The Canby Ferry is a fun and scenic respite on a long ride. (Photo: J. Maus)
If you’ve ever ventured south of Portland on your bike en route to Champoeg State Park or Salem, chances are you’ve used the Canby Ferry to cross the Willamette River. As the only (non-driving) way across the river between Oregon City and Newberg, the ferry is a part of some of Portland’s best road rides.
It used to be free until 2012 when Clackamas County commissioners adopted a $2 fee. With cities on all sides of the ferry growing, more changes could be afoot.
Clackamas County has launched a survey and feasibility study of new transportation options at the ferry location — some of which would end ferry service and replace it with a bridge. They’re considering the following six options:[Read more…]
Unlike many bike shops, River City Bicycles in southeast Portland has long had a reputation as a place where women feel safe and welcome. In 2008 the shop was named the most “female friendly” in the nation and they have sponsored many top women racers.
Now the shop wants to use mountain biking as a vehicle to help women build confidence — both on and off the trails. Their “Low Pressure Women’s Mountain Bike Series” is described as, “A stress-free, female led mountain bike event, clinic, and ride series through which we hope to build, educate and inspire a supportive community of women in our sport.” The series will include weekly practice sessions at The Lumberyard’s indoor bike park, on-trail clinics and weekly rides. There’s a launch party at the shop tonight (4/20) from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
With help from Elaine Bothe of Wenzel Coaching and shop staff, River City is opening this LGBTQ+ friendly initiative up to all levels and all ages (sixth grade and over) of riders.
River City’s Lisa Luna told me this week that she put this together to encourage “positive self-talk” and to build women up from the inside. [Read more…]
Get out there and enjoy the blooms. (Photo: J. Maus)
The Weekend Event Guide is sponsored by Abus Bike Locks. Thanks Abus!
Spring is definitely in the air. And in the bike paths. We’re here to make sure everyone finds a good group of folks to enjoy it all with.
This week’s guide includes a special plug for the Cannon Beach Fat Bike Festival, a chance to meet and shop with Randi Jo Fabrications, and even a Lake Oswego loop.
Whatever you end up doing, we hope you have fun doing it…
The Oregon Coast is a perfect place to ride a fat bike. And Cannon Beach — just 80 miles west of Portland on Highway 26 — is the closest place to do it.
I first heard about the Cannon Beach Fat Bike Festival from our friend Daniella Crowder at Oregon Rides & Events — who also happen to be the owners of Bike Newport, a shop that won the Adventure Cycling Bicycle Travel Award in 2010. Wanting to get more people on bikes on the coast, Daniella and her crew worked with the Cannon Beach Tourism & Arts Commission on a three-day event full of rides and activities.
Times are a changin’ in the central eastside. (Photo: City of Portland)
If Portland is to ever reach its transportation (and climate change and vision zero) goals, the Central Eastside Industrial District must evolve into a place where more people can safely and efficiently ride bicycles. Bordered by the Willamette River, SE Powell Blvd, 12th Avenue and I-84, this area is often avoided by bicycle riders. But now, after years of work by advocates and City of Portland staff, it appears there are some positive signs of change on the horizon. [Read more…]
The mighty Eastbank Esplanade is showing its age and needs a maintenance funding boost. (Photo: J. Maus)
The Portland Parks & Recreation bureau is bracing for budget cuts that could have a significant impact to marquee paths citywide.
The City Budget Office has recommended a reduction of $2.1 million from the Parks budget. “This level of cuts,” the Bureau said in a blog post last month, “will significantly impact our programs.”
There are two line items in the budget advocates are focusing on: One of them would slash funding for path maintenance; the other would offer a much-needed boost for the beloved Eastbank Esplanade. [Read more…]
The event brought in experts to explain how it all works. (Photo: Sarah Iannarone)
This story was written by Portlander Jim Labbe, a co-organizer of the event.
Last Saturday over 100 people from around the region gathered at the Rosewood Initiative in East Portland for an event that could have significant implications for government budgeting in the region — including the allocation of transportation funds.
The Oregon Department of Transportation is so convinced that the bike lanes on Southeast 26th Avenue are dangerous for bicycle riders that they’ve ordered the City of Portland to remove them as soon as possible.
Inexplicably, and despite evidence showing the bike lanes (even at a paltry three-feet wide) make the street safer, ODOT has cited no evidence or best practice standards for their decision. The only rationale offered so far is a concern that the intersection of 26th and Powell is too dangerous for bike riders and a new crossing two blocks east is much safer.
Everyone agrees the new signal and median at SE 28th (part of the new 20s Bikeway) is indeed much safer. But it’s up a hill and two blocks away. And since when is a safer crossing on one street, reason for the removal of bike infrastructure from another?
