September 2008 Archives

Guest Article: Cops and Stops; Putting our Foot Down

Robert Pickett
(Photos � J. Maus)

Robert Pickett is a member of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee, an Alice Award nominee, a regular commenter and contributor to the Forums here on BikePortland.org, and he’s also a police officer in Portland’s Southeast Precinct.

When he’s not working in our community, he likes to ride tall bikes.

In the article below, Officer Pickett clarifies the age-old question of whether or not you’ve got to put your foot down at a stop sign. As a bonus, he also uncovers some important info about yellow lights you might not have been aware of.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The former general manager of Wisconsin-based accessory company Planet Bike has moved to Portland and plans to offer a new line of products under the Portland Design Works banner.

The Economist published an interesting blurb and graphic on Monday.

They took a look at bicycle and car production since 1950 and found that,

“…Bicycle and car production grew pretty much in tandem in the two decades beginning in 1950. But since 1970 bike production has nearly quadrupled while car production has roughly doubled.”

Just got a heads up about what looks like an interesting event coming to Reading Frenzy (921 SW Oak St.) on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00pm.

A former Portlander, now living in Amsterdam, is working on a book about Dutch bicycle culture.

Here’s the event description:

BikeRackers in action.
(Photos � J. Maus)

If you think it’s hard to find a bike parking spot around town, try finding one at an event (especially if it’s bike-related). Last March, a local entrepreneur set out to solve that problem and so far his business has been “amazing”.

Jeff Castro, a former product designer (with stints at Harley Davidson and Yakima), took a bit of a gamble when he invested in a concept called BikeRacker. The idea was to provide a turn-key, secure, easy-to-use, temporary bike parking solution.

[View update at end of story.]

(Photo from OregonLive.com)

Portland’s new on-street bike parking corrals are the subject of an editorial in the Hillsboro Argus today (Hillsboro is about 17 miles west of Portland).

In OK Bike Corral, Argus publisher Clark Gallagher shares concerns from delivery truck drivers about the new parking. Mr. Gallagher overheard one such driver recently tell a TV news camera,

(Photo � J. Maus)

The Multnomah County branch of the Barack Obama campaign has a bike event planned following this Friday’s presidential debate.

First, they’ll host a viewing party of the debate at the Laurelhurst Theater in Northeast Portland.

A man who ended up in the emergency room after a serious crash while riding on the Eastbank Esplanade last Friday (9/19) is looking for witnesses to help him piece together what happened.

Richard B. (he didn’t want to share his last name) says it was about 3:45 pm and he was riding south on the Esplanade just past the Fire Station near the Hawthorne Bridge. Here’s how he describes what happened next:

“It was one of my regular rides. I remember going by the fire station, then except for one brief blurry memory of an EMT lifting me into the ambulance, the next memory is being in the emergency room at OHSU after CT scan and evaluation.”

The “Portland” cap and jacket.
(Photos � Jonathan Maus)

I may not be at Interbike (the big bike industry trade show going on right now in Las Vegas), but I’m still looking to share as much as I can from local companies who are at the show (read my story from last week for what other local professionals and companies are doing in Vegas).

On that note, I just heard from Ed Dalton, co-President of Portland-based Showers Pass.

Since he took over the company (it was originally founded in 1998 in Arcata, California) in 2005, Dalton has overseen a major revamp of the brand and the product line.

Request one of these stickers here.

As I mentioned last week, Portland General Electric (PGE) has created a new sticker to promote bike/truck safety.

Hi folks. Welcome back from the weekend.

I’ve got a lot of great stuff to share this week, but unfortunately things have gotten off to a bumpy start. If you tried to visit earlier today, you might have noticed some weird things going on with the design and/or server.

It wasn’t you. It was me.

Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie, shown here before
his all-family trans-Canadian adventure,
will share tales and tips this
weekend.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Even though the kids are back in school and its feeling like fall, the weekend is still full of bike events.

Once again, there’s something for everyone; families, racers, easy-riders, you name it.

What are your plans? Share your adventures in the comments below. If you need some ideas, I’ve listed a few events below:

Guest Article: Cops and Stops; Putting our Foot Down

Former Planet Bike GM launches Portland Design Works

The Economist: Bike production outpacing cars

Event: Slide show, lecture on Dutch bicycle culture

Entrepreneur finds niche with temporary bike parking

Updated: More on bike parking from the other side of the hill

Local Obama campaign taps bike-power for voter registration effort

Esplanade rider seeks clues about serious crash

Showers Pass unveils new “Portland” line at Interbike

Request a PGE bike safety sticker for your car or truck

Update on technical difficulties

Weekend open thread: Something for everyone

Latest Headlines

Transportation Commission says state can move forward with I-5 Rose Quarter project

Weekend Event Guide: Sunday Parkways, Naked Ride, immigrant solidarity, and more

TriMet: Service cuts will start in November

Pause or proceed? Commission weighs future of I-5 Rose Quarter project

From the Archives

Opinion: If we’re serious about cycling, let’s get serious about cycling infrastructure