2008 Archives

Drunk hit-and-run driver pleads guilty

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Screenshot of Anna-Carin Davidson’s blog.

Jeremy Jordan pled guilty yesterday to second-degree assault and drunk driving. Back in May, Jordan sped out of a Safeway parking lot and struck Eric Davidson as he pedaled down Fremont Street in Northeast Portland.

Jordan, who was angry at being refused alcohol by the store clerk, left Eric lying in the road and was arrested a short time thereafter. Jordan had a blood-alcohol level of .18 and Davidson had a blood alcohol level of .25.*

The Oregonian reports:

Jeremy Keith Jordan, 31, is expected to be sentenced next month to almost six years in prison.

This weekend’s Cross Crusade
event will be all about beer,
costumes, and…oh yeah, bike racing.
(Photo � J. Maus)

This weekend, scores of Portlanders will head north for the annual Halloween-edition of the Cross Crusade.

Held once again at the Clatsop Country Fairgrounds (in Astoria), this year organizers have planned the first-ever double weeekend of racing. And, as per Crusade tradition, in addition to lots of racing there will be lots of beer, partying, costumes, and good-natured mayhem.

Crusade director Brad Ross recently shared with the OBRA email list that he’ll bring four kegs of beer for the Saturday night bonfire and there will be a beer garden at the event all day Saturday and Sunday. Several of this year’s race venues, have not allowed alcohol, so I guess you could say there’s a bit of pent up demand.

A reader (thanks Brian) gave me the heads up that Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is looking for volunteers to serve on a new advisory committee that will evaluate routes nominated for Oregon Scenic Bikeways.

Full press release is below (more info on Oregon’s Scenic Bikeway program here):

Check out this video (below) put together for Rapha by filmmaker Brian Vernor (of Pure Sweet Hell fame). It’s a mix of great music, a documentary-style look at some of the faces of Portland’s bike culture, and the craziness that was the Rapha Roller Race event held during the recent Oregon Manifest show.

The “Laughs Last” section on the back page of Portland Monthly magazine’s October issue features an eye-catching illustration (see it below).

It’s a make-believe movie poster for Collision Course, which is “Coming this Halloween to a Theater Near You” and stars “Bikers vs. Cars”.

Under the movie title is the tagline:

“Feel the spine-snapping suspense as two-wheeled warriors challenge horsepower-mad mutants for the right-of-way. Will anyone survive?”

This is a draft design concept created by Matt Cardinal for a permanent memorial to honor Brett Jarolimek at N. Interstate and Greeley Ave. The image is taken from a photograph by Bob Libby of Creative Dog Photography.

If you’re looking for a great opportunity to combine your bike mechanic skills with one of America’s premier non-profit organizations, this might be your lucky day.

Check the link below for more information about a position just posted by the Community Cycling Center:

Bicycle Mechanic – Community Cycling Center

Which Cycle Zone do you ride in?
–Watch slide presentation below–

Alta Planning and Design and the City of Portland’s Office of Transportation have collaborated to develop “Cycle Zone Analysis”, a powerful new modeling tool that could have a significant impact on how Portland plans its future bikeways.

PDOT’s bike coordinator Roger Geller presented the Cycle Zone research and methodology at the International Symposium on Walking and Biking in Seattle back in September. He also shared the work with a packed room of Portlanders during PDOT’s monthly Bicycle Brown Bag discussion series last week.

Reader Galen S. sent along a link to a story from MIT about an interesting project they’ve launched in Copenhagen:

MIT researchers unveiled a major new project on Oct. 10 in Copenhagen aimed at transforming bicycle use in Denmark’s largest city, promoting urban sustainability and building new connections between the city’s cyclists.

And here’s the awesome part:

“We have developed a Facebook application called ‘I crossed your path,’ which creates a social network for cyclists, allowing them to link up with people they may have ridden past during the day and potentially establish new connections,” explained Christine Outram, the principal research assistant on the project.

The smart tags will also allow individuals to monitor the distance they travel while cycling as part of a citywide “green mileage” initiative, which is similar to a frequent-flyer program.

This would be very cool to have in Portland!

Read the full story here.

Portland International Airport might soon offer bike assembly area

A bike assembly area — like this
one at the Christchurch Airport in New Zealand —
might be installed at PDX by this spring.
–More images below–
(Photos courtesy Jason Gately/PDX)

The Portland International Airport (PDX) hopes to become the first airport in the United States to offer bike assembly areas and other services for two-wheeled travelers.

Already in existence at airports in New Zealand and British Columbia, the idea is to set aside a dedicated facility where people could re-assemble their bicycles before they hit the road, or take them apart and pack them up prior to getting on a plane.

According to PDX aviation planner Jason Gately, who I confirmed the plans with this morning, the idea (which sprang from a brainstorming session at the Oregon Bike Summit back in April) is to have the facility on the lower level near the MAX light rail station and baggage claim area. Gately says it would be placed outside (under cover) and would include at least two bike clamps and an air pump (bolted to the ground).

Bike elevators for bridges are just
one way Seoul, South Korea hopes
to reach 10% bike mode share by 2020.
(Graphic: Chosun Ilbo)

Seoul, South Korea, a city with just 1.6% of their population regularly using bikes (Portland is at 6% by comparison) has set an aggressive plan to bump that up to 10% by 2020.

They’ve launched several initiatives to reach that goal (like parking and shower facilities at subway stations, bike elevators to get to bridges, and more), but one of them in particular caught my eye because it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot myself – re-allocating existing roadway space to bike traffic.

Traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge.
(Photo � J. Maus)

This just in from the Multnomah County Public Affairs Office:

Hawthorne Bridge to close Sunday for maintenance

The Hawthorne Bridge will be closed to road and sidewalk traffic on Sunday, October 26 from 7:00 am until as late as 5:00 pm so that electrical controls for bridge openings can be upgraded. Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will not be allowed on the bridge, which will be in the raised position much of the day. The bridge lift span will remain open for river traffic to pass. The work is not weather-dependent.

Alternate river crossings include the Burnside, Morrison, Marquam and Ross Island bridges. TriMet bus lines that normally cross the Hawthorne Bridge will be rerouted across the Morrison Bridge during the closure.

Drunk hit-and-run driver pleads guilty

Crusaders head north for double the fun

Volunteers needed to select Oregon Scenic Bikeways

VIDEO: Rapha Roller Races and a peek into Portland bike culture

Portland Monthly goes for a laugh with “Bikers vs. Cars” movie spoof

One Year Later: Plans for a permanent memorial to Brett are confirmed

Job of the Week

‘Cycle Zones’ will help plan future bikeways

MIT brings social networking to bikes in Copenhagen

Portland International Airport might soon offer bike assembly area

Inspiration from Seoul: An ambitious plan to increase biking

Hawthorne Bridge closed to bikes all day Sunday

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From the Archives

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