Peter Loewi is a regular BikePortland.org reader, PDOT intern, and dedicated Veloshop Team member (he once had his mouth wired in pink to show his team colors!).
When he noticed a recent NY Times Travel article on Portland made no mention of bikes he decided to give them a piece of his mind…and they printed it!
Here’s Peter’s letter:
WHAT ABOUT BICYCLES?
To the Editor: I enjoyed “Going to Portland, Ore.” (Nov. 6), but there was no mention of something I think is critical: bicycles.
Portland has been among the most bicycle-friendly cities in America for years. In the How to Get Around segment, only public transportation was mentioned. But Portland has a fantastic bicycle network. Bikes can be rented at many of the shops in town. And there are many bicycle paths that can take you to the places mentioned in the article faster than public transit.
Peter Loewi
Portland, Ore.
Way to go Peter, thanks for setting them straight!
Peter’s a great kid. He’s got his head on straight.
Funny story: I saw Peter in Stumptown this summer catching a coffee before his summer job with ODOT. I asked him what he’s doing. He replied, “I get to spray paint stuff”
It was hilarious, a good kid getting the green light to spraypaint roads and stuff under the protection of ODOT.
~Patrick Wilder
Peter actually interned for PDOT (Portland Office of Transportation) not ODOT (Oregon Dept. of Transportation). He was using the spray paint for field work to put out the bicycle boulevard pavement markings are guide signs that have been discussed quite a bit on BikePortland.
Talk about an over-acheiver. GO PETER!
Sorry about the details,
The point was, a responsible kid who was getting to do something with spray paint that was constructive. He had that little grin on his face that told you he knew most kids spray painting stuff would be getting into trouble for it.
~Patrick
peter peter pumpkin eater
I totally agree, Patrick. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I worked with Peter at PDOT. You’re right, he’s a really outstanding person and was a ton of fun to work with.