February 2008 Archives

Tonight: Memorial planned for Austin Miller

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Austin Miller

Hal Ballard, acting executive director of the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition has organized a brief memorial service tonight for Austin Miller, the 15 year-old who was killed after colliding with a bus in Beaverton yesterday.

The service will begin at 5:00pm tonight at the intersection of SW Murray and Farmington Road.

Ballard says he and a group of supporters will hold signs with the ‘And we Bike‘ slogan, “to remind motorists of our relationship to them”.

The City of Beaverton has also granted permission for a ghost bike to be installed in memory of Austin.

Beaverton commuters weigh in on deadly intersection

Yesterday’s tragic bus/bike collision in Beaverton that claimed the life of 15 year-old Austin Miller occurred at an intersection that is known to be tricky and dangerous.

The precise mechanics of what happened are still unclear, but we do know that Miller was struck by the #52 TriMet bus as he entered SW Farmington Road from SW Murray Blvd.

As many of you know, the site was completely down yesterday.

My server crashed due to too much traffic. The culprit was my coverage of the Handmade Bicycle Show.

I worked with my host to fix the problem, and they tweaked the server as much as they could, but they said the traffic was simply more than the server could handle.

I should have foreseen this potential issue and taken better precautionary measures to prevent it, but I guess I learned this lesson the hard way (again).

BikePortland.org file photo.
(© Jonathan Maus)

A ~~man~~ 15 year-old Beaverton boy lost his life today in a collision with a TriMet bus on Farmington road, just west of Murray Blvd (Google map).

From reports, it seems like the collision occurred as the bus, going westbound on Farmington, crossed over the bike lane prior to pulling over for a stop. View the intersection below:

Black Cannondale with Duke’s Cycle sticker (from Toronto Canada) near bottom bracket on seat post. Had a large Columbia Sportswear Company sticker as well. XT with DX shifters, Manitou forks yellowish orange.

More Info on Finetoothcog

Portland builders take home two awards at NAHBS

Don Walker at the NAHBS awards ceremony.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Two Portland builders stood out among the country’s best bicycle craftsmen today at the awards ceremony at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS).

Aaron Hayes of Courage Cycles was voted “Best New Builder,” and Joseph Ahearne won “Best City Bike” for the second year in a row.

Aaron is a former product designer who started building frames just six months ago. When I visited his shop in Northeast Portland a few weeks ago he said he thought of his NAHBS debut as “a challenge”.

2007 Felt Z-70, brand new black c700 tires; front light off center on handlebars; Veloce bicyle bag on the seat; non-standard Campangolo 175 front crank&gear; photo provided from internet – NOT same color.

More Info on Finetoothcog

NAHBS 2009 set for Indianapolis

Don Walker looks to Indianapolis
for NAHBS ’09.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

NAHBS founder Don Walker will take the fifth addition of his show to Indianapolis, Indiana next year.

He made the announcement at the end of today’s show saying, “I’m sure many of you are already aware of Indiana’s very rich cycling culture.”

Walker cited the classic bike movie, Breaking Away as proof of Indiana’s two-wheeled heritage.

A NAHBS Sunday slideshow

Wish I had more time to share stories from last night and today, but the awards ceremony is starting soon and I’ve got to get back to the show.

Below is a slideshow of my photos from this morning. Highlights include Pegoretti’s magical paint jobs, bikes from Richard Sachs and Rene Herse, Craig Calfee’s bull-bike, and today’s gratuitous celebrity shot of Robin Williams checking out the work of John Slawta (Landshark).

In a few hours, North American Handmade Bicycle Show founder Don Walker will make the announcement of where next year’s show will take place.

Each year it is a closely held secret, but Walker has already already shared clues and has made it clear it won’t be in Portland, and rumors about NAHBS ’09 are swirling through the aisles.

Here are the clues Walker has shared:

Almost new Gray with Black lettering. Silver water bottle rack, black gear rack on the back. Rear and front lights.
21 speed

More Info on Finetoothcog

Snapshots from the show floor

Amid the dizzying array of bike bling and pure craftsmanship here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, sometimes it’s the little things you remember at the end of the day.

Here are a few snapshots I’ve been collecting in my head…

Tonight: Memorial planned for Austin Miller

Beaverton commuters weigh in on deadly intersection

Update on my technical difficulties

Fatal bus/bike crash in Beaverton

Stolen Cannondale Beast of the East

Portland builders take home two awards at NAHBS

Stolen Felt Z70

NAHBS 2009 set for Indianapolis

A NAHBS Sunday slideshow

Where will NAHBS end up in ’09?

Stolen Bianchi Bergamo

Snapshots from the show floor

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike