of my mom’s house.
(Photo © Joel Maus)
My long, strange, trip to California is over and it feels good to be back in Portland.
The girls and I enjoyed the sunny, 70 degree weather and the quality time spent with family and old friends. The only downside was spending so much time in a car and coming to realize the tremendous barriers Orange County cities face in transitioning from their car-centric way of life (which most people don’t even see as a problem).
A part of me wanted to move down there and set up shop, just to see if change could happen.
I’d hoped to publish more articles during the trip, but when push came to shove, focusing on my family won out over exploring Southern California’s bike culture or keeping up with bike news here in Portland. (I did get a chance to visit Bikestation in Long Beach and even do a ride down Pacific Coast Highway to Newport Beach.)
This is the longest break I’ve ever taken from my full-time duties here at BikePortland.org and I look forward to getting back in the swing of things.
I’ve got a long list of stories and news that has piled up, but the first order of business will be to take a look back at 2007. So much has happened in the past year that I can’t launch into 2008 until I take one last look over my shoulder…stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
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I\’m glad you took some time off, Jonathan, you deserve it.
Welcome back!
Welcome home, Jonathan. If anyone deserved a nice, long vacation in a sunny clime, it was you!
Good to have you back!
Glad you made it home! Uh…don\’t be in a hurry to \”set up shop\” down yonder. OC is the ultimate example of there being no \”there\” there.
Welcome back, and glad to hear you had some well-deserved time with the family and friends!
Gland to have you back Jonathan.
Glad you\’re singing \”Back in the Saddle Again\” (an old Gene Autry song, as I recall). I was beginning to fear you\’d gotten lost somewhere in the dystopic lands to the south, but I now see that my sense of abandonment was premature–and unwarranted. Anyway, welcome home, Jonathan. We both have some catching up to do.
Welcome back!! And you\’re right – we do need a \”year in review\” article.
Glad you took the time off Jonathan.
And as luck would have it for you, we had really crappy weather here.
Welcome back.
Good to hear you\’re back! Another 20 years and we\’ll be 70 degrees in January too.
Welcome home Jonathan. That sounds strange now that I moved from Portland to Hawaii! Hawaii and Southern California have a lot in common, and I for one can tell you that it is a challenge to get motorist more aware of cyclists, and ultimately out of their cars and on bikes. They don\’t see a problem, but the cycling community does. The roads here were designed with the car in mind not the bike, just like SC. To top it off the DOT uses archaic rules for building and maintaining the roads, but we do finally have a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator in the DOT! I will be meeting her along with the city bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for coffee tomorrow. It is exciting to see the change happening, even if the change is at a slow pace, and know that I hopefully am making a difference. Portland is the Mecca for everything cycling, and a good place to be from. But there is something special about turning a car centric community around to become a more friendly livable place (assuming it can be done).
Keep up the good work, and Happy New Year!
I can totally identify with your sentiments about getting back in the saddle.. This break was unusually long with bad weather. I am so glad today is nicer weather so far.
Looking forward to all that 2008 brings from Bike Portland!! Thanks for all your hard work.
You never know what you\’ve got til it\’s gone! We missed your posts, even with all the buzz around the holidays. I had to find another less interesting blog to drink my cup of tea to. Thanks for coming back and not getting sucked in by an enormous challenge.
I hope you had a good time
Glad to have you back Jonathan. A lot of sun can be a good thing for a Portlander!
Definitely, good to have you back. For what it\’s worth, you have many counterparts in SoCal; change IS happening, though more slowly than in Portland. Take a look: http://tinyurl.com/2wfv4f Many good things on that site in general, too.
You were missed, but you got it exactly right… family first!
Welcome back.
thanks for the love Val. Jonathan and I did try to hook up while he was here since he was literally minutes away from me. But between his busy schedule with family and my own, we couldn\’t make it work. But don\’t worry, we\’re planning on talking more in the next few weeks to come.
RL Policar
They\’re wasting all that nice \’70° and sunny\’ while they sit in their cars stuck in traffic. They should just give it to us. We\’d know what to do with it.
I have to venture to Southern California for a family visit in two weeks. Whenever I go down there and talk to people about living in Portland, not owning a car, riding my bike everywhere they (as well said by Ralphy from A Christmas Story) look at my like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears. Plus, as soon as I get off the plane I immediately feel like I\’m wearing the wrong shoes or something. I miss Portland already, and I\’m not even gone.
Hey Jonathan!
Welcome home! I had the pleasure of having coffee with Sioban Doyle yesterday and boy do we have a lot in common. She is an awesome gal! 2008 is going to be awesome and much of that is because of you. Thanks for everything!
Good to have you back, Mr. Maus. I\’m glad to see you enjoyed some R&R!
Tim H (#20) – that\’s exactly what they\’re doing by sitting idling their exhaust, giving us \”70 and sunny\”. Like Peter said in #11, just shake and wait 20 years.
😀
Oh my gosh. I missed my daily bike news. Glad to have you back!
I didn\’t realize I\’d become a bikeportland.org junkie until my daily fix was gone. Welcome back!!
Just got back from similar situation, Hollywood, Florida, where the state bird is the car horn and no one uses turn signals. Want a good vacation, go there to study bicycle culture. You would have LOTS of free time, as there is none.
So glad to be back in PDX, just wish I could have packed up the weather and taken it with me. The 80 degree days are wasted on a place where the closest thing within walking distance is your car.
Welcome Home, Happy New Year.
Joe
I was with my brother in San Diego and spent a little time in OC, but like you I didn\’t spend any time doing anything remotely bikey like I (sort of) intended besides taking a photo of some cyclists at Dana Point. But a good time was had by all and that\’s what matters.