trike will be on hand for all your bicycle-themed book, zine, movie, and sticker needs.

$3-10 sliding scale at the door. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate in the conversation.

Details at http://bikestravaganza.wordpress.com/
and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138506359519898&ref=ts

Reporting by Brompton in
Baltimore last month
(Photo: Patrick McMahon)

I'm headed out tomorrow afternoon to Los Angeles for the first-ever L.A. Bike Summit on Saturday, March 7th.

L.A., iconic land of freeways, may seem like an unlikely place for bicycling to flourish, but that seems to be what is happening. In an op-ed for the L.A. Times last June, summit organizing team member Robert Gottlieb discussed the history of L.A.'s recent surge of interest in bicycling, and the formation of many new bike-oriented groups running the gamut from large, spontaneous midnight rides to advocacy organizations to bike repair co-ops. (more...)

One of my favorite stops in Baltimore was at the Velocipede Bike Project.

Occupying a bright storefront in the young and hip Charles Village neighborhood, Velocipede is a collectively run community bike shop. Since July of 2006, the all-volunteer shop has welcomed members of the community to come volunteer time (or, as a downplayed alternative, pay a fee) in exchange for access to bike tools, parts, and expertise. (more...)

You can take a shuttle between conference
venues, or a ten minute walk across this gorgeous
bridge on Connecticut Ave.
(Photos by Elly Blue)

Washington, DC is the final stop on my East Coast Tour. I am here for the week-long Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual meeting.

TRB is the big transportation conference in North America, hosted by the country's pre-eminent transportation research organization. Hundreds of sessions fill three huge hotels on Connecticut Avenue, and 11,000 attendees walk briskly from room to room, talking shop about everything from bituminous pavement to international shipping to pedestrian signalization.

The theme of the conference this year is Transportation, Energy, and Climate Change. The fact that this is the theme is a big deal in its own right, as it signals a shift in focus in transportation research and policy nationally.
(more...)

Whitney Avenue, shown here at
New Haven's northern border, is ready
for a Complete Streets makeover
(Photos by Elly Blue)

New Haven, Connecticut, which has never been known for progressive transportation initiatives, is now home to a Complete Streets law -- one of only a handful in the country, and one of the most comprehensive.

When I arrived at a Yale University office last week to meet with their Transportation Options team (more on that soon), I learned that the program's assistant director, Erin Sturgis-Pascale, also serves on New Haven's Board of Alders (their city council).

This October, Sturgis-Pascale and another board member introduced and passed a Complete Streets bill, making New Haven one of the few communities in the country to have such a law. For this accomplishment, she has been called "the preeminent “livable streets” elected official in Connecticut."
(more...)

Elly Blue is headed to
Los Angeles in March.

Elly Blue, BikePortland's nomadic managing editor who's currently on an East Coast Tour, just sent word that she'll be a presenting speaker at the upcoming Los Angeles Bike Summit.

Slated for March 7th (right before the National Bike Summit), organizers hope the event will tap into the emerging growth and energy of the LA bike scene. Somehow, in the cradle of America's car culture, a vibrant bike culture exists in LA (don't take my word for it, LA's bike scene hit the big time with this big feature spread in Los Angeles Magazine). (more...)

The view from my old bus stop on Whitney Ave hasn't changed much in 20 years.
The white band on the center pole marks the stop, in lieu of a sign.
(Photos by Elly Blue)

After a warm, dry week, New Year's Eve brought us another big snowstorm here in Hamden, Connecticut (my hometown, just north of New Haven). At around noon it was snowing hard, the wind was blowing, visibility was low, and the streets were covered with increasingly packed and rutted snow. I decided to take the bus downtown.
(more...)

[BikePortland.org's Managing Editor Elly Blue is currently on an East Coast Tour. This is the latest dispatch from her trip.]

The Devil's Gear is a focal point
for New Haven biking.
(Photos by Elly Blue)

When I lived in New Haven a decade ago there wasn't much of a bike scene. People biked, as did I -- but I never had the sense of being part of a movement, or a community, or that bicycling was anything more than a fun but somewhat embattled way to get to work.

That's all changed now.
(more...)

Sam, Caleb, Finn, the Brompton, and me. (Photo by Sarah Armstrong)

I just wheeled the Brompton into the Publick Cup, a downtown New Haven coffeeshop, and found myself surrounded by a crowd of wide eyed young people.

"Is that a bike? It folds? It's a folding bike? Can you unfold it for us?" The kids were really excited. They raptly watched each step, asking smart questions about how all the parts work, and making guesses about what came next.

I folded the bike back up. "Can you do it again?" asked one. As I complied, several of the kids were ushered away, leaving only three. Their mom came over to see what was going on.

"Oh, look, it's from Clever Cycles!" she exclaimed -- "I'm ordering a Bakfiets from them!"
(more...)