Commissioner Nick Fish
wants to open up the dialogue
on off-road biking.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Last month, rookie City Commissioner Nick Fish made his opinion of off-road biking clear. He told BikePortland that he was not satisfied with the current status quo of riding in the city and that he would work quickly to learn about the issue and seek more opportunities.

Now comes word from Fish's office that on Monday of next week (4/6), he will hold an invite-only "informal roundtable discussion about off-road biking opportunities in Portland parks." (It's notable on the official invite that it didn't mention Forest Park specifically, but that will surely be a hot point of conversation).

When asked about the meeting, Fish's senior policy director Hannah Kuhn told us that, "the time seems right to have a more fundamental conversation" about off-road cycling. (more...)

Frank Selker
(Photo © J. Maus)

Frank Selker, the man with the mountain bike plan for Forest Park, is just 20 people shy of his goal to get 100 new, mountain-bike loving Portlanders to join the Forest Park Conservancy (FPC).

When we checked in with Frank last month, he was halfway to his goal. Today, he emailed to tell us that he just got the latest membership numbers from January. "I believe we are up to 80 cyclists," he wrote, "and close to $6,000 in contributions to the FPC."

Back in December, Selker challenged the community to step up and join the FPC -- a non-profit group that works closely with the Parks Bureau as stewards of the park -- in an effort to make a statement that it was time to move forward with talks about opening up more space for bikes in the 5,000 acre park. Currently, there is just 1/3 of a mile of trail that is legal for bikes to ride on (bikes are allowed on all the park's larger, fire access roads). (more...)

The Fat Tire Farm on NW Thurman.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Fat Tire Farm, a shop that specializes in high performance mountain bikes and is located near a busy Forest Park trailhead, has stepped up to encourage its customers to join the Forest Park Conservancy (FPC).

According to citizen activist Frank Selker, the shop has agreed to give a 10% discount to customers that flash an FPC membership card.

The gesture by Fat Tire Farm comes after Selker met with them to share his plan to get more involvement and cooperation between mountain bikers and the conservancy -- two groups who are key to moving the conversation about increased access to Forest Park forward.

Selker says he plans to talk with other bike shops to encourage them to offer similar discounts.

Selker also reports that nearly 20 people have joined the FPC since we published a story about his plan yesterday. His goal is 100 new members and he seems well on his way.