Eleventh annual Rites Of Spring bicycle ride
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Starts at 10AM or thereabout
Gateway Transit Center, Portland, OR
(meet in the south parking lot)
Celebrate the Vernal Equinox!
Dance and cavort among the bloomin’ flowers!
Come out and worship the single ray of sunshine
that heralds the coming of Spring!
13 mile Slug and 37 mile greater-than-Slug-but-still-casual options
Odd bicycle enthusiasts of all sorts encouraged to attend.
Costumery and bufoonery welcome!
Local, regional, and national speakers, as well educational workshops, will be part of the event.
Oregon’s dream to become the #1 bicycle destination in the country will move closer to reality when the Oregon Bike Summit comes to Portland in April.
The event, now in its third year, brings together advocates, exhibitors, politicians, city planners, and members of the bike industry. The agenda includes ample networking time, a slate of nationally prominent speakers, and workshops designed to educate and inspire attendees.
The streets of Washington DC, Chicago, and New York City will get better for bikes thanks to new laws.
Local election season is heating up. One welcome trend of the campaigns, that will be fun to keep an eye on, is how/if the candidates try to out bike-friendly one another.
MIDNIGHT MYSTERY RIDE 21+
Meet at A Roadside Attraction, 1000 SE 12th Ave, Portland Take Trimet (SE 12th & Yamhill)
11:45pm, At Midnight we ride!
Please come inside! Do not linger outside. Please respect the bar give them your patronage, or come back at 11:55pm.
In doing so, you also respect MMRs desire to be like ninjas and tread lightly by not lingering in a group outside. Thanks for your understanding.
Team Midnight, Team Midnight
BIKE LUNCH
Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave, Portland Take Trimet (I usually bring a bike helmet with a 3 leafed clover on it to help newcomers find the right table)
12:15pm – 1:15pm, Every Friday
Make friends with bikey people on your lunch break. 12:15PM Friday’s at Backspace coffee shop (they sell a mostly vegan menu, and Stumptown coffee).
Daniel Patrick Johnson (teknotus), teknotus at gmail daht comm, 503-409-1735 [forum]
This just in from locally based racing/riding club Team Oregon:
Looking to learn about bicycle racing and want a group to ride with? Team Oregon is looking to expand its roster 2008
Team Oregon, a local cycling team, is looking to continue its growth and is always accepting new members. The team was established in 1988, and has had a long track record in Oregon racing. The roster of the team has included all levels of cycling talent from national champions to entry level and recreational riders looking to just have a good group to ride with.
Portland State, the Portland Business Alliance, and the Portland Tribune are hosting the first mayoral debate of the 2008 election season. Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams is scheduled to face off against Sho Dozono Thursday, March 20, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Smith Union Ballroom.
Lawrence Wallack, dean of College of Urban and Public Affairs, will moderate, and a chosen panel will ask questions on transportation, economic development, and public safety. The debate is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jesse Cornett at 5-5040 or cornett@pdx.edu.
Chicago’s City Council has passed new laws that are intended to send a serious message to motorists about operating safely around bicycles.
Mayor Richard Daley told the Chicago Tribune, “We are committed to making Chicago the most bicycle-friendly city in the country, and safety is a very critical part of the plan.”
[Note: Be forewarned, bike parking is very scarce at Roots Brewing (hopefully that will change soon).]
I hope some of you will join us for drinks and conversation at the BikePortland Social Hour coming to Roots Brewing (SE 7th and Hawthorne) tomorrow (Friday) from 6-7:00ish.
Roots co-owner Craig Nichols has kindly reserved some tables for us (and space for our bags, rain gear, helmets, etc..) and City Council candidate Jim Middaugh is all set to be there.
By the way, Jim has racked up some major endorsements recently. Some say there’s a good chance he’ll be one of our future commissioners and this will be a great opportunity to meet him in a relaxed setting. Then, once you’ve met him, you can call yourself an official member of the all-powerful “bike lobby”.
A comparison of bikeway spending and resulting bike use shows that Portland is way behind in opening up its pocketbook to pedaling.
Along with the rising profile of bike boxes, bike boulevards, bike trails, and bikes in general in Portland will come an increased scrutiny on how that infrastructure is paid for. Skeptics (or just plain enemies) of the non-motorized transportation revolution are sure to use the financial question as a way to try and stop the rising tide of bike spending and encouragement in Portland.
The Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) have been maintaining and riding mountain bike trails in and around Portland for 20 years.
Twenty years ago, at the cusp of the mountain biking boom, Portlander Theo Patterson spoke up to make sure knobby tires weren’t banned from Forest Park — an expansive natural area adjacent to downtown Portland and one of the largest urban parks in the country.