“ODOT’s reasons are a mystery to us,” a Portland Bureau of Transportation staffer told me recently.
Now there’s a new (to us) piece to the puzzle: A “road safety audit” report prepared for ODOT by Kittelson & Associates, Inc. in 2014. The audit (PDF) focused specifically on Powell between 20th and 33rd Avenue — a section with a crash rate over twice as high as the statewide average for similar roads. The stated purpose of the audit was to, “identify potential issues contributing to crashes and suggest treatments for addressing those issues.” [Read more…]
Rule 1: no matter the topic of the post, the comments are always about infrastructure.
I’d been lulled into complacency by the comparative awesomeness (compared to most the rest of the US, that is) of Portland’s bike infrastructure. I figured everyone was making-do and appreciative of what we have here, despite the obvious shortcomings. But apparently that’s my new-in-town, still-fresh-faced-and-rosy-cheeked bias showing. Turns out many of you are worried about infrastructure that does not make streets safe enough for you and your family.
But that’s not the only thing we heard. Here’s what else weighs on the minds of moms, dads, and the caregivers of Portland (as culled from our blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts)… [Read more…]
This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by the Cannon Beach Fat Bike Festival (4/20 – 4/22) — three affordable days of rides and fun activities on the Oregon Coast!
Here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days… [Read more…]
Pedal in the front, party in the back. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
The Ladd’s 500 is a continuation of a proud Portland legacy: Free fun on in the streets that’s open to all — and with bicycles as the thread stitching everyone together.
The “third first annual” relay drew a huge crowd to Ladd Circle Park on Saturday, which was the perfect base camp for the day’s activities. What is usually just a sleepy roundabout in a quiet residential neighborhood was enlivened with picnics, BBQ’s (by bike, of course), music, and Portlanders eager to shed winter, embrace a dry day, and enjoy each others’ company. [Read more…]
At around 8:30 am this morning a man was biking westbound on Ankeny when he was involved in a collision with someone driving an SUV.
The report first came from Facebook from someone who says they saw it happen. Here’s the account I was flagged on:
“Just saw someone in SUV Traveling at around 30 mph roll the stop sign on SE 24th Street and Ankeny (which is a designated bikeway) and hit a guy on a bike. The guy on his bike was headed west on Ankeny and had the right of way ( no stop sign). He was thrown about 15 feet. I called 911 and the ambulance and cops arrived within 5 minutes. The young man on the bike looks like he has a broken leg and wrist. The woman who hit him was sobbing hard as the cop interviewed her. Hitting someone on a bike with your car will mess them up. Please slow down and pay attention in town.”
River View was the site of a big protest after cycling was banned in 2015. (Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Portland’s Off-road Cycling Master Plan got a shot in the arm today from an influential city advisory committee.
The Portland Parks Board expressed strong support for the plan in a letter to Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Project Manager Tom Armstrong. The letter clears the way for Portland City Council to approve the plan — and to push back against those who are using false narratives to oppose it. The Parks Board has dismissed two of the main talking points of people trying to stop the plan: That that off-road cycling is incompatible with nature and that it can’t be done safely in an urban environment.
The letter (PDF), dated April 11th, comes after the Board received hundreds of public comments and hosted a special meeting on the plan earlier this month.
Signed by Parks Board Chair Patricia Frobes, the letter outlined a few relatively minor concerns and said the Board is “generally supportive” of the plan because it is, “a good conceptual road map for a city-wide system of off-road cycling.” And that system, Frobes wrote, should include even more places to ride. “Although the ORCMP proposes a good locational mix of bicycle parks,” she wrote, “it proposes no new urban off-road cycling trails on the west side. Further, the ORCMP does not adequately identify opportunities to connect parks to parks, parks to schools and parks to trails.” [Read more…]
These bags might have good intentions, but they are bad for bicycling. (Photos courtesy readers Steve and Ben)
The Little Things is a place where we share (relatively) small problems — and little miracles — about biking in Portland. Is there a little thing that makes your ride uncomfortable, annoying, inspiring, or exhilirating? Tell us about it and we’ll consider it for a future column.
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“He slammed into one of these, fell to the ground, and tore open a nasty gash in his elbow that required a number of stitches at the ER.” — Steve N.
We have a precious small amount of high-quality, smooth, clean and dedicated space for cycling. That’s why when people willfully encroach and degrade that space, we feel the need to raise an alarm about it.
Case in point are these bags we often see placed around storm drains. The drains themselves are often hazards for bicycle riders: They have grooves that can catch tires and they’re often set below-grade — meaning your bike drops down when you go over them. Most people avoid riding over storm drains, even though they often take up a foot or two of what’s already a relatively narrow space for cycling.
Add these bulky bags — which are often called bio-bags — and you’ve got real hazard.[Read more…]
