Last night Portland got doused with fluffy, white snow. It’s been arctic cold around here for a few days. Black ice, wind, and now snow.
Has this weather deterred you or your friends from riding? Yesterday I was at the City of Portland building and I was shocked to see just one bike in the usually overflowing bike racks.
I’m proud to report that Juli braved the conditions to take our four year-old to school this morning! Here’s a photo I snapped of them leaving our house…
This morning’s web edition of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News has an interesting story from Madison, Wisconsin.
Bike manufacturing juggernaut Pacific Cycle (distributors of Schwinn, Mongoose and GT bikes) has announced their support of Madison’s Platinum Biking City Planning Committee, a group that is working on a plan to earn the city a “Platinum” Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists.
Flat black Marin Muirwoods, Planet Bike fenders, straight bars with comfort ends, upgraded seat, two purple Nike SB stickers on frame and mini headlamp
More Info on Finetoothcog
After just nine months on the job, Marty Rowley, Commander of the Traffic Division of the Portland Police Bureau will retire on January 17th.
In the interim, Lieutenant Mark Kruger will take his place until a new Commander is named. According to sources, Chief Sizer will keep Kruger in that position, “for a while,” but if this appointment is anything like the last one, she could name a new Commander very soon.
As promised as part of PDOT’s new “See and Be Seen” effort, signs for the campaign are popping up around town on TriMet bus stops and bus benches.
I noticed these out in the Portsmouth neighborhood in North Portland this morning (I’ve also seen them off of Powell Blvd. in Southeast Portland).
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Really large cross bike. Had mostly shimano comp. when stolen. Also had a bracket for a dog leash attached to the down tube. Bike has 62cm frame
More Info on Finetoothcog
New to Zoobomb’s Mini-Bike Winter this year are the much-anticipated Chariot Wars (yes chariots, as in Ben Hur). To help ready the masses for this series of competitions a chariot building workshop was held over the weekend.
Attendees were given a handout that covered all the various design and welding issues one might face when constructing a chariot.
Notice the fairing enclosed frame, non-slip platform (chicken wire), and padded pulpit of Gabriel Amadeus’s chariot (it still awaits a paint job):
As a follow-up to their Portland Bike Summit last June, PDOT will hold a series of “brown bag” discussions on the third Thursday of every month from 12-1:00PM on the second floor of the Portland Building (1120 SW 5th).
Here is the schedule:
When I walked through the door of Joseph Ahearne’s new shop in North Portland, he didn’t even look up. Hunched over and deep in concentration, he gazed into a white-hot flame and danced around a frame clasped into the stand; constantly tweaking it to get just the right angle for his torch and flux. Like the conductor of an alchemy orchestra, he moved his torch up-and-down, working to get just the right combination of heat and flux to make the fillet-brazed joints as smooth and clean as possible.
This Saturday (1/13) will mark the one-year anniversary of when we all first heard about Randy Albright’s lawsuit against TriMet.
That lawsuit — which was spurred by Albright being buzzed by a bus on the Hawthorne Bridge — has had a lasting impact on our community in many ways.
It led to an “I Share the Road” campaign at PDOT, it started an important (and sometimes ugly) community dialogue about the need to be considerate of all roadway users (including giving donuts and thanks to TriMet drivers), and it led to a mountain of media coverage.
I’m finally done with my new links page! It doesn’t look much different than the old one, but it is much more organized, has lots of new links, and most importantly it’s easier for me to update. Check it out: