The City of Beaverton (Portland’s neighbor to the west) and their Bicycle Advisory Committee are planning “Bike Beaverton” tomorrow night.
The event poster encourages folks to “Join your neighbors… for an evening bicycle ride through Beaverton.” The route will be a 7 mile loop starting and ending at the Beaverton City Library using low volume neighborhood streets and streets with bike lanes.
Beaverton’s Senior Transportation Planner Margaret Middleton says the event came about because the advisory committee wanted to, “invite people to ride their bikes in Beaverton.” She adds that, “The ride will be a little bit of education, of course, a lot of fun and a lot of community interaction.”
According to Middleton, they hope to make this an annual event.
It’s great to see Beaverton doing a ride like this and I hope they get a solid turnout.
You can download a PDF of the event poster and the route via the Bicycle Advisory Committee’s website.
Thanks for reading.
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Wow, they need a logo in the worst sort of way . . .
it\’s contagious!
Whoa, I live out there currently and had no idea this was going on! Probably because since moving to Oregon a year ago I had no idea there was even a bike advisory committee at all in Beaverton. Figured if something like this did exist it was likely in some sort of suspended animation. I\’ll check it out!
@Arem: I only saw it last night in \”Your City,\” the city of Beaverton newsletter (it\’s the one with the photo of Rob Drake and his comb-over on the cover).
\”Signs of life\” ! he he. I would have thought it a funny little jab if I didn\’t know better.
Very cool, but I wish they advertised more.. I too hadnt heard of this till now and Ive been living in Beaverton for a while
Too bad my spanish class is tomorrow nite 🙁
My friend is an experienced rider and engineer for the city and is going, so I\’ve decided to go along with him. Sure it\’s not our route or pace of choice, but I think it would be beneficial to have experienced cyclists along to help mentor the many people who are just starting to get into bike riding. I poked fun at comments in \”Your City\” not too long ago on this forum, so I should back up my words with action in the name of community cycling education, right? I commute here between 3 to 5 days a week and it\’s a pretty safe place and reasonably well connected.
Hey Wally, at least the Beaver\’s trying!
Just noticed the irony that the route *is* my bike commute home (then back by work again, then back home). And for this I\’ll be missing spin class. 😉
@JohnO, you\’re right! It was in the newsletter, I remember reading about it now, but had completely forgotten about it until now. Oh, that comb-over always makes me laugh and cringe. It should be changing though come next year due to the election.
Yay! We can start teaching the cyclists of Beaverton to ride on the RIGHT side of the road!
SkidMark
I am a Beaverton cyclist on the right side of the road. Thanks for your support buddy!
For those of you who felt like it wasn\’t advertised well, could you share your thoughts about places we could reach more people.
I personally posted it on the OBRA list, Craigslist and sent the info to BikePortland. I think we also have flyers up at most (if not all) of the Beaverton area bike shops.
We always want to reach as many Bvtn residents as possible and I know the \”Your City\” is not read by all. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks!
#10. Would you get off it already? People live here, they work here, they ride bikes here. No better or worse than cyclists in any other part of the metro area.
#3 K\’Tesh has been posting the meeting notices in the forums for months now.
Lynne, I live in Aloha. I ride a tallbike in Aloha. And a fixed gear(with a handbrake even!) I even ride some legal singletrack in Jenkins Estate.
I am a bit tired of playing dodge\’em in the bike lane. It would be MUCH safer if we were all doing the same thing on our bikes. Many motorist think we belong on the sidewalks because of people riding their bikes on sidewalks, and I am sure it is disconcerting to see a bike heading straight for them, too.
Cya There…
SkidMark (#13): second that. I\’ve been nearly nailed twice going under 217 on 6th – not sure why there. Also have come up against a dude who rides his Segway the wrong way down Murray near Allen (while puffing away on a cigarette – it\’s kinda comical, though nervewracking). I\’m guessing those folks, and the many helmet-less guys I see riding their hardtails fast on the sidewalks around here, won\’t be joining us.
A decade ago I lived and commuted in Corvallis and was heading to work down 99 when three punks barrelled right at me, one in the bike lane and two on the sidewalk abreast, actually looking like they were playing chicken on purpose. Car traffic was heavy so I just stopped. Just then a cop car pulled into a driveway between us and the driver got out of the car to have a word with them, and his partner stepped into the street to stop traffic and motion me around. Sometimes the stars just line up!
