September 2009 Archives

A look at NYC’s cycletrack on steroids

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

New Sands Street bike path in NYC.
-Video below-

In Portland, we have many reasons to be proud of our Bureau of Transportation. They’re moving forward with new bikeway facilities that re-envision our roadways and give bike traffic the treatment it deserves.

But New York City is going beyond re-striping roads and demonstration projects. They’re aggressively remaking their city for non-motorized transportation (and let’s not forget, they installed a separated bikeway (a.k.a. cycletrack) two years before we did).

This just in from Metro:

Contact:
Pat Emmerson
503-797-1551
Pat.Emmerson@oregonmetro.gov

Metro transportation advisory committee seeks community representatives

Metro’s Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee is looking for three community representatives to serve two-year terms beginning January 2010. TPAC provides technical input on transportation planning and funding priorities for the Portland metropolitan region to the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation.

In addition to six at-large community members, TPAC has 14 representatives from agencies in Washington and Oregon that are involved in transportation issues, as well as one chair. Community members should have expertise or a strong interest in transportation policy, which can involve freight, transit, auto, cycling, pedestrian and other ways of moving goods and people.

Community representatives are selected through an application, interview and nomination process. Potential members should be able to attend regular meetings that take place on weekdays during normal working hours. Metro favors diverse representation on all its advisory committees; women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

For a full list of members or to submit an application online, visit www.oregonmetro.gov and search for TPAC. The completed form can also be mailed to: TPAC Recruitment, Metro Council Office, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97232. Applications are due at Metro by 5 p.m. Oct. 16, 2009.

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Weekend Event Guide

Head out to Forest Park for
Columbia Sportwear’s Trail Fest event.
(Photo © J. Maus)

What? It’s Fall? You wouldn’t know it by looking at the number of bike events on the schedule. Below is our Weekend Event Guide. Get out there and have fun.

Saturday, September 26

10:00am – 12:00pm: Heed Your Steed – Cyclocross Bike Maintenance Clinic
‘Cross season is up on us and Tori Bortman of Gracie’s Wrench wants to help you get your bike ready. Remember, like one of my old coaches used to say, “A clean bike is a fast bike”. Held at the Vanilla Bicycles Workshop (717 SE 35th St).

7:30am – 1:00pm: Columbia Trail Fest
Head over to Forest Park to take part in a number of events (including mountain bike rides), all to help raise money and awareness so we can keep this gem of an open space beautiful and thriving.

A setting sun, and even nightfall,
didn’t deter ‘cross racers from
enjoying a romantic evening
of racing at Alpenrose.
-Slideshow below/Gallery–
(Photos © J. Maus)

The new Blind Date at the Dairy cyclocross race series debuted last night at the Alpenrose Dairy, just a few miles southwest of downtown Portland; and for the 271 racers that showed up, the date went very well.

The Blind Date series is the brainchild of Joseph Field and Tony Kic. The pair have dreamed about an event like this for years and thanks to support from the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) and Alpenrose Dairy staff, they were finally able to pull it off.

Alpenrose is a gem of a local venue (it’s got just about everything you could want in a cyclocross course) and the local ‘cross scene is definitely healthy enough to handle a mid-week race series. Besides a chance to race at Alpenrose and tune-up for the upcoming Cross Crusade, the Blind Date offered racers the rare opportunity to race at night, under the light of the moon (and a few car headlights and generator-powered lamps).

Did you know Portland had
an advocacy group devoted
to pedestrians?

Portland is renown for its bike scene and the strong, vibrant advocacy movement that exists around it. But what about our non-motorized friends who use their feet to get around? Where is Portland’s ‘pedestrian community’?

The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition wants to find out. The non-profit advocacy group holds their annual meeting tonight in Southeast Portland and they’ve also just launched an online survey with hopes of creating a prioritized list of what walkers want.

Year: 2003
Brand: Trek
Model: 5200
Color:Black
Size:58
Serial: W13038667
Photo: http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2003&Brand=Trek&Model=5200+WSD&Type=bike
Stolen in Portland, OR 97232
Stolen:2009-09-23
Stolen From: Office parking structure 1800 SW 1st Ave. Portland Oregon at SW 1st and Harrison.
Neighborhood: S. Downtown Portland
Owner: Paul Vanderwal
OwnerEmail: paul.vanderwal@comcast.net
Reward: $250
Description: Trek 5200 carbon frame and fork with Shimano Ultegra goup with tripple crank – 27 speed. Bontrager Race X-Lite upgraded wheelset, new Continental all season tires. Sigma computer mount with sensor on the BACK wheel, not front. Two bottle cages.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

New speed bumps on popular cemetery route: Necessarily dangerous?

