Royal Blue
Month: September 2006
Ready or not, Cycle Oregon here I come
The 19th edition of Cycle Oregon begins this Saturday. I’ll be joining the famous week-long tour and reporting back with photos and stories from the road.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that I’m woefully unprepared for the journey. Sure, I’m still young(ish) at 31, but I can’t even remember the last time I rode over 30 miles at one sitting. Looking at the route, I’ve got to survive an average of 70 miles over seven days; not to mention scaling numerous mountain passes.
Accomplished advocate takes on new role
[Jessica Roberts,
photographed last
week.]
photographed last
week.]
Jessica Roberts started her bike advocacy career as a volunteer stuffing envelopes for the BTA. Her dedication and smarts quickly landed her a permanent position and she was most recently the BTA’s metro area advocate.
Last week Jessica announced that she has accepted a new position with Alta Planning+Design, a local consulting firm that specializes in bicycle and pedestrian planning.
In her five years with the BTA, Jessica became not only a savvy advocate whose hands have touched numerous bits of bike-related legislation, but also a well-known face and voice of the BTA to the broader cycling community.
Update: Sneak peak at potential Sellwood Bridge design
[Graphic from cover of winning
proposal to renovate the Sellwood Bridge.]
proposal to renovate the Sellwood Bridge.]
An employee for the civil engineering firm that won the bid to renovate the Sellwood Bridge* is working on the Sellwood Bridge project has forwarded me a graphic from the cover of their winning proposal that shows a generous 14 foot wide path for bikes and pedestrians.
In contrast, the motor vehicle lanes are 12 feet wide.
I have not yet confirmed these plans with anyone from the engineering firm and this is obviously a very preliminary design, but given the current condition of the bike and ped lane, it’s an encouraging and hopeful sign nonetheless.
[*UPDATE: I have been notified by someone closely involved with this project and they have informed me that this graphic is not from a “proposal to renovate” the bridge. I should not have used those words and I apologize for any confusion. Whether the bridge is renovated or rebuilt is still undecided. More updates and developments on the project coming soon.]
Cyclist wins fixed-gear case
This morning Portland cyclist John Boyd successfully defended himself in a Multnomah County traffic court trial for a ticket he received for riding a fixed-gear bicycle without a hand brake.
Boyd, a 40 year-old architect and resident of Northeast Portland, was given the ticket by Officer Barnum of the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division. Barnum is the same officer who ticketed Ayla Holland, a local messenger who lost her case for the same violation on July 27th (that case is under appeal with the State of Oregon).
A strange but true bike arrest
[Who would have thought?]
Last Friday in Beaverton, just across the street from a Share the Road demonstration, there was a strange car/bike crash that I still can’t figure out.
When I first saw the scene, it looked pretty simple. An older lady sat flustered in her big Town Car while an adrenaline-pumped cyclist gathered his broken bike and began to call the cops to report the crash. I could not believe the irony.
I walked over to talk to the cyclist and he told me the lady turned right into him without even looking. It sounded completely plausible and I immediately believed his story.
Bridge bicycle counts up 20 percent
PDOT is close to releasing their 2006 bridge counts and so far the results are very exciting. In 2005, the average daily bicycle traffic over the four main downtown bridges was up over 10,000 for the first time ever and showed a three-fold increase from 1995.
This year, preliminary reports show a 20% increase over last year (the bridges included in the count are the Steel, Broadway, Hawthorne and Burnside).
PDOT has yet to release final numbers on the Burnside, but according to city bicycle coordinator Roger Geller, all the numbers are way up,
Tragedy turns into action in Beaverton
[The media helped us spread the word.]
Concerned citizens from Portland and Beaverton came together last Friday for a traffic safety awareness action. The event took place just a few yards from the intersection where Mike Wilberding was killed on August 1st.
Mike’s death sparked heated emotions from many people in the community who were outraged that the driver was initially only charged with a $242, “failure to yield” citation.
Portland Bike Forums are up and running
If you haven’t already noticed, the Portland Bike Forums are back online!
After I posted a call for help last month I received some advice, donations and technical help. I didn’t get quite enough cash to purchase the forum software I wanted, but I decided to pony up for it anyways…and I’m glad I did.
Then, a reader named Andrew Berkowitz—who works for a web design and marketing company called Sparkplug—stepped in to install the software and he imported all the old posts and user information. Thanks again for your help Andrew!