June 2008 Archives

Bike Porn 2

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

BIKE PORN 2: BIKEXPLOITATION 21+

Clinton St Theater, SE 26th Ave and Clinton St Take Trimet
8:45pm – 10:45pm
The return of the single most desirable evening of bicycle sexuality presented in vivid digital tape.

*BIKE PORN 2: bikexpolitation*

A program of sexy bike shorts from a variety of artists on the theme, “bikexploitation”

For one night only peer though the BikeSmut-O-Scope![TM]

Please try to arrive early and refrain from not groping your MC, full facial required to ride.
Revphil, revphil at gmail daht comm, BikeSmut.com

Video, witness, reveal more about Taser incident

“He was definitely making a racket and making it loud intentionally… he was trying to get people’s attention.”
— John Henry Dale, a witness to the Phil Sano Tasing incident

On Tuesday night, 31 year-old John Henry Dale was waiting for a bus at SE 7th and Morrison when he heard screaming and the buzzing of Tasers.

Looking north, he noticed a bike in the road and two police officers surrounding Phil Sano. Once Dale realized what was going on, he pulled out his cell phone and started recording.

The Portland Business Alliance has just released their 2007 Downtown Portland Business Census and Survey and the results show a 20% rise in the number of people who commute by bike.

The survey — which included businesses, government entities and non-profit organizations — found that 6% of downtown employees got to work by bike (last year, the same census found that 5% of employees pedaled to work.)

Here’s the breakdown of other modes:

The bike industry believes in Obama.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Bicycle Retailer & Industry News magazine (known as BRAIN) reports this morning that in a meeting yesterday with bicycle industry representatives, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said if eleceted he would, “increase funding for cycling and pedestrian projects.”

Obama held a private, 20-minute meeting with members of the Bikes Belong board of directors. According to BRAIN,

He also told them he seldom makes promises on what he would do if elected president, but that this was a promise he would keep.

Looking for a bikey job? Beaverton-based Yakima Products has an opening for a customer service rep and Old Town Pizza needs a bike deliver rider at their new location on NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Both jobs were listed this week on the BikePortland Job Listings.

See below for more information (and good luck if you apply!):

Customer Service Rep – Yakima Products, Inc.
Bike Delivery Rider – Old Town Pizza (NE)

A sunny, carfree SE Hawthorne Blvd.
(Full gallery here)
(All photos by Jonathan Maus)

Over 350 people on bikes, in all manner of costumes, stretching seven city blocks on an otherwise normal Thursday evening… sounds like Pedalpalooza is here!

All types of folks showed up to partake in the bike fun tonight. I saw trikes, tandems, tall-bikes, a tandem recumbent, a bunch of unicycles, old people, little kids, lots of dresses and costumes — and a lot of smiling faces.

Jon “Dutch” Paglia showed up in a full wrap lycra suit, smoking a cigarette, with a gold-painted tall-bike that he did several ballet tricks on (in the video below):

Robert Pickett
(Photo © J. Maus)

The article below was written by Portland Police Officer Robert Pickett. Pickett — who regular readers know by his user name “PoPo” (he’s a regular commenter and member of the Portland Bike Forums) — is a former member of the SE Precinct Bicycle Patrol Unit and now works in the Bureau’s Neighborhood Response Team division. Pickett is also a former BTA Alice Awards nominee for his dedication to community policing.

Pickett was recently selected by Police Chief Sizer to be an official communications liaison to the community on bicycle issues. On BikePortland.org he previously shared his thoughts on humility and wrote about why cops ride on sidewalks.

“In my view, the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) debate is less about building a bridge and more about debating a right-sized project that is multi-modal, that won’t bankrupt our transportation funds, and won’t promote sprawl by increasing auto use. In addition, for cyclists, it’s about creating a world-class bicycle and pedestrian facility.”

That’s the opening paragraph of a blog post just published by Bicycle Transportation Alliance executive director Scott Bricker.

A scene from last year’s parade.
More photos here
(Photos © J. Maus)

Tonight is the annual Pedalpalooza Kickoff Parade.

If you want to bear witness to the wonderment (is that a word?) that is the Portland Bike Scene and/or take part in a rolling celebration of all that is beautiful about human-powered transportation, you should not miss this event!

The parade will have a full police escort and will meet at Jamison Square (NW 10th and Johnson) at 6:15, but you’ll want to arrive early to soak up the sights and decorate your bike.

The two parties involved with a road-rage incident in Northwest Portland back in January now want to put the whole thing behind them.

On the afternoon of January 21, Collin Whitehead was riding his bike when claimed he was “assaulted, threatened with a softball bat and punched in the face” by a man who had been driving a Hummer H2. The incident occurred in broad daylight and the man in the Hummer took off before police arrived.

Whitehead claimed the attack was provoked because he spit from his bike and the alleged assailant thought the spit was intended for his brand new Hummer H2.

Cover of the Portland
Mercury’s Bike Issue.
(Art by Justin “Scrappers” Morrison)

This year, the Portland Mercury stepped up to partner with Shift’s Pedalpalooza event (the 2+ week, 200+ event biking extravaganza that starts today!).

The Mercury is helping Shift with their big Dance Party on Saturday night and they’re distributing the official Pedalpalooza Calendar in their “Bike Issue” that just hit the streets this morning.

If you haven’t checked out the Mercury this week, do it now! Here’s a rundown of the bikey features:

PEDALPALOOZA DANCE PARTY — and Naked Ride!

Track 7, NW 30th Ave and Industrial St

9:00pm – 5:00am

Dance Party for the Naked Ride. Body paint and secure storage area will be provided, though we aren’t making any guarantees about how secure the storage really is. To be admitted to the party you must be 18 or older. Please bring your ID if you want to get into the party. The party’s theme is “Masquerade”.

Bike Porn 2

Video, witness, reveal more about Taser incident

Business Alliance reports uptick in bike commuting

At bike industry meeting, Obama pledges funding for cycling

Jobs of the Week

Pedalpalooza Kickoff Parade: Photos and video

Police Officer shares candid perspective on Taser incident

BTA chief clarifies CRC advocacy strategy

Tonight: Kickoff Parade will begin Pedalpalooza madness

Both parties admit overreacting in Hummer road rage case

Check out the Mercury’s Bike Issue

Pedalpalooza Dance Party

Latest Headlines

Why did Oregon lower the legal age for e-bike riding?

Jobs of the Week: Mokwheel, eLock, Go By Bike, Velofix, Northwest Hub

Robotaxis will need to jump through these hoops before operating on Portland streets

Here’s the new ‘complete street’ coming to Cully Blvd

From the Archives

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