@Lynne
Ah, the events section in the forums. Forgot about checking that. I activated an account recently – just waiting to be approved from the queue. Then I\’d be more likely to check. =)
Oh and @w. (#12)
As a suggestion, perhaps two stand-up signs might be a good idea. One on 6th st. outside the library and one near or within the Beaverton TC. Those would likely get a lot of visibility. The events/activities section on craigslist was a good idea, but not as many folks check that often enough.
Maybe put some flyers up at Trader Joes or even the Thriftway out here in Aloha. More people are biking to pick up \”a few things at the store\” now than I have seen in the 5 years living out here. Definitely put some up at Beaverton Transit Center, if they\’ll let you.
It\’s almost a relief to see more people biking out here. Last night I saw a whole family out for an evening bike ride, a trailer some kids, but it was dark and NOBODY had lights. I think the answer is education, and the start of a fun family ride is a good opportunity to impart a little wisdom. Heck, even Zoobomb, has a little safety diatribe before you head down the hill.
Interested in advocating for better roads for cyclists in Washington County?
Face it, roads in Washington County suck for people walking and biking. It starts when the build them – they build huge lanes, there is no landscaping between sidewalk and asphalt (hence no shade for the bike lanes, and no one wants to walk next to cars), and the County doesn\’t even sweep up glass (indeed, I don\’t think Washington County has even one street sweeping truck).
I\’m working on changing this now. I could use some help. Contact me at weltepe (at) gmail (dot) com if you live out there in the wild, auto-dominated, west of Washington County.
@w – i would suggest putting up more fliers. Hitting bike shops is a good start, but hitting up local grocery stores would help.. as mentioned already Thriftway, Trader Joes, also New Seasons. A lot of bikers head to the Beaverton Farmers market also, you might try advertising there.
@Peter #20 Where are you talking about \”no landscaping between sidewalks and asphalt\” ? The entire length of my 7.5 mile commute has landscaping here, and i sometimes consider the shade a detriment as it makes it harder for drivers to see cyclists.
Also, Washington Co does clean up the streets. If you know of specific areas that need attention I believe (503) 846-ROAD is the number to request maintenance
If I didn\’t have to watch my kids tonight I would be there.
I saw this posted in the newsletter and made a point to try and attend. I often see the bike advisory committee notices in the same newsletter. It would be great if one of us could attend these and report back if they are effective and what are the issues. I don\’t quite get a true focus from the reports I read over a year ago.
I would say we all ride on the right side, but last week I saw a guy who was in a time warp from 1984. Big gut, with flip flops, shorts that wer way too tight and an old Schwinn riding on the wrong side of the street. I think some folks think the suggestion that joggers run against traffic pertains to them.
For the record Washington County roads are horrible. Beaverton is doing a good job trying to keep up with bikes when addressing upgrades to city roads. In the last newsletter they want to address urban renewal in the charter. This is a great first step to making the city even more bike friendly. However, unincorporated Washington county is a joke.
~n
@21 Jenn – Much of 185th, Farmington, and TV Hwy don\’t have any buffer between cars and sidewalk (and parts don\’t even have sidewalks). This is true even with recently rebuilt sections of road (Farmington near Kinnaman, and next to new development on 185th).
See also 198th just N. of TV Hwy, where sidewalks were added on one side, and no landscaping was put in; in fact the County even went so far as to remove the shoulders / bike lanes to make room for a center turn lane (that mostly serves driveways). And this was on a project paid for by Metro and described as a safety improvement.
I have the County maintenance phone # on speed dial, but almost every time I call them they tell me to call someone else (e.g. ODOT, Clean Water Services, Hillsboro, or Beaverton) and glass–even huge swaths of it in intersections– will sit for weeks before anyone gets it cleaned up.
Beaverton and Hillsboro may be better (they have their own sweepers) but WashCo\’s response has been pathetic.
Hi Folks:
We are doing it again, YEAP.
BikeBeaverton 2009 will be Sunday, Aug 2 starting at 1pm with a Bike Rodeo sponsored by Police for kids and adults. The family ride begins at 2pm with music and food at the end of route.
Come one, come all, to Bike Beaverton 2009. And yes, we will have more PR this time,!