What: Midnight Mystery Ride
Where: TBA
When: Meet Friday, April 10, 11:00pm, ride at midnight
Meet. Ride at Midnight. End up somewhere.
More info: Team Midnight, www.yeabikes.net/midnight/index.html
Midnight Mystery Ride
Month: April 2009
Bike to Work breakfast at Pioneer Square
What: Bike to Work breakfast at Pioneer Square
When: Tuesday, May 12th, 7:30am – 9:00am
Where: Pioneer Square (SW Morrison St./SW 6th Ave, downtown Portland)
Tranportation Options and SmartTrips Downtown are planning a special Bike to Work breakfast at Pioneer Square on Tuesday morning, May 12. TriMet is taking part this year to be on hand to talk about the changes on the new transit mall, with the MAX cars and bike back on 5th and 6th Avenues. There will be bagels, donuts, coffee and tea from 7:30 to 9:00 AM.
JUNKride
What: JUNKride
When: Tue., April 21, 6:30 p.m – 9:00p.m.
Where: Keen Footwear, 926 NW 13th Ave., No. 210, Portland, OR 97209
In time for Earth Day, two environmentalists cycling 2,000 miles in a quest to end the age of disposable plastics will pedal into Portland, Salem and Newport for free public lectures starting April 21 on the “plastic soup” fouling our oceans.The Oregon presentations are among dozens that Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins of California’s Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF) are delivering to educators, policymakers and the public along the West Coast as part of JUNKride 2009. The couple launched their 15-city bicycle ride/lecture tour in Vancouver on April 4 and will conclude it in Tijuana in June.
For more information: http://junkraft.com/homeJunkRide.html
Bike the Pipe
What: Bike the Pipe
When: April 11, 9:00am-4:00pm
Where: Meet at Maggie’s Buns (2007 21st Ave.) near Pacific University in Forest Grove. (**Portland meet-up: 7:15AM Park Max)
Join friends from across Oregon this Saturday, April 11th on a leisurely 20 mile bike ride through the beautiful, ag-based towns of Forest Grove and Gales Creek. The day-long trip will be focused on education about the proposed pipelines for Liquefied Natural Gas, which threaten to cut through those neighborhoods and businesses. We will meet with farmers, homeowners and other community members to listen to their stories and see the land threatened by the fossil fuel project. This ride comes at a critical time in the legislative session, when drawing attention to the impacts of the pipelines and showing that Oregonians care can help pass an important anti-LNG bill.
For more details: http://www.lngisdirty.org/events/
County erred in suspension of citizen bike/ped committee (Updated)
[**See updates below**]
Multnomah County has admitted an error in their decision to temporarily suspend their Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen Advisory Committee.
Yesterday, after seeing an email that was forwarded to committee members from Senior Transportation Planner Jane McFarland, I reported that the county had decided to not replace their bike/ped coordinator staff position and, as a result, would suspend the all-volunteer committee.
That decision surprised committee members and many in the community who were concerned that the county would be missing out on a very important part of how their transportation policy is made.
Oregonian: TriMet settles Austin Miller death for $200,000
“TriMet’s agreement to pay the maximum amount of damages that TriMet believes it owes proves that Austin’s death was the result of a bus driver’s carelessness.”
— Stephanie Miller, Austin Miller’s mother
The Oregonian’s Aimee Green is reporting that Austin Miller’s parents have reached a settlement with TriMet for $200,000.
Austin Miller died on February 11, 2008 (at the age of 15) when he and a TriMet bus collided near the intersection of SW Murray and SW Farmington Road in Beaverton.
Holy moly, I’ve been doing this for four years!
At the 2005 Bunny on a Bike ride.
Just a quick break in the action to share with you all that four years ago today I published my first ever post about biking in Portland (it was posted to the “Bike Fun” blog on Oregonlive.com, I launched BikePortland.org on my own a few months later).
6,655 posts, 75,481 comments and a lot of hard work later and here we are…doing pretty much the same thing (well, O.K., a lot has changed, but I’m still just posting stories about biking in Portland).
It’s been a long and crazy road.
Why should the City of Portland invest in bicycling?
(Photo © J. Maus)
Staffers and volunteers working on the City of Portland’s Bicycle Master Plan update are currently putting on a full-court press to finish what they hope will be the most ambitious and innovative plan of its kind in the country (much like our current one was when it came out in 1997).
Part of that massive effort (which I’ll be sharing more about in future stories) is the creation of new materials that help flesh out the case for biking in Portland. Skimming through the City of Portland’s website the other day, I came across one such document (I assume it will be used in the upcoming Bicycle Master Plan open houses in May).
An “unprecedented win for bicycling”: Bikestation gets $500,000 angel investment
The BikeStation in Long Beach,
California.
(Photos © J. Maus)
California.
(Photos © J. Maus)
A reader sent over a story from Marketwire that I thought was a very good sign for biking in America.
Tech Coast Angels (TCA), “the largest angel investor group in the United States”, has decided to invest $500,000 in Bikestation. Bikestation — which is now a registered trademark of Mobis Transportation Alternatives, Inc. — plans, designs, and operates “bike transit centers”. The facilities provide secure parking and other amenities to urban bike commuters (I visited a Bikestation in Long Beach back in 2007).
Bunnies on bikes will hop through city Sunday
Dress up for a hoppin’
good time this Sunday.
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)
good time this Sunday.
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)
Continuing a proud tradition that started in Portland in 2004, this Sunday (4/12) bikers all over the city will don their best bunny costumes to help ring in Easter and the spring season.
My family and I have taken part in the Bunny on a Bike ride for several years now and it’s always one of the most enjoyable rides of the year. It’s a great way meet some great folks, enjoy a ride through your neighborhood and show off your bike-fun flair.
The ride starts from multiple locations throughout the city (see list below) and then converges on the Eastbank Esplanade (near Vera Katz statue). From there, the entire group will ride to a final, secret destination for a big potluck and Easter Egg Hunt.
Press Release: 200 Dutch bikes in NYC for 400 years of friendship
Check out this cool event that will happen as part of the big NY400 campaign surrounding the 400th anniversary of the friendship between the Netherlands and New York City.
PRESS RELEASE APRIL 2ND 2009: NY400 BIKING IN NEW YORK CITY
400 wheels representing 400 years of friendship between New York City and the Netherlands.
400 wheels, 200 orange NY400 Batavus bicycles, will be leaving the Netherlands this week and are on their way to New York as a special gift, celebrating 400 years of friendship.
Why 400: Four hundred years ago, a Dutch ship called the Half Moon arrived on the shores of what is now New York City with Captain Henry Hudson at the helm. This year we celebrate the deep-rooted connection between the Netherlands and New York City including the common values of freedom, openness, entrepreneurship and tolerance, as well as the cultural ties of these forward-thinking societies.
The Columbian: Congressman says financial reality of CRC “may mean fewer lanes”
Front page of The Columbian newspaper today.
U.S. Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) is featured in a front page story in today’s edition of The Columbian newspaper expressing his concerns about the “fiscal reality” of the new I-5 bridge (the story is only available in their print edition).
Echoing a sentiment shared by economist Joe Cortright at Sunday’s rally in opposition to a 12-lane Columbia River Crossing (where Cortright compared the CRC staff’s accounting to Bernie Madoff), Baird told The Columbian that “he has longstanding concerns about how to pay for a project expected to cost $3.5 billion” and that he has “received few answers”.