Still from KATU News video (watch their story here).

A reader brought to our attention a great story about the power of bicycles and how one person can make a difference.

The head custodian at Poynter Middle School in Hillsboro, John Sarrazin, has turned a chance encounter with a student who needed help fixing his bike into a full-fledged afterschool program. Here's how a teacher at the school described to us how it all came about: (more...)

Event Name: Tour de Cure
Event Start Date: 30 July 2011
Start Time: 6:30:00 AM
Web Site: http://www.diabetes.org/portlandtourdecure

Tour de Cure is the cycling event of the American Diabetes Association and takes place in 83 cities across the nation. The Oregon/SW Washington event starts and finishes in Hillsboro Stadium with routes of 10, 27, 43, 65 and a Century. Finish line activities include burgers prepared by Helvetia Tavern, a beer garden and live music by The Strange Tones.

Event Name: 4th Annual Hillsboro Tour de Parks
Event Start Date: 23 July 2011
Start Time: 1:00:00 PM
Web Site: http://tourdeparks.com
Event Description: Tour some of Hillsboro's parks on your bike. Bring the whole family for an enjoyable, relaxing ride. We will explore some treasured gems of Hillsboro's city park system while learning basic bicycle road skills.

In partnership with Celebrate Hillsboro!, the 2, 6 and 10 park rides start at 1 PM and are free* (donations gladly accepted).

Le Grande Tour (Linking 7 Parks in 7 Cities) is a metric century ride and starts at 8 AM (cut off time is 3 PM) registration is $25.

T-shirts are available for $10 on a pre-order basis only so get your today!

Biking in downtown Hillsboro.
(Photo © J. Maus

Metro has been awarded a $75,000 grant from health care company Kaiser Permanente for a biking and walking map project in Cornelius, Forest Grove and Hillsboro.

The goal of the project, which Metro staffer Katie Edlin says is currently called, "Vámanos! Let’s explore Cornelius, Forest Grove and Hillsboro by bike and foot," is to promote existing biking and walking routes to those communities. The project would also have a specific focus on connecting with Latino families.
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This image shows the existing gap in the Rock Creek Trail (green) where it intersects with Evergreen Parkway.

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Opens tomorrow.

As a follow-up to a story we reported last March, the facility that houses Bikestation Hillsboro will have its grand opening tomorrow. The new Bikestation -- the first of its kind in the Portland metro region -- is set to open in a few weeks. It will offer over 1,200 square feet of secure bike parking accessible by members through electronic card access 24 hours a day. The new Bikestation is located on the ground floor of the five-story, 20,000 square foot Hillsboro Intermodal Transit Facility (ITF) that will have a grand opening event tomorrow. In addition to bike parking, the ITF will house motor vehicle parking, street-level retail shops, and EV charging stations. (more...)

Here's an interesting advocacy alert from the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition. They're hoping the Hillsboro Parks Commission will grant them a variance to allow an event ride to pedal through an area park. An excerpt from their action alert is below (read the whole thing here):

The Tour de Parks planning committee is asking for your help.

Noble Woods Nature Park, one of the parks featured in the Hillsboro Tour de Parks and one of the City's most beautiful currently does not allow bicycles in the park. In 2009, we asked the Hillsboro Parks Commission to allow cyclists to pedal through the park during the Tour, entering from the south and dismounting when the trail reaches the bluff at Baseline Rd and zig-zags up the hill. While they denied our request, citing safety concerns and that riding through the park was not allowed, riders were permitted to at least walk bikes through the entire length of the park.

On Tuesday morning, July 27th August 10th at 7AM, we plan on attending the Parks Commission meeting and again ask to be allowed to ride through for the 3rd Annual Hillsboro Tour de Parks on Sunday September 26, 2010. We invite you to join us.
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A new Bikestation is coming to Hillsboro.
(Photo is of Bikestation DC).
(Photo © J. Maus)

If all goes according to plan, Hillsboro (about 20 miles west of Portland) will be the first city in the Portland region to have a one-stop bike storage, shower, and locker facility -- also known as a Bikestation.

While at the National Bike Summit I ran into Andrea White-Kjoss, the President and CEO of Bikestation (a division of Mobis Transportation Alternatives), who confirmed the news. I have since heard from City of Hillsboro Planning Manager Colin Cooper, who gave me more details on the project. (more...)

Just noticed a strange story over on KPTV.com.

On January 17th, a man was knocked off his bicycle while riding on 231st Avenue near Cornell Road (in Hillsboro) at about 2:30 pm. The police investigators say there's "no evidence of a car". Read more (emphasis mine):

Police said they aren't sure what knocked a man off his bicycle, breaking his collar bone and giving him a concussion a few weeks ago.
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The Oregonian has the story (emphasis mine):

A 21-year-old bicyclist was hospitalized early this morning after colliding with a pickup truck passing through an intersection, authorities said.

The 7:05 a.m. crash affected rush-hour traffic for three hours. Authorities did not release the identities of the cyclist or driver. (more...)

[View update at end of story.]

(Photo from OregonLive.com)

Portland's new on-street bike parking corrals are the subject of an editorial in the Hillsboro Argus today (Hillsboro is about 17 miles west of Portland).

In OK Bike Corral, Argus publisher Clark Gallagher shares concerns from delivery truck drivers about the new parking. Mr. Gallagher overheard one such driver recently tell a TV news camera, (more...)