Katelyn Hale learned about the
new speed bumps the hard way.
(Photo courtesy K. Hale)

David Noble, executive director of the non-profit Riverview Cemetery, didn’t want to do it, but he felt he had no other choice.

About one week ago, Noble instructed his groundskeepers to install three sets of speed bumps on the property. The reason? He says people on bicycles have been riding too fast and without consideration for cemetery visitors. The bumps were a last-ditch effort to prevent a serious collision and to ingrain into people on bikes that they need to slow down.

And it’s far from a new problem. Back in April of 2006 we reported that — after a near miss between a man on a bike and one of the cemetery’s maintenance workers — Noble considered banning bikes from the ground completely.

But for many people who ride through the cemetery (it’s private land, but the roads are open to bicycle traffic to avoid the nasty conditions on adjacent Taylor’s Ferry Road), the new bumps are more than just a speed deterrent, they’re downright dangerous.

The Advocacy Zone, a welcome sight
for this Interbike newbie.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

It’s my second day at Interbike (see Day 1 report here) and the main event is open — a giant exhibition hall packed with many hundreds of booths and the many thousands of bike industry insiders who have come to gawk, shop, and mingle.

But before I got into the main floor, I stopped into The Advocacy Zone. About two dozen organizations have set up shop here and they range from national advocacy groups like the League of American Bicyclists to a California based org that takes disadvantaged kids on mountain bike tours.

Made in Oregon Bike Expo at Cycle Oregon-52.JPG

If you haven’t taken time to peruse the schedule of the Oregon Manifest, you should. The six-week event — which last year mainly focused on a custom bike show — has blossomed into nothing short of an urban biking summit.

This year organizers have added everything from workshops about family biking to a full-fledged bike fashion show (to coincide with Portland’s Fashion Week).

However, despite it’s broadened focus in 2009, the Manifest maintains its roots as a showcase for America’s finest, handcrafted bicycles. This year, instead of the typical bike show format, organizers have challenged the nation’s top builders to create (and then ride) the ultimate transportation bike. And the builders have responded.

Dan Kaufman broadcasting live from Mt. Tabor.
–Live stream below the jump–

As many of you already know, the band Flaming Lips is in Portland today filming their upcoming music video. As we reported last week, the band came here to enlist the help of naked bike riders for part of the video.

Several of the band members showed up at a pre-shoot party at Radio Room last night and now they’re in full production mode up at Mt. Tabor in Southeast Portland. Read more about today’s shoot in this article published by Billboard.com.

Year: 1998
Brand: Cannondale
Model: Super V 900 mountain bike
Color:green (split pea)
Size:large
Photo: http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7449/cannondalesuperv900.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97205
Stolen:2009-09-22
Stolen From: 407 SW Broadway, Portland, OR (Union Bank of California Tower parking garage)
Neighborhood: Washington and Broadway – downtown pdx
Owner: Jerri Shay
OwnerEmail: shay@bodyfeltmount.com
Reward: huge hug and dinner or coffee
Description: Green w/ yellow detail, yellow head shok, yellow lizard skins chainstay, full suspension
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

U.S. Census: Portland has record jump in bike commuting

The City of Portland Office of Transportation just released a statement that includes results from the Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey.

The annual survey found that Portland’s bike commute mode share has risen to 6.4%, that’s a jump from 4.2% in the 2007 survey — and the largest year-to-year increase in Portland’s history.

The 6.4% figure makes Portland the nation’s #1 big city for bike commuting.

In a press release about the survey, Portland Mayor Sam Adams — who has been in charge of PBOT since 2004 — said the survey numbers show that the City’s meager investment in bikeways is bearing fruit.

A look at NYC’s cycletrack on steroids

Influential Metro transportation committee seeks community reps

Weekend Event Guide

Saturday, September 26

Slideshow: Blind Date goes well for local ‘cross racers

Pedestrian advocates hold annual meeting tonight: Thoughts on the state of the movement

Black Trek 5200 2003

New speed bumps on popular cemetery route: Necessarily dangerous?

Interbike Day 2: Welcome to the Advocacy Zone

Impressive list of ‘Constructors’ will push transportation bike boundaries

Live stream and open thread for Flaming Lips video shoot on Mt. Tabor

green (split pea) Cannondale Super V 900 mountain bike 1998

U.S. Census: Portland has record jump in bike commuting

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From the Archives

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